Demystifying Slots Myths
30 September 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
Does it make any difference on a slot machine if
I pull the handle or push the spin button? If a
machine recently hit for a decent sized jackpot,
should I avoid that machine? Lastly, if I get up
from a machine and the next player hits a
jackpot, would that have been mine? Jean B.
Readers are either going to nod in agreement
with what I'm about to write, or stay in
defiance. The choice is yours, my friends, but
I'm still going to debunk three of the most
common slot myths there are.
First of all, pressing the spin button or
yanking the handle has no bearing on the outcome
of a spin. The handle is nothing more than a
connection to the switch that operates the spin
button.
As to your second question on the machine that
just hit: is it still just as worth playing as
it was before the hit. The answer, Jean, is Yes,
and that it makes no difference. Although the
laws of probability dictate that the more any
machine is played, the closer it comes to a
jackpot hitting, it is equally likely that a
jackpot could hit at any given moment, including
the very next spin.
Finally, as to the "Just whose jackpot is it?"
question -- well, Jean, it's not yours, it's the
dude's who's parked in front of the machine and
who pressed the spin button. "Why?" she screams,
"I'm the one who set it up!" Because, I reply
somberly, all modern slot machines come equipped
with random number generators, with symbol
combinations constantly changing every
millisecond from the time you insert the coin
until you hit the spin button. That makes the
jackpot his, not yours.
Dear Mark,
Your column recently mentioned average payback
percentages of slot machines across America.
What you didn't mention, but I'm guessing to be
true, is that it is better to play video poker
than slots. Am I right or wrong? Susan L.
Choosing between video poker and slots is a
no-brainer. A video poker machine will spit more
silver your way. Even WAG (wild-ass guessing)
play on a video poker machine will generate a
better return than is available through most
"reel" slot machines.
Every video poker and slot machine has a
built'in house edge working in their favor with
each coin inserted. This is how the casino goes
about extracting money from players in order to
stay in business. Skilled players can cut the
house advantage to near zero, or, dare I say it,
swing the odds in their favor when they play
perfect basic strategy on select video poker
machines. Compare this to the "up to" 15% hold
the casino can have with slots.
The bottom line, Susan, is that the lesser the
house edge, the more favorable the game is for
the player. Video poker, in general, carries a
much smaller casino advantage than almost all
slot machines do.
Big Correction: My mailbag informed me that
there was much confusion, and rightly so, over
my answer to Sam's question about laying the
four for $100, which he claimed gave him 2 to 1
in his favor when the seven hits. He also stated
that he finds this an easy way to make a $100.
Recapping, with a Lay bet you are betting
against the player and with the house and hoping
that a 7 appears before the point number of 4
rolls out. Lay bets are paid off at true odds,
minus the house's 5% on the amount won. When Sam
Lays the 4 (or 10), Sam would have to Lay $200
to win $100, minus a 5% commission. As for "2 to
1" in his favor, I should have been more
descriptive in stating that the seven can appear
in six different combinations with a pair of
dice as opposed to only three combinations with
the four. That's the 2 to 1 in his favor. I went
off on some tomfool tantrum that Sam couldn't
buck the 2.44% house edge with that wager and
missed some obvious errors in his question.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "It's not easy
losing $10,000 because an eighteen-year-old
freshman choked on two free throws late in the
game." --Chad Millman, "The Odds"
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