![]() Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! Recent Articles
Best of John Robison
|
Gaming Guru
Do the numbers I pick in keno matter?1 January 2007
Dear Rick, Keno machines work in exactly the same way that live keno games work - 20 numbers out of 80 are drawn at random and if enough of the numbers match your numbers, you win. The RNG in the machine is used to draw the numbers, just like the big ping pong ball machine is used to draw the numbers in live keno. The RNG in the keno machine does not make a win/no-win decision. Incidentally, slot machines work in a similar fashion. The program in the machine doesn't decide that it's "ready to go." The RNG in the machine is used to choose symbols at random; if they happen to make a winning combination, so much the better for the player. It doesn't matter whether your picks are scattered, clustered or spell out your name, and it doesn't matter if you play the same numbers or switch numbers each game. Every set of 10 numbers you can choose has the exact same probability of being a winner for you. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
Dear Mark, Yes. And no. It all depends on the promotion. They're rare today, but I've seen some free play promotions in which the free play was on special machines. Most free play promotions today let you pick any machine (or machines) on the slot floor. They're almost the same as if the casino handed you cash. "Almost" because even though the credits get transferred to your machine, you usually can't cash them out. The bottom line is to read the fine print about the promotion and ask if there's anything you're not sure about. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
Dear Jack, You didn't say where you play this machine. Some jurisdictions prohibit machines that pay back more than 100%, some don't. Nevada, for example, has no such regulation, but many jurisdictions in the Midwest do. Just as in real estate, it's all about location. Video poker machines must deal cards from a fair deck, just as if you were dealing cards at your kitchen table. The casino can change the pay table, but the new pay table would then be displayed on the screen. The casino cannot change the way cards are dealt or override the cards that are dealt. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
Dear kenboe, Let me break you question into two parts. First, have I heard of such things. Absolutely. There was a case in Nevada about a route operator that gaffed video poker machines such that certain hands didn't appear with the same frequency one would expect from hands dealt from a fair deck. And this case led Ron Harris, who worked for Nevada's testing lab, to gaff machines himself. And I know of a case in which a programmer for a slot manufacturer was able to get some code by the testing labs, code which let him cheat the machine. So, yes, there are instances of operators (no major corporations, though) running crooked games and of the people who are supposed to be ensuring that the games are honest cheating the machine. The second part of your question is whether these instances make me wonder. No, they don't. I'm convinced that any operator running crooked games or any dishonest inspectors, testers or programmers will be caught. Many states randomly check slot machines to ensure that the program in the slot machine matches the program they approved. Casinos and states check that the amount of money a machine has paid out is commensurate (neither too high nor too low) with the amount of action the machine has seen. Finally, unless you're greedy and stupid, it just doesn't make sense to rig machines. All you need to do is get people to play your machines. The magic of random sampling with replacement ensures that, in the long run, machines will hold a percentage of the money played through them that is very close to the machine's long-term hold percentage. Slot machines are practically a license to print money. Why risk doing something illegal? Best of luck in and out of the casinos, 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 send a reply to every question. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Recent Articles
Best of John Robison
John Robison |
John Robison |