Slot Machine Myths
Over the past 30 years, slot machines have become the most popular game in the casino. For your average casino, over 70% of its profits come from the slot machine games it has on-site, which is the main reason you see the slots section of casino floors grow as time goes by.
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So why have slot machines become so much popular in the past generation or two, and are there slot machine myths that drive that popularity?
There are several reason slots have become so popular, and much of it has to do with slots technology. In the era of the mechanical slot machines, the technology dictated that the jackpots were small, numbering in the hundreds (at most), and slots row was a dreary part of the casino gambling area.
Today, random number generators and electronic slots have replaced the old mechanical slot machines, and slot machines can be linked in a huge network of computerized slots games. Slot machine networks include large numbers of slot machines in many different locations feeding the same jackpot, so slot machine jackpots now balloon into the hundreds of thousands, if not tens of millions, of dollars.
In addition, slot machines are flashier and brighter than they were 30 years ago. Some feature themes from pop culture, from old tv shows (like Wheel of Fortune) to publications like Playboy. Slots row is a brighter place to be than it was throughout most of the 20th century. But the big reason for the popularity of slots is the huge payouts.
Slot Machine Tips
With this new interest in slots, it was natural that people would try
to find ways to beat the slot machines and win big money. That interest
naturally led to countless "slot machine experts" coming to the
forefront, claiming to have secrets to beating the slots and getting
rich. Once the Internet became mainstream, these experts took their
message online and around the globe.
These so-called slots experts have written books and e-books, broadcast on radio and podcasts, and have built websites and blogs to shill the idea that you can win big at slots, and they have the secrets to doing so. Around the various gambling media has grown a number of slot machine myths that need to be debunked. That's what I'm here to do today.
Beware Slots Experts
Here's the simple fact of the matter--if an expert knew
how to beat
the slots and win millions of dollars in jackpot money, he wouldn't
waste his time selling an e-book for $19.95. If you knew a system to
beat casinos out of their fortunes, would you be willing to sell that
knowledge for twenty or thirty bucks?
You might answer these guys are trying to help the common man or want to hurt the casinos. In the first case, why aren't they offering their books and e-books for free? They're already presumably independently wealthy from beating the system themselves. In the second case, the casinos have been pretty nice to them, handing over millions of dollars in progressive jackpots to them. Even if the slot machine experts still have an axe to grind, selling you the knowledge means the casinos can learn why they're losing all this money, and they'll learn how to change their games so these slot machine secrets don't exist anymore. The slots guru is hurting himself by selling his secrets.
The logical assumption is there are no slots secrets, and these guys are simply peddling lies. They are selling dreams. They might as well offer you the secret to winning the lottery (some have tried).
Slot Myth - Biggest Jackpot Equals Best Odds
Many people assume that finding the biggest slots jackpot gives them the best payback percentages. If you're looking for the best odds, you're better finding the flat-tops (fixed jackpots) with the lowest payouts, because these are the ones you're likeliest to win.
That might not sound sexy. You might decide you want that once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the huge jackpots instead. But remember that the progressives have the worst odds of winning. If you don't win the huge jackpot, you're likely to lose a bunch of money on these machines. A lot of somebodies have to lose in order to pay for that one big payoff somewhere down the line. You're likely to be that somebody.
Slot Myth #2 - Slot Machines Are Bound to Get Hot
One of the most enduring slots myths is the idea that a machine which hasn't hit in a while is bound to get "hot" sometime in the future--often the near-future. Common sense tells you that the "law of averages" has to take over at some point, and eventually the cold slot machines is going to get hot.
This is where common sense fails us. The law of averages tells us that, eventually, deviations from the average end, and a machine is going to pay out to make up for all the losses. That's true, if you're looking at an infinite amount of spins. That's even true, if you look at a finite, but extremely high, number of spins. It's not true for any sample type you would experience.
Imagine sitting at a slot machine for 1,000 spins. You make one-thousand bets on the same slot machine. What's a big number to you is small in the grand scheme of things. The worlds a big place. The law of averages means nothing in your thousand spins. Every single spin is random, completely separate from each other, and no more or less likely to help you win.
Slot Machine Myth #3 - The Machine Just Hit - Won't Hit Again
This is the reverse of the slot machine myth above. If a slot machine just hit a jackpot, it is no more or less likely to hit than if it did not just hit a jackpot. It's all in your head.
Slots Myth #4 - Winning Machines Are near the Entrance
A common slot machine myth is that casino floor managers place the best machines near the entrance of the casino and along the edges of the slots aisles. The idea is that people see other gamblers winning on these slots, and they are more likely to put money into the machines themselves.
That may have been true at one time and in some places, but the truth is, casinos move their machines around all the time. There is no set location where they put certain machines. They want to present gamers with a new experience all the time, and they'll try any combination they think might work. If a game performs particularly well in one location, that's where it stays--at least for now.
Slot Machine Myth #5 - Casinos Change Payouts at any Time
The idea here is that casinos can flip a switch that makes their
machines more or less likely to pay out, and they do this all day long.
Casinos can change out chips and change chips to change the odds in a
game, but it's a myth that they change these payouts all the time, at
least in reputable casinos.
In places where casinos are heavily regulated, casinos follow strict rules, laws, and guidelines. The penalties for rigging games are so stiff--and the advantages of running a casino are so great--that it's crazy for a casino to cut corner or "cheat" in any way.
Casinos have the legal right to run games where the odds are stacked in their favor. That's essentially a license to print money. Casino ownership and casino managers are not going to risk their license by doing anything shady, because all they have to do is keep the doors open to rake in huge profits. The biggest slot machine myth is the casino needs to cheat you to stay in business.
