Long-term paybacks on multi-game machines

Hi John,

My wife and I have a bet on the following question:

We play on IGT's Game King machines that offer Poker Games, Keno and Slots. All games on the same machine. The machine has to return a certain percentage of the wagers to the casino and to the players. Now here is where we get into the weeds of our bet.

My wife says the machine will return a certain percentage of the wagers to the casino no matter what game we play, and I say she is wrong. For example, just taking the many Poker games being offered, if I am playing a 9/6 DDB poker game, I know that I have a return of 98.981% with perfect play. A keno game has a different return percentage, as with the various slot games, which are all below the 98.981%.

The bet is, if I win, she has to stake my next machine play with $100, and if she wins, I will have to stake her next machine play with $100.

So, John, how does the IGT Game King machine pay in terms of the above scenario?

Thanks, Joseph

Dear Joseph,

Your wife has to fund your next session.

Each game on a multi-game machine has its own house edge. The results on one game have no effect on the results of another.

A person playing playing the poker game in your example will have a long-term payback of 98.981%. Someone playing a keno game may have a long-term payback of, say, 96% and someone playing a slot game may have a long-term payback of only 92%.

Best of luck on your "free play",
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.