Catfish; timing jackpots
If this is true, he is the ultimate slots AP (or are they video lottery terminals in FL?)
excerpt from an article about the show:
"Business Center" front for slot machine parlor:
slots:
the slots AP:
the whole show
edit: wouldn't be surprised if his claims were correct. historically, there have been a lot of slots you can time down to absurdly precise numbers.
Quote: tongnihe's gonna be pretty heated up now, he should have worn a mask and voice modulator.
He shouldn't have given away his winning system! I'm going to fly there just to steal his $60 every day!
Quote: RomesHe shouldn't have given away his winning system! I'm going to fly there just to steal his $60 every day!
I read that these places were actually illegal in Florida and that is why they fronted as "business centers" - Uncle Vinny is not going to be too happy with him exposing his a slot joint
guy that's a living wage.
I am curious to know the whole story behind these types of places, but not so much that I would get off my butt to look into it. I think they skate by because a portion of their operating profits go to charity, but I have no direct knowledge. I love to visit an actual casino every now and then, but I have never had any desire to check one of these places out.
I didn't watch the show. Does he say how much he puts in to win his $60?
Quote: JoemanI drive by these "Internet Cafes" (that's what these slot parlors call themselves in North Florida) every day. I'm not sure what exactly goes on inside, but they evidently ride the razor's edge of legality. Every so often, the state shuts them all down. Then they slowly creep back into existence.
I am curious to know the whole story behind these types of places, but not so much that I would get off my butt to look into it. I think they skate by because a portion of their operating profits go to charity, but I have no direct knowledge. I love to visit an actual casino every now and then, but I have never had any desire to check one of these places out.
I didn't watch the show. Does he say how much he puts in to win his $60?
I dated a girl who's ex owned one of these places. So naturally I also inquired a great deal about "how it worked" and "what went on" in these places as I've never stepped foot in one either. Basically, here's what I got... There's a room full of computers with video slot applications. You pay for "time on the computer." You get a card that you put in to a reader of some sort and it lets you play the slot applications for a certain period of time. I'll have to ask her about it, but I think you play to win more "time credits" on your card and after you're done you can go get money back for your "time balance."
So like we all surmised, they're just dancing around the legalities of gambling. This isn't all that different from when old poker sites used to have you buy "phone cards" to get credit on the site.
It is very concerning to me though. I asked her... Who regulates the games? I informed her how slot machine paybacks are regulated by the gaming commission of the state and she didn't know, but it sounded like they weren't regulated. Thus, they could set these "slots" to whatever payback they desired... Which in my opinion is nothing more than a scam.
Quote: RomesI dated a girl who's ex owned one of these places. So naturally I also inquired a great deal about "how it worked" and "what went on" in these places as I've never stepped foot in one either. Basically, here's what I got... There's a room full of computers with video slot applications. You pay for "time on the computer." You get a card that you put in to a reader of some sort and it lets you play the slot applications for a certain period of time. I'll have to ask her about it, but I think you play to win more "time credits" on your card and after you're done you can go get money back for your "time balance."
So like we all surmised, they're just dancing around the legalities of gambling. This isn't all that different from when old poker sites used to have you buy "phone cards" to get credit on the site.
It is very concerning to me though. I asked her... Who regulates the games? I informed her how slot machine paybacks are regulated by the gaming commission of the state and she didn't know, but it sounded like they weren't regulated. Thus, they could set these "slots" to whatever payback they desired... Which in my opinion is nothing more than a scam.
And we all know how well it went for the WIZARD when he tried to get slot #'s from the casinos - Court turned him down (right?)
So, trying to get numbers from these places might not ever happen and, if you inquire, you might get a late night visit from an "employee"
I'm sure Babs can add more about this topic.
I haven't read or seen anything about this and obviously I'm skeptical however lets not laugh at him just yet. Lets assume he has something +EV here. He may not have the ability or knowledge to completely exploit the situation. If there's any truth to this I can see some great potential.Quote: RomesHe shouldn't have given away his winning system! I'm going to fly there just to steal his $60 every day!
In the 90's there were guys who knew just enough to make a safe (almost guaranteed) $50 a day on the same games that were actually worth $200 to $300 a day per person, if you knew exactly what you were doing.
My interest has peaked for sure, who knows if he has figured out just a very small % of something significant.
PS in the 90's I played a bit in FL and guys were making big money in FL on some progressive electronic lotto type games. It had huge variance and took a huge bankroll and the scene was dangerous. Drug dealers were washing and laundering money and they didn't like competition.
Quote: AxelWolfI haven't read or seen anything about this and obviously I'm skeptical however lets not laugh at him just yet. Lets assume he has something +EV here. He may not have the ability or knowledge to completely exploit the situation. If there's any truth to this I can see some great potential.
In the 90's there were guys who knew just enough to make a safe (almost guaranteed) $50 a day on the same games that were actually worth $200 to $300 a day per person, if you knew exactly what you were doing.
My interest has peaked for sure, who knows if he has figured out just a very small % of something significant.
But does he have to sit there for 24 hours to make the $60
He could collect soda cans or scrap metal and probably make more in less time
Of course, maybe he found a GILF there
I have no clue what HE is doing. As I said maybe he has not figured out exactly how to fully exploit the situation. People pointed out he seems like an idiot but he may have stumbled on to something.Quote: aceofspadesBut does he have to sit there for 24 hours to make the $60
He could collect soda cans or scrap metal and probably make more in less time
Of course, maybe he found a GILF there
Take your collecting cans scenario. A homeless guy might only be making a few bucks a day. However I remember reading something about a few guys making a killing collecting cans and doing something on a bigger scale (not sure if it was legal).
Look at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem stories. The Value per card/person was minimal however a few guys turned it into something worth doing. 17k in a month, no risk isn't to bad.
Quote: AxelWolfTake your collecting cans scenario. A homeless guy might only be making a few bucks a day. However I remember reading something about a few guys making a killing collecting cans and doing something on a bigger scale (not sure if it was legal).
Quote: BozThese places are the shame of Florida as most of the customers are elderly and being ripped off. The state has sued them and closed many of them, but they keep popping up. I never understood why the Indians didn't push the state to enact larger fines and push them out all together.
I'm sure Babs can add more about this topic.
My mom got hooked on these for a couple years so I'd go with her; they ranged from nasty to pretty nicely appointed. Usually located in strip malls or abandoned restaurants. Wall-to-wall slots of the 8-line cherry type, a few that were 5 reel 3 symbol types, none of them you would find in a Vegas casino, none distributed by mainstream slots companies. Most denoms were 5 cents/line.
In the incarnation 5 years ago (shut down by the state): You bought a player's card for the amount of money you wanted to spend; minimum was about $10 most places. If you won something and pressed collect, tickets (like skee ball tickets, on a long roll) would feed out of the machine in some denomination; the place we played most often, they were worth .25 each. If your card ran out of money, you could pay cash at the counter and they'd reload the card for the amount you paid; sometimes they would offer a bonus amount for load-ups (like buy $25 on the card and they'd credit you $30). Once you were done, you took your tickets up to the counter; most of them had ticket counters where they would feed in the ticket strings and it would take totals. They had gift cards from local stores like Publix (grocery - which is what I always took), Macy's, Home Depot, etc in different denoms they would give you 1:1 for your tickets; the remainder if any would be credited to your account for the next time. They would never give you cash as that would get them shut down.
They also gave premium credits for multiple visits, tracked with a punch-card or in their files, like if you played 10 days in a row you'd get a card with some amount on it. Most had self-serve sodas, coffee, and some snacks like pre-packaged cookies or a popcorn machine that were complimentary. The carpets were always sticky for some reason.
An alternate they used that also got shut down was as "internet cafes". I'm not exactly sure how that scam ran, but it was something about purchasing "minutes" and sitting down to an assigned terminal shaped just like a slot machine (coincidence!), and the "website" you were buying minutes on just happened to be a slot site specific to that game. I think they also paid in gift cards, but I only looked at a couple cafes; didn't spend money there, so I'm not sure how you'd claim any winnings.
What's the draw?
Quote: aceofspadesSo no matter what, the best you could walk out with, for Hanson over your cash, was a gift card to a limited number of stores, or future credits for continued play.
What's the draw?
I guess Publix is as good as cash, it's a nice Supermarket that has pretty good BOGO Free deals every week (+EV?). Plus nowadays they have those websites you can sell your giftcards for ~90c on the dollar.
Quote: aceofspadesSo no matter what, the best you could walk out with, for Hanson over your cash, was a gift card to a limited number of stores, or future credits for continued play.
What's the draw?
Yep. It wasn't a draw for me. It was my mom wanting to go and the places being creepy enough she didn't want to go alone. She liked to play their games. It didn't feel like a lot of money to her; she's happiest at a nickel game. A real nickel, not a gambler's nickel. When she's feeling rich, she'll play for a quarter.
Publix was a great choice for us both because we're shopping there 2x-3x a week anyway, so it didn't matter if it was cash or a gift card. And the best of them did promotions like the $5 for every $25 bought or spin a credit wheel with every buy-in; you could win as much as $100 on a $10 dollar buy-in, and the least was $1, on a wheel with 20 spots.
They were ok. But I don't miss them. She does.
If we had better gaming here in Florida, she probably wouldn't miss them at all.
Anyway, these machines were, "Games of Skill," or so labeled, and they presented an incredibly simple and unique vulturing opportunity. The machines had three different game denominations and all three denominations had a different game that was the, "Next Game." The part that allegedly (I mean, they were straight up illegal) made it a, "Game of Skill," was that you could hit the 'Next Game,' button and see if the Next Game was a winner or not.
That's basically how it worked, so effectively, when you made a bet, you weren't really betting on the Next Game, (known result, or could be) but rather the game after that. That's the skill, don't bet if the next game is a losing game. Anyway, most people didn't figure that out and would quit playing when they had insufficient credits, so then I would hop on that machine and check all the next games.
It wasn't worth a ton, even with how often I was here at the time, but I averaged a 100% risk-free $100/week on them before they took them out. The vendor didn't even care if we vultured them because we were paid a percentage of wins for housing the machines and were reimbursed losses. They would balance the cash drawer we kept in the safe for that and then we got some percentage of the overage.
I guess some of these types of machines are legal, or tolerated, if you're only winning merchandise credits...because I still (but rarely) see them at truck stops and gas stations, but I've not seen one with the, "Next Game," feature since.
Quote: Mission146I don't know anything about timing Jackpots, (not saying it's not plausible, anything is plausible with these sorts of devices) but I do know Ohio had similar machines (before casino gambling was legalized) that the State eventually came in and broke up. We had three of them here at the hotel, in fact.
Anyway, these machines were, "Games of Skill," or so labeled, and they presented an incredibly simple and unique vulturing opportunity. The machines had three different game denominations and all three denominations had a different game that was the, "Next Game." The part that allegedly (I mean, they were straight up illegal) made it a, "Game of Skill," was that you could hit the 'Next Game,' button and see if the Next Game was a winner or not.
That's basically how it worked, so effectively, when you made a bet, you weren't really betting on the Next Game, (known result, or could be) but rather the game after that. That's the skill, don't bet if the next game is a losing game. Anyway, most people didn't figure that out and would quit playing when they had insufficient credits, so then I would hop on that machine and check all the next games.
It wasn't worth a ton, even with how often I was here at the time, but I averaged a 100% risk-free $100/week on them before they took them out. The vendor didn't even care if we vultured them because we were paid a percentage of wins for housing the machines and were reimbursed losses. They would balance the cash drawer we kept in the safe for that and then we got some percentage of the overage.
I guess some of these types of machines are legal, or tolerated, if you're only winning merchandise credits...because I still (but rarely) see them at truck stops and gas stations, but I've not seen one with the, "Next Game," feature since.
I 'think' I'm following the flow? Can you run through a typical scenario where you'd do this then? So you'd look for people whom left their machines... If their "next game" was a winner, you'd play it? or ? I'm just genuinely curious how these 'skill games' work, but now also curious how you vultured them.
