Regulations dictate the ways slot machines can function. Despite that, there are players who believe have absolute control over a slot:
I have been told that the casino itself tightens the machines. I find that very funny because I am so sure that they will set up a machine so that no one can win.
Eli C.
Casinos can choose from a menu of settings in terms of the payback. That choice is a long term expectation, however, and casinos can’t choose settings that block the top payouts from being awarded, for instance, which would violate gaming regulations that require all payouts that a slot can offer to be possible.
Casinos can choose games with top prizes that are very hard to achieve, so they’re not going to be awarded that often. They can also choose games that don’t have a big top prize at all, although the general trend is slots that have what are known as multi-level progressives – multiple progressive prizes to be awarded.
What makes slots exciting is that in the short term, you can get bonus after bonus, or in the short term you can get nothing at all. That is because of the fact that there’s many outcomes possible, and the Random Number Generator (RNG) creates an environment where any of those outcomes can come up on any spin. But that ensures that it’s not just put in $100, get back $90, every time you play.
The other thing to keep in mind is that casinos want winners. Winners talk about their wins, share them online, and are good marketing. If a casino gets a reputation that you can never win, and players always leave broke, eventually players will stop patronizing that casino.
There’s a thread that we see often in social media groups surrounding casinos that many think the worst of casinos, and we think that’s a dangerous and unhealthy mindset. If you are that distrusting of casinos, we recommend a different venue to spend your entertainment dollars.
Slots are very profitable for the casino – they require less labor and have a higher house edge than most other games in the casino. They don’t need to make things impossible for players – time is on their side and they’ll do very well in the long run with them just as they are.
It’s just strange that when the casino is not very busy seem to hit more bonus’s and more payline hits. When the casino gets busier during the day and evening not so much. I have been gambling for a lot of years so it not just a one-time observation.
What’s funny though is we have other players who SWEAR that only busy casinos pay. Go on a slower day and they win nothing. Or only areas of the casino that are busy pay. Observations deceive us because we tend to remember the scenarios that meet our hypothesis and tend to reinforce that belief, where those times where it doesn’t work out we’re more inclined to throw out mentally.