Ask the Slot Expert: The more hands in the slot pie, the smaller your slice

Question: I haven’t read every article you’ve written, and perhaps you’ve answered this question before.

I have heard that it is harder to win on slot machines with popular names -- like Wheel of Fortune, The Walking Dead, the Elvis slot, and such, because they are required to pay a royalty to the people that own the rights to that name or TV show, etc.

What do you know about this?

Answer: You're excused for not having read everything I've written. I've been doing this for almost thirty years! And based on some of the comments I've received, there are people who think I haven't read some of the things I've written.

Slot machines are no different from other products. If they use a celebrity's likeness, a TV show, or a movie, they have to compensate the owners of those properties. That royalty is reflected in a product's price. Chalamet Chardonnay might command a premium over the same wine in the winery's generic bottle.

On a slot machine, the royalty is reflected in the long-term payback. Slots based on someone else's intellectual property (IP) typically have lower long-term paybacks than slots based on generic themes, like diamonds or cats and dogs. They also have lower paybacks than slots based on a company's own IP, like invading extra-terrestrial cows.

Machines based on big-name properties are usually placed in a casino on a participation basis. That means that everyone involved participates in -- gets a piece of -- the money that the machine wins from its players. The manufacturer gets a piece, Elvis' estate gets a piece and the casino gets a piece.

Years ago I tried a Michael Jackson-themed slot at Caesars in Atlantic City. The bonus round featured various Michael Jackson hits. The casino had the sound turned off on the machine. Kinda defeats the purpose of the branding.

Does the lower long-term payback make it "harder to win?" I'm not sure what harder to win means. Win money on a spin? For a session? For the long term?

It's not necessarily harder to win money on a spin on a branded slot machine. It can be harder to hit a winning spin on a non-branded slot.

It's probably a smidge harder to win money for a session on the branded slot because of the lower long-term payback, but it also depends on how likely it is to hit winning combinations and how much they pay (the machine's volatility, in other words). In any case, it doesn't really matter. Plenty of people have walked away with a profit after playing Wonder Woman, Game of Thrones (Me! Me!), Crazy Rich Asians, etc. Anything can happen in the short term.

For the long term -- only the casino plays in the long term.

A recurring theme in past columns is how changes to loyalty clubs are rarely favorable to the member. Another one of my loyalty clubs changed a few days ago. I wouldn't rate it categorically better, but on the whole maybe the changes aren't so bad.

I noticed a message from Dunkin' Donuts in my inbox. The subject was "So long, DD Perks."

Ugh. Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water and I wasn't going to have to deal with another loyalty program changing on me.

Under the old program, you earned 5 points per dollar spent. You didn't have much flexibility in redeeming points, to put it mildly. When you reached 200 points, they would automatically be redeemed for a free drink reward, which would expire in a month or so. You could use your points for anything you wanted, provided it was a free drink. And you didn't have the option of waiting to redeem your points.

The new program gives you the option of when to redeem your points and what to redeem them for. In addition to beverages, the new Dunkin' Rewards program lets you redeem points for breakfast sandwiches, bagels, and -- Wait for it! -- donuts.

I always thought it was bizarre that the only reward in the old program was a beverage. The name of the place isn't Dunkin' Coffee and Tea.

The new program also doubles the points you get per dollar spent to 10. Good thing, too, because of how much the rewards cost.

My large cold brew used to cost $40 (200 points at 5 points/$). It now costs $70 (700 points at 10 points/$). I could could get tea for $40 or hot-brewed coffee for $50. Frozen drinks and lattes cost $90.

If Dunkin continues offering multiple opportunities to earn bonus points, the new program might not be so bad. If you prefer to use your points for food, then the new program is nothing but a positive. You have no previous price list to comapre against.

Now I'll have to do a little math. Do I get more bang for my point by turning them in for donuts, bagels, cold brews, or sandwiches?

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