Ask the Slot Expert: More bad luck at a Town Pump casino

Question: I must say I got on and went in my search engine and typed in town pumps casinos stealing money from players and I got into reading your situation and I will never go back to any of the Town pump casinos ever I've never won a ticket there ever I literally just left there and played three different machines on a 50 cent BET and didn't even get it bonus round nothing so $200 that's crazy not even a 3 out of 5 numbers hit. I can't believe that the machines will just take and take and take and steal it from you I'm so mad I'm about to go buy a Folgers can and buy a button and cut a hole in the top and just go home and watch TV put my money in the folgers can. To have not one single return I'm to the end of my wits because this is like the 12th time I've been no one of their casinos in particular because gambling sometimes is entertain but when the house just steals and steals and takes and takes and takes the customer's money that's not even fun anymore it's not even entertaining. Something has got to be done because nowhere else I go will I have that shitty of luck. And having that shitty of luck is giving them too much credit it's frustrating

Answer: Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water, I get another email about Town Pump casinos.

It started with my column on July 1, 2015, Rigged slot machines at Town Pump in Montana? I received an email from someone who was convinced that the machines in the Town Pump "casinos" are rigged. I put casinos in quotes because all of the casinos that Town Pump owns, operates and manages (Montana's Best Casinos) are in taverns and are limited to 20 machines.

Similar to the player above, the player who wrote me so many years ago complained about not getting a bonus round. The player in the 2015 column said that he didn't get even one bonus round in over 400 plays.

That's not impossible. I remember playing a Coin-O-Mania slot a few years ago. I don't remember how much I was playing per spin, but I do remember earning more than 700 points without getting the free games. If I was playing the max bet of $2.25, that's about 350 spins without the bonus.

At the end of the email, the writer reaches this conclusion:

These games are rigged. I'm sure, networked as they are, they are programmed to take input from the main office as to when and how often they will pay, if ever. Employees at Town Pump get to these casinos two hours before opening every morning. I would bet they are changing out chips in the computers or altering the machines to be sure they comply with what the home office has handed down, "No one wins today."

Let's look at these statements. It is true that the machines are networked. There is a players club. Networking the machines is kind of a necessity to have a players club. And I'll accept the assertion that employees are at the casinos two hours before opening.

Now, if the machines could accept "input from the main office", why are employees "changing out chips in the computers or altering the machines"? Why do employees have to rig the machines in person if it could be done remotely?

After a seven-year absence, I received another email about rigged machines in Lucky Lil's, a Town Pump casino (Manipulated machines in Montana?) and addressed it in my column on March 23, 2022. This person claimed to have information about how Lucky Lil's kept track of wins and losses and paid customers accordingly. This person asked me to get in contact with him. I said that he knew how to get in touch with me. "Send me what you have and I'll take a look at it." I never heard from him again.

Then Town Pump made another appearance in my February 8, 2023 column (Limits on machines in Montana). The complaint in the email in this column wasn't about not winning on Town Pump's machines, but on how there was a cap on how much you could win in a bonus feature and this Rose Festival machine didn't have the notice on it that other machines have. Although each machine should carry the notice, if all the other Rose Festival machines have the notice, you can assume that the condition applies to this machine too, even though it doesn't have the notice.

Like the email in this column, the writer of the email in the 2022 column had the impression that I had first-hand experience with a Town Pump casino. The email said, "I read your article and I was so happy to find somebody that sees what I see!"

I've never been to Montana, let alone a Town Pump casino. I've printed emails I have received about Town Pump casinos and commented on the statements in the emails. I haven't seen what the person who wrote the 2022 email think I saw. I don't have a situation with a Town Pump casino as the current writer says.

I don't believe that Town Pump is manipulating its machines. There is no need to. It already has the advantage on the players. If employees are doing something on each machine while the casino is closed, they're probably collecting the cash boxes filled with money and replacing them with empty cash boxes.

As for the bad luck these players claim to have had, I think that it is just that -- bad luck. And a bit of exaggeration and selective memory. Sometimes cold streaks last a long time.

I'd like to hear from players who've had good luck at a Town Pump casino. Please write.

If you don't feel you are getting a fair shake at a Town Pump casino, or any casino, go somewhere else or do as the current writer suggests and watch TV and put your money in a Folger's can. The best part of waking up is having extra cash in your Folger's can.

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