In and Out and In Some More

24 January 2023

By Frank Scoblete

Slot machines are simple, really; I mean really, really simple. More money goes in them than comes out of them. That’s it, really simple, a very simple game. In and out on occasion for the player, while it is in and in many more times for the casinos.

The casino is the really “in” thing when it comes to playing the slot machines.

Now, yes, very smart people have developed these machines (which used to be lovingly called “the one-armed bandits” because players had to pull a lever to activate the machine and that lever was considered a type of gun to “kill” the player’s bankroll) and computers now run them and run the RNG (the random-number generator – which is actually a pseudo-random-number generator) that determines which symbols will come up on the screens.

In short, a computer program determines when the winning and losing “numbers” will appear. It is all random – or pseudo random.

Players do not influence what the machines will do, nor does the casino on a decision-by-decision basis. The programmer fixes the machine to return overall what the casino wants fixed – as in a payback percentage.

The machines are beautiful devices and they attract the largest number of players of any game in the casino and online. Some casinos and venues count them as 75 to 90 percent of their revenue.

Really. A simple way for the casinos to make money. That's what slot machines are.

They are clearly the majority game in all the major areas in the country too. Think of Las Vegas and Atlantic City as huge slot machines because without those formally “one-armed bandits” these venues would be quite small – or non-existent.

Casinos now need those bandits big time.

Slot machines took over the casinos in 1984 when both Las Vegas and Atlantic City established that they now made more money and had more players than the table games. The rest has been history.

I like slot players; I really do, as they are a curious lot in many ways. First of all, take their patience. They can go losing decision after losing decision after losing decision without going bananas as would most table-game players.

They know something vital to slot play and it is this: the winning decisions are often not fast, furious or even guaranteed. They know that most winning decisions will be for small sums and that they really must experience some moments when a decent jackpot hits the screen. That usually indicates a potential winning session.

A second trait, just as important, is this: slot players have no real idea as to whether a machine they are playing is “loose” or “tight” or “in between.” There is no real way to say that the "Horrible Twins Love You" as it pours out credit slips like no tomorrow. Or that it has a 99 percent return rate. Or that it eats money with a 17 percent winning rate.

Slot players just do not know what-is-what when it comes to the formerly one-armed bandits.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries and bookstores.