June 2010

No-Win Slots, Keno Machines, Triple Play, Machine Percentages by John Grochowski

Q. My wife and I have great difficulty believing that casinos don't lock down some, if not all, of their slots periodically. Of course, we're not there 24/7 so maybe somebody does get something. When we are there, we have observed that during these lock downs, we are not the only ones getting little or nothing, but that other players (playing all variations of denominations, machines, and strategies, minimum/maximum wagers) have the same nothing results. We have occasionally seen one person (usually a woman and I'd swear the same one all the time) hit a big jackpot.

Is it pure coincidence that many machines in the same area consistently produce almost nothing between the hours of 8:30-11 a.m. and then there is only one pretty good hit in each of them between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (Yes, I know, play them between 11 and 1.)

A. Any difference you're noticing really is pure coincidence. The only way to change the frequency of hits is to change the random number generator chip that drives the machine. To do that, the casino would have to open the machine in the presence of a gaming board agent, break evidence tape, remove the chip, put a new chip in, reseal in evidence tape, lock the machine back up and have the gaming board agent sign off on it. It's too big a process to do routinely.

Soon, the process will be speeded up by server-based gaming, but the process of changing games still will require regulatory supervision in most jurisdictions, along with a short period of an on-screen display letting players know a change is taking place.

If you actually charted the results night after night, tracking every spin in your designated times, I think you'd find over a period of months that there really is no difference in payback percentages. Over a period of 100,000 to 300,000 spins of the reel, the machine will come very, very close to its targeted payback, and the game doesn't know what time it is.

  Q. I enjoy playing video keno, but recently both casinos where I play removed the popular Cleopatra keno game (as well as Power Keno). Can you tell me why? Was it some sort of licensing issue?

A. I don't know the specifics at the casinos you visit, but usually when a game is removed it's because it's not earning as much for the house as other games, and the operators want to try something else. Video keno has a couple of built in problems, as far as operators are concerned. It plays a little slower than slot machines because it takes more time for numbers to be drawn and displayed and for a player to look them over than to spin slot reels. Fewer plays per hour means less money for the casino. Also, keno players tend to bet fewer credits per play than slot players.

Casinos that use video keno do so in hopes of reaching an audience that otherwise wouldn't come to the casino. But eventually, someone with an eye on the bottom line sees that they don't earn as much per unit as other machines, and they get taken out. If business then drops, sometime down the road a new slot manager might decide that keno might help draw people in. It's a bit of a circle.

  Q. In your opinion, is there any advantage or disadvantage to playing a Triple Play video poker machine versus playing a single-play video poker machine? If it deals you a pat hand it is a big advantage, but overall do you think one is better than the other? A. If the paytables are the same, the odds are exactly the same. In the long run, if you make $10,000 worth of bets on a Triple Play machine, you're likely to wind up in about the same place as if you made $10,000 worth of bets on a single-hand machine.

Multi-hand games smooth out volatility a little. It's a little less bumpy ride, because there are fewer hands where we lose the entire bet. Dealt a pair, we have three chances to make three of a kind instead of only one. Of course, if we draw the three of a kind on only one hand, we're just getting our money back instead of making a profit. Personally, I enjoy the multi-hand games. But odds-wise, it makes no difference.

  Q. I have had people tell me that you should play the max because machine percentages go up as the bet increases. I am wondering if that is true. Considering penny slots, are machine percentage payout percentages increased if you play $2.50 as opposed to 25 cents?

A. That is true on three-reel slot machines, because there is disproportionate increase on the top jackpot when you play max coins. For example, a machine might pay 500 coins for three jackpot symbols with one coin bet, 1,000 for two, but then jump to 2,500 for three coins. That leads to the higher payback percentage.

Most video slots don't have that disproportionate jump, so on most video slots, as long as you cover all the paylines, the payback percentage is the same no matter how many coins you bet per line. However, some games have symbols that don't become winners until you raise your bet. A video version of Bally's Blazing 7s, for example, mirrors the reel-spinning game in requiring higher bets to first unlock the bar symbols and then the 7s. If you're going to play the game, be sure to wager enough to make all symbols active.

Do watch out for progressive slots. If you're going to play progressives, make sure you wager the amount required to be eligible for the progressive jackpot. If you don't want to bet that much, play a different game.

- John Grochowski is the author of The Casino Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book, The Video Poker Answer Book and the Craps Answer Book, available online at: www.casinoanswerman.com.