Shotgun Slots

10 May 2022

By Frank Scoblete

The wonderfully funny comedian Bill Burr did a set about guns in one of his Netflix specials. In it he went to a gun shop to buy a gun because he didn’t feel safe in his new Los Angeles neighborhood.

The owner of the shop recommended that Mr. Burr buy a shotgun because these guns have a “good spread.” Because the gun has many pellets the further you are from your target the better chance you get a hit.

The same could be said – in reverse – for slot machines. The more decisions you play, the better chance that you’ll get some wins, maybe some substantial wins. However, hitting the real target, that is having wins in a session or in many sessions as opposed to a big hit now and again, is not in the cards for most players.

Still, the more decisions and the more machines one plays can be something like a shotgun. The player wants some wins. Playing many decisions on many machines can give the player such wins. Maybe not the “Big A Win” but many wins of some variety.

Shotgun Slots

Shotgun slots is an easy concept. The player will attempt to play as many slot machines as his session bankroll will allow.

The player can play one coin at a time if he or she likes or go full coin except on the multi-line machines. Here the player has to be restrained and not over bet as he or she plays such machines. The overriding concept is to play as many machines as possible. In short, the player wants the “spread.”

Some simple rules should suffice:

• only play the same denomination machines
• if you are a quarter player then you play quarters, dollar players play dollars and so on
• decide beforehand how you will go from machine to machine, don’t just hop, skip and jump in an irregular fashion through the casino
• structure your play for when the casino is least crowded (this might be somewhat difficult on the weekends)
• when you are playing and someone has the machine just pass that machine on by and go to the next machine
• prior to play, count the number of machines you can play in your denomination
• set up your bankroll
• can you play every machine at least once?
• can you play maximum coin or close to maximum coins in every machine?
• your session bankroll is how much you can afford to play, don’t over-bet
• if your bankroll doesn’t allow for playing every machine, you can go to a lower denomination machine or just play the number of machines as possible since the session-stake being somewhat limited

Now We Charge!

Like the cavalry, you will charge across the casino looking (and hoping) for victory. Almost every casino player knows how to hope!

The easiest way to start play is to go to one side of the casino and play across the floor to the other side, then go from that side to the original side. You keep doing this and you can cover a lot of territory. It’s also probably a nice walk. So, you play and get exercise at the same time.

There will be plenty of machines you’ll have to pass by because they are over or under your preferred denomination. Don’t give this a second thought. You have to be comfortable with the money you’re putting through each machine. This is a fun charge and not a desperate charge.

In small and medium-sized casinos, it shouldn’t be too hard to play every or almost every machine in your denomination.

Many or Too Many?

Let us say that your preferred casino has too many machines for you to play the usual number of coins you like to in each machine. What then? You have several options:

• reduce the number of coins you play in each machine
• playing one coin is not some criminal offense, so play one if that allows you to get to more machines
• or just play as many machines as you can at your normal rate and don’t sweat the fact that you can’t attack each and every one

Now, if your bankroll allows you to play every machine at a desired rate, what if you have more than enough money to get to every one? Then you are going to play multiple decisions on the machines.

If you have enough to play two decisions per machine then play two decisions. If you can play 20 decisions per machine then play 20.

Do not play your winnings as you go from machine to machine. If you finish with a machine and you are ahead, keep your win and only play with the original session-stake money.

At the end of Shotgun Craps just add the wins and subtract the losses and there you have it; you have won for your session or you’ve lost.

You can play another go-through if you have enough money and desire to play another session. That’s up to you.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

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