Thursday, December 24, 2009

Mall Casinos

You had to know this was coming:
Plans to put a slots casino at a Maryland outlet mall moved far closer to reality Monday night when the Anne Arundel County Council approved zoning for the 4,750-machine facility, breaking a stalemate that threatened to sink the project.
Well howdy... Let's trot down to the mall and play a few slots.

But before you do, learn a bit about slot machines.

First, they have computers in them as advanced as the one you're using now.

Second, how they pay, and when they pay, are strictly controlled by the State and casino master computer.

All casinos, except for Indian casinos, are strictly controlled by the state the casino is in. In Atlantic city, those casinos must pay back 85% of what they rake in. In Colorado, casinos must pay back 80% of what they take in, and in Las Vegas, a dismal 75%. Indian casinos can - if they choose- pay back 0%, since they do not have to comply(really) with state regulations.

A slot machine has two ROM chips supplied by the state. One guarantees that the machine pays off a least one true jackpot in its estimated three-year life. Once a slot pays that jackpot, forget ever getting another one on that machine.

The other chip monitors the machine for its required pay-back percentage. If either one of these chips, or the computer they are in, are messed with, the casino looses its license immediately.

How much does the house decide to pay back? That's determined by the point players start leaving the casino in droves. At around a 93 to 93.5 percent payback, customers will stick around. Less than that and the casino empties rapidly, because the machines start playing "cold".

Yes, a slot player can sense when a machine goes "cold". When a player hits a BIG jackpot in a casino, the house computer - which is monitoring every slot and its performance - Resets payback for all slots to the minimum the state allows, 75% in Las Vegas, 80% in Colorado, 85% in New Jersey. They stay there until the house recovers it's losses. At those percentages, the slots are ice cold, except for the few in high traffic areas the house has set at say, 103% payback, to excite potential players walking by.

You can tell when a big jackpot has been hit... Your machine turns into a nice place to keep beer chilly, and the seasoned players head for the door.

Can you beat them at their own game? Of course. but you gotta understand how the house manipulates the machines, learn when to play, when not to play. for example, never play during dinnertime... ever.



The year the above photo was taken, I won over $18,000 on the slots. I put a bit over $7,000 into them and paid about $4,500 in taxes on the winnings.

$6,500 profit for the year... on slots! But you gotta know the house, the machines they use, and what percentages of profit they are happy with.

Whatever people may tell you, slots DO have hot streaks and cold streaks. And yes, you can have a jackpot follow a jackpot. The randomizer circuits in the machine guarantee that. And rest assured that no casino will ever mess with a slot machine computer. They have no desire to lose their license.

Except maybe for Indian casinos.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Qwertyman said...

The thing with slots is that they will only pay out when they get enough in. You will notice in Las Vegas that the more that play the more money you see coming out. If you are lucky enough to be one of those who plays at the right time, and in the right place then you could be that winner.

I always check to see if a machine is being played a lot and if no money has been coming out of it. An empty machine cannot pay out.

These days more and more are turning to online casinos and this seems to be the future for many at the moment, the problem with the online machines is that you cannot see who/how many people are playing and what amounts of money they have put in. Whether this makes it more dangerous is another matter entirely.