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Ask the Slot Expert: If results are random, how can a slot machine be hot?

26 October 2011

John,

I think your statement about how long to stay on a machine is confusing. You said, and I quote, "If a machine is HOT." Then you said there are random number generators, which means any symbol can appear at any time.

If that is the case, how can a machine be HOT or cold?

This weekend I was playing a quarter machine (MAX Betting) at a casino in Charles Town, West Virginia for an hour and did not win a GD thing. The minute I got up a woman sat down and after two clicks hit a jackpot. Of course, I was pissed.

IEJ

Dear IEJ,

Just because the results on a machine are determined at random, that doesn't mean there won't be streaks. When you flip a fair coin, you will get streaks of heads and streaks of tails. When you play a machine, you sometimes get a set of spins in which most are winners. You also sometimes get a set of spins in which most are losers. And you even sometimes get a long streak of losing spins, like the streak of 40+ losing spins I once had on a machine.

Machines are always hot or cold in the past. We're talking about past performance. The mistake is using past performance to try to predict future performance. Nothing changes from one spin to another, so past performance tells us nothing about future performance.

If I'm playing a machine and I'm hitting something good every couple of spins and my credit meter is climbing higher and higher, that's a hot machine and I'm going to play for as long as it keeps paying.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John


Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.

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