Ask the Slot Expert: A good problem to have

In last week's column, I was playing NSU and hit 4 deuces. I was still playing with money I had won from other sets of deuces I had hit in the past few sessions. That set of deuces raised my credit meter to $2800.

After I got that hand, I thought, I would have a problem if I hit more high-paying hands.

At the end of last week's column, I asked what problem I would have?

It's a good problem, not a bad problem. Actually, it's not really a problem but an inconvenience. When it has happened to me in the past, I responded with Winnie the Pooh's catchphrase, "Oh, bother."

Casinos set a maximum value for slot tickets that can be used without special handling. The value for the general slot floor at the casino I was playing in is $3000.

Machines will reject tickets worth more than $3000. You also can't redeem the tickets at a ticket redemption kiosk. You have to go the cage to redeem the ticket. As I recall, I had to show my players card and ID to redeem the ticket.

I discovered this restriction the first time I hit a deuces hat trick. I cashed out a ticket worth more than $3000 and found that there wasn't much I could do with it.

Machines can be configured with a maximum amount allowed to be put into a machine. On the main slot floor in this casino, that maximum is $3000. The machines rejected my $3000+ ticket. The machines also would not have allowed me to put in cash to push the credit meter over $3000.

There's no restriction on how high the credit meter can go from winnings. Only from money put into the machine.

Thus, "Oh, bother." The only thing I could do with my ticket was to redeem the ticket at the cage. A good problem to have.

Note that I kept specifying the main casino floor above. The limits are higher in the, well, High Limit Room. I've seem players in YouTube videos showing off $20,000 tickets that they're going to put in machines. And I've seen videos showing machines with tens of thousands of dollars on the credit meter when the players begin to play. They didn't win their way to that amount.

All in all, having a ticket worth so much that it has to be redeemed at the cage is a good problem to have.

If you would like to see more non-smoking areas on slot floors in Las Vegas, please sign my petition on change.org.

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

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