When a player gets a jackpot handpay at a casino, presuming it’s not a casino equipped with Fast Pay, there’s a process that’s completed each time one happens. This process can differ a bit by casino. A player watching their casino’s process wondered:
I am always questioning myself if when you win a handpay, do they reset the machine to zero bets again? The two times that I had a handpay they opened the machine and did something, so I stopped playing over there. What do you think?
Beatriz
Some casinos open up the machines after a jackpot to log what’s happened, but no, a machine isn’t reset back to it’s beginning at the point of a jackpot. There’s a few reasons for this.
The Historical Data is Important
The historical data each slot houses is important for the casino, whether it be an audit on something if required, accounting information, etc.
This data is also tracked and sent to other systems like the Players Card system for calculating comps, but a machine’s data isn’t flushed when a jackpot happens.
Resetting a Slot is Time Consuming
If you’ve ever watched a machine that is getting set up or reset by slot techs, the process to reboot a slot and bring it back online can be lengthy – 10-15 minutes isn’t uncommon for it to boot up and go through all its checks.
That’s time you’re not gambling and playing, so the jackpot process purposefully doesn’t add any waiting time there. It’s already a long enough wait to process the paperwork and get your cash.
Some Casinos Do a Sanity Check
As to why a machine might be opened, some casinos may still have as a security measure a check to make sure everything looks fine and not tampered with on the machine. For the bigger wide area progressives it’s not uncommon for a machine to be more fully examined to ensure everything looks as it should before processing payment.
The sanity check isn’t a reset, and is more a security review, to ensure there was no malfunction.
The Chances of a Jackpot Are Built In to the Payouts
One reason some think things are reset are because after such a big payout the slot must need to recoup some money, but the reality is those jackpots are built into the payout possibilities from day one, and even with those jackpots the game is designed to make the casino money.
So there’s no reason to reset it – the chances of getting a jackpot on the very next spin are the same as the last.
Takeaway
There’s no reason for the slot machine to need to be reset, and there’s value in not messing with it other than to confirm the jackpot was paid. There may be a logbook that some casinos still will record when something happens like a jackpot, but aside from that they’re just verifying everything is normal before resetting the machine to return it to service after a jackpot.
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