is Steve Bourie, and I am the author of the "American Casino Guide," which is the number

one best-selling book in the U.S. on the subject of casino gambling and travel. I write a lot

about slot machines, and in this video I am going to explain how slot machines work, how

you can win on them, and I'm also going to answer some common questions that slot players

have, like do casinos really put the best-paying machines near the entrance?

Now, before we begin, let me give you some background information o5n me and why I know

so much about slot machines. I've been to Las Vegas to visit the facility where the

Nevada Gaming Control Board tests its slot machines, and I interviewed the manager of

that department. I've also been to Atlantic City where I visited the facility that tests

slot machines for the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and I interviewed the Director

of its Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Actually, I wrote a story about my visit to those two places, and you can read it on my

website at AmericanCasinoGuide.com, or just go to Google and type in the phrase, "Are

slot machines honest?" and I'm sure you'll see it pop up as number one or two in the

search results.

I've also visited the headquarters of Gaming Labs International, which is the world's largest

independent laboratory for testing electronic gaming machines, and I interviewed its Director

of Operations about the company's procedures.

I've also gone to Reno, Nevada, where I took a private tour of the headquarters of International

Gaming Technology, which is the world's largest manufacturer of slot machines. Plus, while

I was there, I interviewed the company's Chief Software Engineer.

Finally, I've interviewed slot managers at major casinos in Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic

City, and elsewhere in the U.S. about how they decide about which machines to put on

their floor and what kind of payout percentages those machines should have.

So, are you all ready to get started?

Good, let's begin. The first thing we need to talk about is how slot machines work. Every

machine has a computer chip inside it called a random number generator, or RNG, and that

chip is making mathematical calculations very quickly, about 1,000 times a second, to determine

which combination of symbols should appear in the reels.

Then, when you push the spin button or pull the handle, that causes the chip to stop at

that exact instant and choose a combination to display on the reels. This means when you

see the reels spinning, the actual result of what will appear on those pay lines has

already been chosen by the RNG.

So, in reality, a slot machine wouldn't even need the spinning reels to show you whether

you won or lost, but it's certainly a lot more exciting to see those spinning reels.

When a casino orders a slot machine, the manufacturer will have a choice of computer chips to put

into the machine which control the percentage of how much that machine is set to pay back

to the public. The range of the payouts on these chips will vary depending on the machine

and the manufacturer. But it's usually pretty standard in the industry to offer chips paying

out from a low of about 85% to a high of about 98%.

So, how do the casinos decide which machines should pay back around 85% and which ones

should pay back around 98%? The answer is that it is done by denomination. The higher

the denomination of the machine, the more it's set to pay back. If you play a penny

machine, you can be pretty sure that it's set on the low end of the scale to pay back

around 87% to 90%. And if you play a $25 machine, the payback on that machine is going to be

on the high end around 95% to 98%.

If you want proof of this, all you need to do is look at the public record of each state's

gaming statistics. We check with gaming regulators in every state each year to find out what

the machines actually paid back to the public, and we post all of that information on our

website. Just go to AmericanCasinoGuide.com and click on the link that says "Slot Payback

Info." That will bring up a list of states, and you can just click on the state that you

are interested in to see what the machines pay.

For Nevada, you can also get information on a particular city, and if you look at Las

Vegas, you can see that the penny slots returned around 88% while the $25 slots returned around

96%.

Okay. So now you know how a slot machine works and you know how casinos decide what they

should pay back to the public. But the big question is, "How do you win on a slot machine?"

Well, the answer to that is very simple. You get lucky.

Keep in mind that the slot machine is basically just a computer that is programmed to randomly

pay out less money than it takes in. And unlike video poker where there is a skill involved

in how you play your cards, there's no skill involved with a slot machine. It's all luck.

Therefore, when you play a slot machine, you are hoping that you can get lucky and stop

that random number generator on a winning combination.

So, if you ever see an ad for someone selling a system to beat slot machines, don't believe

it. There is no system for winning on slot machines, and if there was a winning system,

don't you think someone would keep that information to themself rather than sell it to you for

$10 or $15.

Now let's address some common questions that people have about slot machines.

Question: Are slot machines set to pay out at set intervals or once they've collected

a certain amount of money?

Steve: No. The outcome of each play on the machine is completely random. There is no

predetermined point at which a machine is set to pay out.

Question: If a $1 slot has a chip inside that is set to pay back at a rate of 93%, does

this mean that if I put $100 through that machine, I'll have $93 left when I'm done?

Steve: No. The 93% is a long-term number and actually represents the results after several

million pulls on that machine. Some days the casino will lose money on that machine. But

on most days, it will make money, and the longer the machine is played, the more likely

the result will be that the machine will have an average payout of 93%.

Question: If I play a slot machine and it's not paying out, does that mean it's due to

hit soon?

Steve: No. Every play on a slot machine is an independent event, which means that its

past performance can't be used to determine its future performance.

Question: If I play a slot machine and win a jackpot, will that machine stop paying out

to make up for the jackpot I won?

Steve: No. Every time you play a slot machine, the odds remain constant as to whether or

not you'll win. If the odds were 20,000:1 for you to win a jackpot and you were lucky

enough to win it, the odds will still be 20,000:1 for you to win another jackpot on the very

next spin.

Question: Do casinos change the payback percentages on a slot machine at the flip of a switch,

or can they loosen machines during the week and then tighten them up on the weekend?

Steve: No. Once the payback percentage chips are set by the casino, they are rarely changed.

In order to change the payback percentage, a casino technician would have to physically

go into each machine and replace the chip. This is an expensive and time-consuming process,

so it's rarely done.

Now, I need to mention that there is a new technology called server-based gaming where

the payback percentage could be changed by the flip of a switch on a central computer,

but it's very new, it's very expensive, and only a handful of casinos have it and only

on some of their machines. Also, the gaming regulations for these machines would not allow

any changes to be made while someone was actively playing a game.

Question: Do slot manufacturers purposely program a near-miss feature into their slots

to make it seem like you almost won a jackpot?

Steve: Well, before I answer that, let me first explain what a near-miss is on a slot

machine. That would occur when the random number generator knows that the player's spin

will be a loser, and the machine is then programmed to show you two winning combinations directly

on the payline, with the third combination appearing just above or below the payline.

This would make you think you almost won and possibly encourage you to play more on that

machine. Actually, there was a story on this subject many years ago on the ABC News program

20/20. I wrote about, and as I mentioned before, you can read that story on my website or just

go to Google and type in the phrase, "Are slot machines honest?" and you'll see it pop

up in the search results.

But the answer to this question is no. Nevada Gaming Regulations do not allow a manufacturer

to purposely program a near-miss feature into a slot machine, and any manufacturer licensed

in Nevada would not be able to do that in any other state.

Question: Suppose I play a machine for 30 minutes, and as I'm leaving, someone sits

at my machine and they hit a jackpot. Would I have won that jackpot if I had stayed at

that machine?

Steve: No. The random number generator is cycling through various combinations at about

1,000 times a second. In order for you to have won that same jackpot, you would have

had to push that button at the exact same microsecond that the other person did, and

it would be virtually impossible for that to happen.

Question: Do casinos really put "looser" machines by the entrance doors or on the aisles?

Steve: No. Like I said before, the payback percentages on slot machines are fairly constant

within a particular denomination. This means you won't find some penny machines set at

an 89% payback in one area of the casino and 98% in another area. They are all set to pay

back within about a 1% range of each other.

Question: When I get to a bonus round on a video slot and I have to choose from various

symbols to determine my bonus, does it really matter which symbols I choose, or is it all

predetermined?

Steve: Yes. It really matters which bonus round symbols you choose. The machine does

not predetermine the outcome, and it's up to you to keep choosing winning symbols until

you pick the losing symbol that ends your bonus round.

So, there you have it. Hopefully, I've answered most of your questions about slot machines

and you'll be a little more knowledgeable the next time you sit down to play your favorite

machine. Don't forget that you can get more information on slot machines as well as all

other casino games on our website at AmericanCasinoGuide.com.

Also, if you have any questions, you can post them on the discussion forum on our website,

and I'll be glad to answer them for you. Thanks for watching, and best wishes for good luck

on your next visit to the casino. http://www.americancasinoguide.com/