Slot Machines

I've played, and lost, a great deal of hard-earned money on the slots/pokies. Every machine is mathematically programmed against you winning in the long term. The software programme only gives you an 81% chance of winning against the machine. For every $100 you invest you should win back $81.

Why do people play?  Most can recall their first time playing and it usually involves a big win that gets them hooked!

There's a psychology built into the machine that ensures you are kept interested by giving you small rewards throughout your playing time. However they put you on that 81% sliding slope. They use bright colours; interesting graphics; moving images; player interaction; music and a metal payout tray to increase the sound of winners.

You may have noticed also that the machines have slowly progressed from playing 9 lines to 15 lines and now right up to 30+ lines. Needless to say, the more lines you are playing, the more it costs you for every spin!  This is a subtle way of ensuring that you play only one credit per line.  If you play maximum bets on all lines (which can be say $10 a push) then $100 soon runs out and you leave the machine. Their aim is to keep you playing as long as possible to become a recidivist player who will come back to play again because your $100 lasted quite some time.

They are not too keen on you betting too far above the minimum because if you strike a reasonable winner (say 5 Aces) then the payout is quite large.

I'm not saying play big, because you can lose big very quickly but if you did happen to strike a large payout then you should cash up and leave. 

I have tried a number of betting systems in order to try and beat the odds. Often it would seem that I was winning but on a regular basis you find yourself on a machine that just does not want to pay and increasing your bets doesn't pay off.

A.  On a 15 line machine I tried taking out lines 13, 14, 15 so that I was only playing 12 lines. I then bet three units on each line which is 12 x 3 = 36, instead of playing the whole 15 lines with two bets which costs 15 x 30 = 30. For an extra 6 cents I was getting triple payouts with all my wins.  Of course every now and then you would strike a line 13, 14, 15 but those losses were made up for by the extra large wins on the other lines.

B.  I have tried alternately betting 1 unit on 15 lines then 4 units on 15 lines hoping to strike the free spins etc while playing the higher 4 unit number. You have a 50/50 chance of striking the bigger one. Averaged out this is the same as betting 15 x 2 = 30. If you haven't had a collect after $30 then increase to 2 units times 15 alternating with 5 units x 15 and hope you strike the 5 unit bet. Depending on how much you want to "invest" you can keep increasing until you win.

C.   I have know a player to bet maximum right from the start and just keep playing until they receive a win. The thinking behind this strategy is that if you're going to win at some time, then you may as well win big! Many of these players will stick to one particular machine thinking that without a win, it owes them something because they know how much money they have put into the machine.

And when they win, then they do win big, but when they lose they lose big too.

D.       A strategy leading on from B is to alternate between 15 x 1 unit and 15 x 10 units. That's Maximum and minimum. Again you're hoping for the strike on the maximum. The trouble with winning on the minimum is that it hasn't a hope of replacing the money you've "invested" to win it. It is better to alternate between 15 x 2 units and 15 x 10 units. Then if you do strike the win on 2 then at least you receive double what you would have won for a minimum outlay. Some people just leave it on 1 unit and after a win, wager the proceeds on a red/black gamble to double their small win.

E.        A number of players (old-age pensioners) will often play just the middle line with 3 to 5 units and hope they strike that particular line. The only thing they achieve is a long session on the machine. They very rarely win. But I suppose if you're old and lonely then a $10 loss for the afternoon is worth it!

F.        Some players start with $20 and bet minimum until/if they win then double their bets hoping to win again. If they strike a machine that is paying then that's fine and they may walk away with a small win that pays for their drinks.

G.        I've know a few players who say "I'm going to invest/donate $20 and then that's it!" They put in their $20 and play maximum and walk away whether they win or lose. If it's a win then they make quite a profit. If they lose then they've only lost $20.

Inevitably though you are going to lose no matter what strategy you play. If you treat it as fun then that's fine, but if you get hooked into bigger and bigger bets then you will end up chasing your tail because the programme will always win.

Most individual machines in New Zealand win $18,000 -$25,000 per week so someone must be losing!!!!!!!!!!