We’ve shared on here that the growing pots/bags/fireworks/etc. often are what’s called “perceived persistence,” which means they don’t actually indicate the odds of a bonus happening, but instead are more an indicator of how long it’s been since there was a bonus.
Over time, we get questions like this one, asking how this is allowed:
I don’t understand how this is legal. As a very occasional and totally amateur player, of course I assumed that the bags or fireworks filling up actually meant something! And I have opened the rules, but they are laid out really poorly and use intentionally confusing language, which of course is the last thing you want to do when you’re having fun at a casino. So I think it’s fair to say this is at best obscured and misleading, and at worst predatory. I know when I play slots that I’m going to lose money on average. But when a machine makes me feel like I’m getting close to something and that’s something that turns out to be an illusion, that’s intentionally fooling people, and it’s wrong.
Max
It’s a fair question Max, but the absence of language that tells players that a bigger bag means a more likely bonus, and the inclusion of language that says “the size of the bag has no influence on the odds of a bonus” is the CYA aspect legally in this case.
Most people don’t read the rules, and make assumptions along the way about how a slot works, both rightly and wrongly. And whether people know the bags mean anything or not, they tend to deliver better performance, so that’s why we see so much of them.
Speaking with slot makers at the IGA conference in April, one noted that the bags and pots are no different than a roulette outcome board. It shows the most recent outcomes on a roulette game, which ultimately is not helpful information at all, because the odds of any number landing is the same on any future spin, regardless of what happened in the past.
Similarly, the size of the bags is a reflection of the past, and has no reflection of what will happen next either. The roulette board and bags alike encourage bets, and so that’s why they’re so ubiquitous.
But two slot makers also told us that those perceived persistence elements aren’t legal in Australia, where there are tougher regulations on slots than we have here. So it’s also an acknowledgement that some jurisdictions have more of an issue with it than those here do, so it’s always possible that sentiment shifts and the rules get tighter.
But for now, at least here in the US, the growing elements without specific knowledge or value of bonuses continue to be allowed on slots.
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