Um, slot machines don't work like that

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

A great rule for gambling is: Before going to the casino, choose an amount of money you would be comfortable LOSING and take only that with you.

Sadly, many people don't follow it.

[fireheart]

And this is making me VERY glad that I took psych in Years 11 and 12 in high school, so I would have a better understanding of how things like this actually worked. (Yes, my state offered psych in years 11/12 as a science topic. Filled up my quota of a maths/science topic for year 12*)

Wish more people were actually taught about how slot machines worked. (My parents weren't taught, but they were also raised to not visit the casinos)

*-for year 12 in my state at the time I graduated, you needed to have done one humanities/arts/English topic and one maths/science/tech topic as well as three "free" topics to complete year 12 and be able to access higher education. My other topics were English, music, social studies and vocational studies. (Social studies was more sociology based, while vocational studies was like a pre employment topic, where you were able to do some work experience. I did mine at a private school)

[sstabeler]

It's probably better to ignore the chance of a payout in gambling, to be honest. If you find X form of gambling entertaining, then do it, assuming you are gambling with money you can afford to lose. If entertainment's your aim, do you really lose? ( note- I don't gamble)

[taxguykarl]

A great rule for gambling is: Before going to the casino, choose an amount of money you would be comfortable LOSING and take only that with you.

You just articulated our (Mrs. TGK & my) approach to travel to Vegas and on cruise ships. We do stick to our gambling budget.

[Shalom]

There was one particular model that he told me about that would glitch and always pay out at least every 12th or 13th spin. It might go more often then than but never more than 12 or 13 losing spins
That said the payout may only be a couple of coins so even if you sat played 13 times you'd still be behind.

This was a feature, not a bug.

GAMES Magazine once had a feature about one-armed-bandits, way back when. There was one machine that advertised that if you lost ten times in a row, you'd get back all the money you put in it. Can't lose, right? Of course they had it set so that you'd lose 7 or 8 times in a row and then hit a 3-coin winner. OK, now you "won", so much for getting your money back.

They also explained the origin of the terms "going haywire" (some machines could be cheated if you inserted a piece of baling wire in exactly the right place) and "it's a lemon" (as related to defective cars: there were no winning combinations with a lemon on the first wheel, so if that's what it stopped on, the player was likely to yell "It's a damned lemon!", put in another nickel and pull the handle again without even waiting for the two other wheels to stop spinning.)

[Ironclad Alibi]

That's just the way it works. This dolt obviously doesn't get the fact that if you could tell which machines were going to pay off, you'd be gambling for a living I stead of working at a casino...

I always know which slot machines are paying out. The ones I'm not playing.

[Caractacus_Potts]

You ever try to sit at a slot that a hardcore gambler is using? You know, one of those people who play 3 or 4 machines at a time? They all share this delusion, and if you try to get between them and 'their' machine, they can freak out in any way imaginable.

I've heard some of them pee into bottles or just onto the floor in order to not lose "their" machine.

"You said that all these things you've learned to ignore
The hidden cameras on the casino floor
And what gets paid for behind hotel doors
Oh, come on

You pretend every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello
The people stare into their eyes and they feed them little bribes and then they go"

-- Death Cab for Cutie, Little Bribes

[Jester]

(plus tip money for my free drinks....it's a local thing)

I wouldn't say it's a local thing....if you don't tip on free drinks, you're a douchebag, pure and simple, whether it's at a casino or anywhere.

My standard routine when I gambled (I don't anymore, other than the occasional football beer bet with friends) was, when the waitress first walked up to get my initial drink order, I would hand her a ten or twenty up front and politely tell her that I did not want my glass to get empty that day. It never did. And for that, I tipped her again at the end.

Casino waitresses seemed to really like me.

[Kvenya]

Well, Jester, in all fairness, I was basing the 'local thing' on my personal observations/experiences. I've noticed that the locals usually tip, even if it's some 90 year old woman that still thinks that .50 cents is a good tip, and most tourists don't, as if just because the drinks are free, the waitress shouldn't be compensated for her effort.

[Jetfire]

I do generally try to tip. My drinks are usually just juice, water or pop since I don't drink Alcohol; but if I'm doing well at blackjack, I tend to have some 50cent and 1$ chips building up, that are my tip fund. Each drink is usually 1$ chip.

Of course when I was at Ballys this summer and she forgot my order the first time, then took the order, and went off shift without getting it a second time, I was a bit sucky and didn't give a tip for the first drink that DID eventually get to me.

[downforit2008]

I love these kinds of people. The ones who insist that the machine will do a "payout" so they spend $1000 on the machine trying to win $100.

Casinos stay in business solely for the reason that people are so STUPID with their money, and there is no shortage of people screeching about how the casino rips THEM off. No one MADE them put their money in that machine! It is their strong sense of greed!

When I went to a casino, the money I budgeted for gambling was $60. I spent all of it, and if I didn't win anything, at least I didn't LOSE everything. But I had won $500 that day, so I was certainly on fire playing those machines!

[Jester]

Well, Jester, in all fairness, I was basing the 'local thing' on my personal observations/experiences. I've noticed that the locals usually tip, even if it's some 90 year old woman that still thinks that .50 cents is a good tip, and most tourists don't, as if just because the drinks are free, the waitress shouldn't be compensated for her effort.

Allow me to repeat myself...

If you don't tip on free drinks, you're a douchebag, pure and simple.