Pay no attention to that man behind
the curtain
April 2,
2010
Dear Mark: If
a player uses their club card while playing
slots, does it have any effect on their
results? Opposite that, can the casino
reward a player who does use their card with
jackpots you wouldn’t otherwise get if you
didn’t use it? Mary Anne B.
Using a player’s club card has no
effect on your results. The casino doesn’t
compensate for the goodies they dole out for
your loyal play by shorting you on jackpots
or lower returns.
The random
number generator doesn't give one iota that
Mary Anne is using a slot club card, and
besides, differential paybacks are illegal
in every land-based casino in America.
Some players seem to think that since
they are accumulating comps on their club
cards, the casino will make them pay for it
with a lower return on the machine. Not a
chance. Card club players are a casino’s
most valuable asset, and the last thing
casino management wants to do after building
what they hope is a long-term relationship,
is to shortchange a returning player.
As to your “opposite that,” the slot
card in and of itself rewards loyal
customers. There is no casino operator in a
secret undisclosed location pressing a
button so club card members get special
jackpots. As stated above, random number
generators determine jackpot winners, and
again, anything else would be illegal.
Dear Mark: When playing slots,
should I set limits based on the number of
losing spins, or should it be based on the
amount lost? Nell F.
As your question states, Nell, there are two
kinds of limits when playing slots, one
called a losing (loss) limit, the other, a
spinning limit.
Your cash on
hand (bankroll), dictates the losing limit
while the spinning limit is in regards to
your gambling timeline on any one particular
machine. It’s loss limits, setting the
amount of money you are comfortable with
losing that I find far more important.
So, Nell, when assessing any machine
prior to playing, have you read the
operating rules carefully and do you
understand its true cost before actually
inserting your first coin? Does your
bankroll match up with the machine(s) you
are playing on?
Say, for
instance, you are a typical slot player on a
3-coin quarter machine, pushing the spin
button every ten seconds, wagering 75 cents
per push. Plan on betting $4.50 a minute, or
$270 an hour. Since the average quarter
machine returns approximately 92% over the
long run, you will lose roughly $22 for
every hour of play. A four-hour session is
going to cost you, on average, $88. If you
are at ease with an $88 loss, and a bankroll
of at least $200 to carry you when the slot
decides to be less charitable, then you
should be fine.
As for
spinning limits, a lot of players set a
cutoff point and shift to another machine
after a specific number of losing spins. The
reason I don’t find spin limits as important
as loss limits is because every spin is
random, hence there is no mathematical
reason to switch machines after any number
of winning, or losing, spins. It doesn't
matter whether a machine hasn’t paid out
after numerous spins, or has coughed up
multiple payouts; the odds of landing a
winning combination are the same on each and
every whirl.
Yet, Nell, I
realize that if a machine isn’t paying after
an aggravating number of losing spins,
players get agitated, so by all means,
switch machines. But see this as an
emotional reason to move, not one based on
arithmetic.
Gambling
Wisdom of the Week: "There are
clubs that would have to close their doors
without a slot machine." --Mike Goodman, How
to Win
