The Oracle at Odds - Part 3

This is the age of lists -- the top 100 movies of all time, the top 100 books of the 20th Century, the top 100 colleges for academic excellence or bargains or partying, and the top 100 women former President Bill Clinton scored with; plus all those weekly top 10 this list, and top 10 that list and top 10 those other things list. In the interests of keeping up with the list makers as well as the (Dow) Joneses, I decided to list the top 60 questions I am asked whenever I give talks about casino gambling. My list is in no particular order of importance, but these are the most-asked questions of yours truly and the answers that I give when I'm asked them. All value judgments are mine. So if I say this is the best thing, that is just my not-so-humble opinion. Of course, in my opinion my opinion is the correct opinion as today I assume my new identity as The Oracle at Odds -- Nostragamus! Ask and it shall be answered!

11. Does it really matter which slot machines I play?

Actually, it matters very much which machines you play. The fact that a machine can't be beaten doesn't mean there aren't better or worse machines to play and better or worse ways to play them.

12. Which machines should I play?

You have to judge your temperament. If you want to go for the big score such as Megabucks and you don't mind bucking odds of around 50 million to one, then be my guest. You will lose almost every time you go to a casino when you exclusively play those progressives because they are keeping anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of the money put in them.

13. But someone wins the progressives, right?

Yes, once in a while someone wins -- but look at how long the jackpot builds before it is hit. Sometimes over a year. Sometimes up to two years! If you want a chance to come home with some money tonight, I would recommend that you stick to "equal distribution" or "straight multiplier" machines such as Double Diamond. Then only play one coin because there is no added benefit to playing two coins. You have an excellent chance of winning some money on a given night that way. You also have an excellent chance of not losing all that much.

14. Are there really "loose" and "tight" machines in a casino?

Yes. There are also loose and tight people in a casino.

15. Where are they?

They are located in chapter six of my book Break the One-Armed Bandits!.

Okay! Okay! Here's a hint: Where would you put the best-paying machines in a casino if you owned the casino? Of course, you would put them in areas that would encourage other slot players to continue playing or to play at a faster pace. You would not put them in areas where people would get annoyed with hearing slot players yelling and screaming -- like around the table game area. Those machines are usually tight because astute slot managers realize that table-game players aren't interested in hearing coins being pumped into slots and these same managers know that if the table-game player is going to dump a few coins in a machine, he or she isn't expecting to win. So why give a table-game player a loose machine? Why give him anything? Keep those few coins for yourself. Anyway, no one knows where every loose or tight machine is in every casino [even the source I used for my book could only tell me definitively where they were in his/her casinos although he/she stated that the psychology of placement is basically the same for most casinos] but as a general rule of thumb, the areas where slot players will be encouraged to play will be loose, the areas where solitary players might put in a few coins before going here or there to do this or that will be tight.

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