How To Reset Slot Machine Without Key? All Answers

Slot machines have become the bread and butter of most casinos. But they weren’t always. Just a few decades ago, these games were aimed at women and the elderly. Casino managers didn’t take these games seriously or the people who played them. Most of the money came from high rollers at the blackjack and craps tables. This all started to change in the mid-1980s, but those changes really picked up steam in the 1990s. Now slot machines and their players dominate the industry. If you are interested in gambling and casinos, you should know the following facts about slot machines.

1. Time on Device (TOD) is the #1 metric that casinos and slot manufacturers care about.

Casinos and slot machine manufacturers have found that the number one indicator of a game’s profitability is the average time a player spends on that machine. When developing new games, slot machine manufacturers (IGT, Bally, WMS and others) focus on features that increase this number. One way to look at a game with a high time on device is how well it locks a player into “the zone.” This is a state of mind that is all about the player and the machine. According to some anecdotal accounts, this kind of thinking replaces worry about winning big. You can think of this zone as a space where time and normal social stress no longer matter. How healthy is that? I leave that to the reader.

2. Slots are the only casino game with opaque odds.

All casino games have a house edge that can be calculated if you know two things: The payouts for each bet.

The odds of each bet. Most casino games use a deck of cards or a pair of dice or something similar to generate their random outcomes. These are examples of games where you know the odds of a bet. After all, there are 52 cards in a deck, so the odds of getting a particular card are 51 to 1. All other probabilities can be calculated once you know the composition of the deck. There are only 6 faces on a dice in a craps game, so there is a finite number of combinations. Calculating the odds of a particular outcome is relatively simple math. But on a slot machine you have symbols that pay out at a certain rate when you see certain combinations of those symbols in a row on the screen at the same time. But you have no way of determining the odds of getting a specific symbol on a specific spin. Without this information, you have no way of telling what the house edge is. As a result, the house edge for slots is often higher than the house edge for other games. Blackjack has a low house edge of between 0.5% and 1% (assuming you play well). Even if you play badly, the house edge in blackjack is probably around 4%. But the house edge for most slots is 5% or more. And you have no way of knowing if the game you are playing has a 5% or 25% house edge. In fact, two identical machines right next to each other can have dramatically different payback percentages. That’s because the random number generator is inside the machine. You cannot examine it. Some online slot machines have certified payout percentage information that is published on internet casino websites.

3. Slots now account for 85% of average casino revenue.

In the mid 1980’s the casino industry changed dramatically. Back then, slot machines were considered a distraction for women. The boyfriends and husbands were the real players and stuck to games like blackjack and craps. Slot machines didn’t even have stools in front of them back then. They were placed in the hall or near the elevator – the idea was not to take up space on the playing surface. They were in places where people were moving from point A to point B. It only took a decade for slots to start generating twice the annual revenue of all table games combined. By 2003, slot machines generated 85% of casino revenue. By the way, different websites often state 65% or 70%. My best guess is that number was once true, but the internet is like a giant echo chamber. Once someone somewhere has written a page citing a statistic, other webmasters post similar pages paraphrasing those earlier pages. Few online writers spend much time actually researching legitimate print sources.

4. Modern progressive slot machines often have jackpots that are comparable to lottery-sized jackpots.

A progressive jackpot game is one in which the size of the highest jackpot increases with every spin of the reels. You can find 3 types of progressive slots: Standalone Progressives

Regional Progressives

Wide Area Progressives A standalone progressive jackpot only grows when you play that single machine. A Local Area Progressive is linked to a group of other slot machines within the same casino. When you play any of these slots, the jackpot increases for all of these games. If the jackpot is hit on one of these machines, the jackpot on all machines will be reset to its starting point. (It’s a split jackpot.) Wide area progressives are the games that are networked across multiple casinos. These are the games where the jackpots get big enough to compete with lottery games. The biggest example of a wide area progressive is Megabucks. The jackpot for this game starts at $10 million and grows until it’s hit. The jackpot has grown to over $30 million on at least 2 separate occasions. This type of jackpot has a few key differences from the lottery: The odds of winning are about twice as high as winning the lottery.

You can play fast and see your results instantly. (If you play the lottery, you have to wait for the drawing.) Even though the odds of winning a progressive jackpot are significantly better than the odds of winning the lottery, a progressive jackpot bet is still an odds-against-you bet that’s almost understandable Way. The odds of winning the lottery are about 1 in half a million. The probability of winning the MegaBucks jackpot is about 1 in a quarter of a million. Another difference is that you will see smaller payouts more often when you play a MegaBucks slot. It’s a slot machine, after all.

5. Today’s slot machines have little in common with the original games.

Slot machines originally consisted of a few mechanical parts: slot machines

hoppers

lever

Reel Modern slot machines consist of over 1200 individual components, which are assembled by more than 300 employees from design to manufacture and assembly of these components. The parts involved now include items that Charles Fey, the inventor of the slot machine, would not even recognize: bill validators

machine cabinets

Random Number Generator Software

Touchscreens In the past, these games were straightforward. You inserted coins, pulled a lever and looked for a combination of symbols on a payline. Now you have to choose how much you want to bet, insert paper money or tickets and press buttons or a screen to start the game. You can bet as little as a cent per line per spin or $100 per line per spin – all on the same machine. The reels are 3D animations on a video screen, and instead of a single payline, you may have dozens of ways to win (and/or lose). The paytable is also available on screen but you will need to navigate to another screen to view it. And many of these games are now linked to other games and computer programs that collect data that goes straight into the hands of the casinos’ marketing departments.

6. The growing popularity of slot machines was the result of a perfect storm.

Several factors have contributed to the growth in popularity of these games in the United States. Some of this has to do with the economy of the Reagan and Bush administrations. These two governments cut federal funding for most states during the recession. The governments of these states had to find ways to generate revenue without directly levying taxes. Legalizing and taxing gambling proceeds was an easy way to do this. While this was happening, video games in general also exploded in popularity. And since most slot players were women and elderly people playing for low stakes, industry spokespeople began discussing their industry with a redefined term – “gambling” instead of “gambling.” The combination of these factors with the technological innovations that were taking place at the time created the perfect storm that made slot machines by far the largest source of revenue in the United States gambling industry.

7. Slot machines are now legal in 41 states.

In 2000, slot machines were only legal in 31 states. They have since been legalized and regulated in 10 other states. Other states are also considering legalization. But these nearly 1 million machines aren’t the only example of the industry in action. There are countless underground slots, even in states where slots are not legal. These games are unauthorized and unregulated – you will find them in bars, gas stations and restaurants in states like Texas where there are no legal casinos. These unregulated games are often referred to as “entertainment devices” or “sweepstakes games.” In Texas, the slang term for them is “8 liners,” and entire companies (“game rooms”) are dedicated to giving gaming enthusiasts the opportunity to play for prizes that you could easily buy at Dollar General. I visited a game room where you could win a dozen cans of corn or some gardening tools.

8. Slot machines are more popular and widespread in Japan than in the United States.

It seems that more than 800,000 slot machines in one country would set a record. But it doesn’t. It only makes the United States #2 in the world. The #1 country for slot machines is Japan. They have almost 5 million slots games in the country. And considering that Japan has a population roughly 1/3 that of the United States, the number of slot machines per person is significantly larger. There is one slot machine for every 27 people in Japan. In the United States, there is one slot machine for every 350 people. So, yes, we have a lot of slot machines in the United States. But we don’t have anywhere near the kind of slots fever that they have in Japan.

9. Slot machines are more popular with locals than tourists.

Another example of how the gambling landscape in the United States has changed is the rise of local gamblers. Las Vegas’ population quadrupled from 450,000 in 1980 to 2 million in 2010. But 2/3 of Vegas residents gamble. And 2/3 of THESE players play at least monthly for more than 4 hours per session. Many of them play twice a week or more. Neighborhood casinos take care of these local players by offering them amenities that are specifically tailored to their needs (like childcare). Between 1984, the number of local players preferring slot games increased from 30% to 78%. Between 1984, the number of local players preferring slot games increased from 30% to 78%. These factors have made local low-rolling gamblers a more dominant force in the economy of Vegas’ local economy than high-roller tourists. Station Casinos cater specifically to local players in Las Vegas. They are known for offering some of the best video poker machine odds in the world. Your house edge may be lower on these games, but they make up for it in volume.

10. Slot machines don’t actually get “hot” or “cold.”

One of the best examples of player error is believing that a slot machine will be hot or cold. The idea is that a game that pays big is somehow “hot” and will continue to pay out. Alternatively, if a game isn’t paying much, it will still remain “cold” and less likely to pay out. The reality is that in any situation involving random outcomes, apparent winning streaks (both good and bad) happen. But this lucky streak only shows in hindsight. They will not affect future results in any way. That’s just not how probability works. If you have a 1 in 1000 chance of winning a jackpot on one spin of the reels, you have a 1 in 1000 chance of winning on the next spin of the reels – regardless of whether you won anything on the previous spin or not. In terms of probability, a spin of the reels on a slot machine is considered an “independent try”. This means that past results will not affect future results. Modern slot machines use a random number generator to determine their outcomes. This is a computer program that generates thousands of random numbers per second, each tied to a specific outcome on the reels. In the split second that you press the “Spin” button (or pull the lever), the RNG (Random Number Generator) stops. There is no way to realistically predict which number it will land on. The machine goes through too many numbers per second.

11. The majority of participants in Gamblers Anonymous meetings play slots only.

This has been the case since the mid-1990s, which is a notable difference from the decades before the 1980s. For the past few decades, most attendees at Gamblers Anonymous meetings have been sports bettors or card players. This coincides with another, related historical event. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association endorsed “pathological gambling” as an official psychiatric illness. It has since been renamed Disturbed Gambling. Here is also an interesting statistic about gambling addicts. They have the highest suicide attempt rate (20%) of any type of addict. But the percentage of the total population that meets the criteria for this condition is less than 2%. A less severe version of this diagnosis is that of “problem gambling” which accounts for 4% of the general population. But these gamblers account for a disproportionately large portion of gambling revenue – possibly 30% to 60% depending on which estimate you look at. The percentage of the general population engaging in general gambling, on the other hand, has been estimated at 20%.

12. Slots players become addicted 3 to 4 times faster than other types of players.

Several studies have shown that the nature of slot machines and their design contribute to the quickly addictive quality of these games. The ready availability of such games also contributes to this number. Some people are more likely to develop an addiction than others. But some activities are more likely to cause addiction. You could make a comparison between marijuana use and heroin use. One is clearly more addicting than the other. Slots are almost certainly more prone to addiction than blackjack or craps.

13. Online slot machines work essentially the same as land-based slot machines.

Rock and Mortar Slots may look and sound a bit different than the games you play at online casinos, but in reality they are quite similar in how they work under the hood. The big difference is in the technology you use to access the results. Online casinos use the same types of random number generator programs as land-based casinos. You simply serve up your results via animation, which is sent to your computer over the Internet. Land-based casinos use slightly different hardware to give you your results, but the games actually work the same way in terms of how the random number generator works.

14. The nature of slot machines contributes to their addictive quality.

What Makes Slots More Addictive Than Other Types of Gambling? Several factors contribute to this: It is a lonely game. You are not dealing with other people at all when playing slots or video poker.

You are not dealing with other people at all when playing slots or video poker. They are more or less constantly in action. Other gambling games require you to wait for results and place your next bet. With any type of slot machine, the bets and outcomes happen so quickly that they are practically continuous. The average slots player makes 600 bets per hour. Compare that to the average of 100 roulette spins per hour or 200 blackjack hands per hour. (And these numbers are the average for a player with no other players at the table – when there are other players at the table, the number of bets per hour can drop by 70% or more.)

Other gambling games require you to wait for results and place your next bet. With any type of slot machine, the bets and outcomes happen so quickly that they are practically continuous. The average slots player makes 600 bets per hour. Compare that to the average of 100 roulette spins per hour or 200 blackjack hands per hour. (And these numbers are the average for a player with no other players at the table – when there are other players at the table, the number of bets per hour can drop by 70% or more.) These rapid events stimulate and destimulate the brain faster than itself most non-gamers can even imagine. Even experienced gamblers probably underestimate (or don’t even think about it) the effect this type of gambling has on your brain chemistry.

Even experienced gamblers probably underestimate (or don’t even think about it) the effect this type of gambling has on your brain chemistry. This type of gambling creates a trance-like state. It’s no wonder that slot lovers are sometimes referred to as “slot zombies”. You can compare this kind of difference to other forms of gambling to how television differs from movies. Craps is all about adrenaline and excitement combined with camaraderie at the table. Movies are all about entering a dreamlike state. Slot machines and television both produce more of a state of hypnosis. It’s a kind of psychological numbness.

15. Slot machine systems and strategies don’t work.

You can find many snake oil sellers on the internet who claim to have an insider’s view of how these games work and how you can win at them more often. But they are all equally worthless. Many of them like to share the idea that you can get an indication of which machines are ready to payout by the symbols that appear on them while they are idle. This is called a “zig zag” system. And it’s nonsense. The roles are just for show. The actual results are determined by the random number generator in the slot machine. This type of thinking MIGHT have had some relevance in the 1970s, but modern slot machines have no mechanical parts and are not subject to this type of prediction. Other systems have to do with using player error to predict which games will be hot or cold. Gaming author (if you can call him that) John Patrick promotes several nonsensical (and complicated) systems that attempt to predict whether a machine is hot or cold. One of his theories is that you should stop playing a game if you have had 7 spins in a row with no wins. These systems and strategies can be an interesting way to pass the time and play, but they do nothing to increase your chances of walking away as a winner. If you want to try some kind of betting system while playing slots, please do not spend money to buy someone’s system. These kinds of gurus prey on the dimwitted and uninformed. You should not encourage such business practices online or offline.

16. Slot machines have a lot in common with “Skinner boxes”.

B. F. Skinner was a behavioral scientist who studied how animals became motivated when given rewards from a box. He learned through his experiments that animals were more motivated by a box that gave our regular rewards than by a box that gave out consistent rewards. If you think about the implications for a minute, you’ll see the obvious application to slot machine technology. If you were winning on every spin you would be less motivated to play than if you were winning on occasional spins. Slot designers and casinos can test different hit frequencies to see which games generate the highest TOD numbers. (Remember “TOD”? It stands for “Time on Device.”) This type of testing is similar to split testing in the marketing world. It’s a simple task to put 10 almost identical slot machines on a casino floor, but half of them with a 60% hit frequency and the other half with a 70% hit frequency. All you have to do is track which game has the higher average TOD and then adjust the parameters accordingly. Copywriters have used a similar approach to sales letters for decades. They will write 2 versions of the game letter, but they will change a single word from one letter to another. Then they will send out 1000 versions of each letter and see which letter generated the better response rate. They use that as their new control letter, which they have to hit by changing another word.

17. The most popular games ride on the coattails of another intellectual property.

You can find many slot machines with original themes. Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania is a good example of such a game. However, you are more likely to find games based on other intellectual property rights. The most famous example of this is the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. You can find several variations of this game and all of them are very popular. IGT was so interested in the popularity of this game that they even ran a poll to find out why customers like it so much. Here’s what they found: Most people who played Wheel of Fortune slots regularly said it reminded them of watching TV with their grandmother. These types of positive associations are used to create games that are more enjoyable for the gambling audience. These types of positive associations are used to create games that are more enjoyable for the gambling audience. Game shows are a popular source of intellectual property used to create slot machine games. Wheel of Fortune is just one example. You will also find slots based on Jeopardy, The $20,000 Pyramid and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Many of these are available both online and offline. TV shows are also a popular source for slot themes. The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island and Bewitched are just three examples of this type of game. You can find a lot more by visiting a nearby casino. Baywatch is a more recent example. Movies are also ripe for adaptation into a game of chance. Titanic is one of the most popular slot games based on a movie, but you can also find games based on The Terminator and Aliens. In fact, there are countless examples. Even individual celebrities often lend their names and personalities to these games. Some of the most popular are Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton. In fact, anything that interests people can (and probably has, or will) be turned into a slot game. Online games inspired by other intellectual property rights often include superhero-based games such as those from Playtech, which holds the license for online gambling based on Marvel Comics characters such as Captain America and Iron Man.

Conclusion

Common slots reset keys can easily be found for sale on various internet retail sites. But what are they selling for? Who can buy them? And what happens when you use them in a casino?

The use of companion key 2341 is being demonstrated on several slot machines in the offices of the State of Nevada Gaming Control Board. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review Journal)

Technology Director Jim Barbee explains the use of the 2341 companion key on several slot machines at the State of Nevada Gaming Control Board offices. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review Journal)

Technology Director Jim Barbee explains the use of the 2341 companion key on several slot machines at the State of Nevada Gaming Control Board offices. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review Journal)

Common slots reset keys – identical to the ones that resulted in a Reno casino being hit with a $1 million gambling fine – are easily found for sale on various internet sites.

How simple?

The Las Vegas Review-Journal bought two of the keys — often referred to as 2341 slot reset/companion keys — from an eBay seller in Winona, Minnesota for $12.44, including shipping and handling.

But was the transaction a waste of money?

The key is a common tool used by slot machine technicians to gather information or

Reset a game after confirming a large jackpot. Most keys are generic and will work on all makes of slot machines.

The key allows someone with intricate knowledge of the inner workings of a typical slot machine to view the settings for the hold percentage, game history, and payouts on the game screen. Gaming regulators require 30 different technical standards to be displayed when the 2341 key is inserted on the side of a slot machine.

But the key can’t change the outcome of a game – it won’t line up three sevens or program a jackpot.

“This key cannot access the brain box of a slot machine,” said Gaming Control Board Chairman, A.G. Burnett, told the Nevada Gaming Commission on Feb. 20 was caught using a 2341 key to steal proprietary information such as slot hold percentages from 11 competing northern Nevada casinos.

Jim Barbee, head of the Control Board’s technology division, said that state regulations require a casino to make some level of hardware or software changes in order to change a game’s odds. This task involves opening a slot machine to get to its inner workings.

Key 2341 cannot do this.

“That requires a very different key that needs to be signed off by security,” Barbee said. “There are different levels of security to get in there. The 2341 key cannot affect the game itself.”

“THE HEX KEY” OF THE GAME

The reset buttons for slot machines were considered a harmless tool of the gaming industry until the Peppermill situation.

A 2341 key can be used on slot machines manufactured by International Game Technology, Bally Technologies, WMS Industries and others.

“It’s like the Allen key of the gaming industry,” said IGT Product Management Director Jacob Lanning. “It is useful for the operator. But beyond that, I’m not sure what other use it could have.”

During the Peppermill hearing, Gaming Commissioner Tony Alamo Jr. said he was amazed to learn that “70 to 75 percent of all slots in Nevada select the same key. In fact, some manufacturers are 100 percent.”

Barbee said slot machines are shipped to casinos with care packages, which are backup equipment and supplies including components for the machines. The packages often contain four 2341 keys. In the Control Board’s device testing lab, Barbee displayed a coffee can containing several dozen 2341 keys.

The key has been in use for decades.

“A casino can have 1,500 or 2,000 slot machines,” Barbee said. “Multiply that by four. There are many keys out there.”

So it was no surprise that Ryan Tors, a business analyst for Peppermill, owned a 2341 key.

With the full knowledge and support of Peppermill management, Tors used the key to access competing slots at the Grand Sierra last summer. However, he was caught by casino security. A subsequent Control Board investigation found that Tors had collected information from 10 other casinos in northern Nevada since 2011.

The three-count complaint said the Peppermill was operating improperly and the casino agreed to pay the $1 million fine. Las Vegas gaming attorney Frank Schreck told the Gambling Commission that the Peppermill never used the slot machine information “to gain a competitive advantage. It should satisfy curiosity.”

The action was also not punishable. Schreck said the Washoe County Attorney’s Office reviewed the case and declined to prosecute Tors and the Peppermill.

But would it be illegal for a customer to use a 2341 key in a Nevada casino?

No, said Burnett.

However, if caught, he said the casino should escort the customer off the property.

KEYS FOR SALE IN ABUNDANCE ONLINE

It is not illegal to sell the 2341 keys online, nor is it illegal to buy them.

The Peppermill events have brought increased attention to the 2341 key and its availability to the public.

Last week eBay had 11 listings for 2341 keys.

The Tuohy Media operator, who sold the 2341 keys to the review journal, declined a telephone interview request. In an email exchange, the Tuohy Media operator explained what the keys were used for, but did not say how he obtained them or why he sold them.

Burnett said the Control Board had begun investigating how the 2341 keys would come online.

“We can’t monitor eBay, but we want to know how they got out there and who got them out there,” Burnett said. “It’s important to understand what the keys can and can’t do.”

The Peppermill situation prompted the Control Board to issue an industry memo on February 25, urging casino operators to tighten control over who has access to the 2341 keys.

In the notice, Control Board member Terry Johnson said the keys should be restricted “to an authorized employee of Licensee and to Licensee’s own gaming operation.”

Casino operators have also been told to monitor their gaming devices more closely to ensure only authorized personnel are using the keys.

“This key must not be used by non-employees; Make sure your surveillance standards are up to date and that you cite (for trespassing) or anyone caught with the key,” Burnett told the commission.

USE IN A “PRECAUTIOUS WAY”

Casino operators and slot machine manufacturers were reluctant to discuss the 2341 keys after the Peppermill incident.

Several casino companies turned down requests to use a 2341 key bought on eBay on a slot machine on their floor while security guards and a state gaming agent were present.

Bally Technologies officials declined to comment on the keys, citing the Peppermill situation.

Lanning said IGT provides casino operators with the key “to be used sensibly”.

Lanning, who worked in slots operations at several strip casinos, said he “didn’t see the value” of the key to a slots customer.

Burnett said slot machine manufacturers are concerned about the integrity of the games. The Peppermill affair “just went over the limit.”

Barbee allowed the Review-Journal to test the key on slot machines from various companies at the Control Board’s Las Vegas lab.

He does not consider the key a risk to the integrity of a slot machine.

“Improper use could pose a risk to the integrity of gaming in general,” Barbee said, “a case in point being what happened with the Peppermill recently.”

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at [email protected] or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.

A Pachislo slot machine is an authentic Japanese slot machine used in Japanese casinos. Pachislos work with tokens rather than coins. This is because gambling is illegal in Japan. These tokens can be exchanged for prizes. The reels are stopped using the 3 buttons on the front of the machine, which is why it is called the Skill Stop machine. However, it still takes more luck than skill to hit a jackpot, as these machines seem to have a mind of their own. entertainment machine

In Japan, each casino is only allowed to use the machines for 2 years and then has to take them out. Although they have up to 2 years to use each machine, they don’t always take full time. Because of this, some machines are practically brand new when you receive them. Pachislo machines are a great way to entertain your friends and family. These are high quality backlit machines with brilliant flashing lights and electronic sounds. Depending on the model, some have animated LCD or LED displays or video screens. Pachislo are very collectible. Their small size (81cm x 47.5cm x 42.5cm), stylish design and addictive gameplay make them ideal as a centerpiece in any interior. They weigh about 45 kilos.

View our Pachislo Each Pachislo comes with:

250 tokens one original coin case door key adjustment button volume control 240 volt power supply English manual 6 months warranty What is Pachinko?

Introduction to how slot machines work

A common search by novice slots enthusiasts is the simple question of how slots work. This post answers that question for you. Enjoy!

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Read on… or watch instead!

duty light

A slot machine operating light is generally located at the top of a slot machine for easy viewing by casino employees. Because of this top position, it is also known as a candlestick in slot terminology.

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Slots players can turn on the service light by pressing the service button on the player console. Or it activates by itself when the player wins a hand jackpot or the slot machine develops a service error. Errors can include out of paper, full deposit status, mechanical or electronic tampering, or an internal electronic error like CPU overheating, etc.

Modern casinos have a timeslot attendant call/dispatcher communication system that uses a headset and microphone. This setup is helpful for spotting problems on the casino floor. An activated service light automatically notifies the casino operating system. The casino dispatcher then notifies the slot supervisor responsible for that section of the casino.

Once the notification has been sent, a lit candle is of little practical use. At best, it directs the answering slot attendant the last few yards to the customer who needs attention, and also gives some reassurance to the waiting customer.

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Slots players can activate the candle for a variety of reasons. They generally do this to intentionally summon a slot companion to their location for a variety of reasons, limited only by the imagination.

Pro tip #1: duty light

Sometimes slot players need to step away from a slot machine but don’t want to give it to someone else. If this pause is relatively short, e.g. B. 10-15 minutes, use the service button to call a slot operator. The slot machine operator may temporarily block the slot machine at the player’s request.

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The slot can later be unlocked by the player just by inserting their service card… or after 10-15 minutes when the temporary lock expires automatically. Check with a slot operator at your casino for the exact duration of the blackout period.

Bonus display area

When a bonus round is available for a particular slot, it often has a secondary display area. Video slots can use the same primary display screen but abruptly display the bonus round game theme instead. However, video slots mostly have a secondary screen available for bonus rounds.

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The bonus display area is optional and depends on the specific slot machine model. The location of this bonus indicator varies. Most of the time it’s high up on the slot machine to be seen by other players from afar.

Casinos make up for their losses by offering slot machines with bonus round displays visible from afar. Honestly, winnings on these highly visible and usually loud bonus displays are seen by many. This obvious win encourages other casino guests to play slot machines.

Pro Tip #2: Bonus Round

Bonus rounds generally cannot be activated unless the maximum bankroll of that slot is wagered. By not betting the maximum bankroll, the player automatically reduces their chances of winning.

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If betting max credits on a slot machine of a certain value is not affordable, choose another affordable slot machine. I discuss this approach in detail under Slot Selection.

Pay table area

The Paytable area lists information about the jackpot amounts for specific reel combinations. It can also display some or all of the game’s theme rules. This area may be permanently displayed on the slot machine or may only be available via an interactive series of images available via touch screen.

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In both cases, all possible wins may or may not be displayed. Sometimes the list is heavily abbreviated, showing only the highest jackpots due to space constraints. In other cases, mainly on touchscreen displays, a series of images can be toggled to show each possible winning combination.

However, paytables usually offer the highest value jackpot. Slot themes with multipliers or “wild” reel symbols have their highest jackpots, which are the result of these reel symbols. Alternatively, not all multipliers or “wild” symbols may appear in the pay reel combinations tabular list. Instead, they can be written at the edge of the pay table interface area.

But with large touch screens has come the ability to provide full information on the paytables along with game theme rules. Some slots now have this feature and maybe there will be more in the future.

Many paytables show the number of credits that would be won for a specific combination of reel symbols. Or they can show an amount of money. In any case, these tables have separate columns for winning combinations based on how many credits are wagered. The rightmost column usually shows the winning jackpots available when betting the maximum bankroll.

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Some examples of credit and denomination combinations are:

1-credit slot machines with a face value of $100

3-credit slot machines with a face value of $5

“Quarter Slots” with 5 credits and a face value of $0.25

“Penny Slots” with 300 credits have a face value of $0.01

Pro Tip #3: Paytables

In all honesty, learning the paytable of every slot machine you play is a relatively easy way to improve your chances of winning at slots. Many typical slots players believe that no skill is required when playing slots. Casinos gently encourage this misconception as it is to their advantage. Don’t fall for it.

Traditionally, slot players have found it acceptable to play slot machines with visually concise paytables. Frankly, casinos would instead let their customers spend their time playing a game they don’t understand.

The casino makes no money if a player spends time studying or reading until he understands instead of playing the machine.

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An easy skill to learn to improve your odds at slots is to choose which slots to play based on their paytables. I discuss this in detail when choosing slot machines.

Players Club area

The Players Club section contains a card reader, a numbered keyboard and a small display. A security feature of player club cards is that players choose a PIN which they must enter when accessing their player account.

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Newer slot machines have a touchscreen display, eliminating the need for a physical keyboard. That means it’s part of the touchscreen display.

Bets can be placed on a slot machine without the player’s club card. This is usually not required at most casinos. The PIN is also not required to play the device or view basic information. For example, a running total of reward points earned during the current game session is generally displayed.

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However, the PIN is required to:

Accessing certain parts of the player’s casino account

transfer bank balance

Activate the “Free Spins” provided by the casino as a free gift.

result area

In the results interface area, the reel combinations are displayed after placing a bet. Whether it’s a video slot machine or a physical reel slot machine, the results of a bet are provided here.

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Interpreting whether a reel combination is a win requires an understanding of the paytable. This result is fundamental to how slot machines work.

Of course, the slot machine immediately displays the results. A small display under the reels shows:

the total amount of money or credit available in the machine

how many credits were last set

the jackpot amount won, if any

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Jackpots are usually credits, with each credit equal to the face value of the machine rather than the bet amount and an amount of money.

player console

The Play Console typically has physical buttons, a cash/ticket reader, and a ticket printer. The buttons include:

Cash Out for requesting removal of player funds from the machine

Casino Attendant Request Service

A set of buttons for selecting the number of credits to bet or placing the maximum possible bet

Cash Out to remove remaining bankroll

Repeat the process to place another bet for the same credit(s).

Denomination to select a specific betting denomination (optional)

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The player console may have several possible button configurations depending on the slot machine model. Given how often game themes are switched to maintain player interest over time, it is common for player consoles to become standardized across many machines within a casino.

Also, it’s common for consoles to have embedded displays that are visible through their semi-transparent button covers. This row of small screens is linked together to show visually stunning composite images displayed across the entire row of buttons.

Ticket in, ticket out (TITO)

At the beginning of the 21st century, the use of coins was removed from casinos. This removal was done for the convenience of both the casino and customers. Both had problems with handling so many coins. customers due to the difficulties associated with carrying so much weight, but also delays in playing due to full (or empty) slot machine coin cups.

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Casinos have also had issues with coins, including customer complaints of delays caused by a full (or empty) slot machine coin hopper. This inconvenience was a coin logistics issue, which also included higher costs of maintaining a larger vault and coin processing equipment and services. As casinos became more popular, coins became more difficult for everyone.

As a result, ticket-in, ticket-out technology was pulled into casinos. They are now an integral part of how slots work. This automation is the same technology that was seen in automatic teller machines (ATMs). Once proven, this slots technology was here to stay, like so many others.

Summary of how slot machines work

These are the operational components of a slot machine from a slot enthusiast’s point of view. This explanation covers the various player interface areas on the face of a typical slot machine.

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Related articles by Professor Slots

Other items from Professor Slots

If you’ve been playing slots long enough, you’ve probably seen a slot attendant come up to a player (maybe even you) and ask if there’s a problem. Most of the time they will point to the top of the machine to indicate that the reason they stopped by was a flashing light, in this case an indication that the service button was pressed.

Many players don’t even notice these two lights at the top of many slot machines, sometimes called candles, which are far enough away not to disturb players but can provide useful information to slot technicians and other team members.

Since these lights are standardized across casino floors across America, it’s not really a secret what they indicate. And despite the fact that modern systems can alert slot technicians on devices like phones, regulations still require these candles to be in place for a quick view of the playing surface.

If you’ve ever wondered what they can indicate, here are some facts about them that might make you notice them on your next visit:

First of all, the lower half is sometimes found in different colors. This is to indicate the machine’s lowest default:

White = penny

Red = Nickel

Yellow = Quarter

Gold or Orange = fifty cents

Blue = One dollar

The lowest preset denomination aspect is important as many machines today have multiple denominations.

Generally, when you hit that serve light, or a player in front of you, the top white light comes on and stays on. If you press the service button again, the light will turn off.

What if you see the bottom light blinking? That is, the machine has been opened or looked at in some way, but has not yet been played by any player. You may see a number of such slot machines early in the morning; this can be a sign that the daily drop in that section of the casino is complete and players haven’t reached those games yet.

Both lights flashing rapidly indicates a machine is out of service. However, if both the top and bottom lights are flashing slowly at the same time, it means that a jackpot has been hit on that machine – it’s the one we all hope to see on our machines! But when you see it on the casino floor you know what’s going on.

There are other gauges that can be shown with just these two lights – using both lights with different patterns can show different things such as: Before the days of electronic notifications, this was a way to easily and effectively get a message across to employees.

The next time you look across the floor of a casino slot you can get an idea of ​​what goes on in the life of a slots technician!

The information in this article has been selected and cross-checked from a variety of sources:

Players panic when slots technicians tinker with their games

by JohnWilson

If you’re looking to find a group of superstitious folks, look no further than your local casino, where you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone more superstitious than an avid slots player. Stuffed animals, lucky charms and wishes for “Lady Luck” are commonplace in the casino. When a machine finally hits a ‘hot stage’, nothing bothers an avid slot player more than someone tinkering with his or her machine. Will opening your machine like walking under a ladder bring bad luck?

Have you ever played your favorite slot machine only to tell the casino staff they need your machine for a moment? They usually remove your player card, insert their staff card and then do what they do, usually they fill the compartment with coins (where coins are still used). The ticket-in, ticket-out machines have practically ended this type of disruption.

A burning question remains. Whenever a slot operator touches your machine or opens the door for any reason, what actually happens inside the machine? Did they reset it? Does your winning streak fizzle out? Did they do that because you won too much and they had to adjust the machine’s payout?

I’ve often heard people complain that their game doesn’t pay out anymore after the pesky staff “touched” their machine. There is a general feeling that the warden is somehow tinkering with the machine and “refusing to pay out”. Is there a secret dial that sets the machine’s payout? Or is this team of coin-filling associates a secretive group destined to break your winning streak before it spirals out of control?

“Charlie Seven from Dispatch. Proceed to machine 1623 in the quarters department. There’s a lady who just won mixed 7s. Reset your machine before it hits the jackpot.” “Roger, blue leader.”

Any conspiracy theory aside, we know there are times when a follower needs to reset our game somehow. Does this affect your game? Will it make your hot machine go cold?

The best way to find answers to these questions is to look inside the device and examine exactly what happens when this reset is performed. You can’t do this alone, and casino staff frowns when guests reach into an open machine. Do we need to meet a slot tech in a dark ally to talk about what’s happening? No, that seems too dramatic. Fortunately, this month we can take a leisurely stroll through a slot machine and see what we can actually do with it.

First, why the secrecy about the inside of the machines? Why do employees have to insert their card and push a lot of buttons? The answer is simple: security. Believe it or not, the casino cares more about the staff than the players. You cannot go into the machine like the staff. Why worry so much about the inside of the machine? In the casinos that still use coins or tokens, there is a hopper full of them – 2,000 in the case of a quarter machine. That’s $500 that could be picked up. Also, hundreds and thousands of dollars in currency were put into the bill validator. In short, there is a lot of money in the machine. The second and perhaps most important point is accountability. Many gaming regulators require that a log be kept of any access to the interior of the machine. In the case of the slot machine we are looking at, the front door has been opened 1,568 times since it was placed on the casino floor. These machines even record door openings when the power is off. This means that a record is kept every time someone enters the machine.

You may have noticed that the slot keeper writes in a little book every time he opens the door. This is called a MEAL card and stands for Machine Entry Access Log. This is a document that must be kept by law. Gambling commissions want to know what the casinos are doing with the machines and the casinos are required to provide documentation about this.

One reason for this documentation is customer complaints. Perhaps you decide to complain to the casino or the relevant gambling commission that some casino employees opened your machine, flicked some switches and stole your jackpot. It can be determined who was in the machine when exactly and what he did. Videotape from the same period would also document this. The card inserted into the machine identifies the employee and confirms that they are authorized to enter the machine. The code they enter is a password to ensure someone hasn’t stolen their card and is trying to use it. The high security key opens the physical lock. Many components inside have separate locks, like the processor board and the cashbox. Aside from the machine’s own record of those inside, the casino’s computer system also maintains a record of access and verifies the machine’s log. This multi-step process ensures that the records are consistent with each other and validate the reason for access. In short, if someone opens the slot machine door for any reason, there are a number of records of that action.

Well, that might be fine, but what can you do once you’re inside the machine? The reset button is required for security reasons. However, resetting doesn’t do what you think it does. It does not reboot the machine and erases everything that has already happened. The term reset is not really a precise term. A more appropriate word would be recognition. Opening and closing the door can eliminate simple tilts or errors. Other more serious errors require this reset or acknowledgment.

Suppose you withdraw your funds from the machine after a winning streak and the hopper runs out of coins. VCRs will display a message that says “Call Supervision – Hopper Empty.” Slot machines with spinning reels will display a message such as “Hpr Err” or a code such as “3300” or “32” on the credit meter. The slot machine and casino computer system record these codes. The error codes tell the slot warden what happened to cause this “tilt” condition. In case of the “hopper empty” error, it informs the staff to replenish the reserve token supply in the base of the slot machine. Once the attendant fills the hopper and closes the door, your tokens will continue to be dispensed. This is a “simple error” which means it is an expected event that requires attention.

Some fault conditions or tendencies are more severe. Years ago slot cheats used a technique called “stringing”. A string was tied to a coin and once the machine accepted the coin, the coin was pulled out of the machine. This would allow the same coin to be used over and over again. Modern slots track the movement of the coin, so a coin moving out of the machine is detected. When the machine detects this attempted scam, it leans and stops working until someone confirms the mistake. A machine attendant must open the machine and press the reset button to confirm the attempted fraud.

Other errors occur when the machine is not working properly, prompting personnel to check the machine and fix the problem. In some cases, the machine may encounter a serious problem that prevents it from completing the game. Perhaps one of the reels is stuck and cannot move properly. The error code displayed on the device informs the technician of the problem and the device is locked so that you can no longer use it. Most likely, the reels will go into a mode where they spin very slowly and continuously to indicate that there is a problem. Once the problem is resolved, the machine needs to be reset. In effect, this sends a notification to the slot machine that a technician has seen the error and run some sort of diagnostics to fix it. Resetting simply confirms that the error has been identified and corrective action has been taken. The slot machine then records this and the central computer receives feedback. The employee number is also recorded via the employee card inserted into the machine. After the door is closed, the machine then goes into the “Post Error” state.

The machine will keep its status before tipping and display the error code. Once the error is fixed, it will resume from where it stopped. In all cases of tilts, the machine will record the symbols that should appear on the payline for the game in which the error occurred. It then spins the reels to land in the same place they should land. They may do this automatically, or you may have to press the spin button. In any case, however, the machine knows where it should land and will try to get back to the same place. If another error occurs, it waits until the error is resolved and then tries again. Even if the machine has to be powered off to replace a component, the slot machine retains information about the game being played so it can continue when the power is turned back on. You don’t lose the spin that took place – the machine will spin again and give you exactly the same game outcome. This is also a legal requirement of the Gambling Commission.

In order for this game to be approved for use at the casino you are in, it must pass these tests. And these situations are checked to ensure that the machine behaves appropriately. Otherwise that spin might have resulted in a jackpot and you would get a different result after the error. Conversely, the game could have been a losing game and hit a jackpot after the mistake. The play testing labs and gaming commissions make sure that the machine is working fairly. Fair applies to both the player and the casino.

Slot machine pull tab theory

I have a published theory about slot machines called the Pull-Tab Theory of Slot Machines. Basically, it’s a comparison of a slot machine game to the low pull-tab tickets sometimes called Nevada tickets. These tickets, which typically cost around 50 cents to a dollar, have five perforated sections that you can open to see if you’ve won. There are various themes including slot machines.

Many people think that slots play like the pull tab games. Using the pull tabs, the vendor opens a bag or box of tickets and places them in a Lucite container. In the box is every possible combination of scores. There is the top jackpot prize of $100, second prize of $50, a handful of $20 tickets and all non-winning tickets as well. Let’s say we have 400 tickets in the box and there is only one jackpot prize. If you are the first customer, your chances of hitting the jackpot are one in 400. After buying a ticket (let’s assume you don’t win anything) your chances of hitting the jackpot have increased. You are now at 1 in 399 as a lost ticket has been removed from the box. If half the tickets are sold but the jackpot is still not hit, your odds are one in 200. This is double the chance of hitting the jackpot than the first game you played. And if there are only two tickets left and the jackpot is still not won, it’s 50-50. One ticket will win $100 and the other won’t. In this case, the best decision is to buy both. A $2 bet is guaranteed to win the $100 jackpot!

The main difference here is that in a pull tab game, winning and losing combinations are removed from the box and your odds of winning or losing change after each game. If the first person wins the jackpot amount, 399 people have no chance of winning the jackpot. It’s already gone and no matter what you do, you can’t win it. However, it is not removed for a slot machine. If you win the Super Megamoney Billion Dollar Jackpot you have great chances of winning that jackpot. However, on the next spin you have exactly the same chances of winning as on the previous game. Winning and losing games will not be taken away or replaced. The slot machine does not track the game beforehand, so it affects the next game. A legal requirement for slot machines in all gambling jurisdictions is that each spin of the game must have exactly the same probability of winning or losing and that the probability of any given payout type (e.g. three BARS) remains constant.

I believe this perception of slots stems from a misunderstanding of the slots’ Random Number Generator (RNG). While the machine is selecting random numbers, you may or may not have selected a winning combination from the random numbers. Resetting the machine will not reset the RNG. It doesn’t start at the beginning of the random numbers. In fact, the machine memorizes the arithmetic process used to determine the random number and keeps it at all times. This means that the slot machine may have generated 50 million random numbers when your hopper ran out of coins and the keeper had to reset it. However, the machines must keep the previous state of the random number generator and continue from that point. Switching off the machine and unplugging the power cord has no effect. The machine records all information in non-volatile memory, so nothing changes when the power is switched off. It just picks up where it left off. If the machine selected 50 million random numbers when it was turned off, the next number generated when it was turned on again will be the 50,000,001st number. This means that restarting the machine or performing a reset will not affect the game outcome. This is done for reasons of fairness.

Conclusion

When looking into the machine, there isn’t a large dial to “turn up” or “decrease” the payout. Nothing a slot person does can affect how the slot plays or pays out. The games are specifically required by law to retain information about each game so that in the event of a tilt or error, the machine will give you the same outcome as before the tilt condition. There are literally hundreds of safeguards within the machine to ensure nobody tampers with anything. If your machine goes cold after the Slot Warden is in your machine, it’s just a matter of luck. You’re just as likely to get a winning streak.

Q: What do I do if a slot machine I’m playing isn’t working?

A: The first thing you do is contact a casino employee. If there is a question as to whether or not you won a jackpot and you dispute the casino’s response, you can call the Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement Division. An agent will settle the dispute. If your dispute with the casino involves $500 or more and cannot be resolved, the casino must notify the Gaming Control Board.

The Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement Division has five offices across the state: Las Vegas: Telephone (702) 486-2020

Laughlin: Phone (702) 298-0669

Reno: Phone (775) 823-7250

Carson City: Phone (775) 684-7900

Elko: Phone (775) 738-7191

Q: Why are people being denied a jackpot payout when a slot machine goes down?

A: With each pull of the handle or push of the button, a slot machine begins the process of randomly selecting the next symbol arrangement. When a slot machine malfunctions, it fails to complete the random selection process and therefore reverts to a “slop” mode. For technical reasons, when a malfunction occurs, some slot machine manufacturers set the reels to briefly stop in a “jackpot” position. When this happens, a player may see the reels momentarily stop at a jackpot alignment and then transition into a slow spin. This often leads the player to believe that a jackpot has been won. In recent years, slot machine manufacturers have changed the “stop” location to something other than jackpot alignment to avoid misunderstandings.

Q: What happens if a slot machine goes down?

A: When a malfunction occurs, the slot machine will normally not accept additional coins or play existing balances, the lights above will flash, the display on the front of the machine will likely flash or show an unusual number or code (example: 3300 code ) , the reels may stop momentarily and then slowly spin or spin, or the screen may show the issue such as:

Introducing Slots Odds Control?

Who controls the odds of slots is a popular question from slots enthusiasts, particularly “What is the typical hold percentage when a new penny themed slot debuts? Does it vary by machine, casino or both?”

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Read on… or watch instead!

A bit of background knowledge about the legal requirements

To answer that question, I need to dig a bit into recent history to explain how the odds of winning in older style standalone slots are determined using a random number generator (RNG). This is how many people mistakenly believe that odds are currently fixed on ALL slot machines.

However, starting around 2008, a lot changed in the adjustment of slot machine odds. These changes are due to the emergence of new gaming technologies, not only in slot machines but also in the development of casino operating software. Both offer casinos increased operational efficiencies and therefore low operational costs.

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With so many more people visiting casinos in the last decade and their profit margins shrinking every year, casino operators cannot afford to ignore the savings that new technology can bring.

The second driver for this change in slot machine controls is due to the ongoing evolution of legal regulations in gaming jurisdictions. In the US, these gambling jurisdictions are the states, territories, or federal districts that legally allow gambling.

Essentially, casino operators must follow the gambling regulations for the jurisdiction in which they are located. In part, these gambling jurisdictions often contain laws that set upper and lower limits on the payback yield for slot machines.

In order not to lose their gambling license or otherwise come into conflict with gambling control authorities, casino operators must comply with these legal gambling requirements.

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Note that commercial casinos must comply with the gambling regulations of the US state, territory or federal district in which they are located. Native American tribal casinos are also required to meet their own gaming requirements, which are not usually based on state law.

Rather, these are defined through negotiation between a state-recognized tribe and the state in which they are located, carefully drafting a state-tribe treaty that is eventually approved by the US Department of the Interior.

So in this overall context, who controls the odds of winning slots? At a high level, gaming regulators set the legal limits, if any, on slot machine payout yields. This is accomplished through state legislation or negotiated pacts, and typically remains unchanged for a decade, albeit that often.

Casino operators are often, but not always, required to provide weekly or monthly reports of actual payout returns to demonstrate to their gaming authority that they are compliant. Depending on the gambling jurisdiction, these statistical reports are then sometimes made available to the public by the State Gambling Commission.

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Additionally, these periodic reports can break down those actual payout returns by casino, table game, slot machine, slot machine, by slot machine designation at a particular casino, or even if the machine has a progressive jackpot. What is done is very specific to the gambling jurisdiction in which the casino is located.

Given all this variability in what is and isn’t done within a US gaming jurisdiction, I created an online series of posts for my audience of slots enthusiasts. It is designed to help them navigate this dynamic environment of state gaming regulations.

For more information on your specific state, territory, or federal district of interest, visit my online state resource for US casino slots enthusiasts.

So, at a high level, gaming regulators control slot machines by imposing legal requirements on payout percentages. However, sometimes these state gaming regulators do not place limits on payout yields. In other words, they made a conscious choice not to set legal limits.

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When this happens, casino operators obviously have no legal obligation to set payout yields. However, in order to stay open and not close due to lack of customers, they still need to be careful not to understate their payout yields.

It is worth noting that most gambling regulations set a low limit on payout yields, which casino operators deliberately exceed by a wide margin. That’s just good business.

A bit of history on physically set odds

The Random Number Generator (RNG) was developed for slot machines by Bally Technologies in 1984. About a decade later, most slot machines featured this RNG, allowing for easily adjustable odds.

Previously, odds were set purely mechanically. This worked well for decades until the technical development of slot machines started to cause problems. As the credits to wager and the number of paylines increased, the physical mechanisms used to determine odds began to reach certain physical limits.

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Slot enthusiasts loved being able to choose how many credits to wager and playing a slot with more than one payline. Increased credits and paylines also resulted in much larger jackpots.

These developments led to a need for odds for many more possible outcomes that mechanical odds-determining devices were beginning to be unable to handle. In fact, these mechanical devices were falling behind and becoming less and less arbitrary.

Incidentally, the topic of randomness is actually quite interesting. True randomness is very difficult, if not literally impossible, to generate. When randomness is needed in a mechanical or electronic device, various methods that are “random enough” are often used.

Technically, there is no such thing as a perfect random number generator. At best, there are pseudo-random number generators, a variant of which was patented by Bally Technologies in 1984.

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Away from our brief detour into the philosophy of randomness, the invention of RNG solved for slot machine manufacturers this limitation of mechanical devices used to determine randomness in slot machines. But it created another problem: with adjustable odds via electronic RNGs, casinos would have to have a large staff to make this adjustment.

And that’s what the casinos did. They built and trained a staff of slots mechanics to adjust the odds on their new slots to meet their desired performance metrics.

However, the size of that workforce would increase tremendously depending on how often those odds are adjusted. For slot machines of older design, this is at least seven days and can be up to two weeks.

Most recently, since around 2012, relatively newer casinos have been able to reduce this costly workforce thanks to new casino operating systems. These systems not only help casinos manage large promotional events with less overall hassle, but also allow them to remotely adjust odds on slot machines that are connected to the casino’s central computer system.

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Of course, this connection to the casino’s central computer system is currently limited to a wired connection due to potential security concerns as well as WiFi bandwidth limitations. Therefore, using a central computer in this way is only possible if all slot machines are physically “wired”.

This requires sufficient building infrastructure, e.g. B. Free space under floors and behind walls to allow for those many, many cable connections. This is practically only possible in all new casinos that are built, as well as in older casinos that are heavily renovated. Renovated to have much more than just new carpet and wallpaper.

With wired connections from slot machines to a central computer, the reduced costs of a smaller slot machine workforce, much faster adjustment of casino performance metrics to daily or even hourly updates, and happier customers due to efficiently run events, the question remains. Who Controls the Odds of Winning Slots?

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To get closer to the answer to this question, we next need to discuss how the legal limits on real slot machine payout returns are set. Why? Because slot machines can be categorized according to how their odds are set. And how those opportunities are physically set will tell us who really controls them.

Slot types based on how the odds are set

Slot machines can be categorized into methods that determine their odds of winning. These slot machine types include:

standalone

Casino specific progressives

Multi Casino Progressive

Nationwide progressives

Remotely controlled on site by the casino

Remote controlled externally by gambling regulators

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Standalone slots are the ones most commonly found in older casinos, but are technically slots that have in their cabinets the ability to set and provide odds using a random number generator. A staff of slot mechanics regularly adjusts the odds as instructed by the casino operator.

In general, a limited number of settings are available for these older slots. YouTube videos are available from people who have personally purchased an older standalone slot showing exactly how these odds are set.

In the videos I watched, there were six possible settings that could be entered after opening the slot machine door. These settings were based on codes from a brochure provided by the slot machine manufacturer.

Remember that videos like this are most people’s common source of knowledge about the internal workings of slots. Slot machine and casino employees with access to these payout settings simply do not share this information due to non-disclosure agreements and other legal restrictions.

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Also, accessing the controls to change a slot machine’s odds is quite problematic. The slot machine is alarmed, so any manipulation without official access (employee card key, access code, physical key) is required to even open a slot machine door. Not to mention that the casino surveillance system sees everything.

Discussion of the three mentioned types of progressive slots will be the topic for another time. I would discuss how owning these progressive slots matters in terms of determining the odds of winning. In short, the size of the progressive jackpot mainly depends on how many slot machines are included.

For example, this could be a carousel of slot machines in a particular area of ​​a casino, it could be a larger number of slot machines located in one casino, or a large cluster of progressive slot machines located in multiple casinos.

This large group could be of two types: multiple properties owned by the same casino operator or multiple casino operators within a single gaming jurisdiction, i. H. a state.

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Slot machines which are remotely controlled on-site at a casino through the use of a central computer operating system have already been discussed. Only new or heavily renovated casinos have the infrastructure to handle the sheer number of cables required.

With on-site control, these slot machines are adjusted remotely in their chances of winning on a daily or hourly basis. Unfortunately, how often these adjustments are made is currently a matter of debate.

I’m currently trying to track down the state legal requirements I’ve heard rumors about. The rumor I heard was that a slot machine must be idle for at least 15 minutes without a player card being inserted before the casino is allowed to remotely adjust its odds if desired. Also, the rumor was that this practice was typical and originally based on Nevada gambling regulations.

However, this rumor does not pass the so-called smell test. I have reviewed the state gambling regulations for over 38 US states, territories or counties. I haven’t found any evidence of this rumor yet. Alternatively, it can also be an accepted business practice built into the advanced casino operating systems.

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Why do I firmly believe that slots players are protected from having their chances of winning reduced while playing? It’s simple – the state regulatory agency controls the odds on slot machines and everything I’ve seen, read and studied tells me they work for you.

I just can’t imagine that state gambling commissions would allow something that undesirable, even that shameful, to happen. They have meticulous casino operating system approval procedures in place to prevent this, they watch casino operations like hawks (often within the casino) and any casino that chooses not to be fully compliant is in for a world of pain, if/when caught.

Finally, there are slot machines whose odds are controlled off-site by state gambling regulators. These are most or all video lottery terminal style slot machines.

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As the name suggests, video lottery terminals are instant lottery machines. This means they are controlled by the state lottery, which is set up to remotely control many, many such terminals at any given time.

Identify who controls the odds of winning slot machines

Who controls the slots odds at a casino you want to visit? Who controls the slot machine odds on the slot machine you are sitting at? As I discussed on my Casino Review page, deciding which local casino to spend your time at is an important decision in determining your fundamental slot success.

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So you’ll probably want to know who controls the odds of slots if you’re choosing between, for example, an older pre-2012 casino with standalone slots or a Racino with lots of new video slots. Top-level selection is really about your own gambling goals, as discussed on my Gambling Goals Identification page.

But whether your gaming goal is entertainment, earning maximum comps, or taking down money, having better odds at a slot machine will help you achieve that goal. Aside from other important considerations such as travel time, buffet distribution, players’ club, etc., the type of slot machine is a consideration.

Casinos with standalone slot machines, where the actual machine in front of you has its own dedicated random number generator, are relatively easy to identify. Ask someone how old is the casino?

Or, if you don’t want to ask anyone or look it up online, just take a look at the slot machine in front of you. In particular, look at the interface area of ​​the player cards. What does his display look like? Is it a touchscreen display?

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Or an LED display like those seen outside a bank showing the time and temperature for a passerby to see? If it’s a touchscreen, the slot is most likely not standalone. If it’s an LED, it’s most likely a standalone slot machine.

Determining whether a progressive slot machine is linked to a single carousel, across multiple carousels within a casino, across multiple casinos owned by a single casino operator, or across multiple casino operator facilities will be the subject of an upcoming post, as mentioned.

Next are non-video slots with touch screens on the player card interface. These are all slot machines that are centrally controlled by a computer located in the casino. You can confirm this by finding out the date the casino originally opened or when it was last extensively renovated.

Keep in mind that very few casinos have both, provided they have not expanded their original structure by renovating but by building a new casino facility right next to it.

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Such is the case at Foxwoods Resort, which is itself an older-style casino. However, they recently built the Fox Tower right next to it, a newer style casino.

Finally, there are video slot machines. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to tell the difference between a video slot machine and a video lottery terminal. A video slot machine is controlled on-site by the central computer in the casino. A video lottery terminal is controlled externally by the state lottery.

The only surefire way to tell the difference between these two slot machine types is to take a look at what the State Gambling Commission says they are at that casino.

For example, Ohio currently has four commercial casino resorts and seven pari-mutual racinos. The 4 casinos feature traditional reel and video slot machines, all controlled by a central on-site computer.

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However, Ohio’s Seven Racinos have a mix of traditional reel and video lottery terminal slots. Traditional reel-to-reel slot machines are controlled locally by a central computer, while video lottery terminals, which look exactly like video slot machines from the outside, are controlled remotely by the state lottery’s central computer systems.

Does It Really Matter Who Controls Slot Machine Odds? Yes!!

With this improved understanding of how casinos work, let’s look at these two facts. First, that there are types of slot machines, especially those that are stand alone or controlled remotely by the casino operator or the state.

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Second, that there are different ways that slot machines can continuously set their odds of winning depending on their specific type.

So yes, it does matter who controls the odds of winning slots. Why? Because this is where winning patterns can be found. When slot machines are set up to be as random as possible, and the amount of randomness assigned remains the same over days and weeks, then long-term statistical principles apply.

This means that in the long run, on average, people will always lose money when playing slots. In other words: profits are only possible in the short term. This is especially true for all state-controlled slot machines, such as video lottery terminals.

However, when the odds are changing hourly or being set above 100% for promotional purposes, there are better times to play slots – and all slots enthusiasts need to do is figure out when that better time is to play more win and possibly make some profit. Here’s what I did: I made a win on slots by searching and finding winning patterns when I won 90 taxable jackpots in 9 months.

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Only casino operators change their odds every hour or deliberately adjust them for advertising purposes. The state has no need or desire to get its money no matter what, while the casino is a business, with shareholders and a board of directors committed to trying to be financially successful.

The casino invests time and energy to achieve its financial key performance indicators. Casinos hire the best general manager who hires the best possible team themselves.

Put another way, the casino has a business need to adjust the odds on their slot machines to make a living, while the state just needs to be patient. Businesses are not patient – they try things in their ongoing pursuit of success.

And that battle has changed since about 2012 with the technology behind slot machine odds. Casinos are always trying new things. And when they are in control of the odds on slots, they adjust them to try to be successful.

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Prior to 2012, this meant increasing the odds of winning to over 100% on a single slot machine near a busy area in their casino, as a promotional tool with their own limited budget.

With new casino operating technologies, casinos have gained finer control over setting these odds. This allowed them to try new things, which they love to do. These new things are designed to adjust slot odds more frequently than ever before.

Financially, they try to optimize their financial KPIs on a daily or even hourly basis, which was never possible before.

I’ve never worked for a casino, so I’ve never had a new casino operating system suggested to me by a slot manufacturer’s sales team. But it is obvious that this “tuning” is part of the pitch that is made to the casino operators. Without seeing it, how can I believe that? Easy. I’ve won a lot at slots using pattern recognition.

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What happened is, and it doesn’t matter at all how it came about, that casinos obviously got the idea to fine-tune their financial performance metrics.

In the case of slots, which are the only game a casino offers that I’m interested in, they have broken the long-term constant randomness of a slot’s odds of winning. Hence, as all statisticians know, patterns emerge.

So again, yes, it does matter who controls the odds of slot machines because those controlled by the casino have had their randomness broken. It’s important because slots enthusiasts can look for emerging patterns on these casino-powered machines and then use them to win more.

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In the future, I’ll talk more about the winning patterns I’ve found from this understanding. In the meantime, I hope I’ve made it clear how and why they exist.

Summary of Odds of Winning Slots with Controls?

All odds slot machines that are controlled directly by a casino have winning patterns because casinos are constantly adjusting those odds to meet their financial performance metrics. These patterns allow savvy slots enthusiasts to improve their own gaming performance.

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Related articles by Professor Slots

Other items from Professor Slots

Shall we start with the bad news? OK, prepare yourself because every slot game is designed to make money for the casino, at least in the long run.

Now for the good news. While casino operators expect their profits over the long term, in the short term you can win cash on any given slot machine session. Get lucky at TwinSpires Casino and you could even win a huge jackpot prize.

Join us as we explore the best slots strategies to maximize your winnings.

Bet as much as you can comfortably afford

We’re not here to encourage you to part with more money than you’d like. Instead, we point out an often-overlooked fact about slot mechanics: the more you bet per spin, the greater your rewards.

That’s not to say you can’t win big with small bets. In fact, some slots offer jackpot payouts no matter what you spend. But in most cases increasing the bet value will increase the payouts.

Also look out for the slot machines that increase the number of paylines available as you bet more money.

Research return to player percentages

Each slot machine has a set Return to Player (RTP) percentage. This number represents the amount you are likely to lose on the game. For example, an RTP of 97% means you get $97 back for every $100 you bet on the game.

It is obvious that the higher the RTP, the greater the chance of getting a small win.

But while low RTP slots may seem like a losing proposition, there is a twist. These games generally offer a lower RTP for a reason – they have a larger top prize or jackpots available.

The best slots strategy in this case is to play high RTP games for a shorter amount of time and fold when you are ahead. Likewise, allow longer sessions on the lower RTP games, knowing that the larger prize money comes less frequently.

Understand how the slot machines work

It’s always tempting to jump into the first exciting looking slot machine you see when you visit a casino. When the money comes in, you hit the spin button – and then you realize you have no idea what’s going on.

In this case you might miss a bonus feature or make a wrong choice that will cost you money. In order to maximize your winnings, you should always know how your chosen slot machine works. To do this, study the in-game paytable, which will show you what the symbols are and how much they are worth. It will explain the Wild and Scatter symbols. In addition, all bonus features and rounds are presented and precise instructions are given.

Another tip is to read one of the many slots reviews online so you know what to expect from a game. Finally, if your platform allows, play a slot for free money first so you can get to know the game without risking any money. Once you understand what is going on, you will have more chances of success when playing for real money.

Do not chase this jackpot

While winning a slots jackpot is a surefire way to maximize your winnings, it’s unlikely to happen. I’m sorry for that. That’s not to say you shouldn’t play the slots, just don’t sit there and throw all your money away expecting to win a fortune.

The exception to this rule is when the slot’s base game pays out regularly. In this case you can play longer and the lure of a jackpot payout is just the icing on the cake.

Take advantage of casino bonuses

Online platforms like TwinSpires Casino offer regular bonuses that will help you with your online slots strategy.

First, there can be free spins bonuses. At the moment, the welcome offer at TwinSpires Casino includes a promise to refund all net losses up to $500 in the first 24 hours, plus 250 Free Spins! Also look out for our Slot of the Week feature where you get 20 free spins when you spend just $10 on our feature slot.

Learn to gamble responsibly

You’ll probably recognize that feeling when you’re well positioned at a slot and then move on in hopes of earning even more. Unfortunately, you end up gambling your winnings back and losing. This is clearly not the best move.

The best slots strategies will always boil down to one important fact: when you’re at a slot, you need to be strong enough to walk away with the winnings before you put them back.

When you play within your means, you are playing for entertainment and not for tight money. When you gamble with money you can’t afford to lose, you make poor decisions and can start chasing your losses.

Play at TwinSpires Casino

It’s time to put some of these slot machine strategies to the test at TwinSpires Casino. If you haven’t already, register your account, make your first deposit and claim the welcome bonus. You will find loads of the best slots available, covering all sorts of themes and styles. Much luck!