Looking for machines that pay both ways

Hi,

Regarding whether or not California Indian Casinos have to report the percentage of payback, I had an issue about this and called the Indian Gaming Commission here in California, and I was told that they do not have to tell us what percentage they pay out. They are exempt from this in this state.

Best of luck in helping those who go in and out of the casinos!

Diane

Thanks for the information,
John

I am not a whiner but really feel like I have been taken on a couple of slot machines tell me what you think the first machine was a crystal 7's machine I have gotten 3 red 7's and 2 crystal 7's which is supossed to payout at 49 times normal pay and got a very small payout it was a 9 line machine.and the most recent was a triple 7 machine, 9 line and I had five red 7's and a triple symbal and it did not payout anything, I am very disgusted in thinking that I have played a lot of slots and these rather large wins did not payout,should I complain to the casino about this when it happens? would it do any good? It just seems like when you hit a large payout the machines arent paying. it was the french lick casino in Indiana.

The best thing to do when you think a machine has not paid you properly is to immediately call over a slot floorperson. Don't do anything on the machine. It's important to leave the machine as is so the casino can see exactly what happened.

Will reporting the problem do any good? Absolutely. Almost every time a player thinks his machine has not paid him properly, it was a mistake on his part. But on those rare occasions when a machine truly has malfunctioned, the casino will make good and pay you what you should have won.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

Hi John..... There are Indian Casinos...and Indian Casinos...some are under state regulation ....some are not .....some are Class 3 gaming and then there are the Class 2 bingo that we have here in south Florida......One of our regular casinos in Broward County...the Isle just reported 92%...we were told the Indians around here are doing 60%....for years we've been doing Biloxi and Tunica and now our local stuff.....we still do the Seminole indians slots like the Hard Rock with bus groups and after 25 years we have just "supported the local community" at the Indians....I do see an occasionally win but we get very little playing money....We can play all day in Biloxi or any class 3 gaming for a certain amount...the same amount will only last and hour or so in our local Indian casinos...Take care....Marg

Dear Marg,

I find it hard to believe the Indian casinos in your area are paying back only 60%.

In any case, Class II machines don't necessarily have lower long-term paybacks than Class III machines. A wide range of long-term paybacks are available for both types of machines.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

I have been reading your comments on strategy for a while, and have really enjoyed your answers to some of the various questions.

I know that it is advantageous to look for video slots that have as many paylines as possible, and to try and find machines that pay for winning combinations that show from left to right AND from right to left, if possible.

My question is as this: If I find a particular machine that I like in a casino (such as Texas Tea, for example), and the instructions indicate that this machine only pays left to right, does that generally mean that ALL of the Texas Tea machines in that casino are also set up to only pay left to right? Do the casinos tend to have all of the machines of a certain type setup exactly the same way, or is possible that I might find some Texas Tea machines that also pay right to left, within the same establishment?

If you could clear up my confusion on this I would be appreciative — it might save me from having to read the help screens on a lot of Texas Tea machines!

Machines that pay both ways aren't necessarily any better than machines that pay only left to right. Machines that pay both directions make it seem like they have more ways to win, but everything has been taken into account when the slot designers worked out the math on the machines.

The slot designers also decide if a particular game will pay left to right or both ways. I don't think there's ever been a particular game that used both pay methods.

You don't need to check every Texas Tea machine to find one that pays both ways — you won't find one.

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.