Ask the Slot Expert: Always win at slots

The title of the YouTube video My Son Cracked The Code To Always Win At Slots from Vegas Matt and his son intrigued me. My first thought was, "I doubt it," but I had to watch the video.

The slot that has been supposedly cracked is Buffalo Ultimate Stampede. The game features a Stampede Meter. When a dollar amount symbol lands on any reel, a green lightning bolt goes from the symbol to the meter and advances the meter. The meter is what's known in the User Interface world as a Determinate ProgressBar. It fills in to show how much of whatever it's measuring has been done. When it's completely full, the process is complete -- or, in this case, the bonus round is triggered.

The code that Sonny cracked is how the meter behaves when you switch denominations. They demonstrate in the video that the amount filled in on the meter doesn't change when they change from the penny denomination to the dime denomination. The secret, then, is to run up the meter at a low bet and then switch to a large bet when the meter is nearly full and the bonus is due to hit.

I have to admit I was surprised when I saw the meter stay the same when they changed denominations. The variable (or persistent) state slot machines I've played had denomination-specific states.

A variable state slot machine has some aspect that can change on a spin and persist from one spin to the next. A progressive slot machine is a variable-state machine that we're all familiar with. The value of one or more combinations can change on a spin and the new value carries over to the next spin.

Two variable-state machines I've enjoyed playing recently are Magic of the Nile and Scarab. Magic of the Nile has three different bonus features. Each feature is triggered when the three segments of its corresponding obelisk are lit. Obelisk segments get lit when the appropriate symbol lands on the screen. Each time the symbol lands on the screen, another segment in the corresponding obelisk is lit.

Scarab features special scarab symbols (Go figure!). When one of these symbols lands on the screen, its position is enclosed in a cartouche. Every 10 spins, the cartouches turn into wild symbols for the tenth spin. The cartouches are cleared at the end of the spin. The machine shows a counter (e.g., 3 of 10) so you know how close you are to the all-important tenth spin.

Magic of the Nile maintains separate obelisk counters for each denomination. So you can fill one or more obelisks to be one symbol away from hitting and then switch to a higher denomination and -- you'll have the obelisks filled in where the last person who played that denomination left them.

Scarab maintains separate spin counts and cartouched positions for each denomination. You can play at a low denomination until the tenth spin and switch to a higher denomination and -- you'll have the spin count and cartouched positions when the last player who played that denomination left the machine.

Even though you can't use low bets to get close to triggering a bonus and then play the bonus at a high bet on these machines, a sorta advantage play opportunity is available. You can check the denominations on the machine and then play the one that's closest to triggering a bonus.

The video starts off with their playing 75-cent bets at pennies and then switching to a $50 bet at dimes when the bonus meter was nearly full. After a few spins, the bonus was triggered.

Hmm, I thought. This can't work.

After the bonus, they went back to playing pennies to fill the meter to nearly full. Even though the meter wasn't anywhere near being full, they hit the bonus a few times. Clue #1.

Later they're able to get the meter nearly full at pennies and then switch to dimes. After a few spins, a dollar amount symbol appears on the screen, the green lightning bolt shoots up to the Stampede Meter, and they expect the bonus to be triggered.

No such luck. No bonus round.

A few spins later, another dollar amount symbol and another failed bonus.

Every time a dollar amount lands on the screen and the green lightning bolt strikes the Stampede Meter, they think this is the spin that is going to trigger the bonus.

Money can quickly move from your bankroll to the casino's bankroll when you're betting $50 per spin. A few thousand dollars later, they finally get the bonus again.

The Stampede Meter has the word "BONUS" in it. The letters make it very easy to see where the fill line is and how much it moved after a dollar amount symbol appears.

On their failed bonus trigger spins, the fill line started about 90% through the S. When the lightning bolt hit it, the fill line moved a little to the right and then snapped back to where it was before. This happened over and over again. Clue #2.

Early in the video, they're discussing the Stampede Meter and one of the video team said that the Stampede Meter is "perceived progression." Another person on the video team said that it is a real progression.

No, the Stampede Meter isn't real. Rearrange the letters in BONUS to see what the Stampede Meter really is: BS ON U. The meter does not give any indication of how close you are to hitting the bonus whatsoever.

If you checked the help screens for the machine, they would tell you the meter is for entertainment purposes only.

Actually, Vegas Matt and his son knew this all along. In the beginning of the video, Matt said, tongue in cheek, that we should not tell anyone about the revolutionary secret they are about to reveal.

At the end of the video, Vegas Matt admits that they're a little bit cuckoo and they lost $15,000 chasing the bonus at the $50 bet and ended up losing $9,000 overall. He said that they do crazy things, so you don't have to.

If you want to see more crazy, read some of the comments posted on the video and their theories for why the bonus didn't trigger for so long. (The answer, of course, is that it is triggered randomly when a dollar amount symbol lands.)

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