More About Slots

When I write about slots, it appears that I frustrate some of my readers. A typical response I get lists several demands. Following is one of those responses simplified:

1. Where exactly did your “adventure” happen? I’m not interested in telling you that. The games I write about are found in many casinos. Slot club promotions are not irrelevant, but they are not as important as they are in video poker. In video poker, most of the games return less than 100% and you need the slot club benefits to make the game playable. The slot machines I play are typically in the 105% – 120% range, so getting double points for an extra 0.05% doesn’t mean too much.
   
2. There are several hundreds of different slot machine titles around. Exactly what game are you talking about?

   I’m not interested in telling you that either. If I told you the game, some readers would want to know all the ins and outs of playing that game profitably — such as when to get on and when to get off, and how does that vary by denomination and, occasionally, slot club details. However much I share, there will always be players wanting more information.

3. How can a slot machine pay 120%? We’ve always heard that slot machines return less than video poker, and no video poker game (other than a very occasional super-high progressive or a huge casino mistake) pays anywhere near that much. This I can talk about, and is indeed the subject of today’s blog.
   
4. Where can I get more information about advantage slots? Michael Shackleford wrote a decent introductory section on advantage slots in the recent update to Gambling 102. There are several places on X, formerly Twitter, and YouTube.com where this is discussed. Look and you will find what you want to know, but I’m not going to give you an easy-to-follow roadmap. There are already many, many slot professionals out there. If you do decide to go this route, know that there will be lots of competition for the best games. 

In the past I’ve written about the hypothetical “Red Bob” slot machine and how it is played. Today I’m going to write about the equally hypothetical “Green Bob” machine — which is played differently than the “Red Bob” machine. Neither machine is an exact clone of a real machine, but slot players will recognize similarities between these games and games that do exist.

Assume the following about Green Bob: The game has three meters, Mini, Minor, and Major. Randomly the meters grow. Randomly the meters “go off,” and when that happens, the player gets as many free spins as are on the meter that just went off.

Assume further that the reset value of each meter is 6 (meaning if you hit the Mini meter immediately after just hitting the Mini meter, the second time you hit it, you would get six spins.)

If you don’t count the meters going off, the game returns 60%. You get some pays from three or more identical symbols in a row. The game gives occasional wild cards, both in and out of the bonus rounds, which help. If the meters don’t go off for a long while, you will be losing at a pretty rapid pace.

Based on how often each meter increases and how much each bonus spin is worth when the meter goes off, assume you’ve calculated the meters this way:

Each increment over 6 for the Mini meter adds 1% to the return on the game. The Mini bonus round is played on a 5×3 matrix with 243 ways to win. (All pay lines go left to right on this game. There are some games where pay lines go both ways, but this is not one of them.)

Each increment above 6 for the Minor meter adds 2% to the return on the game. The Minor bonus round is played on a 5×4 matrix with 1024 ways to win.

Each increment in excess of 6 for the Major meter adds 3% to the return on the game. The Major bonus round is played on a 5×5 matrix with 3125 ways to win.

With modern slot machines, it is very common for differently sized displays to happen at different points in the game.

Let’s assume that you see a machine with all three meters at 15. It’s being played, but the player is down to only a few credits. If that player leaves, you want to sit down and play that game. If the player pulls out another $100 bill and inserts it, you can read body language to get an idea whether or not to wait.

That is, you can sometimes tell if that’s the last $100 bill the player has just by the way he pulls it out. If it’s a $1 per spin game, $100 is going to last for a while. If it’s a $30 per spin game, $100 probably won’t last very long at all. Of course, if it’s a $30 per spin game and you don’t have several thousand dollars of cash on you, you run a very good chance of running out of money before one or more of the meters goes off.

Since the Mini meter is 9 units above the reset value of 6, it adds 9% to the 60% base level of the game. The Minor meter is also 9 units above reset, so it adds 18% to the 60% base level of the game. The Major meter too is 9 units above the 60% base level of the game, adding 27% to the value of the game. Adding these numbers together, you’ll get 60% + 9% + 18% + 27% = 114%. This is definitely worth playing — if you can be the player who gets the machine when the current player leaves. This is not a time for sauntering. If that player stands up, move in immediately.

If you get on the machine and the Mini meter goes off first (and the other two meters haven’t risen), the game will still be at 105% and well worth playing. If the Minor hits, the play is over. If the Minor hits, the play is “only” 96% (assuming the other two meters haven’t risen), but the typical case will be that one or both of the other two meters will have risen and so the most likely scenario when you sit down is you’ll play until either the Major goes or both the Mini and the Minor go off.

So far, we’re assuming a lot of information. Next week, I’ll discuss how to figure out the numbers we assumed this week.

Over time, the game will return 88% or whatever it’s set at. Sometimes it’s at 60% and sometimes it’s at 120% or higher. Perhaps you can understand now how if you get on and off at the right times, this game that returns 88% overall can be well worth playing.

This is a case of looking forward, not looking backwards. When the Major goes off, you’ll probably collect a W-2G. This is NOT a time to keep playing because you’re running hot. When the Major is only 6, it’s not a play. Similarly, if you’ve already lost $3,000 on the play, assuming you have the bankroll, so long as the numbers are high enough, keep going!