Another wrong notion about slots is that these can easily be rigged by casinos to either tighten or loosen up. Slot machines are controlled by computer chips that are factory pre-set to pay out a pre-determined percentage. Changing the chip would require tedious documentation and approval by the Casino Control Commission.

1. Can Casinos Adjust Slot Machines
2. Can Casinos Tighten Slot Machines
3. Do Casinos Tighten Up Slot Machines
4. Can Casinos Tighten Slot Machines Online
5. Loose And Tight Slot Machines

• Basically, a casino gets approval from the government for an assortment of several dozen payout settings for a particular slot machine. The casino can then choose which of the approved settings they want for a machine, but they can't micromanage the odds from moment-to-moment.
• This is not true because the slot machines have a computer chip in them that determines the pay back percentage. These are set at the factory. In order for a casino to change the pay back, they would have to change the chip. In most jurisdictions there is paper work.

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Mike: Hi, I'm Mike Shackleford with the wizardofodds.com website. And I'm here with Angela Wyman. And Angela, I believe you have some questions about slot machines for me.

Angela: I do, I have several questions about slot machines for you.

Mike: I'm all yours.

Question 1 - [00:18]

Angela: All right. So as a newcomer to the slot machines, what is the first thing you can tell me about, how I go about finding a good machine, where would I go? Do I look on the strip, do I look downtown? Where are the best slot machines to start with?

Mike: As a rule of thumb, the nicer the casino, the stingier the slots. So, I'm sure you want to play in a nice casino. But you have to recognize that there's a price for that. And generally, they set their slot machines tighter. If you want the better odds, as a rule of thumb, the further away you get from the strip, the better your chances get. I also want to say that while you can't look at the slot machine and tell if it's stingy or loose, I believe that – if a casino sets their video poker loose, they're probably going to have loose slots as well. And video poker is quantifiable, you can look at the pay tables and see if what they expected return is, if you use a website like mine for example, 9/6 Jacks or Better is 99.54%. Show me a casino that has lots of 9/6 Jacks and I'll show you a casino that has lots of, of loose slots as well.

Question 2 - [01:43]

Angela: Wow. Are you allowed to name names and give me any suggestions of what casinos are generally doing that have looser slots?

Mike: Well, in 2001, I surveyed the whole city of Las Vegas for who had the loosest slots. And I use PAR sheets to do this. And by looking for certain patterns in the machine, I was able to identify what return the machines were set to. And the loosest casino in Las Vegas at the time was the Palms. And there we have a casino that's off the strip. And they had great video poker as well. Now this was ten years old, I've never repeated the survey, the casinos under new management. So, I make no promises about what they're doing now.

But now you asked about downtown earlier, downtown, it used to be a great place for odds, not so much anymore. I think that if you go to any casino off of the strip and off of downtown, you're probably going to get pretty loose slots. Namely all the Coast Casinos, Station Casinos, Fiesta Casinos, the South Point, the M. These casinos are all very competitive for the locals’ market. And they know the locals are picky about the odds and returns. So, they tend to set their machines looser than the strip where they don't get such a loyal clientele.

Question 3 - [03:18]

Can Casinos Adjust Slot Machines

Angela: Okay. Well, once I've identified the casino I want to play and definitely off strip and getting to a local clientele, how do I go about picking a machine?

Mike: That's a good question. I would say, you should stay away from a machine that has big fancy signage, like enormous screens, a lot of fancy sounds and chairs that move, all that stuff, ultimately cost money and it ultimately- they get it by tightening the odds. But sometimes when I play that, say that, people say, “But Mike, those games are so much more fun.” That's a good point. If you're willing to pay more for the additional experience, go ahead, it's supposed to be for entertainment anyway. But if you don't really care what particular machine you're playing, you just want the best odds play just a simple machine with no fancy sign or graphics, just keep it simple.

Question 4 - [04:23]

Angela: So, if I picked a nice simple machine to go play, no bells and whistles, at a casino that's friendly to me, should I sign up for that casino's Players Rewards Card, is that help me or hurt me?

Mike: Absolutely, it helps you. No ifs, ands or buts. If you're going to play anything in the casino, including the table games, definitely go to the player club, sign up for a card and use it. When you put it into that machine, it's going to track all your play, it's going to give you points. And every casino in town as far as I know, you can use those points for free play, for casino purchases, some places will give you cash directly. And not only that, they will send you offers. And casinos love slot players, that the best, they are treated like royalty compared to all other players. A $1 slot player will get treated better than a $100 blackjack player.

So, if the more money you run through it, the better your offers will be. And I'm not saying to play the machines hard for that reason. I'm just saying that if you're going to play anyway, you may as well get rewarded for it. So always use your player card. And always when you sit down, it should be a habit. Make sure you put it in, there have been times where I forgot to put my card in and played for five minutes without being tracked. And I just wanted to kick myself because it was just like wasted play because the casinos, they will reward you so well for a slot machine play.

Angela: Getting those biggest rewards is a huge part of the Vegas experience, people want the free buffets and the free show tickets and a cost that come with it.

Mike: Absolutely.

Question 5 - [06:06]

Angela: So now you're saying the money you run through with it, is directly tied to that. How does that comping work? How do you know what to expect and where do you go to find out what the casino is going to give you? Is there someone you ask, is there a desk?

Mike: Absolutely, you can ask any question you want at the player club desk and every casino has one. It doesn't mean that they're going to answer your question correctly or at all. If you ask them a tough question like, how do you earn points playing bingo. Maybe they're not going to know. And some casinos have very complicated programs like, there is Total Reward Program is extremely complicated. But it never hurts to ask whatever question you may have.

Question 6 - [06:53]

Angela: All right. Well, I want to go back, more specifically to the slot machines. And a few more things that I've heard about them that maybe you can clarify for me. So, I'm trying to earn all these points and get my comps, I've heard and tell me, if this is urban myth or not. But that the casinos can actually tighten or loosen slot machines remotely. One is that true, and if so, can they do while I'm actually playing?

Mike: That's a good question. What you were referring to is a technology called Server Side Gaming. And it used to be and the way it still is right now 99% of the time in Vegas, that if the casino manager wants to be the loosen or tighten the game, he has to open it up and change what's called an EPROM Card. That stands for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.

So, take out the loose card, put in the tight one. He has to actually- basically unlock the machine and make a change. And he also has to fax in a form to the Gaming Control Board because the gaming police here in Nevada, have a right to know what every single machine in town is set to. And they do spot inspection random, inspections to make sure that the casinos are giving them the right information.

Now there is a new technology that saves the casino time. No longer do they have to actually find the key, open up the machine and change the return manually, now it can be done remotely, say at the computer of the Slot Director's desk. Now you may wonder, maybe he doesn't like me, maybe I'm wearing a polka dotted hat and he hates it and he's going to changed- tighten the odds while I'm sitting there playing. Is he allowed to do that? No.

I don't know the exact specifics but I believe that the machine has to have been unplayed for a certain period of time like 15 minutes before they're allowed to change it. So, if it's actively being played, the casino is not able to change the return of that game.

Question 7 - [09:06]

Angela: Well, can the machines change it themselves, so that's about someone from the casino, the human element changing it. But I've heard a lot of the machines, they start out very loose to suck you in and then they tighten up and that will be something actually in the program, is that true?

Mike: That is basically an urban myth. The way it usually goes, is that the machine goes through loosen, tighten modes to play on your psychology. Usually people believe, that when you first sit down, the machine is going to be loose for a few minutes to give you a good experience and then tighten up once you're already comfortable and like the game. It's not true.

If a slot machine is set to say, pay 94%, that's what it's going to theoretically pay all the time. Now of course that doesn't mean that every single hour or day, it pays back 94% of all money bet, it's just a theoretical long-term average. There is no loose and tight modes to a game to it, it's the odds are always the same, unless, they physically change or not physically. But they either change the EPROM Card or change the return from a computer. It's not preprogrammed to go through these cycles.

Question 8 - [10:29]

Angela: So, you're telling me there's no truth to the myth that the machines run hot or run cold or it's been running cold for so long, it's due to hit, that's not true either?

Mike: That's exactly what I'm saying. A machine is never over due to hit. It's commonly believed that I've been feeding money into this game all day long and it's taken all my money but it's due to hit. No. I'm sorry, slot machine is never over due to hit, your odds of hitting a high pay are just as good, if it has- if you haven't hit anything all day long, as if the jackpot was just hit the last min.

Angela: Well, that's kind of disappointing, [chuckles] I was hoping I could go find that cold machine out when someone walked away from it. [laughs]

Mike: No. And what you say is true, is you see these vultures roaming around the casino, looking to take over a machine that where somebody has been playing and ran out of money, thinking that, oh, it's overdue to pay off. Sorry, it's not true. And another thing that you often see happening is a player will play at a particular machine all day long, ask a slot attendant or lean the chair against the machine to try to save it because they need to eat lunch, go to the bathroom or something. And then somebody else plays it and hits the jackpot and then they sue the casino. Saying, that jackpot should have been mine and it's their fault that they let somebody else play it. Sorry, it wasn't overdue that player just happened to play it at just the right moment and they got it. It's not like the jackpot was sitting there waiting to happen. Not that you asked but the way a slot machine determines what happens, is that the moment you press that spin button, the game chooses random numbers, it assigns those random numbers to positions on the reels and then stops the reels on, according to those random numbers and then pays you according to how according to the symbols on the reels. So, what determines what you win is exactly that moment that you press the button.

Question 9 - [13:02]

Angela: I want to go back to something you mentioned in that answer. And you brought up slot attendance. And I know more and more of the casinos now you see, the automatic machines but in places where they still have actual human beings walking around taking care of that. What's the proper tipping etiquette?

Mike: That is a good and a very controversial question. Now, this town runs on tips. Practically anybody you're supposed to tip. Now with slot machines, it's the law that any jackpot of $1200 or more requires a-- it's a necessity that somebody come out, pay you on cash, ask for your Social Security number and they're going to give you what's called a W-2G Form, so you can declare the win on your taxes. So as long as somebody is coming and paying you the money, they'll sit there and counting out the bills. And let's say that you won $2000, I can almost guarantee that they're going to give you 1900 in hundreds and the last hundred is going to be 20s and maybe 10s. And of course, they're doing that to shake you down for a tip. And you should tip.

Every time this comes up in the forums, there's always a big debate about it but in my opinion, 1% is a good number. And if you hit something really big, like say a 100,000, where 1% would be a 1000, then even less than 1%, maybe half a percent.

Angela: Okay. That all seems to make sense. [giggles] Now I feel I have a better understanding of how to go about playing the slots and not totally getting taken. [laughs]

Mike: Well, I really appreciate your questions.

Angela: Well, thank you very much, Mike.

'A Myth Comes True
For years slot players have believed a myth that the casinos could change the payback of a machine with the flip of a switch. They worried that the casino could tighten the machines during busy times such as weekends and then loosen them up to pay more during the week. With the new server based system this myth could actually become a reality as they can change the payback of the machines through the server. ' I found my answer at casinogambling.com

It always HAS been possible to do that--it's a myth that it is a myth.
I remember, on several occasions, watching a slot tech use a key to make a menu come up on the screen of a video slot, and selecting a payback percentage from that menu. He didn't even have to open the machine. Five choices: 1) 97.4% 2) 95.9% 3) 94.0% 4) 92.4% 5) 91.2%. Select one. Turn the key. Boom. Done. That makes me laugh when I read that it would be impractical and take too much time to manually change all the payback percentages on the casino floor. (And I saw the scene described above as long as fifteen years ago, so the capability has been there for quite some time.)

'The Missouri regulators, for example, were making the rounds with the hypothetical issue of whether casinos should be banned from allowing better slot paybacks to players who gamble more - a feature that is possible with server-based games.
Clayton said Nevada regulations prohibit casinos from offering one player a better chance of winning than another

That's only partly right. A high-roller absolutely has better odds on a slot game than a low-roller because the models are different on a $100 machine than on a 5c machine. It's also okay to give a player who bets more a better return within a single machine -- that's what *every* multiplier slot does when they bonus the last coin. Same thing with VP games and the bonus pay on a royal. I think the issue is whether the same machine being played at the *same level* should have a different payback based on some external criteria like comp points, but even then the effect of the comp rewards on higher players makes the net payback better anyway, so...

Can Casinos Tighten Slot Machines

It always HAS been possible to do that--it's a myth that it is a myth.
I remember, on several occasions, watching a slot tech use a key to make a menu come up on the screen of a video slot, and selecting a payback percentage from that menu. He didn't even have to open the machine. Five choices: 1) 97.4% 2) 95.9% 3) 94.0% 4) 92.4% 5) 91.2%. Select one. Turn the key. Boom. Done. That makes me laugh when I read that it would be impractical and take too much time to manually change all the payback percentages on the casino floor. (And I saw the scene described above as long as fifteen years ago, so the capability has been there for quite some time.)

Nobody who knows slots would dispute that. However, it would be impractical to open every machine and change the return on a daily or weekly basis. The myth is that some guy in the back room can change the return on any machine from his desk because he doesn't like your polka dotted hat, or any other reason he wishes. However, with server based slots, now he can. As noted, in Nevada he has to wait until the machine has been idle for four minutes, and then is has to be down another four minutes.

You guys obviously know your games of chance. My original question, Is there a particluar time and day of week that is better to play slots with a greater chance of winning? ANd additional are there any other factros that should be considered; size of crowd, denomination, minmax bet, type of slot game, player level, parent company, ....

Time of the day, day of the week, size of crowd: Doesn't matter.
Denom, Min bet: Definitley does matter, the higher the denom, the higher the return (generally).
You would also be advised to avoid slots with fancy signs with a movie or television theme, as these are usually set to around 88%, which for slots is pretty low. Then again, they may provide more entertainment value.

You would also be advised to avoid slots with fancy signs with a movie or television theme, as these are usually set to around 88%, which for slots is pretty low. Then again, they may provide more entertainment value.

Modification to that: when they first bring those kind of slots out, the slot techs generally set them to the highest available payback, to garner interest, then after a few weeks, they tighten them up. One slot tech told me that since just about all themed slots have bonusing games, the determinant for the variable payback percentages is usually the frequency of the bonusing game--nothing else is usually altered.

Do Casinos Tighten Up Slot Machines

So if you see what looks like a very new themed slot, it might be worth a fun play for a while--it'll cost you less now than later.
I have one secret location in Vegas where all the Monopoly machines are set to 97.4%, per the slot tech I know who works there...you can play for HOURS on those machines without getting wiped out. He said that he was told to leave those machines at the highest setting in order to increase play in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic, but that traffic is usually going somewhere else. The frequency of the bonus games makes people stop and take a look, and hopefully, sit down and play. (He also told me that the rest of the Monopoly machines in the casino were set to 92%.)

He said that he was told to leave those machines at the highest setting in order to increase play in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic

Can Casinos Tighten Slot Machines Online

If they wanted to attract the players, wouldn't it make more sense to advertise the generous payout rather than keep it a secret?
In general, I don't quite understand how loosening the games on low traffic days will help the casino, unless they make it known to the public. I kinda take the lack of that advertising as an indirect confirmation of Wizard's point, that they don't do this as a rule, because they either see it as too cumbersome or just not good for the business.
Sure, they could just leak the info discreetly, so that people, who hear the rumor think they'd just been let in on a huge secret, and run to the casino ... But in that case, they also don't have to actually increase the payout - they just need to allude that they are going to ...

Modification to that: when they first bring those kind of slots out, the slot techs generally set them to the highest available payback, to garner interest, then after a few weeks, they tighten them up. One slot tech told me that since just about all themed slots have bonusing games, the determinant for the variable payback percentages is usually the frequency of the bonusing game--nothing else is usually altered.

Correct me where I'm wrong, but I thought that it was standard on 'participation games' that the return is set close to 88%. For those who don't know, participation games are ones where the casino and the slot maker share in the revenue. They generally have some kind of branded theme and very fancy signage and machines. I'm sure the brand being promoted gets a cut too. I was quoted saying as much in a LV Sun article about a year about, on the Sex and the City slot machine, and I heard IGT got very mad. The next week the Sun ran a puff piece praising slots.

Loose And Tight Slot Machines