Slot Machine Bugs or Malfuncttions

As a branch to the Lion's Share thread, have you personally witnessed a slot machine malfunction or bug? If so, what did you do?

The first one I ran into was a video blackjack game made by CEI. The game had a feature that paid a six card charlie as a win. I played and ended up with a six card 16. The dealer drew cards to complete its hand and drew a six card 18. The machine didn't pay me. It was a $50 bet so I called Nevada Gaming. They came out and looked at it and wasn't sure how to rule. They then called out the manufacturer who sent an engineer named Dave. He looked at it for two minutes and told the Gaming agent that the machine screwed up and should have paid me. Settled very nicely.

I have two others but would be interested to hear what others have ran into.

Just curious how long from malfunction to payment?

Atlantic City 1980 3rd reel only moving a little bit. Eventually got a cheery symbol which stayed there for 20+ hands. Needless to say was a coin dropper, soon needed a hopper fill, bye bey see you later!

Quote: bw

Just curious how long from malfunction to payment?

That incident probably took about 3 hours to resolve.

Quote: DRich

That incident probably took about 3 hours to resolve.

They should give you extra for your time lost.

I was playing a $1 3 reel coin dropper (many years ago). I would always watch the credit counter on machines then and cash out a nice even amount. Cashed out for $50 after having started out with a $100 rack. Started racking the $50 and it actually spit out something like $85 can't remember the exact amount. I put $50 of that back in and immediately cashed it out. Got substantially overpaid again.

I left the machine for a while but my wife and I turned it into our own personal ATM for the days we were there. Was still overpaying 3 or 4 days later when we had to go home.

About 15 ears ago Sam's Town had a bank of Blackjack machines that paid a progressive if the player was dealt three 7's without busting. There was a bug that if you split a dealt pair of sevens and got another 7 on either hand and didn't bust either hand it would still award the progressive. It only lasted about four days before they took off the progressive.

Quote: kenarman

I was playing a $1 3 reel coin dropper (many years ago). I would always watch the credit counter on machines then and cash out a nice even amount. Cashed out for $50 after having started out with a $100 rack. Started racking the $50 and it actually spit out something like $85 can't remember the exact amount. I put $50 of that back in and immediately cashed it out. Got substantially overpaid again. I left the machine for a while but my wife and I turned it into our own personal ATM for the days we were there. Was still overpaying 3 or 4 days later when we had to go home.

I always operated under the premise that I didn't have to cheat to win so I stayed away from them. But working overpayers was an occupation for some guys for a lot of years. Machines needed regular maintenance or parts would wear out causing machines to overpay. The guys that worked them knew where to look. Sigma's, Gamemakers, Williams machines all had a history of overpaying. A guy would go down a row of machines putting a bill in each machine and cashing out. Then he would take the coins to a coin counter. If he had more coins than he was supposed to he knew one of the machines was overpaying. It was now just a matter of zeroing in on which machine it was.

But the overpayer guys were still gambling. If they got caught and convicted they didn't just get a slap on the wrist.

I guess we were gambling with fire Mickey. Didn't have any idea what the consequences might be if it had been noticed.

Quote: kenarman

I guess we were gambling with fire Mickey. Didn't have any idea what the consequences might be if it had been noticed.

Yeah probably could be considered a violation of NRS 465.070 Sect 3. Possible class B felony if convicted. Fwiw, I would expect many players not familiar with gaming law to take advantage of it to some extent. Definitely not give the money back on the initial payout at least. I would have on my first trip to Vegas if it happened to me, I'm sure. All subsequent trips have been in the TITO era.

As for the OP, I haven't found much. In May 2013, I got into a drunken argument with the Monte Carlo floor because the "Bet One" button actually made a "Max Bet" instead. After about an hour of disagreement because they actually thought the machine should max bet when you hit a "Bet One" button and threats of me to call gaming, they gave me $5 (my approx loss) to shut up.

Jan of this year similar issue in Tunica because the screen was miscalibrated. No argument this time because it was easy to see I was right. lssue couldn't be immediately fixed, but notes of problem were taken, and was just told to hit the buttons instead for now and was compensated for losses plus about $5 extra for inconvenience. Took 20 minutes or so.

I still have yet to find a programming error in my favor. :(

In 2009, Mickey did a "My History in Video Poker" thread (with a followup thread labeled "cont'd") at video poker dot com.

Another poster named lazyace jumped in with fascinating recollections of playing overpayers. But he went back later and deleted everything :(

I checked archive.org, but it doesn't have a capture within the time frame.

In the Riverside/Laughlin some years ago I sat down on a dollar diamond mine that had 9 diamonds in one of the columns. The machine wouldn't take my $10 bill so I stuck it in the machine beside me and went to hit the cashout button. But the credit meter racked up 200 credits. I knew exactly what happened. Some slot tech had inadvertently put a nickel calibrated bill acceptor in a dollar machine. It didn't take me much thinking to figure out what to do. I always made good money in the Riverside on the up and up. And I was getting a ton of room and meal comp. I wasn't about to risk that for a quick score.

I called a floor attendant over who went and got the assistant slot operations manager. "Wow!" he said "You're an honest man. It would have taken us forever to figure it out." He gave me my ten dollars back. I was just protecting my position at the Riverside.

Quote: gpac1377

In 2009, Mickey did a "My History in Video Poker" thread (with a followup thread labeled "cont'd") at video poker dot com. Another poster named lazyace jumped in with fascinating recollections of playing overpayers. But he went back later and deleted everything :( I checked archive.org, but it doesn't have a capture within the time frame.

Yes, I really didn't appreciate him putting that stuff in my thread. And I think he may have later become afraid of being prosecuted so deleted everything out. And I don't think he knew who I was when he put that stuff in the thread. But he found out. I just happened to be working the IGT full pay blackjack with major cashback at the Silver Nugget in Sparks when he was working a quarter Gamemaker overpayer in the bartops.

He had employed "Bryan" a friend of mine, and taught him the overpayer ropes. I was surprised to see Bryan at the Silver Nugget. They were splitting shifts on the overpayer. Bryan and I would eat together but I only went up to that bar one time while he was playing. It's really easy to get a guilt by association in that spot.

Bryan was an old credit hustler, couponer, grifter in Las Vegas. He was always busted. But he made a bunch of money on those overpayers.

Then he hit a $50,000 sequential royal at the Riverside/Laughlin. He now owns a used car lot in Oregon.

Quote: tringlomane

As for the OP, I haven't found much. In May 2013, I got into a drunken argument with the Monte Carlo floor because the "Bet One" button actually made a "Max Bet" instead. After about an hour of disagreement because they actually thought the machine should max bet when you hit a "Bet One" button and threats of me to call gaming, they gave me $5 (my approx loss) to shut up.

In Las Vegas now some bars are starting to implement a fifty cent minimum bet on machines. When you hit the bet one button it will automatically bet two quarters for the first press of the button. I hadn't thought about it until you just mentioned it, but it does seem misleading and something gaming might have a problem with if it was brought to their attention.

Quote: mickeycrimm

Yes, I really didn't appreciate him putting that stuff in my thread.

That's certainly understandable.

I'm not sure where I would draw my own ethical boundaries, but the concept of overpayers never occurred to me. I can't recall ever receiving excess money on a coin cashout, whereas I definitely was shorted on occasion. I assumed the coin dispensing mechanisms could only malfunction unfavorably to the player (... an incorrect assumption, lol).

Quote: DRich

The first one I ran into was a video blackjack game made by CEI. The game had a feature that paid a six card charlie as a win. I played and ended up with a six card 16. The dealer drew cards to complete its hand and drew a six card 18. The machine didn't pay me. It was a $50 bet so I called Nevada Gaming. They came out and looked at it and wasn't sure how to rule. They then called out the manufacturer who sent an engineer named Dave. He looked at it for two minutes and told the Gaming agent that the machine screwed up and should have paid me. Settled very nicely. I have two others but would be interested to hear what others have ran into.

This looks like a programmer's error to me. What made the IGT blackjack (I had put this game at 100.03%) game full pay, besides BJ paying 5 for 2, S17, six card Charlie, late surrender, was splitting aces and catching a ten paid blackjack, and you could double after the split. Neither one of these two rules were listed on the rules screen, while the rest were. So it must have been a programmer's error too. I seen the theoretical payback screen several times when mechanics were working on the machines. For the BJ it always said 99.5%.