SLOT MACHINES

Slot machines, otherwise known as fruit machines, poker machines, one-armed bandits, or slots, are gambling devices with at least three reels, which spin when currency is given to them and a button is pushed. The reels form a pattern of pictures in a window and the machine pays off according to which images are showing when the reels stop. Slot machines are highly popular, making up about 70 per cent of casinos’ income.

Etymology

The name comes from the slot used for inserting coins.

History

Charles Fey invented the first slot machine in 1887 or 1895. The original game was based upon poker cards and it was almost impossible to make it make an automatic payoff, due to the large number of winning combinations. Fey used three spinning reels with five symbols—horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts, and a liberty bell. Replacing ten cards with only five symbols and using only three reels simplified the game so that payoffs could be made automatically. Three bells in a row produced the biggest payoff, fifty cents. The game was hugely successful and in 1907 Herbert Mills build a slot machine called the Operator Bell. By the next year many bell machines were installed in most cigar stores, saloons, bowling alleys, brothels, and barbershops. An original Liberty Bell slot machine is still located at the Liberty Belle Saloon and Restaurant in Reno, Nevada.  

Sittman and Pitt had invented a gambling machine in 1891, and it was the early version of the modern slot machine. It had five drums with 50 cards and was based upon the card game poker. It was popular in many bars. Players would put in a nickel and pull a lever, spinning the drums with their cards, trying to get a good poker hand. The payoffs might be free drinks or cigars, depending upon what merchandise was offered at the establishment. The ten of spades and jack of hearts were often removed, to make it doubly difficult to obtain a royal flush.  

Another early device gave out payoffs in the form of fruit flavored chewing gums with pictures of the fruits on the reels. Some machines to this day have pictures of fruits. The BAR symbol now used in many machines came from the logo of the Bell Fruit Gum Company. Using food as prizes was an attempt to get around laws against gambling, but courts in Iowa ruled that the machines were gambling devices regardless of what prize was given.

In 1963, Bally invented the first electromechanical slot machine, named the Money Honey. It was the first slot machine with a bottomless hopper and automatic payout, of up to 500 coins, without a human component. This led to more electronic gaming because it was so popular. A video slot machine called Reel “Em was the first to offer a bonus round, in 1996. A second screen provides a new game where a new payoff may be won.  
 

Playing the Game 

A gambler playing slot machines first inserts money or a bar coded ticket into aw slot in the machine. Then the player must push a button or touch screen. Either real or simulated reels spin with images of fruits, numbers, letters, bells, diamonds, cartoon characters, actors, or singers. Various combinations of symbols win payoffs. Video poker games are one type of slot machine, and payoffs correspond with winning poker hands. Some machines allow players to play more than one hand at a time. 

Since the 1990’s multi-line slot machines have become popular, with more than one payline. The symbols that are not aligned on the main display may still have winning combinations. Reel slot machines sometimes have five paylines, while video slot machines can have as many as one hundred. Themed games, such as The Addams Family, Happy Days, I Dream of Jeannie, and other programs, movies, or entertainers, are common on video slot machines. Most accept credit.  

Since 2005 there have been hybrids of video machines and traditional machines.

Payoffs are calculated differently in the two types of game. With reel machines, the jackpot can be won only if the maximum number of coins is inserted. With video machines, payoffs are calculated in accordance with the number of coins per line that is wagered. On the Wheel of Fortune reel machine, in order for the bonus round to be triggered, three coins must be wagered. On the Wheel of Fortune video machine, the odds of triggering the bonus round are the same regardless of how many coins are wagered per line.  

Casinos offer slot machines that take one penny, $100.00, and many denominations in between. Multi-denomination slot machines offer the player more than one option as to how to wager. Some casinos use tokens to avoid the cost of having to handle various kinds of coins.

Terminology

Bonus: special feature of a given game, activated when certain symbols appear in a certain combination. May consist of free spins or other items, sometimes with graphic displays of the items.

Candle: a light atop the machine. It alerts the operator that change is needed, hand pay is requested, or there is a problem, by lighting up.

Carousel: a grouping of slot machines, usually forming a circle or oval.

Coin hopper: container that holds coins available for payoffs.

Credit meter: visual display of amount of money or credit in the machine.  

Drop bucket or box: container that receives excess coins from the hopper.

EGM: Electronic Gaming Machine.

Hand pay: payoff made by hand by an attendant.

Hopper fill slip: document with a record of additions to the hopper when payoffs have been made.

MEAL book: Machine Entry Authorization Log, a record of employees’ entries into the machine.

Low level or slant top: machine with a stool so that player can sit to play.

Stand up or upright: describes machines that are played while player is standing.

Optimal play: payoff percent based upon using the optimal skills.

Payline: straight or zig-zagged line crossing through symbols on the reels, along which combinations are evaluated.

Rollup: dramatizing a win by playing sounds while the amount won is counted.

Short pay: partial payoff made by a slot machine, which occurs if the hopper is not full.

Taste: small amount paid out to keep a player betting.

Tilt: circuit of machine is broken, tripping alarm, if any attempt has been made to tamper with the machine or in case of mechanical failure.

Theoretical hold worksheet: document indicating per cent that a slot machine should hold based on the amount put in, reel strip settings, number of coins that may be played, payoff schedule, and other facts from the manufacturer.

Weight count: number of coins or tokens taken from a slot machine and counted with a scale.

Pay Table: list of payoffs based upon which symbols appear. 

Technology 

Earlier slot machines, with only ten symbols and three reels, had only one thousand possible combinations of pictures. Later the symbols were increased to twenty-two, making for ten thousand combinations, but still more were desired.  

In the 1980’s electronics made it possible to program the machines to weight certain symbols. The odds of given symbols appearing on the payline no longer had to be proportionate to their frequency upon a physical reel. Inge Telnaes patented a machine called an “electronic gaming device utilizing a random number generator for selecting reel stop positions.” International Gaming Technology bought the patent and licenses it to slot machine manufacturers. A virtual reel can have up to 256 virtual stops in each reel, allowing over sixteen million combinations. A casino could offer a million dollar jackpot from a one- dollar bet, confident that it would only pay off in over sixteen million plays. Using microprocessors, manufacturers are able to assign different probabilities to each symbol on every reel.

Video slot machines

Video slot machines have only a graphical representation of reels on a screen. More interactive elements, such as advanced bonus games and graphics, can be added since it is actually a computer game. Without mechanical constraints, displaying five reels rather than three is customary. Machines can have fifty or more symbols per reel, making odds as high as three hundred million to one. With such a great number of symbols, there is not necessarily a need to weight them, although some manufacturers do. Lines do not necessarily have to go only horizontally, and players are encouraged to play lines going in various directions.

Bonus games are added to encourage players to keep playing in hopes of winning back their losses.

Random Number Generators

Contemporary machines use pseudorandom number generators, which generate random numbers at a rate of hundreds to thousands per second. When the play button is pressed, the most recently generated random number is used to determine which symbols will be shown. Ronald Dale Harris, a former slot machine programmer, found equations for gambling games that allowed him to know when the next set of random numbers would come up, based upon when they came up last. Most machines are designed to keep this from happening by generating random numbers even when the machine is not in use, so that it is not possible to predict where in a sequence a machine is.  

Payout per cent

Slot machines usually pay out 82 to 98 per cent of the money bet by players. This is called the theoretical payout per cent, or return to player. The minimum amount is determined by laws or regulations of the local government. The minimum in Nevada is 75 per cent. In New Jersey it is 82 per cent. The theoretical payoff is set at the factory where the software is written. Changing the software can be accomplished by trading the software, using random access memory, CD-ROM, or DVD. The probabilities of payoffs is also an interesting statistic. The paytable and reel strips sheet, or PARS, contains the probabilities for a given machine. If there are thirteen possible payoffs, ranging form 1:1 to 2400:1, the 1:1 happens every eight plays. The 5:1 payout happens every thirty-three plays, and 2:1 happens every six hundred plays. An 80:1 payout only happens every 210 plays, while the 150:1 payout happens only every 6241 plays. The 2400:1 payout happens only every 262,144 plays. PARS sheets are occasionally posted on the internet, but have little value because one machine might have eight to twelve possible programs, each with its own schedule, and new variations are always being developed. From October 2001 to February 2002, writer Michael Shackleford used PAR sheets for five nickel machines, Austin Powers, Fortune Cookie, Leopard Spots, Wheel of Fortune, and Reel ‘Em In to develop a program that would allow him to determine which programs were used for which machines. A survey of over four hundred machines in seventy Las Vegas casinos revealed the average payback per cent for each casino. The Palms Casino was found to have the best schedule from the players’ point of view.  

Unlike the game of craps, in which the player knows which bets have which chances of winning, slot machines force players to play all plays the same, never knowing which plays are more advantageous than others. Different machines are programmed differently, but without knowing the specific programming, the player does not know how to choose a machine.  

In some markets central monitoring and controls are used to change player returns from remote locations. In 2006 the Nevada Gaming Commission worked with casinos on technology that would let the management change the game, odds, and payouts from remote locations. After a change has been made, a message appears on the screen telling players that a change has been made.

Linked machines 

Linking machines allows them to pay out jackpot prizes when their progressive collections of money grow large enough. Machines owned by manufacturers may be linked across more than one casino. The best known example of this type of linkage is Megabucks, in Nevada, which has a jackpot of ten million dollars. The penny Megabucks video game also has a ten million dollar jackpot.  

Fraud

Before video games, the old mechanical slot machines were sometimes cheated. One such fraud was a spinning coin with a length of wire, which, when inserted, would spin through the exit chute, allowing the player to play for nothing. Modern slot machines are controlled by computer chips and bill acceptors are used. Anti-cheating and anti-counterfeiting make them nearly impossible to cheat. The newest ways of trying to defraud slot machines involve changing programming and using microwaves.

Regional Variations

United States

State governments in the United States regulate slot machines. Nevada has no significant restrictions against them, while New Jersey limits them to hotel casinos in Atlantic City. Illionois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri allow the devices on riverboats and barges. Mississippi has allowed slot machines on land along the shoreline since Hurricane Katrina. In Delaware the machines are allowed on three horse tracks regulated by the state lottery commission.  

Native American Casinos

American Indian casinos on reservations are not allowed to have slot machines unless the tribe reaches an agreement with the state in which it is located, usually allowing the state a part of the gross revenue from the machines.

Slot Machine Classes

Some states have restrictions on the type, or class, of slot machines allowed in casinos or elsewhere in the state. Traditional slot machines work independently of centralized computer systems and players’ chances of winning are the same with every play. Traditional slot (class III) machines are seen most often in Nevada or Atlantic City and are sometimes called Vegas-style slots. Video lottery terminals, or class II slot machines, mimic scratch-off lottery tickets in that each has the same chance of winning a series of prizes. Class III games require a license and the number of licenses is limited. Class II games do not require a license.

Class II Game Characteristics

1. Players compete against other players for a prize.

2. There is not always a winner in every game. The games go on until there is a winner.

3. For a given set there are a given number of wins and losses. When a certain combination is reached it cannot occur again until a new batch is started.

4. The player is an active participant, recognizing events are they occur, and announcing his or her winnings.

5. All players play from the same set of numbers, which is announced.

Class III Game Characteristics

1. The player plays against the house.

2. Each game is independent of earlier games.

3. Wins are automatically announced.

Slot Clubs

Slot clubs exist in many American casinos. The clubs return part of the money that is bet in the form of complimentary food, drinks, hotel rooms, merchandise, cash, or promissory notes. Club members use cards, which are inserted into the machines to keep track of the money lost in order for them to become eligible for the comps.

Australia

In Australia, slot machines are called video poker, poker machines, or pokies, but the official name for them is gaming machines. Video displays are used to simulate usually five reels. Bonuses, free games, and bonus levels are included, as well as multiple lines or other multiple ways to play. In multi way games, players play the entire position of each reel rather than lines or patterns. If a player plays one reel on a two hundred forty-three way game, then he or she gets three symbols, which pay in the three positions, while other reels pay only in the center. If a player were to play five reels, symbols might appear anywhere in the window and still pay as long as there were one in each reel. Most, however, still require the symbols to line up from left to right. Some games have more than three thousand ways to win. They include Xtra Reel Power and Super Reel Power. They are usually more expensive to play than games with fewer ways to win. Konami Australia markets games with patterns, in which symbols pay when in certain relations to each other.  

Gaming in Australia is regulated by the states, just as it is in the United States. The first state to legalize slot machines was New South Wales in 1956. Now gaming machines are found in casinos, clubs, and pubs. In 1999 the Australian Productivity Commission made it known that Australia had almost one hundred eighty thousand poker machines, half of them in New South Wales. Australia had more than 20 per cent of the world’s gaming machines, and more than five times the number per capita as the United States. More than half the four billion dolla gambling revenue collected by the states is in money from gaming machines. In Queesland, gaming machines provide a return rate of 85 per cent in pubs and clubs, while casino machines provide a return rate of 90 per cent. In Victoria, slot machines provide a rate of return of 87 per cent. All gaming machines made since 2003 comply with a rule that does not allow them to take one hundred dollar notes. In Crown Casino, players with VIP loyalty cards are still allowed to insert one hundred dollar notes and use a banned autoplay feature, whereby the machine will continue to play automatically until credit is exhausted or the player stops it. All slot machines in Victoria have a screen with information on game rules, pay table, return to player per cent, and the top and bottom five combinations, and odds. Western Australia allows only particular forms of gaming machines in Burswood Casino, and no slot machines elsewhere. The 1974 Royal Commission into Gambling stated that gambling could be addictive and should be banned in public. Australian politicians have run on the platform of outlawing gaming machines, although they have been unsuccessful so far.  

United Kingdom 

In the United Kingdom slot machines are subject to the Gaming Act of 2005. They are categorized by definitions written by the Gambling Commission. Large casinos have are allowed certain numbers of machines in various categories defined by the Commission. 

Category B

Category B machines fall into subcategories B1, B2, Be, and B4. The differences are defined according to stakes and prizes. Random number generators are used so that each game is independent of those before it.  

Category C

Catetgory C machines are referred to as fruit machines, one-armed bandits, and amusement with prizes. They are often found in pubs, clubs, and arcades. Machines have three, four or five reels with sixteen to twenty-four symbols. Combinations of symbols lead either to winnings or subgames with more opportunities to win.  

Players, or punters as they are known in the UK, can be given the chance to have reels spun from the settings from the previous spin. Players may be given a number of nudges, or single step rotations at the player’s discretion. Cheats such as hold after a nudge can give the players the impression that they have an advantage. The minimum payout per cent is 70, with pubs frequently setting their payoffs to 78 per cent. Fruit machines in the UK, rather than being random, are customarily based upon a compensated mathematical model, meaning that a machine that has paid more than its target per cent is less likely to pay out than it would if it were below that per cent.  

Japan 

Slot machines in Japan are called pachisuro or pachislo, and descend from the Japanese game of pachinko. Slot machines are found in pachinko parlors and arcades. The machines have integrated circuits with six different levels regulating the odds. Japanese games are actually beatable, some having payout per cents of 200 if played with skill. Although most machines are set so that players lose, a few will be set to allow players to lose so that players at other machines will be encouraged to keep playing, thinking that their turn is bound to come up eventually. This is known as the gambler’s fallacy. The Security Electronics and Communication Technology Association, an affiliate of the National Police Agency, puts forward rules and regulations for the machines. There must be three reels, stoppable with buttons, and the speed is regulated. When the button is pressed, the machine may not let the reel continue for more than four symbols. No more than fifteen coins may be paid out per play. Big bonuses are allowed and while the machine is in bonus mode, entertaining music and scenes on an LCD display are provided. When there is enough money for a bonus, the machines will sometimes make the player play “standby games” until the bonus games take place. Sometimes players get to play several bonus rounds. Bonuses are paid after players lose large amounts, so it is possible to get a payoff by playing after someone who has lost.  

Skill Stops 

Machines with skill stops were made as early as the mid 1920.s They had modified reel-stop arms, which let them be released from the timing bar earlier than in normal play. To do this the player simply pressed buttons on the front of the machine. The buttons allow a certain amount of skill to enter the game. The games became popular in New Jersey.  

HOW TO PLAY ONLINE SLOTS

Winning Tips on Playing the Slots

Slot are simple to learn and play. Basically all you have to do is insert some money in the slot machine and pull the lever. That's it! O and keep your fingers crossed and maybe you'll be the next progressive jackpot winner.

A good tip before playing online slots. Is to read the payout's and determine the amount it costs to play the slot machine. Some slots only cost 1 cent to play while other required a five dollars for one spin.

Another good tip. Always play the maximum bets you can make. This is the only way the slot machine will payout a decent value plus its the only way to win the jackpot.

If you don't have enough money to play the maximum amount of coins than go find another machine for less. In the long run your odds will be much better and your gambling experience will be enhanced ten fold.

Before you play slots predetermine a limit a win and loss limit. For example. If I win $1000, I will leave the slot machine, but if i loose $100 than I will also leave the slot machine and take a 24hr break. Its important to have a game play or you will end up playing in till you either go broke or hit the jackpot. Unfortunately you'll go broke 4 lifetimes before you hit a jackpot.

progressive slot
A slot machine that offers a huge jackpot. At an online casino the jackpots usually exceed one million dollars. These are for sure the best slots to play.

progressive jackpots
Usually exceed 100,000 and are contributed by slot machines that are interconnected between each other

maximum credits each play
The only way to his a jackpot on a slot machine is to play max credits. Thus this is why its a good move I always recommend.

one machine at a time
To save money and increase your money, its recommended you only play one machine at a time.

Pay out
The amount a slot machine is predetermined to payout in the long run. Usually 98%

Non-progressive slot
Usually pay out more but much less. The jackpot don't exceed 10,000.