We previously shared an article that discussed that dead spins are not a helpful indicator of a machine’s overall payouts. We received a comment that pushed back on our assertion:
If the casino is installing more volatile slots, they have more money in their pocket.
Kathy
It’s a common misconception that volatile slots, by the nature of them being more difficult, make more money for the casino by design alone.
If a casino has two slots side by side, one a more volatile slot and one a less volatile one, but both are set to the same payback percentage and get about the same amount of play, the end result in the long run will be the same amount made for the casino.
Higher volatility slots are getting more play on today’s casino floors, so the casino would certainly make more money if it’s played more. And players might believe that because they have harder runs that don’t pay off more often, that the game is profiting the casino more.
But high volatility slots make up for those more punishing runs with bigger potential on big wins, progressives, and bonuses. The money is moved from the more frequent hits to the less frequent ones. But the machine is designed to pay back the same percentage over time.
Just because the swings are more wild doesn’t change the long term expectation of a machine. But machines that get players to play more does benefit the casino in the long run, because of that higher amount of play.
Every wager we make is exposed to some sort of house edge, so the casinos will make money over time. High volatility slots work because players find the higher prizes more enticing and want to chase them, and that’s what does it for the casinos moreso than the volatility itself.
