Men vs. women at slots

I'm politically incorrect. I think there are differences between men and women — inherited differences, like women have eggs and men have sperm and men tend to be taller and more muscled than women; men have more nose hair and ear hair than women. There are cultural and behavioral difference too, such as male baseball players spit more than women softball players; male baseball players grab their crotches more than women players; men write more filthy stuff on bathroom doors, stalls and glass than do women restroom-goers.

Of course, difference is not the same as men are better than women or that women are better than men. Different means different.

OK, are there differences in how men and women play the slot machines; how they react to the slot machines, to winning and losing money; to the whole deal?

I asked slot players of both sexes to give me their insights into whether there were differences between the sexes in slot play.

"Men play faster than women and they will play higher denomination machines," states Terri of California.

"Women play and talk more when they are playing. It's more of a social thing for them but men are looking to win and that is how we play," says Paul of New Jersey.

"I think more men play video poker where you make choices in your hands than slot machines where you really don't have much to say in how the game goes," said Denise of Pennsylvania.

"Men are idiots," states Margaret of Brooklyn, New York. "They don't have fun at the machines. I don't think I ever saw a man smile except maybe if he hits a big jackpot. It doesn't look like they even want to be there. My husband stopped playing the slots when he realized he enjoyed betting the horses more."

"Women are timid," says George of Long Island, New York. "I see more women playing one coin than playing full coin. Men will be more aggressive when they play in their betting styles."

"Men take it personally when they lose, as if it is a contest between them and the machine," explains Carol of Arizona. "I mean the machine doesn't know you are playing it. The machine has no consciousness. There is no competition of a personal nature but men think there is. Crazy but true from my experience."

"Women are satisfied with whatever comps the casino gives for their play," said Mark of Washington. "But men always want more and think they deserve more even if they don't. They really get into the beating the casinos at the comp game even though I don't really think you can beat the casinos at slot comps."

Nancy of Chicago said: "Women play longer at the slots than do men. I think men get bored with playing slots faster than women do. I don't think the machines hold as much excitement for men as they do for women. So you see men wandering in the slot aisles more than you do women. I'll bet there are actually more women slot players than men slot players for this reason."

June of Boston remarked: "My husband will storm around the room when he loses, as if the machine was purposely trying to make him look and feel bad. I mean to him there is some kind of strategy going on that he employs that is supposed to beat the machines. I have read every book on slots and I can tell you the machines are unbeatable except for those, what do they call them? Yes, banking machines. But you have to know what to look for and my husband is too compulsive to look for anything."

"We are supposed to have fun," states Jill of Los Angeles, "but I really think some people just don't have fun when they play so I don't know why they play. I haven't noticed any great difference between men and women except maybe men order more drinks and women smoke more when they play. Other than that they are more or less the same. Slot players are slot players."

"I play slots to take time off from the table games," said Richard of San Diego. "My wife goes shopping to take time off from the machines. I actually think she spends more money than I do!"

"The difference between men and women at slots?" asked Kelly of Atlanta. "Oh, yeah, there are big differences like, uh, how the heck do I know? I'm busy playing my machine and I don't look around at other players. Who cares about them? I care about my own machine that I am playing and whether the darn thing is treating me right. You know something; they almost never treat me right."

"I play one coin; I play slow," stated Connie of New York, "but my girlfriends play really fast. The married women I know play the fastest and the unmarried ones play the slowest. I really don't know what the men do."