Ask the Slot Expert: Can one slot machine affect another?

Hey John!

Regarding the "what's that slot music" question... One suggestion would be to use any of the smart phone "song identifier" apps. I've used the FREE "Sound Hound" app for some time and it works great. Occasionally, I'll hear a song or tune on the TV (usually in a commercial) that I'd love to have, but don't recognize. I'll simply back the content up (using the DVR) and replay it while my Sound Hound app "listens" to the music. On several occasions, it successfully identified the music, artist, etc.

Love your columns!

Rick

Dear Rick,

Thanks for the kind words about my column and thanks for the suggestion.

Licensing music -- especially well-known music -- is so expensive, I find it unlikely that a slot would feature a popular tune without publicizing that fact. Still, if the Goldfish slots use licensed music, one of these song identifier apps may be able to recognize it.

Jackpots for all,
John

Hi John:

Great info as always in your columns!

Let's say there is a bank of slot machines that is down for maintenance of some sort -- new machines, being reprogrammed, cleaned -- whatever the reason they are down. Is it possible that other machines of the same type throughout the casino are affected in terms of their paybacks?

It always appears to me that say when a row of three Dragon Lords (just an example) is down, Dragon Lords throughout the rest of the casino will give you next to no coins back at all.

As another example, I was in a casino where about 10 Double Diamond machines were down. There were plenty of DD slots elsewhere on the casino floor. So I played them elsewhere in the casino -- several times -- and not one coin came back. I played about 200 hands and not a single coin was returned. I know a machine can have cold streaks, but this was just plain frozen solid. I tried four separate machines -- all the same.

Can this be the case or is this a faulty perception on my part?

Thanks!
Harry

Dear Harry,

Thanks for the kind words.

Each machine determines its results independently, so the fact that other machines of the same type are down will have no effect whatsoever on the machines that are still in operation. Those machines won't even know that their brethren are offline.

Did you really go 200 spins without hitting anything on the Double Diamond machines? Double Diamonds is not a high hit frequency game. Still, it hits more frequently than Five Times Pay or Ten Times Pay, really low hit frequency machines. I've never gone more than a dozen or so spins without hitting something on a Double Diamond machine. It's possible that you just had an extraordinarily bad run of luck. The only good thing I can say about it is that it was extraordinary.

Jackpots for all,
John

Dear John,

A man won $4,000 on the dollar slots and said he forgot his ID and he would give me $500 to sign for it. Security came up to me a couple hours later and asked me about him and the Gaming Commission said I could be charged with a felony for this. It's up to the prosecutor. They told me to contact the county in a couple weeks to see if I have a warrant.

I had no idea it was illegal or I wouldn't have done it!

Please give me your thoughts on this. I am terrified.

You didn't mention where you're located, so I couldn't try to find your state's regulations. I did easily find a FAQ page for Colorado and it has a regulation that states that the person playing a machine is the only person who can receive the awards from the machine. It doesn't say anything about penalties and the regulation is directed to the casino, not the player.

I'm sorry to add to your woes, but I think you have another problem. The document you signed was a tax form and now you'll have to declare the jackpot on your tax returns.

Two lessons: Always know what you're signing. Don't sign for another player's jackpot.

I suggest you contact an attorney.

John