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Slot Odds Don't Deter Gamblers

HARTFORD, Connecticut – As reported by the Hartford Courant: "Gene Babik pays $20 for a roundtrip ticket and climbs aboard the slots bus at Union Station in Hartford, Conn., bound for another eight-hour session at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

"Like most, he's got a system, one he works on as often as twice a week. This includes reading gambling publications, watching other players and using his own barometer: A small, battered plastic cup partially filled with quarters. If the cup starts to empty out and he can see the bottom, it's time to shift to another machine.

"…Babik's strategy may be as good as any other out there when it comes to playing electronic gambling machines. Few people understand the odds behind these devices, which in Connecticut are guaranteed to take about 80 cents for every $10 bet.

"…Nowhere in the United States - not at Connecticut's mega-casinos, in Las Vegas or Atlantic City or on a Mississippi riverboat - will a player see the true odds of an individual play on a machine. Instead, patrons are told of a casino's overall 'payout, ' an average of how much the casino returns on each dollar gambled on all its machines.

"…Documents on file in the U.S. Patent Office from a 1984 patent for modern computerized slot machines that use a random number generator make it plain that convincing gamblers they have a shot at winning is part of the business plan.

"…Few people have any idea how a modern, computer chip-driven slot machine works.

"For starters, it has little to do with where a slot is located on the casino floor. The pictures on the reels have no relation to one's chances of winning.

"Outcomes on slots are predetermined - from the number of wins to the number of 'almost wins' that keep the gambler playing. The result is determined the moment the spin button is pressed, not when the video reels slow to a stop.

"…The arrival of computer-driven slots in the 1980s handed manufacturers a huge opportunity: the chance to create even larger potential paydays and attract more gamblers for longer periods. No longer were the number of winning combinations restricted by the number of 'stop' combinations on three old-fashioned mechanical reels.

"'Virtual' reels were created, in which the machine or, increasingly, a video screen, simulates spinning wheels with thousands of potential combinations of symbols appearing. At the same time, the odds of three cherries or 7s coming up changed in astronomical proportions.

"…And that may be just the point, say casino and industry representatives, who argue that playing slots is entertainment, not a calculated business decision…"

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