Ask the Slot Expert

My wife, Bobbi, and I arrived at 7:30 AM, after flying in from Honolulu. We got a taxi to the casino, but we got taken through the tunnel. I asked the cab driver why were we going this way, and he said he wanted to avoid the lights and traffic. I told him we always go through the Strip, and his reply was, "You people from Honolulu are rich, so what's another $2 for you." My wife and I were upset, and the tab was $16.80, plus he had the nerve to ask for a "Propina" (tip) on top of that. The porter even said we got ripped off, so we were off to a bad start.

Anyway, getting back to the tournament, out of 280 entries, my wife placed in the bottom 10. Upon registering, once you got your sessions (4) for two days, the machines were assigned to you. Some of the people had around 15 top symbols per round, while others like my wife had only 3 or 4 per round, which of course affected their total score, and they threw out the lowest score. The $40,000 grand winner had 102,000 points, while second and third places had around 97,000 to 98,000 points.

It was an expensive experience for her and myself because the entry fee was $1000, but we had a nice room at the Centurion Towers. The next one I told Bobbi is either a free one or nada.

The question she had after all this: Aren't all tournament machines supposed to be the same? No matter how hard she hit the button, she just couldn't hit the top symbol frequently.

Thanks for your previous advice,
Mike

Dear Mike:

I'm sorry the driver took you through the tunnel. As you probably know, traffic on the strip is light at 7:30 in the morning. The good news is that you paid only about $5 more taking the tunnel than taking surface streets and it's not worth dwelling on.

I'm also sorry your wife didn't do better in the tournament. Each tournament machine is the same, but some people get more jackpots than others. It's all random.

Look at it this way: your wife had a 1 in 280 shot at $40,000 for a $1000 bet. That's far better odds than on any slot machine or table game. And the bet was really less than the $1000 entry fee because you had a room, some meals, and maybe a gift.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@home.com.

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