Coach Tom

How Slots Work- Questions for the manufactures

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The Raja and his squad will be soon be attending the Gaming Conference and will tour a Slot manufacturing facility. I thought you BombSquaders might have some good questions  to pass on to Raja and maybe we can get some answers from the Slot makers themselves. Here are a few I have: 

When can we expect to see holograms in slot machines? 

Skill Machines have problems with the screen sensors, how are you addressing that?

How many pulls (pushes actually) are the machines assuming these days in calculating the payout percentage?

Do new chips in multi denominations machines have different payout percentages for different denominations and games, or is it all a ruse?

Now days, many casinos buy new programs (and chips) to update an old game to a new game, how are manufactures assisting and competing in this trend- do they keep the same RNG?

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How many new machines do you put out to the casinos each year? How many machines do you take back from the casinos each year? What do the casinos pay for each new machine or is their a percentage factor built in?

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1. If you stop the spin quickly do you get the same result if you let the spin do a complete spin?

2. As a gambler entering a casino how do we know the payout percentages? 

3. If it is a random number generator for slots, how can I lose 500 spins in a row, and is it worth chasing the machine to get my money back?

4. Do machines really have hot and cold periods? 

5. Also I have noticed that different times in the casino where everyone is winning around me( right before they let out a show) I have also noticed that there are times where no is winning (when it is slower). Can they turn "on" winning more or "Off" from winning less?

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Recently the new Lightning Link Machines at the local casino have been paying  really well.  Yesterday I saw they were all closed down for "maintenance".  Could they be reprogramming them to pay less?

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For Ainsworth games in particular I would like to know why when a BIG line hit or Bonus happens the screen immediately locks to the Jackpot Screen. Majority of other slot manufacturers build up that moment with Coin Shows, "BIG WIN" animation, as well as music before it flips to the 'locked' Jackpot Screen. In several cases I actually did not know what I won the handpay jackpot on because it happens so quickly. 

Just wondering if Ainsworth does this for a specific reason, and if they'd consider changing it- because as a player I feel like it detracts a little from the excitement of winning a jackpot. I like the option of having a big coin show or big win animation, as well as being able to 'hit the button' to speed it up, but for Ainsworth games it happens so quickly sometimes you are not even sure what you won. 

Thanks! I am really looking forward to their thoughts on this as a frequent Ainsworth player! :)

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When they put a new game out does the casino pay back a high percent for say 2 or so weeks and then change them later. I feel like they pay like cray at first and then a month later it's like pulling teeth to get a bonus.

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Why is there no build-up for the handpays on Ainsworth games? Also, most if not all Ainsworth games seem to have the same exact style and graphics, just different pictures. Do they see that changing anytime soon or is that what they want for their brand?

 

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I believe that when slot machines are moved from casino to casino they have to program the new machine with the same payback as the one taken out; at least the money already put into a  machine. If it was not they could just remove games with high progressives and the casino would have made a higher profit. I would say that this is highly regulated by state officials to ensure this does not happen. I know a lot of casinos switch slot machines with each other, so they probably use old win/loss codes on the new machine. I am not entirely sure when it comes to games straight from the manufacturer. I would say that they program the machine to think so much money has gone through it, then that programing recovers the initial losses over time.

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On 8/15/2017 at 7:43 PM, Joseph Lombardi said:

1. If you stop the spin quickly do you get the same result if you let the spin do a complete spin?

2. As a gambler entering a casino how do we know the payout percentages? 

3. If it is a random number generator for slots, how can I lose 500 spins in a row, and is it worth chasing the machine to get my money back?

4. Do machines really have hot and cold periods? 

5. Also I have noticed that different times in the casino where everyone is winning around me( right before they let out a show) I have also noticed that there are times where no is winning (when it is slower). Can they turn "on" winning more or "Off" from winning less?

I think Joe has asked my question in 2 different ways. In any case:

"Do they issue a Volatility Index that the casinos can custom order or do they directly set a particular game's volatility and they are ordered that way?"

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I have made a quick video that answers a few of these questions or at least on IGT machines.  I can't say for the other manufacturers. 

1. Stopping the reel animation does not change the outcome of the spin.

2.  Payout percentages are listed in some casinos and is up to the casino but not required.

3.  A machines yield is a specific percentage set by the manufacturer or by the casino as a percentage that the machine will pay back.  This is somewhat disputed however, I have found that these machines operate within a fairly specific range of +/- that yield %.

Based on the information above the machine if in a (+) of the programmed hold % then it will be "Hot" or "Loose" until the range is back in line with the overall hold %.  On the flip side of that, if the machine is (-) of the programmed Hold % then it will feel "Tight" or "Cold" until it recoups back in line with the programmed yield %. 

This is more impacted by the total bet played each spin rather than the total number of spins. So if a machine is -3% to the programmed yield and has a total accounting of 1m on the machine then it will essentially be "Loose" until the $30k or so has been paid back to the players.  That is also impacted by the selected denominations  hold  %.  There are not many casinos that will give you the specific hold % per denomination on a multi denominational machine for obvious reasons.  Some may have a better % at a lower denomination cough cough.  All of the machines that I have owned stay within a fairly narrow range +/- or the yield % for each denomination.

4.  The yield % can be set independently  for each denomination on a machine. 

5.  Soon the casinos will be able to set the Yield via network connectivity real-time without having to key chip the machine to unlock the yield settings.

6.  Given the above information this explains why new machines appear to pay out like crazy and then eventually tighten up. 

Watch my video I shot today to help explain this using an IGT I Cleopatra 2 using the latest Game King 044 board and flash game board.  This is what the majority of casinos have in them today. 

Video:  https://youtu.be/wPJ9r4IWO0g

 

 

Update:  After more testing it appears as though the higher the denomination, the larger the swing to +/- the machine yield.  This means larger wins and larger loss periods as it appears to open the volatility up incrementally with the denomination.  I don't know exactly the % of swing on either side however, I can say that it appears to be approximately 1.5% +/- @ .10 bet denomination.  So if we scale that up to $1 denomination, that would give us a 15% swing on the yield +/- , and  30% on a $2 denomination. 

So if the machine is sitting at the programmed 98.6% yield, this means it could swing in either direction up to 15% before it reverses it's trend assuming a $2 bet per line playing 300 lines or $600 a pull.  I think that is why you see the high limit players are either raking it in or hating life.  It really is luck as to if you are sitting at a machine that is at -15% or +15% to machine hold/yield.  Just no way to know without seeing the programmed percentage hold and the accounting screen.  So any how, just wanted to clear that up. 

 

I would relate slot machine play to playing the VXX in the stock market.  If you look into that you will find that it is a never ending decline that ultimately goes to zero.  However, if played (invested) in with good timing (luck), can yield you with a solid return but is not a good long term investment.  Meaning if you sit at the same machine long enough, you are guaranteed to loose 100% of your money. 

 

Cheers  & BOOOM!

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