Slots

In Las Vegas on 29th May 2002 Johanna Heundl, a pensioner, decided to spend $3 on a slot-machine before breakfast, on her 74th birthday, … winning $22.6 million. They are the third highest winnings in the history of slot-machines. The highest winnings were $34.9 million, won by a waitress from Las Vegas in January 2000, in Dessert Inn casino. One day she decided to stop at a casino after work and spend $15 on slots…

Slot-machines are the most popular form of entertainment in today`s casinos. They are more profitable than any other casino department. Perhaps, that`s why they are called slots.

For years, they have been the way of entertainment for wives whose husbands played "real" games such as Black Jack and Poker. Nowadays, everybody plays slots, the elderly, the young, the poor and the reach, male and female.

Slots are so extremely popular because they are very easy to play. You just insert a counter and press a button (if you don`t feel like pulling a metal handle). "Jack Pot" winnings are often very high, sometimes it is possible to win up to $ 1000 000 or more. Minimum stakes on slots-machines differ, depending on a machine. In Las Vegas you can play slots for $1 or $1000 and it is just one pull of a metal handle.

Slot-machines have changed due to growing popularity. Nowadays, they are not just simple mechanic machines, they look like that. Every single machine contains built-in RNG- Random System Generator (sometimes called EPROM). It is a type of a computer, which decides about the percentage of casino`s predominance on a machine. It often happens that two exactly the same machines placed next to each other, contain RNG set on a different percentage of casino` predominance; RNGs are frequently exchanged in those machines. Generally, the machine keeps 25% to 1% of the whole amount of money, paying the rest as winnings. It depends on a minimum stake on a machine (the lower the stake-the higher the percentage of casino`s predominance is).

There is no optimum strategy which allows the player to lower the casino`s predominance in slots. Some players believe that, if the machine has three wheels with ten different marks on each wheel, the chances of lucky hit of for example "7" on a wheel are 1:10, which means that chances of getting "77" are 1:1000. Other players claim that, if the machine hasn`t paid any winnings for a long time or it is full of counters, it is then "ready" to pay. The reality is that, it is the computer called Random Number Generator (the maker of random numbers), installed in the machine, which decides about the winnings in slots. It is programmed to stop a certain percentage of money and pay the rest as winnings. It doesn`t really matter how many marks there are on the slots wheels or how much time has passed since last winnings.

The truth is that, in some casinos machines with RNG programmed to stop a lower percentage of money in the game, are placed near the casino`s entrance or in easy to spot places by the gamblers (near the bar area). This way more guests can see that players win. It is very useful to use guest cards for those who play very often. Casinos often give extra bonuses to players who use those cards.

Do you know that… traditional symbols (marks) used today in many slot-machines date from the times when gambling was illegal. In shops, where slots became very popular, the owners paid winnings in candies and chewing gum. The symbols featured different flavours: cherry, orange, grapes. BAR symbol featured chewing gum, that is a bar of chewing gum. Naturally, the player could exchange candies for money after a game.