Playing Slot Machines

CINDY: There is no question that slot machines are the preferred games of casino players. The casino floor is littered with such machines that can go from a penny to hundreds of dollars per spin.

ABBY: I am guessing that just about every single casino player has played some coins or credits in slot machines over the years they have been casino players. I am not a big slot player but over the years I have dropped some coins or credit slips into a machine here and there over time.

CINDY: You are walking through the casino and just for the heck of it, you stop at a machine and play a spin or a few spins, meaning a decision or a few decisions. Whatever happens happens. On a rare, very rare, occasion someone might hit a big one but most players lose and continue on their way to a meal or a nap or to go for a walk. I would guess that the overall result of such “lazy” play is negative for the players and highly positive for the casino. That would merely reflect the world of slot play which is a highly negative world for most players.

ABBY: Such “lazy” players are not really slot players but their money, small amount though it is, will go into the casino coffers and slightly bulk up the casino’s bottom line. Since the casino has a definite house edge on all slot machines, except broken ones, losing is in the cards and other symbols for the players. That’s the way it is for all casino slot games.

CINDY: The slots used to be called the “one-armed bandits” and that title still holds in essence although very few players play those old-time handles of the past generations of machines.

ABBY: Why do players risk their money at the slot machines?

CINDY: Good question.

ABBY: I think slot machines offer the occasion for many players to fantasize about big wins, maybe life-altering wins; wins that can put them in another category of existence – a rich category. That category is denied most people.

CINDY: I guess you can say that slot machines are the casino equivalent of the lottery games many states and countries offer their citizens. The chances of winning? Those would be remote but the fantasy angle is a powerful one and players are lured by it. What the heck; play a few bucks, more or less, and you have a chance to fill your pockets, wallets, or purses or even wheel barrows with unexpected money.

ABBY: Even religious institutions and schools of one sort or another will offer such games as money makers for themselves. Such gambling works in many ways.

CINDY: Is it worth playing these games? Obviously players think so.

ABBY: There is no doubt that the legions of slot players enjoy the games or they wouldn’t play them. Fantasy? Yes. But the creators of the games have added to the fantasy element by making the actual games riveting.

CINDY: Next issue, we’ll look at how the machines actually work, why the caisno wins and the difference between slot machines and video poker machines; tournament machines and the like.

ABBY: Meantime? Good luck!