Classic Mistake Costs Slot Player a Million Dollars at Circa

From Vital Vegas

https://www.casino.org/vitalvegas/classic-mistake-costs-slot-player-a-million-dollars-at-circa/

The article is funny, but it's total bullshit. The RNG in a slot is either running all the time or kicks in when a player puts in coins/bills/credits. The difference in time between wagering one and wagering ten credits would have created several hundred thousand more cyclings of the RNG. So had the player wagered more than one credit, the result would almost certainly not have been the same.

And it wasn't a "mistake" to bet the last credit rather than sticking more money in the machine just to get one more full-credits spin. Doing that can lead to an increase in your losses. In fact, the only mistake that player made was to set foot in the Circa in the first place.

      The event I am going to allude to next is not of the magnitude of what happend @ Circa, but I saw this happen. While playing the $1 - 9/6 DDBL machines @ the Sun Coast about 4 years ago, a lady sat down next to me and put money into the machine. I glanced over and acknowledged her presence and returned to playing my machine. A few moments later, I heard her gasp - I looked over at her machine and saw that she had been dealt a Royal Flush in diamonds. I then noticed that she had only played for $1 dollar. I said nothing, but she then said - "I know better than that",  stating that she knew she should have played 5 dollars. I went back to my game again and as I was thinking about what had happened, she played 3 or 4 more hands, then cashed out and left. -- What happened @ Circa is not an isolated case or instance, for similar things have happened before, some reported and some not. Most who gamble know to play full coin because in the rare occurance you hit a jackpot you will receive the full amount of the jackpot. Others do play at less than full coin and sometimes pay the price of not winning the jackpot. 

It happened to me once, playing quarters on a 3/5 VP machine.  I knew I didn't have enough to play the last hand at full coin.  I was tired, told myself "the heck with it", too tired to do the math, how much more I'd need, and go digging in my purse for enough to make full coin.  Yep, I hit the button and a royal came on one of the lines.  I got maybe $250 or maybe $400 instead of $1000, too long ago to remember.  Kind of felt like a slap in the face.  LOL.

I really didn't get terribly upset.  But in over 30+ lifetime royals, most of which I've forgotten, I remember this one second of all; first remembered is the very first one, since I never thought in a million years it would happen.

Whether by RNG, had I taken one more nanosecond to hit the button, whether digging for enough to make full coin would have made the evening more satisfying, it still stung a little.  

Never gamble when tired!

Candy

Hell, you can also tell yourself the more accurate view, which is that if you hadn't played that last hand at short coin, your result would almost certainly have been worse than getting that royal. Therefore, the player at the Circa could be said to have made the exact opposite of a mistake--it was a brilliant move that earned him $1500.

This erroneous focus on results is why I always think in terms of EV. The true cost of a short-coin hand is about 2% of the total wager. The true cost of the Circa player's play may have been nothing at all, as while the house advantage on the maximum bet may have been lower (like VP, because of the maximum jackpot), the actual bet was much less.

Many moons ago, I played a multi-game Keno ticket at Sam's Town while eating dinner. I didn't win anything over all five games, playing my favorite ten-spot. On the way to the parking garage, I happened to glance at the keno board. Oopsy--the next game showed nine out of ten on my numbers. Had I made a "mistake" by not playing another game? Of course not. If I had played another game, the true cost would have been 25 cents--25% of $1.

"Mistakes" can never be determined by random events. If you drink too much and speed without using your seatbelt, you make a bad mistake even if you arrive safely. On the other hand, if you drive intelligently and get mowed down by a semi, you do not make a mistake.

Same with gambling. Regardless of your results, you either played well or poorly can be determined the moment you hit the deal button, without regard to the results. In this case, playing a negative expectation game, chances are that playing ten coins would have been the "mistake" based on the expected loss.

About 3 years ago we were on a family vacation hiking in Joshua Tree.  One evening we decided to check out the Tortise Rock Casino in 29 Palms.  I went to the bar to order some drinks, my daughter sat down to play on a bartop while we waited.  She is an inexperienced gambler and I wasn't paying attention to what she was doing.  She set the denom at 0.05 ( yes, 5 cents) but did do max bet.  She was delt a royal on the first hand of video poker she ever played.  She happily cashed out her winnings.  I didn't spoil the moment for her, but did give her a tutorial later.

"In fact, the only mistake that player made was to set foot in the Circa in the first place."

This one alone is worth the price of admission.  Kevin, have you considered writing an article that Anthony can feature in the next LVA issue, about how setting foot in most casinos is a "mistake"?   Please consider typing up this "wisdom" so that LVA readers outside of the forums here can be "educated"!   And don't let us down by omitting some choice words about how anyone that disagrees with you is "ignorant", or "uneducated", or one of your other choice insults!  

And if he rejects the article, make sure to post here your evaluation of Anthony's decision!

Your question is nonsense--it's a "Do you still beat your wife?" question. Can't actually be answered, because it contains a lie.

And what is your lie? It's "how setting foot in most casinos is a mistake." I never said that, and you know it. I said that about CIRCA, which is not "most casinos" or even close to that. Are you, perhaps, shilling for Circa?

And I truly hate to say it, dude, but arguing from false premises is...ignorant and uneducated.

Thanks for sharing this article.  Very interesting.  Felt sorry for the guy that missed out on 1 million bucks!

Ultimately, I enjoyed it because it took me back in time to memories of a similar, but laughable,  experience I had with a casual friend about 15 years ago.  I was able to get the last laugh on a guy who was a "Mr. Know it all" when it comes to playing slots.  For simplistics I will call him Billy Bob.  At the time, I lived in Houston.  My favorite casino was in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  About a 2 hour drive.  Billy Bob talked me into making the drive to Lake Charles with him for a day to have some fun at the casino.  The entire trip we talked about gambling, of course. He is an avid slot player. I am a live poker player or blackjack player mostly.  Most of the trip he preached and preached to me about playing the slots, and when I play the slots, I need to make sure to always bet the max. Don't even bother to play a machine if I don't bet the max, fill it up, max coin only, etc., etc., yada, yada.   Yeah, yeah, right, OK....

At Casino.  I go to blackjack. He goes to slots. At some point, I decide to play a Progressive Jackpot Wheel of Fortune slot.  Quarter machine. Jackpot up to 500,000 or so. Don't remember the exact amount.  I know most of you will cringe at this, but please keep in mind that I only wanted to play this machine because it was fun to play but I did not play Max coin in because I did not want to lose my winnings from blackjack.  Just passing time until my friend finished playing for us to go home.  I only played 2 coins.

Billy Bob sees me.  Sits down at machine next to me, and decided to play.  His very first spin, he hits the Jackpot!  Or so I thought, when the machine started ringing and flashing.  Come to find out, he only played two coins!  So instead of $500,000+ , he only won less than $1000.  I could hardly believe he preached at me all the way to the casino, and then he did not practice what he preached!  So much for Mr. know it all slot player!  I never let him live that one down!  🥴