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Super 8 Race - NEVER ASSUME

Super 8 Race – Never Assume

I’ve seen par sheets and I don’t know how many versions of Super 8 Race there are, but I’m going to guess there are several more than I think.

Starting off, let’s say that all versions have 9 virtual reels, each with 64 symbols. It’s been some time since I played around with these, usually for 5-cents. A few days ago I was getting ready to try to crack what I thought was a good Fruit Number, but for quarters, not nickels. Well, I know how bad it can go playing for nickels, so I ready myself mentally knowing I can lose a few thousand dollars chasing quarters.

The main point of this post of mine is that you should NEVER ASSUME. And I was about to violate that cardinal rule. Fortunately I stopped myself and ran a test before I started playing. Here’s how I test Super 8 Race.

I keep my hand in my pants or jacket pocket, wrapped around a “clicker-counter”, so no one can see what I’m doing. Typically, I will play 1000 hands, just to make sure.

Let me say that all 9 squares, or virtual reels, are identical. It’s not like most reel machines where the different reels have different symbols. Not on Super 8 Race, they’re all the same, all nine of them. I mentioned earlier that all reels have 64 symbols, but whether they are fruits, little yellow cars, red sevens, etc., can change drastically. Two common versions I have played with go like this. Out of 64 symbols, there will be 23 fruits, or 22 fruits. Big difference.

If there are 23 fruits, divide 64 by 23, equals 2.7826. Carry that out to the 9th power and you get 10001 to crack the Fruit Bonus. With 22 fruits, 64 by 22 equals 2.9090. To the 9th power, 14921. So basically, it’s 1/10000 or 1/15000. And trust me, there are others. It’s just that I have found these two versions to be common. Some Super 8 games don’t even progress the Fruit Bonus. But you have to know what you’re working with if you want to turn a profit. When the Fruit Bonus does progress, the meter rate is 2.77% and I think this is standard. But still, check everything. NEVER ASSUME.

In the casino I was playing, I was familiar with several 5-cent machines where it took 10001 hands to crack it. But even with those, I knew that some machines were newer than others, and they were not the same inside. Here’s my mistake. There was one bank of dollar machines that had Super 8 for quarters, not nickels. I had long since ASSUMED that these were set as the older machines for nickels were. My old rule started nagging at my mind, NEVER ASSUME, and I decided to test 1000 hands before I chase with serious money. The Fruit Bonus was over 8000, normally I would be comfortable with that.

Before I tested the 25-cent game, I ran a 1000 hand test on the 5-cent game, just to make sure everything is the same as it had been last time I played. Out of 1000 hands at 9 squares each, I clicked the counter in my pocket for each fruit that appeared and got a total of 3239. 9000/3239=2.7786, perfect. This told me there were 23 fruits on each reel and that I can expect to get ALL FRUIT 1/10001. Don’t forget, you need to assess the base game return, which I put at 92%. I did this by guessing. Not scientific, but I looked at the keno games on this machine and they were all in the 92% range, so that was my guess.

So now I’m ready to test the 25-cent game, hopefully it tests out the same and I will work to crack this Fruit Bonus. It’s over $2000, positive territory (so I think), and it helps to do this with a partner because I’ve seen these go a long time without hitting. I don’t want to quit without hitting the Fruit Bonus, and I need rest breaks. I also want to get in a rhythm where I can play really fast, just pressing that button and not allowing the machine to finish “spinning” the reels. If you do it right, there is no spin to it.

I started my test, and I could just “feel” that there were less fruits appearing than I expected. Sure enough, this quarter game was set differently. 9000/3085, equals 2.9173, which means each reel had only 22 fruits and the chance of cracking the Fruit Bonus was close to 1/15000. Not positive. Lesson? NEVER ASSUME.

So I abandoned my plans, and found something else to do for the day. I went home and took a nap.