Dear Mark,
Does it make any difference on a slot machine if I pull the handle or push the
spin button? If a machine recently hit for a decent sized jackpot, should I
avoid that machine? Lastly, if I get up from a machine and the next player hits
a jackpot, would that have been mine? Jean B.
Readers are either going to nod in agreement with what I'm about to write,
or stay in defiance. The choice is yours, my friends, but I'm still going
to debunk three of the most common slot myths there are.
First of all, pressing the spin button or yanking the handle has no bearing
on the outcome of a spin. The handle is nothing more than a connection to the
switch that operates the spin button.
As to your second question on the machine that just hit: is it still just as
worth playing as it was before the hit. The answer, Jean, is Yes, and that it
makes no difference. Although the laws of probability dictate that the more
any machine is played, the closer it comes to a jackpot hitting, it is equally
likely that a jackpot could hit at any given moment, including the very next
spin.
Finally, as to the "Just whose jackpot is it?" question — well,
Jean, it's not yours, it's the dude's who's parked in front
of the machine and who pressed the spin button. "Why?" she screams,
"I'm the one who set it up!" Because, I reply somberly, all modern
slot machines come equipped with random number generators, with symbol combinations
constantly changing every millisecond from the time you insert the coin until
you hit the spin button. That makes the jackpot his, not yours.
Dear Mark,
Your column recently mentioned average payback percentages of slot machines
across America. What you didn't mention, but I'm guessing to be true,
is that it is better to play video poker than slots. Am I right or wrong? Susan
L.
Choosing between video poker and slots is a no-brainer. A video poker machine
will spit more silver your way. Even WAG (wild-ass guessing) play on a video
poker machine will generate a better return than is available through most "reel"
slot machines.
Every video poker and slot machine has a built-in house edge working in
its favor with each coin inserted. This is how the casino goes about extracting
money from players in order to stay in business. Skilled players can cut the
house advantage to near zero, or, dare I say it, swing the odds in their favor
when they play perfect basic strategy on select video poker machines. Compare
this to the "up to" 15% hold the casino can have with slots.
The bottom line, Susan, is that the lesser the house edge, the more favorable
the game is for the player. Video poker, in general, carries a much smaller
casino advantage than almost all slot machines do.
Big Correction: My mailbag informed me that there was much confusion,
and rightly so, over my answer to Sam's question about laying the four
for $100, which he claimed gave him 2 to 1 in his favor when the seven hits.
He also stated that he finds this an easy way to make a $100.
Recapping, with a lay bet you are betting against the player and with the house
and hoping that a 7 appears before the point number of 4 rolls out. Lay bets
are paid off at true odds, minus the house's 5% on the amount won. When
Sam lays the 4 (or 10), Sam would have to lay $200 to win $100, minus a 5% commission.
As for "2 to 1" in his favor, I should have been more descriptive
in stating that the seven can appear in six different combinations with a pair
of dice as opposed to only three combinations with the four. That's the
2 to 1 in his favor. I went off on some tomfool tantrum that Sam couldn't
buck the 2.44% house edge with that wager and missed some obvious errors in
his question.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "It's not easy losing $10,000 because an
eighteen-year-old freshman choked on two free throws late in the game."
--Chad Millman, "The Odds"
