Gambling Guide
Ask the Wizard #3
Deva from New Jersey, USA
This is not my area of expertise but if you're interested in owning your own online casino check out the sites of some of the software providers like Microgaming or Boss Media. For a cut of the profits, they provide the software and much of the support. You can also buy an established online casino, check out the list at the River City Group for specifics. I'm afraid I don't know much about buying conventional casinos, but believe the process to get licensed to be very expensive and time consuming.
Scott from Leawood, USA
No, the machine does not have a huge element table of over two billion elements. The random number generators choose each number once in the cycle using mathematical algorithms and do not need to keep track of which numbers were already chosen. Regarding the pause, it has nothing to do with how much it is going to pay. I think the game does some internal auditing from time to time. There is no such thing as hot and cold cycles with slot machines. The ups and downs are just normal random variation.
Travis from Albuquerque, USA
According to Gus FanFassian, a casino quality chip will weigh 9 to 11 grams each and are made of clay and other composite materials.
Matthew from Kansas City, USA
You would have a 2/38 chance of winning $140, a 24/38 of winning $5, and a 12/38 chance of losing $40. The overall expected return is [(2/38)*140 + (24/38)*5 + (12/38)*-40]/40 = -5.26%. The same house edge as on every bet in double-zero roulette (except the 0-00-1-2-3 combination, which is 7.89%).
James from Cherry Hill, USA
The EPROM chips, which control the theoretical return percentages on slots, are generally changed very rarely. It would be bad business to loosen and tighten the slots according to the day of the week. For any given casino there is some optimal return to maximize profit. Wherever that is, a smart slot manager would find that point and then just leave the EPROMS set to that return.
Congratulations also on the new gig with Casino Player, I enjoy it the site and your occasional posts on bj21. As someone who works in the industry, admittedly not slots, I was under the impression that the more recent slots have the RNG stop the moment the first coin drops, so it really doesn't matter if you play 1,2, or 3 coins -- the symbols will line up the same. Have I been misinformed? According to your previous answer I apparently have. Keep up the good work and I'll stay in touch, thanks and best wishes.
Dave Simon from USA
Thanks for the kind words Dave. You're right that it was the money that finally made me accept the banners. It is my understanding that when the player presses the button to spin the reels the random numbers are drawn at that instant, which determine where the reels stop, and ultimately what you win. The number of coins bet does not matter.
Malcolm from Laughlin, Nevada USA
The $1199 payoff is amusing, just under the $1200 limit for which the casino would be obligated to report the win to the IRS. Winpoker 6 software allows for analysis of custom designed games. In this case, the return is 100.0079%.
