Casino payout frequency and psychological manipulation

Hello everybody,

So I was wandering through the page and read a lot of interesting threads but somehow I got confused and found myself lacking the knowledge of basic terminology.
For instance, what exactly are payouts in casinos?
Following that, what do you mean by payout out frequency (I'm guessing get 2 for one play), how can it be calculated for casinos? For all I read, I understood that the main objective of increasing the payouts frequency is for psychological manipulation right? So basically it does not affect how much we can win or how much the casino can lose (supposing we are lucky..)
But there must be something more about it, isn't it? I mean does it help designers to create paytables? Or how are such paytables even created? I found these stuff really confusing because I am aware that casinos normally have bigger odds for winning as compared to us, the players, but I think that that's obviously not enough considering the enormous profits made by casinos.
So I'm guessing these huge profits are due to the arrangement of the payouts but how the heck do casinos or designers or whoever make these do it so that we do not realize that they are taking our money!? :/ Cause we're still playing and keep going back!!
OH OH geez... sorry for all the waffling but I'm so confused that I guess I'm even asking you lot a confusing question!
Anyway, I'd appreciate a lot any help!
Thanks in advance!

P.s. sorry but I'm really confused and need your help!

This is usually presented in the context of a slot machine.
Instead of merely offering a Grand Jackpot of umpteen zillion dollars or nothing, the machine offers a variety of lesser payouts, a sort of "dribbling" of quarters that supposedly takes place at a rate which is just enough to keep a player feeding in coins and trying for the Grand Prize.

One component of this "reinforcement" is the near miss event. So if the Grand Prize is rewarded based on each of three reels showing a particular symbol, they might program the machine to more frequently show that symbol on the first two reells and for the third reel to "just miss" the required symbol.

It is thought that if a machine does not return some paltry reward players will stop feeding it but if it returns some pittance from time to time players will think "they are getting close" and the machine is about to favor them.

Hahaha that's absolutely true! Thanks so much! But isn't that cheating? I thought there was some kind of "casino police" who tried to avoid it...
Also, would it be viable to make that on other games let's say a game that involved dice? Because, a you said, the slot machines are programmed but you cannot trick the probability of dice right? So what could happen in this situation? Would the casino pay to something different than getting a number?
Thank you!

Quote: MathsMarie

Hahaha that's absolutely true! Thanks so much! But isn't that cheating? I thought there was some kind of "casino police" who tried to avoid it...
Also, would it be viable to make that on other games let's say a game that involved dice? Because, a you said, the slot machines are programmed but you cannot trick the probability of dice right? So what could happen in this situation? Would the casino pay to something different than getting a number?
Thank you!

Many people believe that a "near miss" artificially created in a slot machine is illegal. There is a widely circulated story that the "casino police" in Nevada made a ruling. In reality the Nevada Gaming Commission ruled that one particular type of algorithm was illegal. The "near miss" is one of the more widely used "psychological manipulations".

While dice have a very simple set of outcomes, there are some classic psychological tricks. One of the best known and oldest is the use of the word "for" instead of "to" on the proposition bets.



For instance a hard ten pay "8 for 1" (see image).

The novice player realizes that he loses when a seven is rolled (6 ways for that to happen 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1) and if a soft ten is rolled (2 ways for that to happen, a 6-4 and 4-6). There is only one way to win (5-5). So he figures 8 ways to lose versus 1 way to win. So if the table actually read (pays 8 to 1) there would be no house advantage. Since it says (8 for 1) it means you get 8 chips while we take away your 1.

That bet actually has a very significant house edge. There are 9 ways to resolve the bet (8 ways a player loses 1 chip, and 1 way the player wins 9 chips, but the casino takes away 1 chip). So the house edge is 1/9 or 11.1111%. That word for makes all the difference.

This "word trick" dates back to the 19th century and is now not shown on many modern craps tables as it results in arguments in novices. Especially since the default is to replay your bet (so it is 8 for 1 and in addition the casino rebets your initial bet so you only get 6 chips returned).

Now the craps table often has the phrase written "7 to 1".See the Wizard of Odds "Play for Free"

I don't know if your first language is English, but it is a subtlety involving prepositions that is designed to be deceptive.

its also a subtlety to the math involved. Presuming a 1 Dollar wager...
"For" Odds are based upon the return to Customer IF the Customer does not replay the bet.
"To" Odds are based upon the return when the Customer DOES replay the bet.

For Odds have a "Gain" of X equal to the stated "For Odds" minus the $1 bet: the bet is no longer at risk.
To Odds have a "Gain" of X equal to the stated "To Odds": the bet remains at risk.

Herein lies the subtlety...
Once the bet is removed upon the first result, the "Profit" is the "For Odds Gain" above.
If the Customer leaves the bet on the table again, for the 2nd roll, the Profit is the "To Odds Gain" minus $1, because the bet is at risk.

Any Craps Example: 8 For 1 equals a payment of 7 To 1.

If the Customer does not replay the bet, the Customer either loses $1 or receives $8 as $7 profit plus the return of the original wager.
If the Customer DOES replay the bet, the Customer either loses $1 or receives $7, with the $1 bet still at risk, for a profit of $6. If the bet wins again, another $7 will be paid, else the $1 loses with the stated profit of $6. This rationalization of the bet continues as long as the original bet is wagered.

Thank you all! Indeed it is really interesting to find out the ways in which we get manipulated... you think you're getting a great deal whilst the truth is very different.
Best regards!