Page 6 - March 2010 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
TWhy Losing Can Feel Like Winning
he other day as I was walking through the casino, I noticed three young ladies playing a progressive slot machine. One of them was actually playing the machine and the other
two were looking on. As I walked by, the women let out shrieks of excitement, and I thought that they must have hit something big. en I heard one of the women exclaim, “Damn, we were so close!”
I moved closer so I could see the reels of the machine and noticed they had two of the winning jackpot symbols on the pay line and the matching symbol on the other reel was just below the pay line. ey had experienced a “near miss.” Being so close to the winning jackpot can get anyone’s heart racing.
The Near Miss Myth
ere are two types of near misses on a slot machine. For simpli cation I will use a three-reel machine example. e most common near miss is when you line up the winning symbols on the rst two reels and a non-winning symbol on the third. e second type is when you line up the winning symbols on two of the reels and the winning symbol is right above or below the pay
Almost Feels Like Winning e feeling that
you experience
when you get a
near miss on a slot machine is not just due to the false belief that the machine is getting ready to pay out. Most players actually experience a change in
e results of the study are not really new. ere was a controversy 30 years ago over a slot maker allegedly programming machines to generate more near misses than the statistical average. is was done in hopes of making a player think the machine was due to hit a jackpot (and probably how the myth got started). In 1980, the Nevada Gaming Board looked into this allegation and passed a gaming regulation that outlaws the practice.
Enjoy the Feeling
e most important thing to remember about all near misses is that they are not signs of things to come on a machine. A cold machine that starts showing a lot of near misses is not trying to tell you that it is about to turn hot. And a hot machine that starts showing a lot of near misses is not signaling it is about to hit the jackpot. e computer program running the slot machine doesn’t know anything about near misses. It only produces spins that are either winners or losers and there is nothing in between.
If you are a frequent slot player, you will experience many near misses, and video poker players will get their fair share of four-card Royals which are the equivalent to a near miss. Near misses are part of the fun of playing the slots. ey are the slot player’s equivalent of the sherman’s tale of “the one that got away.” Now that you know that the feeling you get when you experience a near miss is a result of an actual stimulation of your brain, enjoy the feeling.
After all, you play for entertainment, and it should make you feel good.
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes.. Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton 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. Burton is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps: www.thecrapsclub.com.
“The most important thing to remember about all near misses is that they are not signs of things to come on a machine. A cold machine that starts showing a lot of near misses is not trying to tell
you that it is about to turn hot. And a hot machine that starts showing a lot of near misses is not signaling it is about to hit the jackpot. The computer program running the slot machine doesn’t know anything about near misses. It only produces spins that are either winners or losers and there is
Although your belief
that the machine is
getting ready to hit
is just a myth, your
desire to keep playing may be due to a physical reaction in your brain caused by the near miss.
line on the third reel. Many players believe that when they get a near miss, they are close to winning. Unfortunately this is just a myth.
All slot machines are controlled by a computer chip, and even though there are a limited number of symbols on the physical reel, a large number of virtual stops that correspond to one of the symbols on the reel can be pro- grammed. On new video slot machines, the game designers can incorporate any number of video sym- bols on each reel. Most of the new video slots have ve reels and this produces millions of winning and losing combinations.
nothing in between.”
their brain activity that is stimulated by the near miss. e February 2009 issue of Neuron magazine reported the results of an experiment conducted on slot players that moni- tored their brain activity with an mri while they played slot machines.
e study revealed that when the players experienced a near miss, it drew more blood to the “reward regions” of the brain than when the players had “full” misses. is provides almost the same feeling as when you have an actual win. e feeling can invoke a desire to play more.
e study reported: “Using a simpli ed slot machine task, we measured behavioral and neural responses
to gambling out-
comes. Compared to ‘full-misses,’ near-misses were experienced as less
pleasant, but increased desire to play.”
Page 6
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
March 2010
About Gambling with Bill Burton