Dear Mark: I am a senior citizen on
a very limited budget, but I do enjoy my
monthly bus trips to the casino. In the
past, you have written that you should
always play the maximum coin amount when
playing slots, but if I do, especially on a
quarter machine, I’m sitting, waiting and
coinless long before the bus leaves. I’m
just there to have some fun, so does always
mean always? Betty G.
There is a reason, Betty, why I recommend
playing the maximum coin amount. For most
multiple-pay and multiple-play slot
machines, when you play the maximum coin
level, the machine yields its best
percentage payback.
It’s easy to spot these proportional
differences among payoffs by looking at the
machine’s paytable. For example: One coin
could pay 500 coins, two coins 1,000, and
three coins, KA-BOOM, 4,000.
So, Betty, if you can afford to play the
maximum coins allowed, I recommend you do
so. And if quarters are too rich for your
blood, switch to nickels.
But, Betty, because you want to extend your
playing time, plus you seem to be sticking
within your budget, and yes, we do have to
include the fun factor here, I have decided
to make you a candidate for an exemption.
Although returns vary from one gaming
jurisdiction to another, let's look at a
typical Red White and Blue slot machine that
pays back, say, 92 percent when you play one
coin at a time, and 95 percent if you play
the maximum three coins. You are better off
playing three coins at a time if you play a
specific amount of action. For instance, if
you run $2,000 through a machine that has a
95% payback, your expected loss would be
$100 whereas your expected loss would be
$160 while playing one coin at a time at 92%
payback.
Betty, you may have a shorter gambling
timeline before catching the Greyhound back
to Hackensack. So let's look at playing one
coin versus three in a slightly different
manner, that of playing for an hour, which
is about 800 spins. At one coin per spin,
you’d wager $200 (800 X .25) and have an
expected loss of $16 with a 92% return. But
playing three coins per spin with a 95%
return, you’ll wager $600 (800 X .75) and
expect to lose almost double, $30. Even
though playing the maximum coin amount with
a higher payback, you will lose more because
you’re wagering more.
Naturally, Betty, -- No I’ll put it this
way: If you take the exemption I offered,
play one coin, line up three treasure chests
and get a teeny jackpot, please don’t write
me a nasty “you said” letter. It’s all in a
day’s work.
Dear Mark: My recent trip to Las
Vegas was a bit trying, not in that I lost a
lot of money, but that of trying to find a
quarter video poker machine. They had them,
but finding them was tough. Can’t they put
them all in one area and mark them
appropriately? Cathy R.
Have you ever noticed, Cathy, those lights
that are on top of a slot machine? In
gamblese, they are called a “candle,” and
have two colors associated with each
machine. The top color is usually white, and
its purpose is to light up when you press
the button for slot attendant assistance, or
it will blink when you hit a jackpot that
must be paid by hand.
The bottom part of the light is color-coded
so you can easily track those tasty quarter
machines wherever they may be hiding. In the
future, look for yellow for quarter, red for
nickel, and blue for dollar machines.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week:
"It might be instructive to
remember that Nick the Greek died penniless
and was buried in a pauper's grave in North
Las Vegas."--Marvin Karlins Ph.D.
