How to Play a Slot Machine

Format

A player starts by choosing which machine to play. This may be an arbitrary selection of a person without strong opinions on the various machines, or it may be a rather precise decision by someone who really likes a specific format, and combs the casino to find one. The more often one plays slot machines, the more likely one is to have favorites.

Placement of Machines

Unsurprisingly, casinos have studied how to place slot machines on a casino floor. It may also be no shock to learn that the lower pay back machines tend to be in the higher-trafficked areas. Usually machines in a cluster will have similar pay backs. Another criterion is to put “loose” machines near spots where lots of people will notice the win, like a cashier line. Sometimes these principles are conflicting. Casinos move the slot machines around a lot anyway, so the principles of placement are only very approximate guidelines. One thing is certain: When a machine “hits” there is a lot of excitement. Staff rush to the machine. Lights flash and horns or sirens sound. This is called a “rollup.” Casinos make a big deal over wins, as it provides credibility to the many others who may not be winning, and it encourages people who are feeding the machines to keep at it.

Denomination

Besides format, the other element of choice is denomination. Machines may accept as little as a penny, and go up to $100 machines. Some off-strip casinos specialize in a variety of machines in the lower denominations (penny or nickel). Strip casinos have a number of quarter machines. Some of them are variable, in that more than one quarter can be bet at a time. Finally, many casinos have moved to “tokenized” machines, so that the machine can receive a token for a certain value, and according to the player’s selection of a denomination, issue so many “credits” for play. In this way, machines can adapt their denomination to the player’s wish and reduce the expense of maintaining lots of machines in various denominations. There are also a few “multi-denomination” machines that accept cash and perform the same sort of adaptation to the player’s choices as do the “tokenized” machines.

Pay Table

On older machines, a table will be attached to the machine, indicating the prizes or payouts for each winning combination. Some of the symbols may be “wild” and will pay whenever visible, whether or not on a payline. Video machines may have a “pay table” display button or touch screen option, as well as some sort of listing on the cabinet of the device itself.

Availability

Once the preferred format, denomination and pay table have been identified in a machine, the next matter is to be sure the machine is available. First, note that there is a light on top of the machine, called a “candle.” If it is lit (other than when someone has won a prize), it may mean that there’s something amiss. It may be out of service, or it may be in play and there is a need for change or a hand payout. Basically it is not available. Sometimes serious slot players will occupy more than one machine at a time. So if there is some personal item on or near the seat, the machine is probably taken. Even if there is no sign of occupancy, it is usually polite to ask the person in the machine next to the vacant one if it is truly vacant. This is particularly important on carousels of progressive machines, where some serious players are playing as fast as possible in hopes of winning the jackpot.

Inserting the Bet

Once ensconced in front go the machine, the first step, of course, is inserting the money to make a bet. This may be as simple as plunking a token or a coin (or coins) in the slot. It may involve the swipe or insertion of a player’s card and/or or entering a bar-coded ticket.

Slot Clubs

If there is a slot players’ club (or “loyalty program”), it makes a lot of sense to join it. They are almost always free. These programs were created to keep track of a player’s action and reward it with complimentary drinks, food and sometimes even more valuable prizes. As the edge on slots machines is negative to the player, these players’ clubs are an important way to make the playing field somewhat more even. At the commencement of play, the Slot Club card is used to register the action on the machine.

The Handle or the Button

Activating the machine may involve a handle or lever, as in the old days, or there may be a button to press on a panel below the screen, or the choice to play may be communicated by touching the screen. Touch screens are increasingly popular.

How the Machines Work

Most people believe, understandably, that the payoff odds depend on the frequency of symbols on a reel (for a reel-format machine). Modern slot machines, no matter what kind or format, are programmed by a random number generator in the software of the machine itself. In every second many hundreds of random numbers are generated. The one that is used in a give “play” just happens to be the one captured by the play button in that precise instance. A fraction of a second earlier or later, and a completely different random number would have been used. These random numbers determine whether or not the “play” in question is a winner. (Reels and handles on modern machines are there for atmospherics only.)

If a player makes 100 bets in a machine and steps away, only to have another person insert one bet and win a jackpot, the first player will undoubtedly say, “If only I had made one more play!” (Or, “He stole my jackpot!”). The truth is that the outcome had nothing to do with the previous player or how much had been bet. It had everything to do with the precise fraction of an instant in which the play button or handle was activated.

For the same reason, it is an utter fallacy to imagine that a machine is “about” to be a winner. Machines are never “due.” Each bet is utterly independent of each other bet. A variation of playing on people’s inaccurate beliefs about how the machines work is called “near miss” programming. A machine might be set up to come up with “almost” a win much more often than statistically indicated. This induces players to continue betting on the machine, in the mistaken belief that they are “close” to winning. “Near miss” programming is not legal in Las Vegas, but the fact that it works at all is evidence that humans have trouble believing in the independent outcomes of separate, random events.

The Nevada Gaming Commission regulates slot machines closely and checks machines frequently to be sure that they are not programmed unfairly. Operators are now permitted to reprogram machines remotely by altering win rates and paybacks; however, it is still illegal to modify how slot machines work according to the time of day or day of the week. Slot machine players in Las Vegas can be reasonably comfortable that they are not going to be victims of fraud from the house. More than the existence of the regulators and their rules, the fact that “honest” machines are still so profitable for casinos is some measure of protection.