The Slot Expert's Guide to Winning at Slots and Video Poker

There's a great deal of anxiety in Las Vegas today. No one is sure exactly where or when this particular situation will be resolved.

I'm not referring to the potential strike by the Culinary Workers union. I'm talking about Megabucks going above $20,000,000 again.

The last time it hit was for about $8 million at the Orleans on March 14, 2001. When it the progressive gets this high, Megabucks fever takes over, play increases on the machines, and people sometimes even wait in line to play a machine--all because they think it's due.

The truth, however, is that no machine is ever due, even machines on a wide-area progressive link. The odds of hitting the top jackpot--or any payout, for that matter--are the same on every spin and it doesn't matter whether the Megabucks just hit or whether it's been more than a year since it hit.

I tell the stories of the time I went over 80 spins without a hit on a Lucky (yeah, right) Sevens machine at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas and the time I kept feeding a machine in Atlantic City while the lady playing the machine next to me was hitting on practically every spin. If any machines were ever due, these two were. The problem, I guess, is that no one told the machines that they were due and it was time to start hitting some winning combinations.

This week's tip: Remember that no machine is ever due.