MultiWay Slots: Large Theoretical Jackpots
http://media.igt.com/marketing/PromotionalLiterature/GamePromoLit_EDF7-2078B.pdf
I had some luck and caught a jackpot playing House of the Dead EX:
http://imageshack.us/a/img687/3536/houseofdeadslot.jpg
The machine had denominations of 1,2, and 5 cents playable up to 25 credits per line. To be eligible for the full 243 lines, you paid a flat fee of 25 credits- so the max bet was 25x25 or 625 credits.
After hitting the jackpot after a few spins (lucky me!) I took a look at the pay table and noticed the top award for 1 line with the top symbol was 5000 credits.
Now, it'll never happen, but if a player was lucky enough to fill the screen with top symbols and/or wild symbols, the payout would be the following for a 25x line bet:
243x25x5000=$303,750 or 48600x your initial wager.
or over $1.5 million for a max bet nickel play.
Anyway, I thought it interesting as it seems many slot machines only offer a relatively small multiple of your initial wager.
For example, if you have three identical symbols among the first three reels (let's say an Ace at the top of reel 1, middle of reel 2, and bottom of reel 3) but not on reels 4 or 5, there are 9 paylines which start that way, but you will only be paid once for that combination in most (if not all) "243 way" games. You might get paid twice for the same combination if one of the first three reels also contains a wild, but that's not the same as being paid for each unique payline.
Quote: JBYou should not assume that "243 ways" equates to "243 paylines" because the majority of the time it does not.
For example, if you have three identical symbols among the first three reels (let's say an Ace at the top of reel 1, middle of reel 2, and bottom of reel 3) but not on reels 4 or 5, there are 9 paylines which start that way, but you will only be paid once for that combination in most (if not all) "243 way" games. You might get paid twice for the same combination if one of the first three reels also contains a wild, but that's not the same as being paid for each unique payline.
Right, in order to in effect have a 243 multiplier, the whole screen needs to be filled with the same symbol or along with a wild symbol: not likely to happen with any lower symbol let alone the "top" symbol. Just miss one and you're down to 162 paylines, if I'm understanding this correctly. That said, having lesser winning paylines to the tune of say 6(like I did) or 9 does happen- throw in some wild columns and there's a lot of interesting payouts that can occur.
Quote: DRich243 way games are going to completely replace line games in the near future. It is just so much easier for the player to understand. If you have the same symbol anywhere on reels 1,2,3 you have a winner. If it is also on 4 and 5 you have even a bigger winner.
I agree that it's easier for a new player to understand. The first time I played a slot I thought that playing max lines would fill in every combo, essentially giving me what these new machines do.
Although it's easy to understand what a line is, and I knew if I played one line I'd need to get them all in the center - I didn't realize max lines wouldn't cover every combination. And it's easy for other people who haven't gambled yet or often to misunderstand slots.
Quote: TheBigPaybak
Anyway, I thought it interesting as it seems many slot machines only offer a relatively small multiple of your initial wager.
Any game that has tiled reels can lead to a huge payoff if you're lucky enough to hit it, but the odds of pulling it off is quite small though, likely one in tens of millions. It would likely be greater than 1 in 50M though since that often requires specific odds disclosure of the jackpot in many states. It's also possible that getting a full board of the top paying symbol is impossible because of the reel structure.
Quote: TheBigPaybakRight, in order to in effect have a 243 multiplier, the whole screen needs to be filled with the same symbol or along with a wild symbol.
That is a good point.
There is one other Aristocrat 243x game, Buffalo, that has stacked buffalo symbols that can give you a pretty nice payout if you get them on all 5 reels, but nowhere near $1m.
Congratulations, TheBigPayBak, on TheBigPayOff!
Quote: tringlomaneIt's also possible that getting a full board of the top paying symbol is impossible because of the reel structure.
I was wondering about that, actually, which brings up a few questions on slot design for these games:
1. Does each column have the same symbols/reel as other columns?
2. Do the symbols in each column "randomize" in any way, or does the virtual reel always remain static? Or does it depend on the machine?
There are some machines, well one in particular, where I can watch the final column and actually tell more often than not when the bonus symbol will appear when the video reel appears in a certain way: when it's spinning during a familiar area of its virtual wheel set.
Other machines seem to always be randomizing- or possibly the virtual reel is just so big, so feel it's random.
The second highest paying symbol can appear over the entire reel set, however. This leads to a 500*243/25 = 4860x bet payout.
Quote: TheBigPaybakI was wondering about that, actually, which brings up a few questions on slot design for these games:
1. Does each column have the same symbols/reel as other columns?
2. Do the symbols in each column "randomize" in any way, or does the virtual reel always remain static? Or does it depend on the machine?
There are some machines, well one in particular, where I can watch the final column and actually tell more often than not when the bonus symbol will appear when the video reel appears in a certain way: when it's spinning during a familiar area of its virtual wheel set.
Other machines seem to always be randomizing- or possibly the virtual reel is just so big, so feel it's random.
1. No.
2. I'm not sure. I would guess it depends on the machine. Maybe one of the guys that have done actual slot machine design on here could enlighten us on that.
Edit: my answer for number 2 is while you watch the symbols spin. Once they stop, they are always static.
Quote: tringlomaneIt doesn't look like you could get 3 Top Symbols/Wilds on reels 1 or 5, or even 2 of them in the same reel. So, if that's correct, the biggest payout is only 5000*27/25 = 5400x bet.
I'm going to keep an eye out just to see, although I'm thinking the design probably is done in a way to prohibit the top-symbol/full-reel payout: it just seems too much.
Quote: DRichAll of the slots that I have done have static virtual reel strips where the symbol order is always the same on the reel. Different reels may have different symbols, orders, number of symbols., and reel strip length (stops).
Does the reel order stay constant during the spin animation too? Because I could see machines have a different animation of the reels in motion while the machine spins, and then displays the static virtual strip on the screen once the "spin" is completed. I don't think machines usually do that, but I could see it being a possibility.
Quote: tringlomaneDoes the reel order stay constant during the spin animation too? Because I could see machines have a different animation of the reels in motion while the machine spins, and then displays the static virtual strip on the screen once the "spin" is completed. I don't think machines usually do that, but I could see it being a possibility.
yes, it is possible. I believe I did a game many years ago that had a "blur" animation for the reels. That same blur animation was used for all of the reels.
TheBigPaybak, No the reel sets in one column are not necessarily the same and normally different for manipulation of the payback.
Each machine would have different reels based on the programmed payback. I think generally you are making up ideas to justify what you believe, such as "randomizing", and not discovering anything. Whatever machine you are playing you mention, I can only assume i is a WMS machine, because they have been known to make people lose their wits and let the imagination flow.
Quote: onenickelmiracleThe game says win up to 243 ways, now win 243 ways, meaning there are 243 ways to win. Not having segments on the reels which cover the whole screen eliminates the possibility. Also, having a whole reel showing one symbol does not mean all other symbols automatically can be assumed to also occur.
Right, at this point it seems it's probably impossible for the top symbol or wild symbol to fill three adjacent spots on ALL reels because of reel design although it certainly seems possible for a lesser-valued symbol to do so. As another poster pointed out, some columns may have 3 wilds in a row but just not all columns. If I play the game more, I'm going to keep track of the lower symbols to see if I can witness full columns on each column during independent spins, or if say, one column will always be missing one.
Quote: onenickelmiracleTheBigPaybak, No the reel sets in one column are not necessarily the same and normally different for manipulation of the payback. Each machine would have different reels based on the programmed payback.
This I understand now.
Quote: onenickelmiracleI think generally you are making up ideas to justify what you believe, such as "randomizing", and not discovering anything. Whatever machine you are playing you mention, I can only assume i is a WMS machine, because they have been known to make people lose their wits and let the imagination flow.
I'm just trying to understand the different machines- and at least from multiple posters- it seems like the following is true- correct me if I'm wrong:
Based on payback percentage, a machine is set to have different reel-combinations of symbols, with each reel potentially being different. The size of the reels, though, can vary greatly by game.
As you say, it would seem any appearance of randomness may just be very large reels, am I understanding you correctly?
With regard to WMS, I would then say their Colossal Reel games have very large reels although not so for their "Money Burst" games.
Quote: DRichAll of the slots that I have done have static virtual reel strips where the symbol order is always the same on the reel. Different reels may have different symbols, orders, number of symbols., and reel strip length (stops).
Thanks!
1. No wilds on reel 1
2. No sequential wilds on reel 5
3. No sequential wilds with the top-pay symbol
4. No sequential top-pay symbols on any reels
So it would seem the best you could do with the top symbol is effectively a 9x multiplier, although you could theoretically get a full screen of the second-highest symbol for a $30375 payoff on a penny denomination, 625 credit bet...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjFQ3O8kHJw
Quote: tsmithHere's a big win on a WMS Awesome Reels machine. $34k on a $2 bet. I doubt that these come around very often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjFQ3O8kHJw
Yeah, not too often I would think... :)
To compare, on the same night I received the HOTD Jackpot, I also got this, which I believe is the top symbol for that particualr WMS game:
http://imageshack.us/a/img545/8649/img20130131005532.jpg
$1200
It's nice to see, though, that some of the games at least have the chance for the higher payouts with a low bet!
Quote: tsmithThere is one other Aristocrat 243x game, Buffalo, that has stacked buffalo symbols that can give you a pretty nice payout if you get them on all 5 reels, but nowhere near $1m.
If I am not mistaken, Buffalo is not a 243 way game. I believe it shows four symbols per reel, that would make it a 1024 way game.
Quote: TheBigPaybakJust to round this out, after doing some checking, it appears they get around the potential for the really large jackpots through the following:
1. No wilds on reel 1
2. No sequential wilds on reel 5
3. No sequential wilds with the top-pay symbol
4. No sequential top-pay symbols on any reels
So it would seem the best you could do with the top symbol is effectively a 9x multiplier, although you could theoretically get a full screen of the second-highest symbol for a $30375 payoff on a penny denomination, 625 credit bet...
No, you can effectively get a 27x multiplier with the top symbol. Wilds filling up reels 2, 3, and 4, which means 3^3 = 27. So if that game pays also pays 5000 credits for a single line at 1 credit like Carnival of Mystery, it will pay $33,750 for a $6.25 wager.
Quote: TheBigPaybak
To compare, on the same night I received the HOTD Jackpot, I also got this, which I believe is the top symbol for that particualr WMS game:
http://imageshack.us/a/img545/8649/img20130131005532.jpg
$1200
It's nice to see, though, that some of the games at least have the chance for the higher payouts with a low bet!
Nice hit!
Quote: tringlomaneNo, you can effectively get a 27x multiplier with the top symbol. Wilds filling up reels 2, 3, and 4, which means 3^3 = 27. So if that game pays also pays 5000 credits for a single line at 1 credit like Carnival of Mystery, it will pay $33,750 for a $6.25 wager.
Yikes! You're right of course- my "higher math" skills are really going down the tubes...
