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How Does Casino Slot Machines Work

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Most amateur gamblers believe that if a slot machine hits the jackpot, then it immediately goes ‘cold'. They also believe the opposite is true; if a machine runs cold for hours, then it's ‘due' for a big payoff. But if you look inside modern slot machines, you learn the cold hard truth. Every single pull of the lever has equal odds of winning, and those odds are steep.

Slots don't get hot or cold – There is a myth about slot machines getting hot or cold. It truly is a myth only. Slot machines don't get hot or cold, they can only seem to. The outcomes and results are also random. Slot jackpots can never be due because it does not work on any pre-designed basis. It is a highly unpredictable game. Inside each machine is a computer that operates on a code or mathematical equation. This slot machine algorithm works as a random number generator, also known as an RNG. These numbers are constantly generated, and depending on the exact moment you click 'spin', you will get different results. How Do Slot Machines Work? Slot machines come in various shapes and sizes, and are, by far, the most popular form of casino games not only in Michigan and the rest of the US, but the world. Many also consider slots to be the simplest of all casino games and a perfect way to start your casino adventure. How casino slot machines work for most players is that when you press the spin button the reels start spinning and you could win or lose.

The top jackpot on most slot machines is around 1000 times the amount you bet. So, if you bet a penny per spin, the most you can win on most machines is around $10.00. If you bet a dollar a spin you could hit for $1000. Some machines pay a little more, but the higher the jackpot, the harder it is to hit.

Since the earliest mechanical slot machines, gaming manufacturers have weighted the machines to tweak the odds. If you look closely at the reels of old machines, you'll find many more blanks and low-scoring symbols than pots of gold, especially on the third or final reel. This creates the famous ‘near miss' effect.

Modern slots have replaced the gears, cranks and stoppers with precision step motors and random number generators (RNG). When you pull the crank on a modern slot, a built-in RNG selects three numbers between one and 64. Each number corresponds to one of 22 spots on the three reels. The trick is that half of the numbers between one and 64 correspond to blank spots and only one random number matches the jackpot symbol. The odds of nailing the jackpot are 1/64 x 1/64 x 1/64 or one in 262,144.

The lever is just for show. Three internal step motors spin each reel and stop them precisely at the positions chosen by the RNG. Still feeling lucky?

How Does Casino Slot Machines Work

Return vs payback

There is no such thing as a ‘loose' or ‘tight' slot machine. In modern casinos, slot machines are programmed to deliver a precise return percentage, somewhere around 95 per cent. That means 95 per cent of the money that goes into a slot machine is paid back out to the players and the casino keeps the rest.
But here's where things get tricky. The return percentage is not the same as the payback, which is the actual amount of money you win or lose during each gambling session at a slot machine. If you sat down at a slot machine for eternity and pulled the lever an infinite amount of times, your payback percentage would be exactly 95 per cent. Likewise, in a casino full of gamblers, the collective machines will pay back roughly 95 per cent of the total money gambled during the course of a day.

Unfortunately, you are only one person and you don't have infinite pulls. So your odds of winning are equally good or bad every pull. You could lose all day and that doesn't mean the machine is rigged. And it doesn't mean that the guy who wins the jackpot found the ‘loose' machine. He just got very, very lucky.

Top 5 Facts: Gambling stats

1) Big jackpot, big odds

The odds of winning the jackpot on a ‘progressive' slot machine like Megabucks is one in 50 million, although if you are that one you're likely to become very rich.

2) ‘Easy' money

68 per cent of people who gamble at Las Vegas play the slot machines most often. And there's a large target market as nearly 90 per cent of visitors to Las Vegas gamble.

3) The house wins

How Does Casino Slot Machines Work

In the United States, gaming was a $92 billion industry in 2007, double what it was a decade ago. And in the UK, there were 143 casinos as of 31 March 2009.

4) United States of Slots

How Does Casino Slot Machines Work

Even though Nevada is widely considered the gambling state, there are 37 US states with some form of legalised electronic gaming device like slot machines or video poker.

Qt run slot in another thread set

In the United States, gaming was a $92 billion industry in 2007, double what it was a decade ago. And in the UK, there were 143 casinos as of 31 March 2009.

4) United States of Slots

How Does Casino Slot Machines Work

Even though Nevada is widely considered the gambling state, there are 37 US states with some form of legalised electronic gaming device like slot machines or video poker.

5) Vegas' most wanted

The Nevada Gaming Commission maintains a list of 35 people who are not allowed in any casino or gambling establishment. Only one of them is a woman.

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Outof all the casino games which are thoroughly played around the world, slot machineshappen to be one of the most famous and most widely played. But there are a lotof people who don't have the basic understanding of the game, yet they end upplaying it just for the thrill of it. Many a times, bookmakers and othergamblers often take advantage of such ignorance and lack of knowledge. Hence,knowing in and out about how a slot machines work is majorly related to thegame. Thegame of Slots can be a lot of fun, butthey are exclusively designed for the casinos profit. Hence, having a fair ideaabout how they actually work only benefits the player, in the end. Nowadays,playing slots online has also become a fascinating hobby for many. The onlinecasino gaming is also becoming equally famous like offline casinos. Youcan play the epic ape slot at Mansion UKjust the way you can play other slot games on online forums. But before gettinginto playing this game or any other casino game for that matter, knowing howthe machine works and its intricate details must be given utmost importance,unless you are willing to lose unnecessarily.

Knowledgeabout the different types of slots, choosing the right slot games,understanding when to play and when to stop, are the few things which can turnan amateur player into a professional. Here are few things you need to know in order to understand howslot machines work andall the important information about it:

  • Slotmachines use a random number generator– Just like a deck or cards, a roulette wheel or a pair of dice generates arandom number, the slot machine does the same. Modern slot machines usecomputers to generate random numbers. Earlier, they were mechanical which fixedthe outcome of the game.
  • Slotsdon't get hot or cold – There is a myth aboutslot machines getting hot or cold. It truly is a myth only. Slot machines don'tget hot or cold, they can only seem to. The outcomes and results are alsorandom. Slot jackpots can never be due because it does not work on anypre-designed basis. It is a highly unpredictable game.

How Does Casino Slot Machines Work At Home

  • Thecasino has an edge over the player – This is thetruth not just in case of slot machines but in every other casino game outthere. The casinos get edge over the players by using large numbers andapplying mathematics. The casinos design every bet in a way which will onlyyield a lower payout than the real odds of winning.
  • Slotmachines can have three or five reels– The reel has the image which rotates in front of the machine. It has manysymbols on it. A player is able to win money when he or she can line up acombination of many symbols together. Earlier, these symbols and reels weremade of metal hoops but nowadays, they just appear on a computer screen.
  • Reelstops – The reels can stopon any symbol or just on the place where there are no symbols. The manual slotmachine games gave each symbol to come up but now, due to upgraded technology,the odds of getting the desired symbols can be easily lessened.
  • Slotmachines these days have 30 ton 50 stops per reel –The universal fact about slots is that more number ofstops per reel will mean the larger chance of a jackpot. Earlier, slot machineshad only 10 stops per reel.
  • Weightingdecides how likely a stop is to be picked – Considerthere is a particular symbol in your slot machine game which comes up in onceevery 50 or 100 spins. The odds of getting three of that same symbol are1/,000,000. Both casinos and players enjoy such break even.

How Do Indian Casino Slot Machines Work

  • Parsheet determines the odd –Every slot machine these days is designed to have a par sheet which determinesthe weighting of each stop on the reel. This also includes the blank spaceswhere there are no symbols. Casinos keep these par sheets under their domain,so the player never really gets a clear idea about what the odds are.
  • Paybackpercentage – Paybackpercentage refers to a mathematicalprediction of how much money the machine can supposedly pay back afterunlimited number of spins. Casinos obviously have a different picture to showwhen it comes to theoretical payback percentage. But one can bank on thembecause slots are considered to be immensely profitable.

How Does Casino Slot Machines Work If They Are Random

Thisinformation won't turn you into a world-class slot machine pro but knowing howthings work behind the fancy machine would help you understand the game betterand perhaps, play with more precision.





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