A slot machine (American English), known variously as a fruit machine (British English), puggy (Scottish English), the slots (Canadian English and American English), poker machine/pokies (Australian English and New Zealand English), fruities (British English) or slots (American English), is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers.

One of the most common questions you’ll see about anything in the casino gambling industry relates to “honesty”. You’ll see this question asked about every casino game under the sun. You’ll also see it asked about every casino, especially the online gambling sites.

In this post, I want to address this specific question:

Are slot machines honest?

How Do You Define Honest?

When I use Google to look for a definition of honesty, I see some of the following definitions listed:

• “Free of deceit and untruthfulness”
• “Sincere”
• “Morally correct or virtuous”
• “Fairly earned, through hard work”

I think most people are thinking of the first definition when they ask whether slots games are honest. They want to make sure they’re not being cheated. In this context, the answer is yes, slot machines are honest. I’ll explain why in detail in the rest of this post.

In the second context, where “honest” means “sincere”—I’m less sure. Are the casinos sincere when they want you to think you’re able to win money? I think so, but they know in the long run, anyone who plays slots long enough will lose all their money.

In the third and fourth contexts, I’d have to say that slot machines are NOT honest. Slot machines are closer to morally neutral than they are to sinful, but you might have a different belief system about such things. It’s hard to say that slots don’t appeal to one of the seven deadly sins, though (greed).

I’m not sure anyone could (or would) consider money won on a slot machine “earned” or to have anything to do with “hard work”. It’s a game of luck. If you win, then you got lucky—it has nothing to do with working hard or being smart.

I’ll explain more about that later in this post, too.

How a Slot Machine Works Mathematically

Answering the question “are slot machines honest?” begins with learning how the games work mathematically. The math behind the games is easier to understand than most people probably think.

The first concept to understand is basic probability. When someone says “probability”, they’re talking about the mathematical likelihood that something is going to happen. That “something” is called an event.

The probability of an event is always represented as a number between 0 and 1. An event that will always occur no matter what has a probability of 1. An event that will never occur has a probability of 0. An event that will occur half the time has a probability of 0.5.

For simplicity’s sake, and to make understanding the concept easier, I just used whole numbers and decimals in the previous paragraph. But probabilities are almost always expressed as percentages or fractions.

How to Express Probability as a Percentage

You’re watching the evening news, and the meteorologist says there’s a 50% chance of rain tomorrow.

That means it’s just about as likely to rain as it is to not rain.

Here’s another example:

You flip a coin. You have a 50% chance of it landing on heads. You also have a 50% chance of it landing on tails.

If you add the probabilities of all possible events together, you always get a total of 1 (or 100%). Slot machine casino snohomish wa.

Probability is the mathematical engine that makes gambling games possible.

How to Calculate a Probability

Here’s how you calculate a probability:

You take the number of ways an event can happen. You divide that by all the total events possible (including what can happen and what happens if it doesn’t.)

You’re rolling a single six-sided die. You want to know the probability of getting a 6.

There are 6 possible outcomes. Only one of them is a 6.

The probability of getting a 6 is 1/6.

Another way to express that is using odds, which can be useful when calculating whether a bet is expected to be mathematically profitable or not.

Odds expresses the number of ways something can’t happen versus the number of ways it can happen.

In the six-sided die example, the odds of getting a 6 are 5 to 1. You have 5 ways of NOT rolling a 1, and only 1 way of rolling a 1.

If you want to calculate a probability that includes the word “or”, you add the probabilities of the events together.

If you want to calculate a probability that includes the word “and”, you multiply the probabilities by each other.

You want to know the probability of getting a 1 or a 2 on a roll of a six-sided die. The probability of each is 1/6.

1/6 + 1/6 = 2/6

You can reduce that to 1/3.

Here’s another example:

You roll 2 dice. You want to know the probability of getting a 6 on both dice. The probability of each is 1/6.

1/6 X 1/6 = 1/36

Applying Probability to a Simple Hypothetical Slot Machine Game

But how does all this apply to the honesty of slot machines?

I’ll use a super simple hypothetical slot machine game to explain how this probability affects the integrity of the game.

This super simple game has 3 symbols on each reel—an orange, a lemon, and a cherry.

The probability of getting a lemon on the first reel is 1/3.

The probability of getting a lemon on the second reel is also 1/3.

In fact, it’s the same on each reel.

But the game only pays off if you get 3 of the same symbol on each reel.

The probability of that is 1/3 X 1/3 X 1/3, or 1/9.

Let’s suppose the payoff for getting 3 lemons is 4 for 1.

And let’s suppose the payoff for getting 3 cherries is 3 for 1.

Finally, we’ll suppose the payoff for getting 3 oranges is even money.

• The probability of winning 4 coins is 1/9.
• The probability of winning 3 coins is also 1/9.
• The probability of winning 1 coin is also 1/9.
• The probability of winning nothing is 6/9, or 2/3.

Now let’s suppose you’re putting $1 in on every spin, and you play 9 spins, getting every possible result once.

You win 4 coins once. You win 3 coins once. You win 1 coin once. That’s a total of 8 coins you’ve won.

But you’ve inserted 9 coins into the game.

Where did the extra coin go?

In the pockets of the casino, that’s where.

By setting up the payoffs so that they’re lower than the odds of winning, the casino sets up a situation where it’s guaranteed a mathematical profit over the long run.

Of course, most modern slot machines aren’t quite this simple. They have more symbols on each reel, for one thing. For another, the probability of getting a particular symbol might be different from the probability of getting another symbol.

For example, you might have a 2/3 probability of getting a pear, and only a 1/24 probability of getting a cherry.

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What Happens in the Long Run vs. the Short Term?

By manipulating the payoffs and the probabilities of the symbols, the casino can guarantee that over a long period and many spins, they’ll profit.

But in the short run, a player might win a big jackpot or lose several times in a row.

That’s the nature of random events. In the short run, anything can happen. In the long run, the numbers get closer to the theoretical probability.

This is obvious when you look at it with an extreme example.

On an infinite number of spins, your average loss per spin will mirror the mathematical expectation.

The closer you get to an infinite number of spins, the closer you’ll get to the mathematical expectation.

Do Slot Machines Cheat?

The casinos don’t need to cheat to make a healthy profit.

The slot machine designers and manufacturers don’t need to cheat to make a healthy profit.

In fact, in well-regulated jurisdictions (like Nevada), games are thoroughly audited for fairness. When they’re auditing a game for fairness, one of the things they check is whether a game has a jackpot that’s impossible to win.

That’s the main concern many players have when they ask if slot machines cheat.

Does the game have jackpots that are impossible to win?

The short answer in almost every case is no, they don’t.

But you have no way of knowing what the probability of winning that jackpot is. Slot machine games have opaque odds and probabilities. The results are generated by a computer program called a random number generator (RNG).

The only people who know the exact settings for that RNG are the designers and the casino managers.

In fact, you could be playing two identical slot machines located right next to each on the casino floor and have different odds of winning. Not only is this legal, it’s common.

Does that sound like cheating?

By the strict letter of the law, it’s not.

Is it honest?

I’d say yes. Having two games next to each other offering different odds is intentionally misleading. It’s legal, but it’s not sincere in any way.

Online slot machines are no different, except that in some cases, these games HAVE been known to cheat. But not reputable casinos and not reputable software providers.

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How do they cheat?

They set up games which are impossible to win.

The third Desert Diamond Casino near Sahuarita was opened in 2001. Desert diamond casino online. Six years later, a smaller facility opened in Why, Arizona.

The reasons baffle me. You stand to make far more money in the long run if you offer an honest game.

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Even an idiot can tell after a while that he’s never going to win a rigged casino game on the Internet.

But otherwise smart people will continue to deposit money and wager it at a breakneck pace if they’re winning something every now and then, even if they’re showing a net loss over time.

That’s how gambling works.

What About Video Poker Games?

You need to understand immediately that video poker games are NOT the same thing as slot machine games. They look similar on the surface, but the math and the gameplay couldn’t be more different. And the philosophy behind these games is different, too.

Here’s why:

A video poker machine uses a random number generator that duplicates the odds found in a 52-card deck of cards. You know the probability of getting a specific symbol. Any specific card has a 1/52 probability of appearing.

A card of a specific suit has a ¼ probability of appearing. A card of a specific rank has a 1/13 probability of appearing.

Payback Percentages and the House Edge

Knowing this enables mathematicians and computer programs to calculate the actual payback percentage for these games.

What’s a payback percentage?

It’s the percentage of each bet that’s paid back to the player on average in the long run. It’s the opposite of the house edge.

On a slot machine, you have no way of calculating a game’s payback percentage. It’s impossible, because you have no way of knowing the probability of getting a specific symbol.

But on a video poker game, you can calculate all the possibilities. And since you know how much the game pays out for various combinations, you can add the expected value of each to get an overall payback percentage for the game.

And you know what’s even better than this?

The payback percentages for video poker games are significantly higher than the payback percentages on slot machines in almost every case.

Even the worst video poker game usually has a payback percentage of 95% or so. But the better games offer payback percentages in the 98%+ range. Some (rare) games have pay tables which offer a slightly positive game for the player, like 100.2%. But those numbers assume perfect strategy on your part.

But even the best slot machine games usually have a payback percentage in the 95% range. The more common games slip down into the lower 92% or so range.

Expected Hourly Loss Rates in Slot Machine Games vs. Video Poker Games

What does this mean to your bankroll?

Let’s look at how much money you can mathematically expect to lose playing 2 different games:

We’ll start with an average slot machine game with a 94% payback percentage. You’re playing for $1 per spin, and you’re making 600 spins per hour. You expect to win 94% of each bet back, which means you expect to lose 6% of each bet.

6% of $600 is $36, which is the amount the casino expects you to lose on this game on average over time.

Then we’ll consider a 9/6 Jacks or Better game which you’re playing with perfect strategy. The payback percentage for this game is 99.54%, which means the house edge is 0.46%.

We’ll assume you’re playing a quarter machine and betting 5 coins per hand. You’re putting a little more money into action on each bet–$1.25. Most video poker players are as fast as slot machine players; they play 600 hands per hour. That’s $750/hour in action.

But with a house edge of 0.54%, your expected loss on that kind of action is only $3.77.

That’s right.

Playing slots costs you 10 times as much as playing video poker.

Video poker offers other advantages over slots, too. One of these is the skill element. You might not want to think about what you’re doing when you’re gambling.

But if you’re anything like me, you want to be able to at least exert a little bit of control over your destiny.

In video poker, you get to do that. The decisions you make playing each hand have a direct effect on your bottom line.

Play your hands well, and you’ll be playing one of the best gambling games in the house.

Should You Play Slot Machines at All?

This is a legitimate question. Should you play slot machines at all?

Here are some pros and cons of playing slots:

Pros:

• You can win bigger jackpots on slot machine games than any other gambling game except maybe keno. If you’re looking for a life-changing jackpot, like you’d see if you won a lotto drawing, slots are the way to go.
• They require little in the way of attention or effort on the part of the player. This suits some temperaments just fine. Relaxing in front of the spinning reels seems like a good deal for a lot of people.
• They’re available in an endless variety. You can find a slot machine game with any theme you can imagine. Love Elvis Presley? You’ll find a slot machine for it. Play Dungeons & Dragons when you were 12? There’s a slot for that, too. The themes and games are almost endless.

Cons:

• They offer some of the worst odds in the house. The house edge for slot machines vary widely. Some of them might offer good odds, but most of them have a house edge of between 5% and 10%. This isn’t awful. After all, roulette has a house edge of 5.26%. The problem is that slots play so fast that you can easily put more money into an action than you thought you could.
• You can’t figure out what the odds are. I have a philosophical problem with slot machine games. No other casino game is opaque about your odds. You can calculate the house edge for any table game in the casino. You can calculate it for video poker, too. But you’re never given the information you need to figure out the house edge on a slot machine. This is unacceptable to me.
• They’re designed to be addictive. Slot machine manufacturers spend millions doing research into what kinds of stimuli are going to put most people into the “flow” state. Flow is great if you’re interested in personal productivity at work, but if you’re playing a gambling game, it’s awful. No other casino game is as addictive as a slot machine.

Conclusion

Yes, slot machines are honest—in a manner of speaking, anyway. Casinos don’t make claims about slot machines that are blatantly untrue. If a game has a maximum jackpot of $1 million, you do have a chance of winning that much money.

What you don’t know is how likely or unlikely it is to win that amount.

Is this disingenuous on the part of the casinos?

I think it is, at least to some extent.

But all casino games have math behind them that puts the odds in the casino’s favor. That’s just the nature of the games. Slots are no different in that respect.

No matter which casino game you play, if you stick with it long enough, you’ll eventually lose all your money.

The only exceptions are certain games that can be played with advantage techniques, but that’s another subject entirely.

The only way for you to get an edge against a slot machine game is to cheat.

In most jurisdictions, cheating is blatantly illegal. You’re better off learning to play poker at an expert level, or learning how to count cards in blackjack.

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Homework Before Play

It goes for all games and sports – before you start playing, you need to know the rules. You couldn’t ask two teams of eleven players who have never heard of the rules of soccer to go out onto the field with a soccer ball and successfully play the game, so why would you stake your success at winning on a slot game that you’ve never played? It’s best to take the time out before you jump into playing slots to research what terms such as wilds, scatters, and paylines mean amongst the other facets to machine mechanics and gameplay. You can begin by reading this article on the very basics of gameplay before diving into the many different rules to the many different games. Alternatively, have a peruse of our tips and tricks page for slots.

How slot machine gambling evolved over the years:

• 1887: Liberty Bell, the first mechanical slot machine with automatic payout is invented in San Francisco by Charles Fey
• 1964: Money Honey, the first electromechanical slot machine is released by American Bally Technologies
• 1967: Fortune Coin, the first video slot machine is invented by Walt Fraley
• 1994: Microgaming pioneer the first online slot machines
• 2007: Thanks to the release of smartphones, online gambling sites offer pay-and-win slot games for the first time.

Our 5 Best Tips for Getting the Most out of Slot Machines

Although winning big on slot machines is the purpose of playing, there’s no denying that even if you lose, you can walk away feeling satisfied. That is because each game and each machine has been perfectly designed to keep you returning – that is, the games are designed to be incredibly fun. To get the most out of your slot machine experience, you not only want to guarantee that your chances of taking home a cash bonus are raised, but that you have fun while doing it. To help you avoid the bad advice and myths surrounding how to best win on slot machines, we’ve listed five of our best tips for playing.

Remember the Golden Rule: Fun Comes First

It’s always a good idea to remember why it is that you are playing slots. Was it to socialize with other gamblers? Or was it a part of a hidden dream to stake your pocket money in the chance of winning it big? If you are to have a long, successful and healthy relationship with slot machines, your answer should simply be: to have fun. This doesn’t mean ignoring the thrill of playing games of chance or that the social aspect isn’t rewarding, but as long as you are having fun then you know you are in a good place. If your relationship to playing slots begins to change and it feels more like a punishment than a reward, it may time to take a step back and re-evaluate why it is your playing.

Stick to Your Budget

You may have heard of the term ‘responsible gambling’, and we couldn’t stress any more the importance of this as you seek to try your luck and skill at the slot machines. We all understand what it’s like to set a limit for ourselves, then when it comes down to it keep playing because we think a win is right around the corner. There’s a reason why many terrestrial casinos put ATMs in the lobby – many of them bank on your impulses getting the better of you. To ensure that you walk away with your head held high and the chances of your fun at the slot machines being sustainable over time, set a limit before you play and stick to it no matter what. We guarantee that you won’t ever regret doing this, because the truth is, there is nothing more slippery than chasing losses.

Ignore Progressive Jackpot Slots

You may have heard rumors about lucky gamblers taking home huge jackpot prizes from playing progressive slots, and that it happens all the time. In reality, progressive jackpot slots aren’t exactly the best bet. They tend to take much longer than people realize to accumulate such a staggering amount, despite there being so many hopeful players who will continue to drain their wallets for the chance at hitting it big. Statistically speaking, you are better off playing classic slot games or even the modern video slot, although the video slot is notorious for offering more light-and-sound entertainment than a return of investment to players. This is not to say that it’s impossible to win big on a progressive slot, just that if you are prepared to make that investment, you might be waiting a long time on something that may never happen.

Choose to Gamble Online

Most gambling experts now will tell you to avoid playing slot machines at a land-based casino and instead do it online. There’s a reason casino lobbyists are pushing so hard against online gambling in many states – time has shown that the best slot machine experiences can be had in the very comfort of your own home, or wherever you have an internet connection for that matter. There are endless slot games to choose from online, with many of them having more bonus games. Not only this, these bonus games tend to offer more free spins, and in the world of gambling, there’s no sweeter word than “free.”

Bonuses, Bonuses, Bonuses

If you’ve taken our previous advice of playing online, you’ll immediately notice an extensive list of promotional offers that each site displays. These tend to include with first-deposit bonuses, with promises to match your deposit up to a certain amount, but some even offer no-deposit bonuses too. That is: free money. Despite this, these bonuses may come with certain conditions on how to use it, but these rarely exclude the online slots. It’s unlikely that you’ll find any offers for free spins on roulette or a free buy-in at online poker, but with free spins on the slots, they’re almost hard not to find. If you’d like to check out some online casino bonuses, read our bonus guide page.

3 Common Myths About Slots Debunked

Do Online Casinos Manipulate Slot Machines For Real

As it goes with anything mysterious, many gamblers have come up with tall tales on how to best play different games based on hunches that aren’t remotely grounded in reality. This tends to be most common with the game of playing slots, as there is much more chance involved in games than there is skill than say, poker. Below, we’ve listed and busted 3 myths that pervade the world of gambling on slots.

Some Are Winners, Some Are Losers

The idea that some slot machines are built to pay out winnings and others are built simply to absorb your cash is pure superstition through and through. The only way to know which slots may be hot or cold is by watching every game on every slot at a land-casino to see which have been emptied and which are hypothetically close to paying out. We don’t recommend doing this.

Slot Machines Can Be Manipulated

Do Online Casinos Manipulate Slot Machines To Play

Despite there being true stories of crafty gamblers coming up with ways to making slot machines act generously in their favor, in the modern world of intelligent computing and electronics, the likeliness of this happening successfully now is near impossible. If you think you’ve got a good idea, think again – there’s a whole industry around the prevention of this happening.

Are You Down? Raise Your Bets

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Of all the myths, we can’t think of any more costly than this one. If you haven’t had much luck and think raising your stake is the answer, think again. This is by no means a good idea and will not increase your luck at all.

Do Online Casinos Manipulate Slot Machines Jackpots

”The only way I’ll ever get hurt in the casino is if there’s an earthquake and a slot machine falls on my foot”– Jack Benny