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Ask the Slot Expert: Converting slot dollars to cash

26 July 2017

This week, more comments I overheard in the casinos.

How would you play 1,000 slot dollars?

I overheard this while waiting to play in my session at a slot tournament. The top prize was 1,000 slot dollars.

The game used for this tournament was one of the games in the Everi TournEvent series. It's a game where you have to do more than just hit the spin button. Various round pieces of candy in addition to a star and the "Money Man" pop up out of holes near the bottom of the screen. You have three seconds to touch the icon and collect the bonus. The candies and star award points. The Money Man awards a jump to first bonus. If he pops up on your screen and you hit him in time, you automatically get enough points to jump to first place.

Red Rock uses the TournEvent system in its My Generation slot tournament, so I've played the TournEvent games many times. I've gotten the Money Man many times, but it's always been followed by a lot of lousy spins and I've never been able to hold onto first place.

This tournament was different. I got the Money Man about halfway through and continued to hit high-paying spins of six, seven and even 10,000 points. I won the session.

And the tournament. My first first place finish ever.

Now, how to play 1,000 slot dollars. I wanted a game or games with a high hit frequency to convert as many slot dollars as possible into cashable dollars. I could have picked a penny slot and hoped to hit a nice bonus, but I decided to stick with video poker, specifically 9/6 Jacks. That pay table has an almost 50% hit frequency. I played a $2 machine, hoping that I might hit a quad in the 100 hands.

I did hit a quad and finished with $1,250 from the 1,000 slot dollars. Not bad.

I don't like Deuces Wild. It doesn't pay enough for the hands.

It's true that Deuces Wild doesn't pay as much for hands as a pay table without wild cards. What this person missed is the reason that Deuces Wild pays less. It pays less because there are four additional cards — the deuces — that can complete a hand. The hands hit much more frequently, so of course they pay less.

Redeem your points for play on a multiple points day.

This is a great idea to maximize the value of your points when you redeem them for play. Instead of converting your points to play on a regular points day, redeem them when you get extra points. You might as well get a little extra mileage from the points.

If your slot club does not give points for slot play from points redeemed at a machine, redeem your points for cash (if that's an option) and play with the cash.

Is that a kissing hand?

I was new to playing NSU Deuces. So was the wife of the couple that sat down to play the machine next to mine. I frequently referred to my strategy card. She frequently asked her husband if she was playing a hand correctly.

When she won a hand, they celebrated with a kiss.

On one hand she ended up with a 4-card royal. She asked, "Is this a kissing hand?"

Now, I think the rule should be that only paying hands are kissing hands. But he said, "Sure. That's a kissing hand."

If getting four cards to a royal was worth a kiss, I wondered what PDA would occur after actually hitting the royal.


John Robison

John Robison is an expert on slot machines and how to play them. John is a slot and video poker columnist and has written for many of gaming’s leading publications. He holds a master's degree in computer science from the prestigious Stevens Institute of Technology.

You may hear John give his slot and video poker tips live on The Good Times Show, hosted by Rudi Schiffer and Mike Schiffer, which is broadcast from Memphis on KXIQ 1180AM Friday afternoon from from 2PM to 5PM Central Time. John is on the show from 4:30 to 5. You can listen to archives of the show on the web anytime.

Books by John Robison:

The Slot Expert's Guide to Playing Slots
John Robison
John Robison is an expert on slot machines and how to play them. John is a slot and video poker columnist and has written for many of gaming’s leading publications. He holds a master's degree in computer science from the prestigious Stevens Institute of Technology.

You may hear John give his slot and video poker tips live on The Good Times Show, hosted by Rudi Schiffer and Mike Schiffer, which is broadcast from Memphis on KXIQ 1180AM Friday afternoon from from 2PM to 5PM Central Time. John is on the show from 4:30 to 5. You can listen to archives of the show on the web anytime.

Books by John Robison:

The Slot Expert's Guide to Playing Slots