Page 12 - Jackpot Magazine Tunica ~ July, 2022

PLAY TO WIN
Myth busted: That was never your jackpot
“You can’t believe everything you hear, but it’s fun to repeat it anyway.”
— Comedian Milton Berle
I like playing slot machines, and one of my favorite games is Butterfly Sevens. It is an older-style, multi-line, multi-reel machine. There is the penny game, which is the one I always play, and a two-penny game, nickel game, and even a dollar game (which had three reels). Max coin on the penny game is 180 coins ($1.80) – nine lines, 20 coins each line. The five reels are filled with cherries, plums, oranges, watermelons and, of course, 7s in a variety of colors. The game is called Butterfly Sevens because on the sevens are equally colorful butterflies. It is a fun, bright game to play.
There are slots similar to the butterfly game, such as Red, White & Blue, Sizzling Sevens and Red Hot Sevens, but I don’t see too many Butterfly Sevens any more. These types
of reel machines have largely been replaced
by newer video games, like Lightning Link, Treasure Ball and Dancing Drums. But still, I look for Butterfly Sevens, which will always be one of my favorite slot machines.
There are plenty of myths about slot machines, including the popular “she stole my jackpot,” which is what someone says when they leave a machine and the next player who sits down immediately hits something big. I think we’ve all said that before.
Best-selling author and gaming expert Henry Tamburin dispelled some of these myths in a past Jackpot! column. We share these myths — and reasons why they are wrong, starting with the “she stole my
jackpot” myth (who hasn’t said that before!). How many of these did you know were false?
You’ve either read the
stories or seen it happen in person. A player is playing a machine then decides to take a break and some other player jumps in, plays the same machine — and hits the jackpot. If the first player would have played a little while longer that jackpot would have been hers. Right?
Wrong. The reason is that the likelihood that the first player would have hit that jackpot if she played longer is slim to none. The Random Number Generator
(RNG) that the computer chip uses to determine the results of each spin is constantly running even if the machine is idle. The RGN spits out a sequence of random numbers hundred of times each second (remember each sequence of numbers corresponds to the symbols that you see
on the reels).
Whatever the RGN
number was at the split second that you hit the spin button
or pull the handle is used to determine the final symbols that appear after the reels stop spinning. Therefore, the likelihood that the first player (if she stayed and played) would have hit the spin button at the same exact time as the second player did is highly
unlikely.
Another myth is that a machine that
just hit the jackpot won’t hit again soon. In fact, people have been known to look at the payout amount on the machine they are about to play. If it shows the machine paid out something big to the last player, they often don’t want to stop. But, again,
the RNG determines the results of your spin. It doesn’t know or care what happened in the past. Your chance of
hitting the jackpot on the next spin is the same regardless of when the jackpot was hit. Many slot players believe that casinos can get more money from players by decreasing their paybacks on slot machines (tighten them) before a busy holiday weekend when the casino will be crowded with players. The fact of the matter is that in most gaming jurisdictions they can’t change a machine’s payback without first notifying the state
regulatory agency with a lot of paperwork. In some states, the local gaming commission must be present when the change is made. It is literally too much of a pain for casinos to lower the paybacks for a short period of time and then turn around
and raise them.
Looser machines are always placed near
entrance ways to casinos to attract more players — not necessarily true. Back in the old days when slot machines were not as popular as they are today, that may have been the case. But nowadays slot managers order slot machines with nearly the same paybacks as their competitors and group the slot machines by denomination and type on the casino floor.
One more myth is finding out where the better playing machines are located by asking a casino employee. Slot attendants are hard-working folks but they don’t have any more knowledge than anyone else as to which machine will pay off next. They may offer advice on which machines to play if asked by players because if the player gets lucky and hits a jackpot they could receive a tip.
Do you have a question on the best way to play to win? Email jackpotmagazine@gmail.com.
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12 JACKPOT! MAGAZINE July 2022
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