Any advice on slots?

[dkc1973]

I hit the casino on the first night of our last cruise and did really great- winning $96 off of $6 on one machine and then another $40 on others.

 

However after that it went downhill. I would win small amounts but overall couldn't get my luck back. A machine that would do bonus after bonus for me the first night would go on and on without a single bonus.

 

I'm wondering if they loosen up the slots the first night to get people in... Or am I just a wishful unlucky lady? LOL

[Cruise Family 3]

I hit the casino on the first night of our last cruise and did really great- winning $96 off of $6 on one machine and then another $40 on others.

 

However after that it went downhill. I would win small amounts but overall couldn't get my luck back. A machine that would do bonus after bonus for me the first night would go on and on without a single bonus.

 

I'm wondering if they loosen up the slots the first night to get people in... Or am I just a wishful unlucky lady? LOL

 

I will be watching this thread as I have never gambled before. Will be attempting slots in a few short weeks .....

[dkc1973]

Hopefully someone will have some good info. I'm pretty new to casinos so I'm sure there's a lot I can learn!

[clcjdn]

In order to change the payouts on the slot machines, they would have to close down the area, open them up, manually change the %s, close them up, re-open the area. Based on the amount of work that would need to be done, this would have to be done when the casino is closed (or everyone would see them making the changes). I have closed the casino many nights on my trips and never seen them doing any of these activities. I highly doubt that they are adjusting the payback percentages in the middle of the trip. There is no real threat of competition on the boat, so the machines are likely set to a low 80% payback (may have a couple mixed in around the 90% range as attention getters). I would say you experienced short term "luck" on the first night, rather than them going into each and every machine and manipulating the payback.

 

On a side note, I prefer to play video poker because the machines do not have the ability to be manipulated to a certain payback (except the machines that include a Keno game as well). The paytable dictates the payback, so you will always know the payback %. Taking this side note further, I would not recommend playing the Keno games that are included with the VP machines, as they can be set to pay out somewhere less than 80% to make up for the VP games that are slightly over 80% on cruise ships. In land based casinos, they can be set even lower because the VP games are higher payback.

[dkc1973]

I hadn't thought about them having to change each machine to loosen them, I figured whatever they use to turn them off and on when entering or leaving port could do that too.

 

Might have to check out the video poker.

 

Thanks!!

[Casino Player]

I hit the casino on the first night of our last cruise and did really great- winning $96 off of $6 on one machine and then another $40 on others.

 

However after that it went downhill. I would win small amounts but overall couldn't get my luck back. A machine that would do bonus after bonus for me the first night would go on and on without a single bonus.

 

I'm wondering if they loosen up the slots the first night to get people in... Or am I just a wishful unlucky lady? LOL

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO dkc1973: You were most lucky winning like that on the first night. If you read these boards enough and hang around the casino enough there is no correlation as to winning the first day of the cruise or the last. Or someday in between. Slot machines make money for the House. What you should do is learn to play some table games. You have a better chance at winning and it is more fun than just sitting in front of a slot machine. By the way, I do play some Video Poker so I am not totally against slot machines.

[cherylroslyn]

I hit the casino on the first night of our last cruise and did really great- winning $96 off of $6 on one machine and then another $40 on others.

 

However after that it went downhill. I would win small amounts but overall couldn't get my luck back. A machine that would do bonus after bonus for me the first night would go on and on without a single bonus.

 

I'm wondering if they loosen up the slots the first night to get people in... Or am I just a wishful unlucky lady? LOL

My advice on slots is not to get addicted, and not to believe that there is any message forum that can teach you how to do better at them....there isn't.

 

Slots are extremely complicated and extremely difficult to reprogram. Without going into to much detail, this is essentially how they work.

 

A slot is set to give back a percentage of what is put in. A slot can be set at the very best at 96% and at the worst about 85%.

 

A slot that is set a 96% can still be very stingy....how is that possible?

 

Because even though it is set at a very high payout percentage, it doesn't have to consistently give back 96 dollars for every hundred. In other words it might take, and take, and take for weeks and give back a large jack pot.... or it may take $20.00 of your money and then give you $1,000.00, but that doen't mean that it didn't take, and take, and take from others for a day or two........

 

The 85% machine on the other hand may be set to consistently give back small jackpots or lots of bonus rounds that don't pay much.

 

Also some slots will be set to hit on lower bets or higher bets.....so I could sit down for hours dumping thousands of dollars into the machine at max bet and you could sit down for thirty seconds and win a "jackpot" on a 30 cent bet....... Your "jackpot" of "75.00" would make you thrilled at a 30 cent bet, whereas I would want to punch the machine on a $3.00 bet.......

 

 

The other thing to know is that slot machines use what is call RNG (Random Number Generator). Every spin the slot takes is an independant event that is not linked to the spin before or the spin after. A machine can hit a jackpot once...and then thirty seconds later hit a bigger jackpot..... This means you shouldn't necessarily leave a machine when it hits because it statistically is just as likely to hit again as the machine right next to it...... So machines are not "done" after a jackpot....and by the same token a machine IS NEVER DUE FOR A JACKPOT OR BONUS ROUND!!!!

 

Casinos make their money by you sitting there thinking "its been twenty minutes, I'm not getting up now......I'm not letting someone else have the bonus spin because I AM DUE!!!!!"

 

That machine can go weeks without giving up a bonus round.......and then it can give ten bonus rounds in ten minutes........

 

If you want your money to last bet small and play for fun.......

 

If you want to take big risks you will blow through your money in minutes.....

 

 

I have won jackpots on every day of a cruise....right down to 2:00 am the last night......

 

The scuttlebut that the machines are tight the last night is an urban legend......

 

Machines appear to be more active the first night simply because of the volume of people playing....those machines are getting played all night consistently.....the RNG can give you a bonus/jackpot on any spin....more spins = more of a chance to win...more people = more spins.

 

Last night, many gamblers have no money left and non-gamblers have spent their vacation budget....casinos have less people in them as the cruise progresses.......

 

 

I hope this helps you a little......and winning is completely random.........

Edited September 29, 2013 by cherylroslyn

[cb at sea]

Spend only the amount that you don't mind losing....because that is the most likely outcome! You have to consider your gambling dollars as ENTERTAINMENT money....it's fun, but don't do it expecting a win!

[richard1s]

On our recent cruise on RCL Brilliance in September I went to the casino to play some $.25 slots; it hadn't been open more than 45 minutes and there was hardly anyone in it. However I heard all the commotion when a player hit a $13,500 slot jackpot on a dollar machine. If I hadn't been there and saw it, I would have never believed it.

[Harry and Lucille]

I can go on a cruise. Be 3000 miles from home. Use my cell phone to check the security cameras in my house. Turn up or down the thermostat. Turn lights on and off, check my bank account, stock market etc., etc. and, I am being told that with those electronic slot machines that the computer chip that dictates the pay out requires closing down the casino and opening up the machine to adjust the chip that controls it??? Don't understand. Please explain.:eek:

[Gail_07]

If you Google "how slot machines work" - you'll find your answers - as a previous poster to this thread wrote: "take only as much money as you're prepared to lose" - also, the amount you LOSE is directly proportional to how long you play, so if you get a nice hit or two, pocket it and find something else to do, or go buy yourself something nice in the shops so you have something to show for it. :)

[clcjdn]

The slots still use the older technology. If they accepted blue tooth or wireless commands they would be susceptible to hackers and/or cheaters. If you stay around long enough or late enough you can see them opening machines to adjust or fix.

[Gunner22aa]

I posted this before. My now old nextdoor neighbour works for our provincial Liquor and Gaming Commission and he spends his entire week visiting slot machines in bars and the various casinos around town. He carries a small electronic device that when placed on a certain spot on any machine confirms what the payout of a machine is set at. Our provinces governing board claims it is 92% here. The same machine he carries can adjust the payout in a matter of seconds. Hence there is a record kept of the visits, by whom and he is never allowed to visit the same machines unless someone else from the shop has been there between his visits. All in the spirit of preventing employee fraud. The handheld also keeps a record of the machines it has been used on as each has an individual identification number and this data is downloaded into a central computer each day, again as a check on fraud. Having been in many shipboard casinos I estimate that re setting the machines across the board could be done in an hour or two at the most.

 

As casinos at sea are not regulated by any governing body the owner is free to dial up the machines at the start of the cruise to make you feel good about winning and then dial them down to get it all back and then some as the trip progresses or simply to set a low payout percentage and leave it there.

 

Cruise lines do not own their casinos but rather they are operated on a percentage return to the line by an independant operator. Many are operated by the larger gaming houses in London.

 

Bottom line is that there is no guarantee that the machines are not being changed or what the payout percentage is on any given machine on any given day.

 

Playing the slots is entertainment in my books and entertainment has a cost. It certainly was never part of the retirement funding.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Gunner22aa
add

[clcjdn]

Gunner, I agree that the gambling on the ships should be treated as entertainment. I am curious about your source on the linkage back to the gaming houses in London. I have not heard that before specifically.

 

I am not an expert on the machines in Canada. I spent about $40 in the airport on a layover playing in one of the bars last year. However, the machines there were not the same as what I see on the cruise ships or land based casinos in the US. The machines used on Carnival (only first hand experience I have until next month) are the same style and makers as domestic US machines. I also have not seen the machine that your neighbor used come into play down here. When the commission goes through in Vegas or Colorado they have to use the key to unlock the machine and filter through the screens to determine the payback %. The screen shows a bunch of information but the main ones I watch are what the payback % is set to, and what the actual payback % is. I still contend that each machine needs to go to that screen on the ship to change the payback %. In the end, the cruise casino is a captive audience so they set the %'s to amounts I would guess in the 80-85% range. Thanks!

Joe

[Gunner22aa]

I asked on two different cruise lines and was given the same answer but they, "for reasons of privacy", me thinks perhaps unclaimed profit, neither would divulge a name.

 

I've seen the machine but not in use. Quite small actually at about the size of a debit/credit card machine at any store. Has way more buttons than the average cell phone

[boothebossandchloietoo]

I found a site where you can purchase $50 slot play coupon for $25.00 and a promo code that will give you 5% off. Use https://slotplaycoupons.com/friends.php?refkey=hcnXuyxF to purchase this coupon and promo Code CDM52013 to get 5% off. I also contacted NCL to see if this promo was valid with the Free slot play I purchased from them and they said it was. Also if you use my link I get $25.00 for 5 people signing up and you will receive a code to refer 5 more people and get $25.00.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

In order to change the payouts on the slot machines, they would have to close down the area, open them up, manually change the %s, close them up, re-open the area. Based on the amount of work that would need to be done, this would have to be done when the casino is closed (or everyone would see them making the changes). I have closed the casino many nights on my trips and never seen them doing any of these activities. I highly doubt that they are adjusting the payback percentages in the middle of the trip. There is no real threat of competition on the boat, so the machines are likely set to a low 80% payback (may have a couple mixed in around the 90% range as attention getters). I would say you experienced short term "luck" on the first night, rather than them going into each and every machine and manipulating the payback.

 

On a side note, I prefer to play video poker because the machines do not have the ability to be manipulated to a certain payback (except the machines that include a Keno game as well). The paytable dictates the payback, so you will always know the payback %. Taking this side note further, I would not recommend playing the Keno games that are included with the VP machines, as they can be set to pay out somewhere less than 80% to make up for the VP games that are slightly over 80% on cruise ships. In land based casinos, they can be set even lower because the VP games are higher payback.

 

 

Its funny you mention the low payback on Keno. Those are the machines I win at all the time this past weekend in Atlantic City I hit 7 out of 7 with one quarter in for $1750.00. The most I have hit is 7 out of 7 with 4 quarters for $7,500.00. I win a lot with 5 out of 5 seems the easiest to hit. My hubby plays cave man keno and he recently has hit $2,000 and $2,500 on it our last trip to Vegas in August and I hit 7 out of 7 on nickels winning 30,000 nickels ($1,500). So Keno does pay well in my experience.

 

Do they have keno on the Breakaway? Would love it if they do.

Edited October 17, 2013 by GeriC

[clcjdn]

Are all of your wins on the game kings with multiple games or are they only keno machines?

[krazy_dave]

To change the payout on a slot requires opening the machine and changing out the RNG chip. A standard 3 reel slot with no bonus games will, on average pay out a "winning event" 1 in 8 pulls. It might be a jackpot or it might be a minimum payout. This does not mean that you will win something every 8 pulls, it's a statistical average. 5 reel slots and those with bonus games will be different. Some machines are high frequency-low payout, others are low frequency-high payout. For consistency you have to find a full pay (9-6, 2:1 on 2 pair) video poker and play ideal strategy. Unless you play for a living look at it as entertainment and don't budget too much for slots

[DJZS]

In order to change the payouts on the slot machines, they would have to close down the area, open them up, manually change the %s, close them up, re-open the area. Based on the amount of work that would need to be done, this would have to be done when the casino is closed (or everyone would see them making the changes). I have closed the casino many nights on my trips and never seen them doing any of these activities. I highly doubt that they are adjusting the payback percentages in the middle of the trip. There is no real threat of competition on the boat, so the machines are likely set to a low 80% payback (may have a couple mixed in around the 90% range as attention getters). I would say you experienced short term "luck" on the first night, rather than them going into each and every machine and manipulating the payback.

 

.

 

incorrect. All the bill/ticket in, ticket out slots have been upgraded and all run on a network. Percentages can be changed at any time, from several locations. If a percentage is changed during a spin, the new percentage takes place on the next spin, or a predetermined amount of time.

[VideoTech]

incorrect. All the bill/ticket in, ticket out slots have been upgraded and all run on a network. Percentages can be changed at any time, from several locations. If a percentage is changed during a spin, the new percentage takes place on the next spin, or a predetermined amount of time.

 

I think it's a somewhat strong statement to say that "ALL" machines have been upgraded to networked versions. That ignores the realities of purchasing and leasing the equipment. Most casinos currently have a mix of older, non-networked machines, and newer, networked machines.

 

What you can say is that shipboard casinos are essentially unregulated as to changes in payback percentage. This is unlike Las Vegas and other land gambling areas, where payback percentage and changes to that percentage are regulated.

 

However, in both regulated and unregulated situations, the reality is that there is absolutely no need for a casino to make day to day or hour to hour changes in payback percentage. The skill of the slots manager lies in putting out a mixture of machines, programmed at a mixture of payback percentages that will keep the gamblers playing, and allow the casino to hit or exceed their revenue targets for the slots.

 

With the right mixture of machines on the floor, the casino can sit back and let the law of averages feed them their percentage of the money with every pull of the lever.

[Grandpaul]

I found a site where you can purchase $50 slot play coupon for $25.00 and a promo code that will give you 5% off. Use https://slotplaycoupons.com/friends.php?refkey=hcnXuyxF to purchase this coupon and promo Code CDM52013 to get 5% off. I also contacted NCL to see if this promo was valid with the Free slot play I purchased from them and they said it was. Also if you use my link I get $25.00 for 5 people signing up and you will receive a code to refer 5 more people and get $25.00.

 

I've used slot play coupons a lot. They are just what they say. I'll be using more in 19 more days.

[Grandpaul]

I like to play in casinos. I figure it would cost me a couple thousand to go to Miami Beach and I would be bored silly sitting there. At least in a casino I win sometimes.

[krazy_dave]

incorrect. All the bill/ticket in, ticket out slots have been upgraded and all run on a network. Percentages can be changed at any time, from several locations. If a percentage is changed during a spin, the new percentage takes place on the next spin, or a predetermined amount of time.

 

Incorrect. Slots and video poker can be monitored and interrogated remotely, but CAN NOT have the payback percentage changed remotely. The machines would be too vulnerable to cheats. Changing the payback percentage requires physically replacing the RNG chip in the machine.

[BruceMuzz]

The payout percentages on all the slot machines on my ship - and the 27 other ships I have managed on quite a few different cruise lines - never change.

There is no need to change them.

 

Slot machines are a sucker's game. We already make more money on them than any other activity in the casino.

The more money goes in - the more money comes out - but always the same percentage.

 

In the end we get to keep it all.

 

Thank you in advance for your donations.

 

There really is a very good reason why we call it gambling.......................................