SLOTS Q&A – Readers’ Strategies 1

This group of articles is titled: Slots Q&A. It is a collection of Readers Questions and Comments from Casino Players Ezine. Gayle Mitchell, Editor. This article is about Readers’ Strategies, Part 1.

Gayle: Nickel Slot Strategy.
This is a super bonus tip for all you recreational players who like the themed nickel multi-line slot machines--Play the Newest Ones. Ignore The Older Ones.
There is fierce competition among the manufacturers to come out with appealing multi-lines, now that the casinos (finally, the idiots) realize that a nickel player can be gradually turned into a quarter or even dollar player by encouraging multi-line play.
Therefore, the first few days after a given machine comes out and is installed on casino floors are critical. The casinos measure these slot machines' success (or failure) by how popular they are; i.e., how much they get played, not, repeat, not how much money they make during this initial period, since the chip that is installed dictates this fixed payback percentage.
In order to inflate the play length and frequency, these slot machines are shipped with the most liberal chip (and usually installed that way), which may have payback percentages up to 99%. Result: people try the new slot machine, it's a big hit because of the high payback frequency, and then, they change the chip back to the standard 92% return.

I have observed this dozens of times. When they first came out, Scrabble, all the Monopoly games, Austin Powers, and most recently, Beach Party (which is so smarmy I can hardly stand to play it without throwing up) could be played at just about break even if you played maximum lines at one coin per line.

This is because the bonus games are where a critically high percentage of the payback occurs, and the difference between the most liberal chip and the others is that it allows more bonus games to occur.
The optimum way to exploit this is to maximize the frequency of the bonus game by playing maximum lines, while betting as little as possible overall (1 coin/line).

The life span of the more liberal chip seems to be 2-4 weeks. After that, you'll see one day every machine in the bank being ‘serviced’ at once, or at least that's what the slot tech will tell you. What is actually happening is that the ‘death chip’ is being installed.
This chip will actually return LESS that the other comparable games in that casino as the casino attempts to recoup its 'losses' (casino speak for profits that are not as bloated as those to which they have become accustomed).
I have been exploring this little casino paradigm for about three years and I assure everyone it holds true. The only variant is that the Strip mega toilets may consider the installation of anything but the worst chip as 'liberal', whereas the ‘locals' casinos may initially install the best chip.

So if you play a brand new machine at a Strip joint, you may just get killed a little more slowly. But then, anyone who plays slots on the Strip should be led gently away, deprived of his/her wallet and ATM/credit cards, and be given a plate of cookies and a glass of warm milk. 
Kevin L.

Kevin: Thank you for the information and your somewhat unusual, albeit amusing, delivery. Gayle.

Pappy sent me his 'sure-fire' method of slots play and with a name like that how could I not let him speak? 
My method for playing slots at the Detroit casinos is the following.
A. Play on dollar machines only (higher percentage of payback)
B. Get a hundred dollars in coins. 
C. Play 2-coin machines only (keeps your losses down).
D. Play until one of the following occurs:
1. You lose five times in a row, and then move to another machine.
2. You win 20 credits or more (play one more time to make sure you don't have a streak going), then go to another machine and start over.
If you win on a machine, remember it, or do like I do, write it down in a notebook. Play these machines again and if you continue to win on them-most of the time- make these one of your regular ones.
Once again, if you get up by more than $100 for the session, cash out and call it a day. Don't get greedy!
"Like a bird building its nest one twig at a time, so too should you build up your bankroll one small win at a time."  Good Luck. Hope to see you winning in a casino. Pappy

Pappy: Good advice. One addition to writing down machine information--make sure you write down the number of the machine, usually found at the side along with the version because machines can be moved. Noting the location only is not enough for the same reason. Thanks for the input. Gayle.

Here’s another readers’ slot strategy.

Gayle: I play a lot at Delaware Park and I almost hit every time 1 hour before closing. One time I went with my girlfriend just to watch, we were there for five hours before I started to play. The casino was to close in about 1/2 hour when I put a ten in the slot.  2 spins later 1000 quarters. Another time with Power Station slots, I won $1000 one hour before closing. Most of the time that late I just win my money back to break even, which saves the night. Mark

Gayle: Being a novice at casino slot machines, I seek help to guide me in my endeavor to understand slots.
I searched the net and came across your articles. I read them, studied them, and reread them.
And at this time, I'm still going over them. You gave me a wealth of information on how to play them and what to look for. I am sure in due time I will understand them much better. I will energetically look for your articles on the net. I want to thank you for educating us novices in the art of slot machines.
I am going to Atlantic City for the first time. From what I learned from you, I will not lose money foolishly, and I will follow your advice on hit and run. I am looking forward to your next articles.

Matthew: I always say education leads to intelligent gambling. I humbly accept your email with thanks.  BTW, Matthew is a not a relative :-)