Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! Recent Articles
Best of John Robison
|
Gaming Guru
Video Poker Anomalies20 June 2004
Dear Daniel, Joe Kaminkow, the game design guru at IGT, was recently featured in an article in the New York Times Magazine. In the interview, he mentioned how long a typical spin takes. I saved the issue but, of course, I can't find it now. I think he said the typical spin takes about 6 seconds. Eight seconds, in any case, is too long. For what it's worth, I know German regulations require that a spin last at least 3 seconds. The length of a spin is irrelevant to your question, though. You asked what percentage of the day a machine is in use. It doesn't matter whether a player has one eight-hour spin or 4,800 six-second spins--the machine is in use for eight hours either way. I don't know how long a machine is in use each day. I don't think I ever asked a slot manager that question and I don't think I ever heard one give the figure in a presentation. I would guess that it is about six to eight hours per day. One thing to keep in mind is that the average is virually meaningless because there is such a wide range of values. Machines may be in almost constant use during busy holiday weekends with players lined up to play machines. On a midweek afternoon, on the other hand, you might be able to fire a shotgun in the casino and have very little risk of hitting a player. The average temperature where I live in New Jersey is about 60 degrees. Knowing that doesn't tell me whether I should wear shorts and a T-shirt because the temperature will be 90+ (as it will be today) or I wear my heavy winter. Many casino exuctives and employees read this site. If any would care to share how much usage their machines get each day, I would be happy to print their answers in a future column. I would suggest giving a weekday average and a weekend average. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
I did a quick search and didn't find a site with Indiana's slot regulations. That doesn't mean the regulations aren't online, just that the site didn't appear in the first few pages of a Google search. My understanding is that a machine produced in Nevada must follow Nevada's regulations regardless of its ultimate destination. There was a group of avid video poker players in Nevada who claimed that they had discovered a flaw in the random selection of cards in video poker machines and they described anomalies similar to those you described. I don't remember whether their claim help up once they started keeping a log. In any case, this happened four or five years ago and any anomaly they may have found would have long been fixed. I suggest you keep a log of the card you get each time you draw to two pair or an outside straight. I think you'll find that there is no pattern to the card you receive. Human memory is fallible and easily influenced. I suspect you remember the situations you described because the card you received was related to the cards you held or discarded. You don't recall the times when the card was not related. I don't think it's unusual that you didn't see any royals on your last few visits. The casino may not have been as crowded as on your earlier visits or the players may just not have been as lucky when you visited. The casino is open 24x7 (or whatever the hours are in Indiana) and you see only a small portion of that. Players are still hitting royals, just not when you were watching. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
Dear Jim, Thanks for the kind words about my column. I'm sorry that I didn't get to your message until over two months after the wedding. According to Skip Hughes' site (www.vphomepage.com), Caesars Palace, Bally's, and Paris all have full-pay video poker. It couldn't be a coincidence that they're all Caesars Entertainment properties, could it? You're going to be busy with the wedding, so I suggest you just play at Paris. You don't want to waste your limited time walking over to the other casinos. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
Congratulations on your retirement! The RNG does run continuously in the background. Strictly Slots magazine publishes the slot payback figures that the states release. In March 2004, the paybacks were as follows for Ameristar, Bluff's Run, and Harrah's: 5-cent 90.8%, 90.4%, 89.8%; 25-cent: 94%, 92.3%, 93.2%; 1-dollar: 94.8%, 93.2%, 94.3%. Ameristar is the winner in these denominations for payback. Factor in how easy it is to get to these casinos, how much you like the casinos, and the slot clubs in addition to payback when you decide which casino to patronize. Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
If I told you, I'd have to shot you. 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. Also be advised that it may take two or more months for your question to appear in my column. 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 |