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SLOTS
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FEATURES
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COLUMNS |
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| Hot Bets
Tips from our SportsBook expert
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How to Play: Slot Machines
What rules could there be? You put a coin in the slot and pull the lever.
So much for the rules. There are however, a lot of variations in denomination (penny, nickel, quarter, $1 and $5) and in types and sizes of payoffs. Although slots look and feel mechanical, modern slots are simple computers. The spinning fruits, bells and what have you are actually chosen by an internal computer chip with a random number generator that decides what combo will come up the instant you pull the handle or push the button.
In other words, jiggling the handle doesn't do a thing, and no machine is ever "due" for a jackpot. A machine could have two jackpots in a row. The law of probability may sometimes prank you, but over time it averages out.
But as random as individual spins may be, the house never pays out as much money as goes in. Duh! Slots are programmed to, over time, keep a certain percentage that is determined by the house, up to 25 percent.
Obviously, you want to find machines with a lower house advantage, referred to as being a loose machine. But being loose or tight is all relative. You might imagine that Las Vegas would be the capitol of loose slots. (And loose women!) But, in the slots department, anyway, Atlantic City might have the edge. In Nevada, slots by law must pay back at least 75 percent; in New Jersey, slots must pay back at least 83 percent.
In practice, however, casino payback rates will often be higher than the legal limit. In competitive areas, they usually push the percentage to 90 percent. And more importantly, relatively looser and tighter machines will be spread around a casino. But since they aren't marked, you have to do some sleuthing to discover which are looser--and which are losers.
If you see a machine that seems to be jackpotting a lot, that's probably a loose machine. Unfortunately, it will also be a busy machine. (And contrary to popular belief, casinos can't adjust a slot's looseness with a secret switch, they have to take the machine apart and swap parts to change its rate of payback.)
To find a loose machine not in use, you have to think like a casino manager. You'd want a frequently jackpotting slot to be in a high-traffic area, so any win would be an advertisement for playing the casino's slots. You probably wouldn't put two loose machines too close together. And you probably wouldn't put loose machines near high-stakes table games where the casino stands to rake in big bucks.
So keep your eyes open, think like a casino manager and go out and test your luck.
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 If a slot machine has a stool tilted against it or a change bucket in the payout tray, the person using that machine has probably gone to the bathroom. It's considered rude to steal such a machine.
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Slots are referred to as loose if they pay back at a high rate. This comes from the days of the old mechanical slots, when you might be able to shake a few coins free from a machine whose nuts and bolts weren't tightened all the way.
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The British call slots "fruit machines."
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There is one slot machine in Las Vegas for every eight residents.
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The first slot machine, the "Liberty Bell," was invented in 1899 by Charles Fey.
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