Players often want to believe the worst in casinos, and part of it is simply being envious of others around them winning, or so it seems anyway:
Yes I believe they are all connected to one mainframe computer and they flip that payout switch whenever they want because I’ve noticed at the casino certain rows of slots paying while others eating up people’s money.
Susie S.
In the past we’ve addressed the myth of casinos changing payouts on certain days or times of day, which they don’t do because it’s not worth it to them. This is the same thing but in a different form. Here, the casinos are letting some people in some rows win while making others lose.
First of all, payback percentage settings do not force a guaranteed win or loss. A slot at any payout setting can award the top prize (by gaming regulations it has to), so a slot set to minimum payback setting can still award a jackpot, while a slot at a higher payback percentage can eat someone’s ticket. Casinos do not have absolute control over who is winning or not.
But here’s what you need to ask: Why would they want that sort of control? What benefit is there to being able to let one group of people win and another not? It’s certainly not going to make customers happy if they’re on the short end of that stick, which risks losing them for good.
So it’s a safe bet that it’s not the case, and indeed it’s not. Here’s a comment on one of our recent Facebook posts from a reader who shares the very clear reason why casinos don’t have this as an option:
If technicians (or anyone, really) could change winning “on the fly,” they would be the highest paid people there since they could bring down the casino via the gaming board if they weren’t being well taken care of. Or they would be open to bribes from friends, etc. Or they would recruit friends to play certain machines and split winnings. The casino would lose their license. Why risk it when the odds are already in the casino’s favor?
Beth B.
Beth later noted in her comment:
If you have a belief, you will naturally view events based on your belief, trying to prove it is right.
Beth B.
When we’re losing, and see a group of people winning in another bank, it would be possible for someone to come to the conclusion that the casino’s letting that happen. But they don’t have any power over that. All they can say is “pay back X% over time” in the settings and then let the machines do the work they’re designed to do.
As such, we push back on these sorts of assertions because it’s honestly unhealthy thinking. Creating the casino “bogeyman” to try to explain away why you lose money ignores the very clear fact that every single game in the casino is designed to make the casino money at the expense of the players playing them.
Furthermore, slots are among the most profitable, with a high house edge, fast pacing, and games that award the biggest prizes to a very small percentage of the players. And over time, slots evolve to make more money for the casino through various changes that encourage more wagers, faster. (We’ve covered that aspect here.)
Casinos don’t need to do anything nefarious to generate a generous amount of income for offering these slots. They certainly don’t stress about any player’s budget because they know in the long run they come out ahead. So they don’t have any manual or automatic systems continually tinkering paybacks based on who’s playing it, or where they’re sitting, or when they’re playing.
If you believe the casino’s doing this to you and/or others, gambling is probably not the right investment of your entertainment dollar, because you’re distrusting of those who are offering it to you. It’s probably best to spend the money in some other way that brings you more happiness.
