Slots theoretical loss vs actual loss

My wife and I have enjoyed gambling for 15 years. Me blackjack her SLOTS!! We get great comps from her slot play as she is max bet only. I understand the theoretical loss is just a example of what may happen but she loses her bankroll nearly every time. We were in Vegas May 1-2 for a short weekend trip as we live in Texas. $4000 bankroll on slots for the 2 days. Gone lost it all. She got 41000 tier credits at MGM properties with a total coin in of about $13000 and 2400 tier credits with Total rewards coin in of $12000. We gamble all over the country and this has just become the norm 9 out of 10 times. I am not complaining about the losses as we do have a great time and only gamble what we can afford it just seems that the actual loss at the end of the trip is 100%. I completely understand that she turned $4000 of actual into $25000 worth of play over the 2 days. However all of that was lost too so actual loss 100%. I know slots are a horrible bet but does anyone else see this happening to them as well. Just curious. New member to this site as far as a posting have been reading it for a few years and have enjoyed it.

I think that a lot of the theoretical return on slots is tied up in the Jackpot. No Jackpot? not much return. I look for lower non progressive jackpots if I'm playing slots.

Actually, progressive jackpots and other top awards usually account for only a small percentage (under 5%) of total payback. The real culprit is churn. If you buy in for $4k but play $25k in coin-in, an 8% hold means your theoretical loss is actually 50% of your buy-in. Given the skew of the typical slot distribution, it's really not that hard to lose $4000 of $25000. Add to that the combination of entertainment ("I want to keep playing") and stubbornness ("I won't stop unless I hit a really big award") and slot play turns into essentially a lottery long-shot for many players. It's either jackpot or bust, with lots of audiovisuals along the way.

Let's assume the worst. 85% payback. Even if it's not that bad, you still have jackpot to worry about, so we will consider 85% payback. If your wife does $25,000 coin in, that is a 15% loss, so the loss would be $3750. Not so unbelievable that your wife would experience 100% loss on her $4000 bankroll. Maybe you should teach her to play blackjack.

Yes I tested that 85% number and about 25K coin in for a total loss is about right.

The math would be this... simple if you have access to an Excel spreadsheet...

Coin in before theoretical total loss = 4000*.85 + 4000*.85*.85 + 4000*.85*.85*.85 + 4000*.85*.85*.85*.85 + etc.. keep going until an iteration equals 0. Then add it all up

I enjoy slots as well, along with other casino games, and have managed to keep in positive territory over the past few years although I've admittedly been very lucky. The only advice I could give is to try and split the entertainment time at low-limit and then give yourself a shot playing something at high-limit that has a reasonable level of volatility that "gives you a chance" at winning. While over a "long period of time" machines may pay out the same, it's absolutely NOT the case that you have the same chance of having a decent winning session by picking a random machine in a casino. I guess another point would be if your wife could stop after being up a certain amount or just play really low limit during the remainder of that trip. That way, you'll feel good about winning that trip and have more coupons to use the next time, which helps. Just a few thoughts- and if you go to youtube.com/thebigpayback you can see some examples of this.