By Bill Burton
Over the last year, I have heard many players complain that they are not having as many jackpots on the slot machinesas they used to have. I first heard this from a few of my friends who said they believed that the casinos were tightening the machines because the bad economy was forcing people to make fewertrips to the casino. I did not pay too much attention to this but then I started to notice other players posting the same opinions on several Internet forums.
Payback percentages are programmed into the machines computer chip and are set by the manufacturer based on the specifications set by the casino. Although playing a slot machine with the highest payback percentage is recommended, it does not does not absolutely guarantee that you'll win more.
It seems many of the players have come to believe that every casino was lowering the paybackpercentage on all of their machines.
A month ago I was contacted by a newspaper reporter from Colorado who requested an interview with me. He said he was writing a story about the casinos lowering the payback on the slot machinesthat were making it harder for the players to win. He wanted my opinion on the subject and he was surprised by my answer.
Why Players Win Fewer Jackpots
I told him I do believe that some casinos may be ordering new machines with lower payout percentages but I did not believe that this was the main reason why players may not be winning as muchas they used to. I gave him the following reasons for my answer.
Over the years there have been many myths associated with casino gambling. One of the most common ones is the belief that a casino can raise and lower a machine's payback with the flip of aswitch. This is not true because the slot machines have a computer chip in them that determines the pay back percentage. These are set at the factory.
In order for a casino to change the pay back, they would have to change the chip. In most jurisdictions, there is paperwork that has to be filled and submitted to the Casino Control Commissionfor each machine if the chip is changed. It is time-consuming and the chips are very expensive. For this reason, the cost of changing the chip in numerous machines on the casino floor does notmake economical sense.
Many of the gambling jurisdictions around the country require the casinos to report the overall payout percentages on a monthly basis. (California is not one of the States) These figures are amatter of public record and are published in some newspapers and gaming publications. I looked back on these figures over the last year and saw that there was very little change in most casinosaround the country. In some instances, there were even some of the payback percentages had increased.
A reason why some players feel that they may not be winning as often is the fact that many players are making fewer trips to the casino so they are not playing as many sessions. So because theyare playing fewer sessions they will see fewer big jackpots and fewer winning sessions overall. It is all proportional.
Some players may have decided to play lower denomination machines. Many of the nickel and penny slot machines have a higher hit frequency, which means you will have many smaller wins but not asmany big jackpots.
How To Help Your Payback Percentages
If you still honestly believe that your casino is lowering the return rate on the slot machines you have several courses of action. The easiest thing to do is to play the older machines. It isdoubtful that a casino would go through the expense of putting a new chip in an older machine to lower the return rate. You can try a new casino. You may find that your luck is better at adifferent casino and a change is your routine will let you enjoy some new experiences.
You can switch to video poker. It is the only machine game that will let you know the payback of the machine by readingthe pay table. However, if you do decide to try video poker, make sure you learn the strategy or get a strategy card to bring along with you when you play.
Switch to the table games. Playing table games is exciting and they offer a lower house edge than the slot machines. Many casinos give free table game lessons so you can learn the basics beforeyou sit down.
Let me close by saying again that I do believe that there will be some machines on the casino floors with lower returns, however, I do not believe that is as widespread as the rumors would haveyou believe. The casinos are in competition with each other for your business so they do not want to alienate the players by offering games where nobody can win.
As a customer/player you always have the option of taking your business elsewhere. The ultimate decision of where to play is entirely up to you.
Until next time remember, luck comes and goes.....knowledge stays forever.
For most casino table games, a straightforward calculation will reveal the House edge—i.e., the amount the casino can be expected to retain out of every dollar played. That advantage ranges from a low of less than one percent on blackjack (when played with the optimum strategy) to 1.41% on Pass/Come bets at the craps table and 5.26% for American roulette.
Slot machines, however, are an enigma. Without knowing the number of “stops” (resting positions) associated with each symbol on the reel, no such calculations can be made. Even then, the payouts are complicated by the number and frequency of bonus games and multipliers built into the pay tables for maximum bets. Therefore, the most accurate indicator of how much of every wagered dollar the casino expects to keep can only be found in “slots payback percentages.”
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Payback Is Predetermined
The payback percentage of any given slot machine is the total amount of cash it has paid out divided by the total amount of cash accepted by that machine over a specified period of time, i.e. the ratio of winnings to wagers. If a player bets $1 on each spin for 100 spins and ends up with $97, then the payout is 97:100 or 97%. That’s equivalent to a House edge of 3.0%, which is referred to in slots play as the “hold percentage.”
For each machine, the payback percentage will vary somewhat from hour to hour or day to day, but over the lifetime of the machine it will approach a specific number that was incorporated into its programming at the factory. In fact, casinos select the targeted payback/hold percentages when they order the units from the manufacturer, so the numbers are by no means arbitrary.
Nor do the casinos and manufacturers have unlimited freedom to choose any payback percentage they like. To protect consumers, a minimum threshold is fixed by law. The percentage may not fall below whatever standards have been set by the local regulatory authority. In some jurisdictions, the minimum may be as low as 75%. Typically, there is no maximum limit, but in order for the slot operator to make a profit, the targeted percentage must obviously be less than 100%.
Legal payback percentages are not based on averages, either. Most jurisdictions are like Nevada, where the Gaming Control Board requires that each and every machine in the state must meet minimum payback percentages. The payouts are monitored so that any noncompliant machines can be removed from play and recalibrated. This serves two purposes: protecting players from an unfair House edge and ensuring that the casino earns a predictable income.
Playing by the Percentages
Most slot operators realize that it is to their advantage to offer slots with payout ratios well above the minimum required by law. Market economics is the key determinant. With a payback percentage close to 99%, the casino’s margin is tiny, but volume will be high because players will risk and bet much more money. Conversely, when the payback percentage is low, the profit per wager may be higher, but the volume of play will drop as soon as players figure out how difficult it is to win. They will start taking their business elsewhere.
That means the challenge faced by every casino is how to set the slot payback percentages for optimum profitability. The point of equilibrium may be very elastic—anywhere between 80% and 95%, as a rule. The problem for players, of course, is that the casinos do not make this information readily available. At best, they publish a monthly “average,” including the payback rates of all machines in a single figure. Customers have to discover on their own which slots are “loose” (high payback percentages) and which ones are “tight” (low percentages).
It is worth noting that online slots typically offer higher payback percentages than those found in land-based casinos. That’s because they have less overhead and more competition. Also, slots located in rather isolated areas, such as on Native American Indian reservations, may have much lower payback percentages, owing to the lack of local competition. It certainly pays to shop around and seek out the loosest games available.
Slot Paybacks 2020
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