{"id":120385,"date":"2019-12-10T11:09:14","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T19:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=120385"},"modified":"2019-12-10T11:09:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T19:09:22","slug":"checking-the-meter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/checking-the-meter\/","title":{"rendered":"Checking the Meter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve found a bank of four machines where sometimes the progressives are playable. I\u2019m intentionally changing the details a bit because I wish to instruct players but not give away the exact location of the play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is my wont, every time I think the progressive is high enough and I\u2019m the only player (which is a common occurrence for graveyard players but not so common for daytime players), I check the meters. For a machine with one or more progressives, I write down the amounts, $20 through the machine, and then I see how much the meters has changed. If it\u2019s a 1% meter, the sum of the meters will have gone up 20\u00a2. If it\u2019s a half-percent meter, 10\u00a2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then cash out and do the same thing on the next machine over. And then the next. And often a fourth. This exercise tells me a couple of things. First, which machine has the buttons responding the best? Progressives are frequently found on bar tops, and often those have sticky buttons. Sticky buttons are a nuisance I wish to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, occasionally the meters are not all set at the same rate. I think this is probably an unintentional mistake by slot technicians. It doesn\u2019t have to be, but probably is. The slot director has a particular meter rate in mind, and he gives instructions to his techs. Often these instructions are followed precisely. Sometimes they aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Checking four machines before you sit down and play isn\u2019t that uncommon or suspicious. Players change machines all the time for a variety of reasons. In addition, on the graveyard shift, the bars are often unattended, so the fact that you\u2019re moving around is totally invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s assume it\u2019s a $1 9\/6 Double Double Bonus game with the meter on the royal only, and you can find this game on four machines. The meter increases at a 1% rate on three of the machines. On the fourth machine, however, the meter increases at a 2% rate. Further, assume the royal is currently at $6,000 and you calculate that the slot club (including mailers) is worth about a half percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is playable, but there may easily be other games in the vicinity that are better plays. So, in our hypothetical example, if you\u2019re the only person there, you definitely sit down at the game with a 2% meter. If it\u2019s going to take you $10,000 of coin-in to hit the royal (which would be a nice result), you\u2019d prefer the meter to be at $6,200 (because of a 2% meter) rather than $6,100 (which would be the case if you played on a machine with a 1% meter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, we\u2019re in a no-brainer situation. A general principle for most of us is \u201cmore is preferred to less.\u201d Everything else equal, we take the higher meter rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now, assume that there is one person already on the machine when you get there — and to make the situation interesting, that person is sitting on the 2% machine. What now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your choices are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Just sit down and play one of the other machines.<\/li>
  2. Wait on a nearby machine and if this person leaves the machine before the royal hits, pounce on the good machine.<\/li>
  3. Go somewhere else.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Go ahead and make up your mind and then I\u2019ll tell you what I would do — and why. If you want to think about it, go ahead. I don\u2019t mind waiting for you to decide for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My answer, by a mile, is the first one. Just sit down and play. This is a good game. The game is worth 100.09% with the $6,000 coin royal, the slot club adds another half-percent, and the meter-rise is greater than 1%. What are you waiting for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The fact that somebody else is on the \u201cgood machine\u201d is irrelevant, assuming they are playing the same game as you and approximately as fast. You want the meter to rise. You shouldn\u2019t particularly care if that rise is being generated by your machine or the other machine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The meter rise doesn\u2019t affect how well you do and whether you\u2019re the one who hits the royal or not. It only affects how high the royal is when it is hit. So, sit down, hammer away, and if that person leaves, switch over to the better machine. You want that machine to be played. Whether it\u2019s by you or not isn\u2019t particularly important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On machines with multiple games and\/or denominations, it could well happen that the person on the other machine gets off dollar DDB but still plays the same machine (perhaps by switching to 25\u00a2 because he\u2019s lost too much playing dollars.) That happens sometimes and if it does, you should stay if this game meets your definition of being playable assuming a 1% meter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Although I think the answer, upon reflection, is obvious that you shouldn\u2019t care who is on the good machine so long as somebody is, I suspect that many people will have different instincts about this before they analyze it completely. I know I did!
    <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019ve found a bank of four machines where sometimes the progressives are playable. I\u2019m intentionally changing the details a bit because I wish to instruct players but not give away the exact location of the play. As is my wont, every time I think the progressive is high enough and I\u2019m the only player (which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Checking the Meter by Bob Dancer","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[29,2],"tags":[428,196],"yoast_head":"\nChecking the Meter - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/checking-the-meter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Checking the Meter - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve found a bank of four machines where sometimes the progressives are playable. I\u2019m intentionally changing the details a bit because I wish to instruct players but not give away the exact location of the play. 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