New and Improved Slot Page

I just completely rewrote my slot machine page. The old was primarily explained 3-reel single-line slots, which are becoming dated. The old page was perhaps also a bit too math heavy. In case anyone is interested, I moved most of the old page to slot machine appendix 6.

So, please have a look. As usual, I welcome comments, corrections, and suggestions.

"The higher the denomination, the better the odds. For that reason, it is better to play one coin per line on a 5-cent game than 5 coins per line on a 1-cent game."

Do you mean its better to play one 5-cent credit
per line on a 5-cent machine, than 5 cents per
line on a 1 cent game? Why is that better?

because the higher the denomination of slots, the better the paybacks generally become.

Slots are still a terrible play, but slot machines at the $.05 denomination will have a higher EV than a penny slot. In the same vein, slot machines at $.25 denominations have higher paybacks than $.05 slots. And so on.

But you're also investing more, I don't see the difference.

Quote: EvenBob

But you're also investing more, I don't see the difference.

Maybe I explained it badly, but you're not. The question is whether it is better to make a bet of five pennies or one nickel. I say one nickel, because as you move up in denomination the return gets betters. The player betting five pennies is going to get the lower 1¢ return. Let's look at an example.

Casino X sets their 1¢ games at 90% and 5¢ games at 92%.

Expected loss of 5¢; bet on a 1 ¢ game = 5 × $0.01 × 10% = 0.5 ¢
Expected loss of 5¢; bet on a 5 ¢ game = 1 × $0.05 × 8% = 0.4 ¢

My wife is hooked on the penny slots, even though
every bet is .75 cents. Would she be better off playing
.75 on the quarter slots?

Quote: EvenBob

My wife is hooked on the penny slots, even though
every bet is .75 cents. Would she be better off playing
.75 on the quarter slots?

Absolutely!

I'll tell her, but the 1 cent machines have so
many whistles and bells and the quarter
machines are boring by comparison. She'll
be drawn back to the penny machines like
a magnet.

This is the issue with slots. If i get a slot play freeplay, I realize that the EV is higher on higher denom machines, but I find the pennies so much more fascinating that the difference between say $18.00 in EV and $15.00 or $16.00 is more than made up for in entertainment value for me personally. Just to watch some of the bonus games is quite a lot of fun, though I am careful only to indulge in these guilty pleasures with casino funds.

Quote: duckmankilla

Just to watch some of the bonus games is quite a lot of fun.

Thats whats got my wife hooked, the bonus
spins. She'll blow a hundred bucks just trying
to get 'one more bonus'. I want to throttle her.

haha such is the genius of the slot developers. I read an article a little while back of people complaining that slot developers are making games more entertaining in an effort to get more people addicted to gambling. In my head, all i could think of was "ummmm, duh." Why would a slot developer make a game that is boring and no one wants to play.

I've read that penny slots make up more than
50% of the slots in some casinos now.

and to that i'd say, why not? Casinos bring in the largest % from them and very few of them can even be played 1 penny at a time. I've seen some with a minimum bet as high as 80 cents. To me, that's not a penny slot if you don't even have the option to bet a penny, but in the casinos eyes, its a gigantic moneymaker. If object x makes the casino a large amount of money and the players enjoy playing it, why wouldn't the casinos want to capitalize on this?

Simple business decision based on the demand of the consumers.

Quote: EvenBob

but the 1 cent machines have so many bells and whistles and the quarter machines are boring by comparison.

Precisely. The addiction is not to the quarters but to the sound of the quarters falling into the metal tray. Oh, okay....okay! We all know there are no quarters any more just "tickets" and "credits" and we all know there are no metal trays anymore, just some cash-button and a bar-code, but you know what I mean. The excitement is what is being offered. Just as a steakhouse sells a steak to a customer who is there for the excitement of the sizzle, the slot machine operator is selling his product to someone who is there for the excitement of the adjectives such as "free" or "bonus". Lights, horns, bells, whistles... whatever!

There is no use talking about House Edge to the sweet young thing who replies "Edge? I don't have any edges, I'm a girl... I only have curves".

The phrase "Penny Machine" is a marketing ploy. Its draws those people who fall for such things. A "penny machine" is as much a bell or a whistle is anything else!

I think people know penny slots are terrible bets, they just like playing the games. At least the slot companies know this. There's a good reason you can't play slot machines online for free but you can play video poker online for free. If people could play the bonus rounds online for free, they wouldn't feel the need to come into the casino. Penny slots are pretty much like arcade games, for entertainment purposes only!

Quote: Wizard

I just completely rewrote my slot machine page.

I think the reader should be able to see the YEAR before clicking on the slot machine survey pages. Frankly if something is a ten year old survey some people might not want to click it at all, so I'd be upfront about it and let them decide.

I think there should be a bit more discussion about the various classifications of slot machines and terminology explanations.

Reels probably doesn't need explanation but lines might since it is so hard to imagine multiple lines beyond what one screen might display.

Everyone has seen these various signs about Xpercentage payout... I think you should have a brief mention of that earlier than you do.

I've read that penny slots make up more than
50% of the slots in some casinos now. Even Bob

In Colorado pennies are 66%.

And the hold on the most common denominations for the last 5 months reported are as follows

# of slots Denomination Hold
8186 .01 9.6%
799 .05 6.3%
1535 .25 5.7%
1571 1.00 5.3%
190 5.00 5.3%

I read months ago average penny bet was 73 cents, but damn if I can remember where I read it. LOL