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SLOT MACHINES

They are fun to play, no doubt about it. Plus, it sure is nice to read (with great envy) about big winners of super-sized jackpots that casinos love to publicize. Hardly a day goes by around here without receiving a casino press release telling us about someone who has won hundreds of thousands of $$$ from one type of slot or another and I really am happy for the gamblers involved. But just as a reminder, "gambler" is the correct word for those who play slot machines and that is probably more true for slot players at Internet casinos than even those that play the slots at brick-and-mortar casinos. The reason is, most jurisdictions that regulate brick-and-mortar casinos have set some sort of minimum return that a slot machine must offer, usually around 85% or so, but no such regulation is required at the vast majority of Internet-based casinos so the slot player is totally at the mercy of the casino when it comes to playing the "one-armed bandits".

But the slot player at Internet casinos must also be concerned with whether or not they'll even get paid if they win, so selection of the game is likely less important than the selection of the casino where the game is located. However, because slot machines are so very popular, competitive forces can help the would-be slot player make an intelligent choice and that's what this article is really all about, helping you pick a slot with a "fair" return at a casino that'll pay if you win.

The technology of slot machines is amazingly creative, but almost every machine fits in one of two categories, the non-progressive slot and the slot with a progressive jackpot. Some may feel that a third category exists, namely slots with special bonus screens that are activated when you hit a certain symbol or collect cherries and other such items. However, in my opinion they fit in one of the previously described categories (mostly the first) when all is said and done, because those "bonuses" are still used to calculate the minimum return the casino wants to achieve on that particular machine. Sadly, there are no free lunches when it comes to slot play.

That leads us to an interesting question: Can a slot machine be "rigged"? Because slot machines are not "games of skill", as defined by many jurisdictions such as the State of Missouri, there are no requirements for them to operate in a specific manner, such as a Video Poker game that must use a randomly-shuffled deck of 52 cards. So, just by their very nature, slot machines are "rigged" to offer a random return within stated guidelines like a minimum 85% return, etc. With no such laws governing most Internet-based casinos, it's probably fair to say that the casinos could, if they were foolish enough, set the return at 10% and still be within the guidelines of "acceptable behavior" for such devices. Of course, any casino that did such a thing would find itself without any customers after just a short period of time, but I know all too well that there are some very greedy fools running online casinos, so nothing would surprise me.

On the other hand, savvy casino operators know that winners are good for their business, so a lot of winners should be very good. As such, the really good casino operators are willing to settle for a lower percentage return on their slots in the hope of attracting a larger volume of business. I think it's very fair and appropriate to say that the average slot player will get a much better "bang for the buck" online than at most brick-and-mortar casinos. For example, a long-time advertiser here, Global Player Casino, has an audited average return of nearly 96% (year-to-date through June, 2003) on all of their slot machines whereas the highest average return on all of the slot machines at any casino in Atlantic City (Caesar's) was only 92.8%. Some casinos in A.C. have overall slot return averages in the 91.3% range, which translates into an 8.7% casino edge! And to think that there are people out there who want to make Internet casinos illegal...

Hopefully you know that slots in higher denominations usually return a higher percentage but even in the $1 category, the highest return in A.C. was only 94.2% (Resorts, April 2003 data), a 5.8% edge, which is bigger than double-zero Roulette. Oh, don't get me started...let's go back to the 'Net where we can find lots of good deals.

What I want to do here is present my best ideas on where to play slots of either category while keeping in mind that you expect to win, so the casinos chosen are those that I genuinely believe will ultimately pay you when that happens. In line with what I mentioned above, it's generally figured that a slot in a higher denomination will return more than a similar slot in a lower denomination; a $5 slot will return a higher percentage than a $.05 slot, for example, but there is no guarantee that's true, so don't say I didn't warn you. Slot play should be treated as exactly what it is: a form of entertainment, nothing more.

Slot Machines without Progressive Jackpots

#1 Diamond Deal at Royal Vegas Casino This casino, a member of the highly-regarded Fortune Lounge Group of casinos, has advertised here in the past and may do so in the future. Now that we have the legalities out of the way, let me tell you about this machine. It's available only in the $1 format (3-coin maximum bet) so it's for the well-heeled gamblers out there who like the "bonus screen" type of game. With this machine, the object is to fill in sections of a diamond by hitting a special symbol, which can be done only when you're playing 3 coins per spin. When you've accumulated four sections, the game switches into bonus mode where you can win 50, 100 or 300 credits. What I especially like is the fact that any segments you collect will be stored for you until your return and that's something that simply cannot be done at a brick-and-mortar casino.

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