Steve: Hi, and welcome to our instructional video on how to win on slot machines. My name
is Steve Bourie, and I am the author of the "American Casino Guide," which is the number
one best-selling book in the U.S. on the subject of casino gambling and travel. I write a lot
about slot machines, and in this video I am going to explain how slot machines work, how
you can win on them, and I'm also going to answer some common questions that slot players
have, like do casinos really put the best-paying machines near the entrance?
Now, before we begin, let me give you some background information on me and why I know
so much about slot machines. I've been to Las Vegas to visit the facility where the
Nevada Gaming Control Board tests its slot machines, and I interviewed the manager of
that department. I've also been to Atlantic City where I visited the facility that tests
slot machines for the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and I interviewed the Director
of its Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Actually, I wrote a story about my visit to those two places, and you can read it on my
website at AmericanCasinoGuide.com, or just go to Google and type in the phrase, "Are
slot machines honest?" and I'm sure you'll see it pop up as number one or two in the
search results.
I've also visited the headquarters of Gaming Labs International, which is the world's largest
independent laboratory for testing electronic gaming machines, and I interviewed its Director
of Operations about the company's procedures.
I've also gone to Reno, Nevada, where I took a private tour of the headquarters of International
Gaming Technology, which is the world's largest manufacturer of slot machines. Plus, while
I was there, I interviewed the company's Chief Software Engineer.
Finally, I've interviewed slot managers at major casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic
City, and elsewhere in the U.S. about how they decide about which machines to put on
their floor and what kind of payout percentages those machines should have.
So, are you all ready to get started?
Good, let's begin. The first thing we need to talk about is how slot machines work. Every
machine has a computer chip inside it called a random number generator, or RNG, and that
chip is making mathematical calculations very quickly, about 1,000 times a second, to determine
which combination of symbols should appear in the reels.
Then, when you push the spin button or pull the handle, that causes the chip to stop at
that exact instant and choose a combination to display on the reels. This means when you
see the reels spinning, the actual result of what will appear on those pay lines has
already been chosen by the RNG.
So, in reality, a slot machine wouldn't even need the spinning reels to show you whether
you won or lost, but it's certainly a lot more exciting to see those spinning reels.
When a casino orders a slot machine, the manufacturer will have a choice of computer chips to put
into the machine which control the percentage of how much that machine is set to pay back
to the public. The range of the payouts on these chips will vary depending on the machine
and the manufacturer. But it's usually pretty standard in the industry to offer chips paying
out from a low of about 85% to a high of about 98%.
So, how do the casinos decide which machines should pay back around 85% and which ones
should pay back around 98%? The answer is that it is done by denomination. The higher
the denomination of the machine, the more it's set to pay back. If you play a penny
machine, you can be pretty sure that it's set on the low end of the scale to pay back
around 87% to 90%. And if you play a $25 machine, the payback on that machine is going to be
on the high end around 95% to 98%.
If you want proof of this, all you need to do is look at the public record of each state's
gaming statistics. We check with gaming regulators in every state each year to find out what
the machines actually paid back to the public, and we post all of that information on our
website. Just go to AmericanCasinoGuide.com and click on the link that says "Slot Payback
Info." That will bring up a list of states, and you can just click on the state that you
are interested in to see what the machines pay.
For Nevada, you can also get information on a particular city, and if you look at Las
Vegas, you can see that the penny slots returned around 88% while the $25 slots returned around
96%.
Okay. So now you know how a slot machine works and you know how casinos decide what they
should pay back to the public. But the big question is, "How do you win on a slot machine?"
Well, the answer to that is very simple. You get lucky.
Keep in mind that the slot machine is basically just a computer that is programmed to randomly
pay out less money than it takes in. And unlike video poker where there is a skill involved
in how you play your cards, there's no skill involved with a slot machine. It's all luck.
Therefore, when you play a slot machine, you are hoping that you can get lucky and stop
that random number generator on a winning combination.
So, if you ever see an ad for someone selling a system to beat slot machines, don't believe
it. There is no system for winning on slot machines, and if there was a winning system,
don't you think someone would keep that information to themself rather than sell it to you for
$10 or $15.
Now let's address some common questions that people have about slot machines.
Question: Are slot machines set to pay out at set intervals or once they've collected
a certain amount of money?
Steve: No. The outcome of each play on the machine is completely random. There is no
predetermined point at which a machine is set to pay out.
Question: If a $1 slot has a chip inside that is set to pay back at a rate of 93%, does
this mean that if I put $100 through that machine, I'll have $93 left when I'm done?
Steve: No. The 93% is a long-term number and actually represents the results after several
million pulls on that machine. Some days the casino will lose money on that machine. But
on most days, it will make money, and the longer the machine is played, the more likely
the result will be that the machine will have an average payout of 93%.
Question: If I play a slot machine and it's not paying out, does that mean it's due to
hit soon?
Steve: No. Every play on a slot machine is an independent event, which means that its
past performance can't be used to determine its future performance.
Question: If I play a slot machine and win a jackpot, will that machine stop paying out
to make up for the jackpot I won?
Steve: No. Every time you play a slot machine, the odds remain constant as to whether or
not you'll win. If the odds were 20,000:1 for you to win a jackpot and you were lucky
enough to win it, the odds will still be 20,000:1 for you to win another jackpot on the very
next spin.
Question: Do casinos change the payback percentages on a slot machine at the flip of a switch,
or can they loosen machines during the week and then tighten them up on the weekend?
Steve: No. Once the payback percentage chips are set by the casino, they are rarely changed.
In order to change the payback percentage, a casino technician would have to physically
go into each machine and replace the chip. This is an expensive and time-consuming process,
so it's rarely done.
Now, I need to mention that there is a new technology called server-based gaming where
the payback percentage could be changed by the flip of a switch on a central computer,
but it's very new, it's very expensive, and only a handful of casinos have it and only
on some of their machines. Also, the gaming regulations for these machines would not allow
any changes to be made while someone was actively playing a game.
Question: Do slot manufacturers purposely program a near-miss feature into their slots
to make it seem like you almost won a jackpot?
Steve: Well, before I answer that, let me first explain what a near-miss is on a slot
machine. That would occur when the random number generator knows that the player's spin
will be a loser, and the machine is then programmed to show you two winning combinations directly
on the payline, with the third combination appearing just above or below the payline.
This would make you think you almost won and possibly encourage you to play more on that
machine. Actually, there was a story on this subject many years ago on the ABC News program
20/20. I wrote about, and as I mentioned before, you can read that story on my website or just
go to Google and type in the phrase, "Are slot machines honest?" and you'll see it pop
up in the search results.
But the answer to this question is no. Nevada Gaming Regulations do not allow a manufacturer
to purposely program a near-miss feature into a slot machine, and any manufacturer licensed
in Nevada would not be able to do that in any other state.
Question: Suppose I play a machine for 30 minutes, and as I'm leaving, someone sits
at my machine and they hit a jackpot. Would I have won that jackpot if I had stayed at
that machine?
Steve: No. The random number generator is cycling through various combinations at about
1,000 times a second. In order for you to have won that same jackpot, you would have
had to push that button at the exact same microsecond that the other person did, and
it would be virtually impossible for that to happen.
Question: Do casinos really put "looser" machines by the entrance doors or on the aisles?
Steve: No. Like I said before, the payback percentages on slot machines are fairly constant
within a particular denomination. This means you won't find some penny machines set at
an 89% payback in one area of the casino and 98% in another area. They are all set to pay
back within about a 1% range of each other.
Question: When I get to a bonus round on a video slot and I have to choose from various
symbols to determine my bonus, does it really matter which symbols I choose, or is it all
predetermined?
Steve: Yes. It really matters which bonus round symbols you choose. The machine does
not predetermine the outcome, and it's up to you to keep choosing winning symbols until
you pick the losing symbol that ends your bonus round.
So, there you have it. Hopefully, I've answered most of your questions about slot machines
and you'll be a little more knowledgeable the next time you sit down to play your favorite
machine. Don't forget that you can get more information on slot machines as well as all
other casino games on our website at AmericanCasinoGuide.com.
Also, if you have any questions, you can post them on the discussion forum on our website,
and I'll be glad to answer them for you. Thanks for watching, and best wishes for good luck
on your next visit to the casino. http://www.americancasinoguide.com/