Ask the Slot Expert: Explaining to friends why a Bonus Meter is BS

Question: The friends I gamble with believe that the bigger the pots at the top of the screen the better your odds are of getting a bonus.

How I can I explain that this is not true?

Answer: We have to be careful here because every once in a blue moon there is a Bonus Meter that really does indicate how close you are to hitting the bonus.

For example, my old favorite, Magic of the Nile. Certain symbols landing on the screen light up segments on the obelisks above the reels. Every time a symbol lands, another segment lights up. Completely lighting up an obelisk triggers a bonus.

I don't think I've played a machine with a real Bonus Meter in years. I don't know of a modern machine with a real one. Drop me an e-mail if you know of one.

So, how do you show your friends that the Bonus Meter is really a BS Meter?

Watch them play their favorite machine with a Bonus Meter. (No sense investing your money in their education.) Note the symbol(s) that increase the Bonus Meter.

When one of those symbols appears on the screen, some sort of animation usually appears from the symbol to the Bonus Meter. Maybe it's a rocket to a big dollar sign, a rocket to a string of firecrackers, or a coin to a rice bowl.

Does the symbol always increase the meter?

Sometimes the symbol causes a change in the Bonus Meter, sometimes it doesn't. Play for a while and point out to your friends whether the symbol increased the Bonus Meter.

Ask them to explain to you why a symbol sometimes increases the Bonus Meter and sometimes doesn't?

Another question: If the Bonus Meter is full and landing the symbol doesn't trigger the bonus, doesn't that mean that you weren't close to getting the bonus?

One more question: Why does a symbol sometimes trigger the bonus even when the Bonus Meter is only partially full?

Calling attention to all of these scenarios should make your friends question the relationship between the symbol, the Bonus Meter, and the bonus feature.

Of course, you could always dig through the help screens to find the disclaimer that the meter is for entertainment purposes only. The screens about the bonus features also don't say that you have to fill the Bonus Meter to get the bonus. They say that certain symbols "may" trigger the bonus.

There's also usually verbiage on the game screen saying that a symbol "may" trigger a bonus.

You can tell your friends that slot manufacturers are not allowed to lie on the help screens and game screens.

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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