Those hungry multi-line/multi-coin machines
warmly welcome all wallets
September 25,
2009
Dear Mark: I like
to play multiple line slot machines in AC, but
it seems the amount I bring to the casino does
not lend itself to these type machines. I am a
25-cent machine player with usually $200 to play
with for four hours. I seem to run out of money
before the four hours elapse, so my question is,
is the amount I bring large enough, or am I
playing the wrong machines? Rachel B.
What you failed to mention, Rachel, is just how
many coins we’re talking about per spin? Five,
nine, fifty? It makes a big, big difference.
Now, if you were a typical slot player on a
3-coin quarter machine, pushing the spin button
every ten seconds, wagering 75 cents per push,
you’d be betting $4.50 a minute, or $270 an
hour. Since the average quarter machine returns
approximately 92% to the player, over the long
run, you’d be losing around $22 for every hour
of play. A four hour session, Rachel, is going
to cost you, on average, $88. Your stated
bankroll of $200 should get you through.
However, playing these multi-line/multi-coin
machines is something like playing on separate
machines all at once, since all the lines and
payouts operate independently, and each line
wants its share of your quarters. The problem I
see with your bankroll of just $200, is that not
only could you be vastly under-funded, but also
your average bets may be much larger than they
seem.
Sure, you can play a quarter game for a single
quarter, but the majority of players bet all the
paylines. Bet one quarter on each of nine
paylines, and you're betting $2.25 a spin, which
is much more than betting three quarters at a
time on a reel-spinner. Bet five coins per line
on a nine-line quarter game, and you're betting
$11.25 every yank of the handle, making you a $5
machine player, and not the 25-cent player you
believe you are.
A $200 bankroll, Rachel, isn’t enough for an
ever-hungry multi-coin/multi-line quarter
monster even if you're betting just nine
quarters per spin. Using that 92% return as an
example, your bankroll falls $60 short for four
hours play. Wager five coins per line on a
nine-line quarter game, and -- though you may
have come to Atlantic City in your $25,000 car,
you might go home in somebody else’s $250,000
vehicle, a Greyhound bus.
The reason the casinos are putting in
multi-line/multi-coin quarter machines is
because players like you just love them. But you
don't have to play them. You could amuse
yourself on a 3-coin quarter machine instead;
nor do you have to play every line if you do
favor them. One way to stretch your bankroll is
to play fewer than the maximum lines allowed. On
most machines you only give up a little bit in
hit frequency, and nothing in long-term payback.
Dear Mark: Recently on a crap game, I
had $100 on the pass line, and $200 odds. The
shooter clearly rolled an eight, the point, but
the boxman yelled out something like “no roll.”
The next roll was a seven and I lost the $300.
What gives him the right to call the roll off,
when I clearly would have won? Matt R.
When the boxman supervising a crap game
invalidates a roll, it’s called “no
dice.” Usually this happens when one or both of
the dice fail to cover much distance,
they bounce off the game, a player tries to
slide them, or the dice do not land flat.
I’ve sat box, Matt, and I can tell you that in a
fast and furious game like craps, a boxman needs
to make split-second decisions that won’t always
be favorable to you, the player. Without being
there to eyeball the event, I’ll just have to
speculate that the boxman who made the call
either thought it wasn’t a legal toss, or one of
the dice after landing was tilted at an angle in
such a way that it wouldn’t clearly distinguish
it as the number you were looking for.
Unfortunately, Matt, even though you thought it
looked like an eight, you got a “no dice” call,
then the seven, cinco dos, adios.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Wine
loved I deeply, dice dearly.” --William
Shakespeare, King Lear
|
