Can casinos manipulate slot machines
I'm a silver cardholder at a local casino. I play slots most of the time.
List of casinos to play real money
G aming G uru
Ask the slot expert: can casinos manipulate your slot play via your players card?
Can you explain how the following scenario happened?
I'm a silver cardholder at a local casino. I play slots most of the time. After losing a bit, I decided to switch machines and go to the second floor, where the points earned when you play are doubled.
After playing 20 minutes or so, I decided to order coffee from a waitress. She asked me if she could see my card. I told her it's inserted in the machine. She then asked if I'm a gold card or platinum cardholder. I said I'm silver. She declined, saying they can only serve coffee for platinum or gold cardholders. I can have coffee on the ground floor for free from those waiters roaming around with their trolleys carrying coffee.
I asked to see a supervisor. After a while, a supervisor came and addressed me by my last name. I told her I simply wanted coffee. She said coffee will be served in a while.
How did she know my name when I only met her that moment and when my card was still inserted in the machine?
I concluded that, while a player is playing the slot machine with his card inserted, casinos can actually know and monitor his plays and they can manipulate his play through his card.
I see from your signature that you're in manila. They certainly are stingy with the coffee in the philippines -- at least at your casino. Is it really that difficult to get coffee up to the second floor that only upper-level cardholders can have a cup?
You're half right about your suppositions about what casinos can do via your players card. The whole point of playing with a card is so the casino can know who you are and can monitor your play. Some casinos have a system that displays a graphic representation of the slot floor. Machines are color-coded or otherwise differentiated so the casino can tell that a machine is being played, if a card is being used, and maybe even the elite level of the player. If a card isn't being used and the player has played a bit, the system can indicate that there is a "hot player" on the machine and a slot club representative can approach the player and offer a card.
In your case, the waitress told the supervisor to speak with a player at machine such-and such, and the supervisor probably just checked the system to find out your name so she could call you by name.
I've noticed that there are cultural differences with privacy and anonymity. Privacy laws in the united states are lax and most americans don't mind giving up some anonymity in exchange for the perks of the players club. Europeans, on the other hand, have stronger privacy laws in their countries and I've heard some slub club directors say that a lower percentage of european players enroll in the club.
In any case, in my limited training in customer service, I was taught that one way to mitigate a potentially stressful situation is to address the customer respectfully as mr. Or ms. Whatever. There's nothing nefarious about the supervisor addressing you by name. She was just trying to be courteous and respectful.
Let's move on now to your conclusions. The first part is that casinos can know and monitor your play. Yes, that's right. That's the whole purpose of using the card.
The second part is that they can manipulate your play. I'm not sure that you mean by "manipulate your play", so I'll address the statement two ways. First, there's no way the casino can manipulate the results you get when you play -- at least not in the united states. In the U.S., regulations require that the random number generator be free from any outside influences, including whether a player is using a players card. You'll get the same results regardless of whether you use your card. Card or not, there's no way the casino can direct the results of a spin.
Now let me address your statement literally -- that is, instead of manipulating your results the casino literally manipulates your play. That's really the purpose of the slot club. By dangling all these wonderful perks like free rooms, free meals and free play, the club is designed to get you to play more in that casino and less in others and really just to get you to play more period. It's up to the players to not get caught up in chasing comps and gambling more than they intended.
Send your slot and video poker questions to john robison, slot expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.Com. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.
Copyright © john robison. Slot expert and ask the slot expert are trademarks of john robison.
How to manipulate a slot machine
Homework before play
It goes for all games and sports – before you start playing, you need to know the rules. You couldn’t ask two teams of eleven players who have never heard of the rules of soccer to go out onto the field with a soccer ball and successfully play the game, so why would you stake your success at winning on a slot game that you’ve never played? It’s best to take the time out before you jump into playing slots to research what terms such as wilds, scatters, and paylines mean amongst the other facets to machine mechanics and gameplay. You can begin by reading this article on the very basics of gameplay before diving into the many different rules to the many different games. Alternatively, have a peruse of our tips and tricks page for slots.
How slot machine gambling evolved over the years:
- 1887: liberty bell, the first mechanical slot machine with automatic payout is invented in san francisco by charles fey
- 1964: money honey, the first electromechanical slot machine is released by american bally technologies
- 1967: fortune coin, the first video slot machine is invented by walt fraley
- 1994: microgaming pioneer the first online slot machines
- 2007: thanks to the release of smartphones, online gambling sites offer pay-and-win slot games for the first time.
Our 5 best tips for getting the most out of slot machines
Although winning big on slot machines is the purpose of playing, there’s no denying that even if you lose, you can walk away feeling satisfied. That is because each game and each machine has been perfectly designed to keep you returning – that is, the games are designed to be incredibly fun. To get the most out of your slot machine experience, you not only want to guarantee that your chances of taking home a cash bonus are raised, but that you have fun while doing it. To help you avoid the bad advice and myths surrounding how to best win on slot machines, we’ve listed five of our best tips for playing.
Remember the golden rule: fun comes first
It’s always a good idea to remember why it is that you are playing slots. Was it to socialize with other gamblers? Or was it a part of a hidden dream to stake your pocket money in the chance of winning it big? If you are to have a long, successful and healthy relationship with slot machines, your answer should simply be: to have fun. This doesn’t mean ignoring the thrill of playing games of chance or that the social aspect isn’t rewarding, but as long as you are having fun then you know you are in a good place. If your relationship to playing slots begins to change and it feels more like a punishment than a reward, it may time to take a step back and re-evaluate why it is your playing.
Stick to your budget
You may have heard of the term ‘responsible gambling’, and we couldn’t stress any more the importance of this as you seek to try your luck and skill at the slot machines. We all understand what it’s like to set a limit for ourselves, then when it comes down to it keep playing because we think a win is right around the corner. There’s a reason why many terrestrial casinos put atms in the lobby – many of them bank on your impulses getting the better of you. To ensure that you walk away with your head held high and the chances of your fun at the slot machines being sustainable over time, set a limit before you play and stick to it no matter what. We guarantee that you won’t ever regret doing this, because the truth is, there is nothing more slippery than chasing losses.
Ignore progressive jackpot slots
You may have heard rumors about lucky gamblers taking home huge jackpot prizes from playing progressive slots, and that it happens all the time. In reality, progressive jackpot slots aren’t exactly the best bet. They tend to take much longer than people realize to accumulate such a staggering amount, despite there being so many hopeful players who will continue to drain their wallets for the chance at hitting it big. Statistically speaking, you are better off playing classic slot games or even the modern video slot, although the video slot is notorious for offering more light-and-sound entertainment than a return of investment to players. This is not to say that it’s impossible to win big on a progressive slot, just that if you are prepared to make that investment, you might be waiting a long time on something that may never happen.
Choose to gamble online
Most gambling experts now will tell you to avoid playing slot machines at a land-based casino and instead do it online. There’s a reason casino lobbyists are pushing so hard against online gambling in many states – time has shown that the best slot machine experiences can be had in the very comfort of your own home, or wherever you have an internet connection for that matter. There are endless slot games to choose from online, with many of them having more bonus games. Not only this, these bonus games tend to offer more free spins, and in the world of gambling, there’s no sweeter word than “free.”
Bonuses, bonuses, bonuses
If you’ve taken our previous advice of playing online, you’ll immediately notice an extensive list of promotional offers that each site displays. These tend to include with first-deposit bonuses, with promises to match your deposit up to a certain amount, but some even offer no-deposit bonuses too. That is: free money. Despite this, these bonuses may come with certain conditions on how to use it, but these rarely exclude the online slots. It’s unlikely that you’ll find any offers for free spins on roulette or a free buy-in at online poker, but with free spins on the slots, they’re almost hard not to find. If you’d like to check out some online casino bonuses, read our bonus guide page.
3 common myths about slots debunked
As it goes with anything mysterious, many gamblers have come up with tall tales on how to best play different games based on hunches that aren’t remotely grounded in reality. This tends to be most common with the game of playing slots, as there is much more chance involved in games than there is skill than say, poker. Below, we’ve listed and busted 3 myths that pervade the world of gambling on slots.
Some are winners, some are losers
The idea that some slot machines are built to pay out winnings and others are built simply to absorb your cash is pure superstition through and through. The only way to know which slots may be hot or cold is by watching every game on every slot at a land-casino to see which have been emptied and which are hypothetically close to paying out. We don’t recommend doing this.
Slot machines can be manipulated
Despite there being true stories of crafty gamblers coming up with ways to making slot machines act generously in their favor, in the modern world of intelligent computing and electronics, the likeliness of this happening successfully now is near impossible. If you think you’ve got a good idea, think again – there’s a whole industry around the prevention of this happening.
Are you down? Raise your bets
Of all the myths, we can’t think of any more costly than this one. If you haven’t had much luck and think raising your stake is the answer, think again. This is by no means a good idea and will not increase your luck at all.
”the only way I’ll ever get hurt in the casino is if there’s an earthquake and a slot machine falls on my foot”– jack benny
G aming G uru
Do casinos manipulate slot machines?
Last week my wife and I were up at mystic, conn., and we went to mohegan sun. Nice place. We played 25-cent slots only. That's all we can do (oh well . . . Grind players).
I tried to follow all you pros' advice and do one coin at two-coin machines. I tried a couple of $1 machines and lost $30 in minutes. I played many 25-cent slots even by cashier's booths and busy aisles away from the table games, round carousels, although mohegan seems to have tables intermixed all over.
I managed to win over 200 quarters but these were won only with cherries and multiplier symbols (only one triple 7s). No bars. Plenty of blanks on 1st reel. This was just like las vegas all over again last year when we were there five nights. The video poker was $1 denomination and that was a no-no for me for five coins a spin. The table games were $25 a hand. I know how to play blackjack and pai gow poker and caribbean stud but at $25 a shot . . . Forget it.
I just wanted to play these at the real casino but reality ($) prevented that. I've had software at home for these games (masque and bicycle microsoft). OK, at home is not like the casino but in order to play these I have to learn the strategy from the pro websites such as bill burton pai gow, wizard of odds caribbean and others. Masque gives you blackjack strategy and spanish 21 (and beautiful but very tight IGT and bally slots).
To get back to slots. I intended to have in my left pocket the total money to spend on slots and winnings in the right pocket. After the left pocket is empty I would count up the winnings and then a decision to play further would have to be made. That's the hard part when you want to stay longer. However after the way the machines were not giving much I forgot my plan and machine hopped. I was really upset knowing that casinos use us to make 60 to 70% profits.
In reality we all expect to walk out with the session money and even a small profit. That's not possible. But the feelings are there nevertheless. I also like to spend a few hours there. We were there 5 hours. I wasn't steaming per machine however. As we covered both casinos of sky and earth I did not see a lot of coins dropping. Only a couple of persons along the way. I think in your book you say you like to do 100 spins. I do up to 15 before I give up on a dead machine. What am I doing wrong, john?
Win or lose. Regardless of RNG, I believe electronic devices can be manipulated from RNG to the reels. I did not think this when I played. I don't want to be sour grapes. But when these machines are giving so little your frustration can think this.
I don't put much stock in loose machine placement theories today. Most slot directors order roughly the same payback percentage for all of their machines of a particular denomination. I don't think you have anything to lose by playing machines in highly visible locations, but I also don't think you have much to gain.
Keep in mind that the play one coin strategy works best on multipliers. It shouldn't be used on buy-a-pays.
I don't know when or where you stayed in las vegas, but I guess it was one of the high-end resorts. You have to expect high minimums all the time at high-end resorts and everywhere else too when a lot of visitors are in town.
Even though your expected loss may be less at the $25 table than at the quarter slot, you have to have the bankroll to see you through dry spells. A bad run of luck and your bankroll is gone and you're out of the game. Next time you go to las vegas, try treasure island or the off-strip casinos for lower minimums.
I'm not sure what you mean when you refer to 60 to 70% profits. No machine has that high a house edge. It is true, however, that the slots can provide 60 to 70% of total casino profits.
As for manipulation, it's illegal. It's perfectly natural though, as you point out, to try to find a reason for why we have bad luck. Pure chance just doesn't cut it.
Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
john
Slot machine players
Who plays the slot machines? - online gambling
Myth: “slot machines are for old ladies on ferry crossings and caribbean gambling cruises”.
The reel story: gambling and ferry crossings go together like flights and airports. It has been a phenomenon as early as the mississippi river boats in the 1800’s, if not earlier. As the mississippi river connected waterways for numerous trade avenues, many gambling establishments were popular, not only with professional gamblers, but also with many of the cash carrying travellers and traders.
Play online now!
Nowadays, the slot machine is a popular way to kill time during ferry crossings all over the world. There are even boats where the main purpose for the voyage is to gamble, like poker cruises in the caribbean. If the boat leaves a country or a state where gambling is illegal, the casino and the slot machines will open as soon as the ship is three miles offshore in international water. Gambling is always popular on these voyages.
But are the slot machines principally popular among old ladies? A glance at the slot floors in vegas and on some european ferry crossings could sometimes indicate exactly that.
It turns out this old stereotype is still somewhat true today, but only to a certain degree. Slot machines are popular amongst people from both genders and most age groups.
According to recent studies, while about 66 percent of male casino players play the slot machines, totally 81 percent of female casino players choose slot machines as their primary game. As for demographic age, recent statistics published in the U.S. News and word report show casino players having a median age of 47 and a median income of $41.000.
Grizzly_granny says: “slot machines have been a hit among aging ladies for as long as I can remember”.
Keeping it random - how to manipulate slot machines
Myth: “casinos can manipulate and rig the slot machines with the flip of a switch”.
The reel story: we can say it right away: this myth is false. How can we reach such conclusion: let us explain how, in five easy steps.
1: the random number generator. The moment you make your bet and spin a slot machine’s reels, a computer algorithm decides the outcome of your spin through a computer program called a random number generator (RNG). This RNG generates thousands of numbers each second.
2: dividing the RNG numbers. One of these randomly selected numbers is selected for each reel and is already plotted algorithmically into each reel’s stop position. This plotting is the result of dividing the random number generated by the RNG by 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512.
3. Where will the reel stop? Once the RNG-generated number has been divided by one of these numbers, the remainder of the resulting value represents the number of the stopping position of the reels.
4. Recognizing the symbol. The stop number is then compared with the slot machine’s lookup table. That table lists the symbol for each reel that should appear given a particular stop number.
5. Did you spin a win? Then, the slot’s computer chip checks the internal pay table to determine whether there is a winning combination. If there is, the computer further checks the appropriate amount of the winning combination’s payout.
Spins247.Com says: it sounds complicated, we know, but wouldn’t you want it to be?
Slot machine slang: casino words and expressions
It’s not brain surgery, but there are some words and expressions you need to know when playing slot machines.
Reel - the circular devices on which the slot machine symbols are printed on. A typical slot machine has three to five reels. These reels spin and stop revealing the symbols on a:
Payline - a line on the slot machines face, where the symbols must line up on in order to win. You can see how much you win for each combination on a:
Paytable - an area on the slot machine that shows the different winning combinations, what they will pay and how much must be wagered in order to win certain amounts, bonuses or jackpots.
On some slot machine you will also find a “ticking” number which keeps increasing. These slot machines are called:
Progressive slot machines - a network of slot machines that are linked together to pay out one large jackpot. A percentage of every amount played from every machine is put towards one large jackpot. When someone wins this jackpot, the jackpot is reset (usually not to zero) and starts to grow again until someone wins again, and so on. These jackpots can usually not be won with a:
Wild symbol - symbols that can represent all the other symbols, like a joker in some card games.
Slot machine tactics – be a slot room casino slut!
Myth: ”there is no such thing as a good tactic for slot machines”.
Believed by: pessimists, realists and anti-gamblers all over the world, for more than 100 years.
The reel story will devote a double blog entry to the subject of slot machine tactics. Not because they are very complicated, but because they are very important.
There are mainly three things you need to consider when looking for slot machine tactics that will optimize your profit. One has to do with gameplay, one has to do with mathematics and one has nothing to do with marriage. Read on and you will understand why.
1: play with maximum coins
You are generally not left with many options for actual slot machine gameplay. Different slot machines have different set-ups, some with the option to hold reels and spin again, some with extra bonus rounds, some with other odd features, but one option that is common amongst most slot machines is the option to choose how many coins or how much you wish to wager for each spin.
Always, always, always choose maximum coins or maximum stake.
Because when you play with maximum amount or maximum coins, you trigger the full jackpots and the highest winnings. This may well prove to be your destiny when the right symbols on those holy reels finally appear in perfect symmetry in front of you.
Many people in the history of slot machines have been struck by the shock of perfect reel symmetry, only to find out that the full jackpot was not triggered because maximum amount or coins was not wagered. Normally there are also higher winnings to be won in comparison with the amount wagered when the amount wagered is the maximum.
This tactic is of course an expensive one and needs to be applied according to your bankroll. If you have a big bankroll, you should go for the highest jackpot in every spin. If you have a small bankroll, you should find slot machines with low maximum stake/coins.
Good examples in that last category include intercasino’s triple olives 25c and eurocasino’s fishy fortune.
2: find the slot machines with the highest payout percentage
As simple as it sounds. In order to maximize profits, you need to choose your slot machines carefully and concentrate on the ones with a high payout percentage.
You should also make sure that when you find a slot machine, casino or slot room with a high payout percentage, you should make sure their numbers are being controlled by a trusted, external auditor.
3. Be a slot room casino slut!
Casinos and slot rooms are not like wives or husbands, its ok to be unfaithful or even a slot room slut. In fact, we strongly recommend it. We actually believe in this so much that we almost renamed the whole blog “in diana jones and the hunt for the holy reel”.
By spreading your deposits with different casinos and slot rooms, you can greatly capitalize on the bonuses offered to new customers.
Spins247.Com says: the general idea here is to minimize loss and maximize profit while you wait for a jackpot to come along. So… 1: play with maximum coins, and find a slot machine with a low maximum stake if your bankroll is limited. 2: find casinos and slot machines with high payout percentages. 3: be a slot room slut.
How to manipulate a slot machine
Homework before play
It goes for all games and sports – before you start playing, you need to know the rules. You couldn’t ask two teams of eleven players who have never heard of the rules of soccer to go out onto the field with a soccer ball and successfully play the game, so why would you stake your success at winning on a slot game that you’ve never played? It’s best to take the time out before you jump into playing slots to research what terms such as wilds, scatters, and paylines mean amongst the other facets to machine mechanics and gameplay. You can begin by reading this article on the very basics of gameplay before diving into the many different rules to the many different games. Alternatively, have a peruse of our tips and tricks page for slots.
How slot machine gambling evolved over the years:
- 1887: liberty bell, the first mechanical slot machine with automatic payout is invented in san francisco by charles fey
- 1964: money honey, the first electromechanical slot machine is released by american bally technologies
- 1967: fortune coin, the first video slot machine is invented by walt fraley
- 1994: microgaming pioneer the first online slot machines
- 2007: thanks to the release of smartphones, online gambling sites offer pay-and-win slot games for the first time.
Our 5 best tips for getting the most out of slot machines
Although winning big on slot machines is the purpose of playing, there’s no denying that even if you lose, you can walk away feeling satisfied. That is because each game and each machine has been perfectly designed to keep you returning – that is, the games are designed to be incredibly fun. To get the most out of your slot machine experience, you not only want to guarantee that your chances of taking home a cash bonus are raised, but that you have fun while doing it. To help you avoid the bad advice and myths surrounding how to best win on slot machines, we’ve listed five of our best tips for playing.
Remember the golden rule: fun comes first
It’s always a good idea to remember why it is that you are playing slots. Was it to socialize with other gamblers? Or was it a part of a hidden dream to stake your pocket money in the chance of winning it big? If you are to have a long, successful and healthy relationship with slot machines, your answer should simply be: to have fun. This doesn’t mean ignoring the thrill of playing games of chance or that the social aspect isn’t rewarding, but as long as you are having fun then you know you are in a good place. If your relationship to playing slots begins to change and it feels more like a punishment than a reward, it may time to take a step back and re-evaluate why it is your playing.
Stick to your budget
You may have heard of the term ‘responsible gambling’, and we couldn’t stress any more the importance of this as you seek to try your luck and skill at the slot machines. We all understand what it’s like to set a limit for ourselves, then when it comes down to it keep playing because we think a win is right around the corner. There’s a reason why many terrestrial casinos put atms in the lobby – many of them bank on your impulses getting the better of you. To ensure that you walk away with your head held high and the chances of your fun at the slot machines being sustainable over time, set a limit before you play and stick to it no matter what. We guarantee that you won’t ever regret doing this, because the truth is, there is nothing more slippery than chasing losses.
Ignore progressive jackpot slots
You may have heard rumors about lucky gamblers taking home huge jackpot prizes from playing progressive slots, and that it happens all the time. In reality, progressive jackpot slots aren’t exactly the best bet. They tend to take much longer than people realize to accumulate such a staggering amount, despite there being so many hopeful players who will continue to drain their wallets for the chance at hitting it big. Statistically speaking, you are better off playing classic slot games or even the modern video slot, although the video slot is notorious for offering more light-and-sound entertainment than a return of investment to players. This is not to say that it’s impossible to win big on a progressive slot, just that if you are prepared to make that investment, you might be waiting a long time on something that may never happen.
Choose to gamble online
Most gambling experts now will tell you to avoid playing slot machines at a land-based casino and instead do it online. There’s a reason casino lobbyists are pushing so hard against online gambling in many states – time has shown that the best slot machine experiences can be had in the very comfort of your own home, or wherever you have an internet connection for that matter. There are endless slot games to choose from online, with many of them having more bonus games. Not only this, these bonus games tend to offer more free spins, and in the world of gambling, there’s no sweeter word than “free.”
Bonuses, bonuses, bonuses
If you’ve taken our previous advice of playing online, you’ll immediately notice an extensive list of promotional offers that each site displays. These tend to include with first-deposit bonuses, with promises to match your deposit up to a certain amount, but some even offer no-deposit bonuses too. That is: free money. Despite this, these bonuses may come with certain conditions on how to use it, but these rarely exclude the online slots. It’s unlikely that you’ll find any offers for free spins on roulette or a free buy-in at online poker, but with free spins on the slots, they’re almost hard not to find. If you’d like to check out some online casino bonuses, read our bonus guide page.
3 common myths about slots debunked
As it goes with anything mysterious, many gamblers have come up with tall tales on how to best play different games based on hunches that aren’t remotely grounded in reality. This tends to be most common with the game of playing slots, as there is much more chance involved in games than there is skill than say, poker. Below, we’ve listed and busted 3 myths that pervade the world of gambling on slots.
Some are winners, some are losers
The idea that some slot machines are built to pay out winnings and others are built simply to absorb your cash is pure superstition through and through. The only way to know which slots may be hot or cold is by watching every game on every slot at a land-casino to see which have been emptied and which are hypothetically close to paying out. We don’t recommend doing this.
Slot machines can be manipulated
Despite there being true stories of crafty gamblers coming up with ways to making slot machines act generously in their favor, in the modern world of intelligent computing and electronics, the likeliness of this happening successfully now is near impossible. If you think you’ve got a good idea, think again – there’s a whole industry around the prevention of this happening.
Are you down? Raise your bets
Of all the myths, we can’t think of any more costly than this one. If you haven’t had much luck and think raising your stake is the answer, think again. This is by no means a good idea and will not increase your luck at all.
”the only way I’ll ever get hurt in the casino is if there’s an earthquake and a slot machine falls on my foot”– jack benny
so, let's see, what we have: does using your players card give the casino the ability to manipulate your slot play? At can casinos manipulate slot machines
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