Slot Machine

A slot Machine, poker machine, or fruit machine, is a certain type of casino game. Traditional slot machines are coin-operated machines with three or more reels, which spin when a lever on the side of the machine is pulled. The machines include a currency detector that validates the coin or money inserted to play. The slot is also known informally as a one-armed bandit because of its traditional appearance and its ability to leave the gamer penniless. The machine typically pays off based on patterns of symbols visible on the front of the machine when it stops. Modern computer technology has resulted in many variations on the slot machine concept. Today, slot machines are the most popular gambling method in casinos and constitute about 70% of the average casino income.

Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, NY developed a gambling machine in 1891 that could be considered a precursor to the modern slot machine. It contained five drums holding a total of 50 card faces and was based on poker. This machine proved to be extremely popular and soon there was hardly a bar in the city that didn’t have one or more of the machines bar side. Players would insert a nickel and pull a lever, which would pull the drunks and the cards they held, the player hoping for a good poker hand. There was no direct payout mechanism, so a pair of kings might get the player a free beer, whereas a royal flush could pay out cigars or drinks.

The first one armed bandit was invented in 1887 by Charles Fey of San Francisco, California, who devised a much simpler automatic mechanism. Due to the vast number of possible wins with the original poker card-based game, it proved practically impossible to come up with a way to make a machine capable of making an automatic pay-out for all possible winning combinations.

A person playing a slot machine purchases the right to play by inserting coins, cash, or in newer machines, a bar-coded paper ticket (known as "ticket in/ticket out" machines), into a designated slot on the machine. The machine is then activated by means of a lever or button, or on newer machines, by pressing a touch screen on its face. The game itself may or may not involve skill on the player's part — or it may create the illusion of involving skill without actually being anything else than a game of chance. The object of the game is to win money from the machine. The game usually involves matching symbols, either on mechanical reels that spin and stop to reveal one or several symbols, or on a video screen. The symbols are usually brightly colored and easily recognizable, such as images of fruits, and simple shapes such as bells, diamonds, or hearts.

Most games have a variety of winning combinations of symbols, often posted on the face of the machine. If a player matches a combination according to the rules of the game, the slot machine pays the player cash or some other sort of value, such as extra games.

Recently, some casinos have chosen to take advantage of a concept commonly known as "tokenization": 1 token buys more than one credit. A casino can configure slot machines of numerous different denominations to accept the same type of token. (For example, all penny, nickel, quarter, and dollar slot machines could be configured to accept dollar tokens.) This significantly reduces a casino's inventory costs and coin handling costs.

A tokenized slot machine automatically calculates the number of credits the player receives in exchange for the token inserted and displays the amount of available credits to the player.

When a player chooses to collect his credits (by pressing a "Cash Out" button), the slot machine will automatically divide the number of credits on the credit meter by the value of one token and return the result to the patron. Any remainder is known as "residual credits" and cannot be collected. Residual credits must be either played or abandoned

Each machine has a table that lists the number of credits the player will receive if the symbols listed on the pay table line up on the pay line of the machine. Some symbols are wild and will pay if they are visible in any position, even if they are not on the pay line. Especially on older machines, the pay table is listed on the face of the machine, usually above and below the area containing the wheels.

Most video machines display the pay table when the player presses a "pay table" button or touches "pay table" on the screen; some have the pay table listed on the cabinet as well.

Hand Pay: This occurs for higher slot machine payouts, or if the slot machine releases an incorrect amount; if the amount of payout exceeds the amount of coin or credit in the machine, the slot machine attendant or the cage “hand pay” the player.

Hold Percentage: The “hold” is discussed among casino executives. It is the opposite of the payback percentage, and represents the amount of money the casino is making from a machine or the slot department in general. This can be thought of as a betting fee.

Payback Percentage: This is the amount of money the slot machine eventually pays back to its slot players. This number is not over a few spins, but rather, covers tens or even hundreds of thousands of spins. This term is often misunderstood. The payback percentage applies to total dollars run through the machine and not the money you personally have entered.

Progressive Jackpot: The jackpot on a slot machine grows as each bet is played. There are two types of progressive jackpots: individual progressive jackpot and multiple progressive jackpot. Individual jackpot is a progressive jackpot that only builds on the bets of one slot machine. Multiple jackpots build as bets are placed on multiple slot machines. More than one slot machine is linked to a single progressive jackpot; jackpots grow very quickly on multiple progressive jackpots.

RNG: Each slot machine has a computer chip in it that selects random numbers. RNG means Random Number Generator. The RNG determines if your spin is a winner or loser. This computer chip constantly cycles though numbers until a coin is placed in the slot machine. Once the button or lever is pushed the reel stops on the symbol combination determined by the number the RNG stopped on as the coin was inserted.

Tilt: This term originates with the older mechanical slot machines. Mechanical slot machines had tilt switches. If a coin is jammed in the slot machine now, the tilt light comes on, if the machine owes the player any winnings it is stored in the memory and pays out once the problem is fixed. Today, the term tilt can refer to many different kinds of mechanical failure from reel motor failure to door switch problems.

It is a common belief that the odds on a machine have something to do with the number of each kind of symbol on each reel, but in modern slot machines this is no longer the case. Modern slot machines are computerized, so that the odds are whatever they are programmed to be. In modern slot machines, the reels and lever are presented for historical and entertainment reasons only. The positions the reels will come to rest on are chosen by a Random Number Generator (RNG) contained in the machine's software. This is called "virtual reel" technology.

The RNG is constantly generating random numbers, at a rate of thousands to millions per second. As soon as the lever is pulled or the "Play" button is pressed, the most recent random number is used to determine the result. This means that the result varies depending on exactly when the game is played. A fraction of a second earlier or later, and the result would be different.

Standard slot machines do not get "hot" or "cold". The odds of hitting a winning combination are determined by a random number generator contained in the machine's software and is exactly the same with every spin. Such slot machines are never "due to be hit" if they haven't paid out a jackpot in a while. (Exception: UK-style AWP and Japan-style Pachisuro machines are progressive which means chances of winning will increase over time if the machine has not paid any wins out. Many also "force" wins on players in order to meet the payout percentage).

There is a science to the placement of slot machines on the gaming floor, but the highest paying machines are not necessarily placed in high-traffic areas. Typically, machines of similar payback percentages are grouped together, with 1% or less difference from machine to machine in the group.

Consider these two scenarios:

You leave a machine. Another player comes up and immediately hits a jackpot. You think, "If I had played just one more time, I would have won that jackpot."

A machine returns a higher jackpot for playing more coins. You play fewer coins, and a winning combination appears. You think, "If I had played more coins, I would have won more money."

In both cases, you did not "miss" an opportunity to win. The results of modern slot machines depend on exactly when you play them. It is very unlikely in either case that you would have received the same result if you had played just one more time or just one more coin. This is because the random numbers being generated are constantly changing thousands of times per second.

It is impossible to assume that the instant you would have made the play would be the same for the other opportunity, thus getting different results from the machine. See Random Number Generator above.

Slot machines, like other gambling devices and games, can be addictive to some individuals.