Gaming Gurus: Latest From Our Strategy Experts

Ask the Slot Expert: My two cents on how eliminating pennies will affect slots

My grocery store had a sign at the entrance. It said they had a shortage of pennies. I don't remember what they wanted customers to do. The shortage wasn't going to affect me. I can't remember the last time I used cash in a supermarket. For that matter, I can't remember the last time I used cash to pay for anything...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Deuces Wild doesn't pay enough

In 1933, The Mills Company introduced the Mills Mystery slot machine. I don't know what was so mysterious about this machine. I do know that it broke tradition for paytables of the era. From the brochure: For 30 years all manufacturers have agreed that Bell rewards should be 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. The Mills Mystery machine broke with that standard by paying 3 and 5 coins, respectively, for two cherries and two cherries with a bell, instead of the industry standard 2 and 4...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Slot machines don't need no stinking paylines

As I wrote in my column on December 10, 2026, a change in the number of paylines is something to look out for when you change denominations on a slot machine. I decided that I would bet $1.50 per spin on a Ramosis' Treasures machine. I had multiple ways I could make that bet...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Rooting against a progressive?

It's that time of year again. I don't mean the holidays. I mean time to re-qualify for upper tiers in slot clubs. Because I let re-qualifying go to the last minute, instead of playing mostly video poker to re-qualify, I'm also playing a bit more slots than I usually do because I earn three times the tier points per dollar played through a slot than through a video poker...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: Should I increase the line bet or increase the denomination?

Modern life has many age-old questions. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is it live or is it Memorex? What was the best thing before sliced bread? When does it stop being partly cloudy and start being partly sunny? Is it better to increase the line bet or increase the denomination? As usual, I let things go to the last minute and now I'm scrambling to re-qualify for an upper tier at one of my slot clubs...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: A better example of the dark side of Quick Hit

Last week I wrote about the dark side of Quick Hit slots and other games with scatter pay symbols. You can land two symbols that are part of a paying combination on a payline and have your payout ruined by a scatter pay symbol landing on that payline...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: The dark side of Quick Hit slots

I made my triumphant, in my mind at least, return to my movie theater after a two-week trip to New Jersey and Cancun. I was very disappointed that none of the theater employees noticed that I hadn't been there for over two weeks. On my way out of the casino-- Let me digress here and mention how surprised some people are at the differences in non-gambling activities offered by Strip and locals casinos...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: A tale of two cashless systems

I'm usually one of the first to try new technology in the casino. A number of years ago, Red Rock rolled out Cardless Connect on its slots. Riding the wave of using an app on your smartphone for practically anything, you could use the Stations Casino app on your phone instead of your players card to log in to a machine...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: I see casino equivalents in everyday things

Sometimes I think that maybe I've been writing about gaming for too long. I see parallels between practically anything in real life and the casino. For example, I binged a Brit game show called 007:Road to a Million a few months ago. I mentioned it in some columns...read more

Ask the Slot Expert: How does a casino determine its return to player

Question: I never thought much about Return to Player (RTP) regarding slot machines. Only when seeing stats a while ago about the various percentages in casinos on the strip, downtown, or off strip, did I realize how little I know about it and am curious. For example: How do casinos determine their RTP, does it change, and if so what factors usually impact the RTP? In conjunction with that, does geography or foot traffic in the Las Vegas area or anywhere we have casinos affect setting a casino's RTP? Does a state gaming commission follow casino RTPs or produce annual stats? Is it easy for a player to find out what a particular casino's RTP is, and if so where would they find that information? Would appreciate information on this topic. Thank you for your informative and, lots of times, amusing articles! Answer: Channeling Roseanne Roseannadanna, "You ask a lot of questions for someone from New Jersey." I have no idea where you're from, but that's the quote. I had a fortunate incident concerning your questions today...read more