Page 6 - October 2008 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
LOost in the Slot
ne of the quickest ways to lose money at the casino is to sit down and play a game you don’t understand. is used to apply only to table games; however, some new slots can be just as confusing, and you can make costly mistakes if you don’t understand the machine you are playing. Here are a few tips to avoid some costly mistakes when playing slots.
Avoid the Maximum Bet Button
The majority of older reel slot machines have one pay line that allows you to wager one to three credits per spin. The newer video slots have multiple pay lines that can range from five to a hundred credits per spin! You also have the option to wager multiple credits on each of these pay lines. Even some of the new video poker machines have a maximum bet of thirty credits instead of five for single game machines and a lot more on the multi-play machines.
On numerous occasions I have watched a player sit down at a slot or
Sometimes you almost need a manual to help you understand how to play.
Read the Help Screen
Of course no one wants a manual for a slot, but the next best thing is the slot machine’s help screen, that explains how the game is played. If you are playing a slot for the rst time, it is a good idea to spend a minute looking at the help screen so you understand how the game is played and how it pays.
e help menu usually has several screens that you can advance through with
themes that make the value of the symbols easy to understand, however, some can really be confusing so it is always best to check the pay table, before you start to play.
If a slot has a bonus round, the help screen will also explain which symbols activate the bonus portion of the game. e game may also have a special symbol that acts as a wild card for a scatter pay bonus. is will be explained as well.
Take a few minutes to read the help screen of any new slot game you decide to play. It is better than trying to gure out the winning combinations as you play. You can access the screen at any time so if you encounter something about the game you don’t understandwhileyouareplaying,youcangotothe screen and get your answer. It will make your casino visit a much more enjoyable experience if you fully understand the games you play.
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes... Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the Casino Gambling Guide and columnist for the Internet portal About.com, located at http://casinogambling.about.com. He is the author of 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets and Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available online at www.billburton.com. He is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps, http://www.thecrapsclub.com.
video poker machine and hit the maximum bet button only to discover that they just bet fty or more credits when they thought they were betting three or ve. ese players seemed
“lost” because they were not sure how many coins they were betting on a single spin.
the “next” button. e rst screen will usually show you the pay lines for the game. is screen will also explain how the symbols must line up for a winning spin.
Many of the new video slots require that the winning symbols start on the left reel and go to the right. You may line up three or four symbols inarowbutiftheydon’t start in the rst reel ontheleftitisnota winning spin. You need
to know this so you won’t be confused as to why you did not win even though you had multiple symbols.
e next screen is the pay table that shows how much each symbol pays. Slot makers try to make the hierarchy of winning symbols easy to understand. For instance, a silver coin on the reel would be worth more than a bronze, and a gold coin would be worth more than the silver one. Some of the games have
determined is equally
confusing. On older slots
it is easy to gure out
winning combinations because all you have to do is line up the same symbol on each reel straight across.
e payouts are listed on the front of the machine telling you how much each symbol pays.
e way the winning symbols line up on newer slots can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal or zigzag. ere can be scatter pay or bonus pay symbols on each of the reels as well. is can be confusing to some players.
“On numerous occasions I have watched a player sit down at a slot
or video poker machine and hit the maximum bet button only to discover that they just bet fifty or morecreditswhentheythought
they were betting three or five. These players were ‘lost’ because
On the newer machines,
how a winning spin is theywerenotsurehowmanycoins
they were betting on a single spin.”
Page 6
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
October 2008
About Gambling with Bill Burton