Page 31 - August 2011 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
AIbout the Loosest Slots
recently had the opportunity to speak about casino gambling to a group in Connecticut. During my talk, I discussed the best and the worst casino bets. When I nished speaking, I held a question and answer session, and a gentleman asked an interesting question:“I constantly see billboards from
two nearby casinos,” he said, “and they both claim to have the loosest slots. How do I know which one really does?”
I think just about everyone has seen a few of those billboards from time to time. I travel to casino destinations all across the country and have seen hundreds of them in di erent towns that have casinos. Some casinos also claim that some of their slots payback a speci c percentage such as
98, 99 or even 100%.
Payback is the overall
percentage that a slot machine will return to the player in the long run. e return is based on billions of spins. Just because a slot machine has a payback of 98% does not mean that you will win back $98 for every $100 you play.
Regarding loosest slots, you have to consider one important factor. Casinos do not set every slot machine to the same payback percentage.
Let’s take a look at standard quarter denomination Jacks or Better draw poker game. e pay table is as follows: eRoyalFlushpays250percoinwithabonus
4,000 coin payout when you play the maximum ve coins. is is shown as 250/4000. e bonus for the Royal Flush is gured into the overall return. e key to the Jacks or Better game is the payout for the Full House (9) and the Flush (6). Note also that it
e payback for each slot
machine can be di erent from
one machine to another, and
most casinos have a mix of
machines with higher and
lower payouts scattered across
their casino oors. Because of
this, casino A may have a few
machines with higher returns
than casino B, but casino B
will also have a few machines
with higher returns than casino A. I am skeptical of
drops down to 94%.
Even if you never play or intend to play video poker,
write down or memorize the pay table for the Jacks or Better game. When you go to a casino you haven’t visited before, do a quick check of a few video poker machines to determine their payback. If a casino o ers a lot of
“Full Pay” video poker games, there is a better chance that the payout percentages of the regular slot machines may have a higher return. If you nd a majority of short pay 6/5 Jacks or Better video poker games, then you will probably nd the slot machines will be tighter as well. Of course, there is no way of knowing for certain that this is true, but it is a logical assumption that I make based on this check.
“Regarding loosest slots, you have to consider one important factor. Casinos
pays two coins for two pairs. A video poker machine with this pay table in the rst column is referred to as a 9/6 machine and has a payback of 99.5%. A Jacks or Better machine with this pay table is referred to as a
“Full Pay” machine because this is the highest return you will usually nd for this game.
Casinos lower the payout percentage by reducing the coins paid for the Full House and the Flush. A quick rule of thumb is that the payout will be reduced by about 1.1% for each coin taken away from either of these hands. For example, when the payout for these hands is lowered to six (6) for the Full House and ve (5) for the Flush the payout
100% Payback
I asked my audience at my talk how many of them would like to play a machine with 100% payback. Everyone in the room raised a hand. I told them they could nd several of these machines in every casino around the country. All they had to do was look around for the machine with the sign that said,“Change.”You put a hundred dollars in, you get a hundred back, every time, guaranteed. However, it’s not very exciting to play.
Remember, even with a speci c percentage payback, one player may win $1,000 while another may lose it all.
at’s what makes gambling so exciting. In reality, most players never play long enough to ever see the average overall return of a slot machine so there will probably be other factors you will consider in deciding where to play.
Other Considerations
If every casino were the same, you would naturally want to play at the casino whose slots o er the highest return so you have the best chance of winning. But every casino is di erent, and each player has di erent tastes, so you have to nd the casino (or casinos) that t your needs and give you the most enjoyable experience.
I told the gentleman at my talk that an advertisement for loosest slots may be a good reason to pay a casino a visit. But even if they have the loosest slot machines and best video poker in the world, if they have poor customer service and nothing else to o er, I know that I won’t be playing there for long.
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 billburton.com. Burton is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps: thecrapsclub.com.
do not set every slot machine to the same payback percentage. The payback for each slot machine can be different from one machine to another, and most casinos have a mix of machines with higher and lower payouts scattered across their casino floors.”
“loosest slot” advertisements, and prefer to do a little test whenever I visit a new (to me) casino.
The Video Poker Test
e advantage of playing video poker is that a player can determine the payback percentage of a machine by looking at the pay table on the front of the machine. ere are 2,598,960 hands that can be produced with a 52-card deck. e RNG (Random Number Generator) in a video poker machine is set to simulate the probabilities of drawing any one of the combinations of hands. Because this is a set probability, casinos get their edge by adjusting the pay table of the machines.
AUGUST 2011
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
PAGE 31