How SLOT Machines REALLY Work!

Dave takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the software and algorithms that drive modern slot machines. For my book "Secrets of the Autistic Millionaire": amzn.to/3diQILq
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All information in this video is opinion only and should not be relied on as expert opinion.

[@DavesGarage]

"The outcome is determined when you hit spin, and then you get to watch a little movie on the reels to show you what the outcome was"

[@saintzfan09]

Here's a question that ive never been able to get a definitive answer on....does stopping the reels urself give u a different outcome than what would have happened if u would have just let the spin play itself out?

[@whitelightning2]

@@saintzfan09 No, Not at all. Like Dave said, once you press Spin that's it. You have no control over the outcome. Even in bonus rounds when you are picking symbols, it doesn't matter which ones you pick. The machine is going to give you whatever it decided to at the beginning of the original spin. If you have to spin a virtual wheel, roll virtual dice or whatever, you don't have any way of influencing the outcome.

[@VanGohman]

This is true almost 100% of the time. There are allowances for games that do simulate physical objects, such as simulation of a roulette wheel, or a ball dropping through a pachinko style game, but any time they do that, it must be disclosed in the help pages with a disclaimer about simulation of physics, especially when depicting classic real world physical gambling. If you do not see such a physics disclaimer, then you can pretty much assume the game is using canned animations to present the outcome that had been determined for you at the point they hit the "spin" button. Usually you will see a statement about how "interaction with the wheel during the wheel spin feature is for entertainment purposes only.", or something along those lines. The designers can make every spin tense and dramatic, occasionally baking in near misses that barely hit the big win making things look like they are going to lose, only to just barely eek by. Sometimes you might see a wheel spin land on the lowest prize, only for the main character of the theme to appear on screen and manually move the wheel to the big win. You can also have a pick-em where the values won do depend on the players choices, but in those cases the history record has to keep track of where the picks were on the screen, and what order the player picked them. But it usually ends up being a more exciting experience for the player to not have a static pick screen, so in most cases the picks are predetermined. The list of credits won is generated before the pick game starts, and in this case, making your picks is the same thing as pressing a single button over and over with each credit value being awarded in turn. When they do this, then they only have to keep track of a list of pick values, and display them in the order they were dispensed to the player in the history record. Because it's easier to tailor a more exciting experience for the player and easier to keep track of in the history to use predetermined outcomes, that's how most of them are designed these days.

[@Bibibosh]

@@saintzfan09 ofc not! when u hit the button .the outcome is already known..

[@BobbyBoozeDoc]

Go hawks!! Geno is the man!

[@BMW750Ldx]

I knew a guy who was/is working for a slot company in Denmark.....and he said, they made the software code.....so if you hit like 2 Jackpot bars and missed, the next spin often showed the 3'ed jackpot bar on the missing reel, just to make you think you were soooo....close to hit it !!!!!..and you keep on playing !

[@lmducker]

the same on the golden buffalo. when you get 2 gold coins for the bonus the next spin will always have the 3rd or missing gold coin to prove it was actually there.

[@carsonbujold3979]

As a slot technician, I wish I could just send this to all the people that play at the casino I work for lol. The main question I get asked... "Can you just give me the jackpots?" And it's always the same answer " if I can.. I would be playing these machines lol"

[@fredhammer6413]

LOL, LOL,LOL, LOL, LOLLOLLOLOLO,,,,,,,,LOL,LOL,LOL,,,,,,,,,LLLLLLLLOOOOOOOLLLLLL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@crf80fdarkdays]

​@@fredhammer6413 Yes

[@nycrsny3406]

😂

[@Landrew0]

I recall seeing the government official responsible for approving gambling machines, walk into a bar, hit 3 jackpots in a row, and then walk out. If you ever wanted to bribe a government official, that would be a foolproof way.

[@carsonbujold3979]

@Landrew0 well where I used to work, our machines weren't hackable. Or you couldn't do anything to make the machines pay out more. If you put the wrong percentage the machine doesn't work. It's all about % you can't control it anywhere else

[@mjmeans7983]

There used to be a Star Trek The Original Series video slot machine. In the bonus rounds there was a short story setup presented and you were given choices on crew members to send to the away mission. After playing a bit and watching a lot it seemed that the best odds in those bonus rounds were given if you knew the stories and made good choices, but bad choices would instantly lose. Those games only lasted a few months.

[@PelDaddy]

Always send one Red Shirt.

[@SmartDumbNerdyCool]

I once played on a samurai machine that gave you a 50-50 shot at playing your bonus again for an infinity number of tries. It didn't last either. It had stacked reels in the normal spins and really frequent wins.

[@plektosgaming]

@@SmartDumbNerdyCool The machines that are worth playing are the ones that are variable state machines. That is, based on previous players, the multipliers and bonuses on specific levels ( such as mini and minor and so on ) change over time. So you can get over 100% payout at specific times simply because you're looking at a stupid number of free spins on certain lower level jackpots. But these are rare now, at least in the major casinos. The last one I remember seeing was about 3 or 4 years ago (Harley Davidson?). I consistently would make enough to get some free food. lol.

[@cotom4gk]

I have a slot machine in my garage that I bought several years ago. When the grandkids come over I occasionally give them a hundred dollars to play on it with the understanding they must use all $100 but they can keep what they win (playing quarters). They were real excited at first but after a short time they realized they just lose the money. Needless to say they don't want to play anymore and I think if they ever go to Vegas they'll stick to card games like 21.

[@michaelstevenson5044]

As a kid I had a similar experience People think that doing this encourages gambling but it taught me that gambling doesn't usually pay out.

[@PaulRandle-sc8qk]

Brilliant educational strategy.

[@timd1833]

Lower. odds on cards & roulette

[@timd1833]

They probably played out all their hits instead of cashing out occasionally and saving those cash outs.

[@biologicalagent]

I work with a guy named Jon who many years ago made a ton of money helping casinos coordinate jackpots between slot machines. I’ve got a lot of other nitty-gritty details, but it basically worked out to where that shared jackpot between network machines was paid out multiple times due to a transaction not being respected.

[@rayzincain]

Hey Dave, I too started out in the DOS era. I bought DOS 5.0 book, studied it and got really good with it. This launched my computer career with Sierra Software, later growing to become a software engineer with Intel just 9 years after buying the book. I didn't even have a degree but sold myself and got hired with Intel in 1999.

[@theboy181]

I work for a large group of Casinos in Canada, I feel you got it correct!

[@harryholden9045]

On the pick bonus, I have always heard, that if the machine does not display all the unpicked values when your done, then it is predetermined, like on Dancing Drums. But if all symbol values are shown at the conclusion, like in, Nine Suns, then it is skill not predetermined.

[@TravisVroman]

Having previously worked in this field as a developer for several years (although online/browser-based slots instead of physical machines, but still for real money) on both the client and server aspects, I can say this is probably the most accurate description out there that I've heard. There are even tighter rules when operating internationally (I'm looking at you, EU). I've been away from it now for a couple years but it was refreshing to hear someone who understands it, talk about it.

[@ivandanov6061]

Online slots are rigged.Could you explain how every time i dont play on a slot for months and then go back to it i push the button at the right time to win.Thats every time!

[@TravisVroman]

@@ivandanov6061 They actually aren't, and can't be by law. Every spin is a complete and separate transaction with no bearing on history whatsoever (with the exception of progressives), just like Dave says. There's literally a certification process that must be gone through to ensure this. That being said, unless the payout percentage is 100%, if you play long enough (billions of spins) you *will* lose. That's how casinos make money.

[@ivandanov6061]

@@TravisVroman I am talking only for online slots.I have done this several times.I know the RNG comes from the online casino you are playing so its always the same good in the begginign then bad if i stop for 5-6 months then go back i win from the first spin.The last time i foung 1.2 euro in my account and made more than 1000 for the first 50 spins this happened in more than 4 different casinos that i havent played in a long time.I am not the only one who sees this pattern.If i can do the same thing in 4 different casinos its not possible to be random.Its not the same in land based casinos coz they dont know who is playing at the moment everybody could sit on the slot but in online you should know better that they have all the info they need.

[@janmatousek4261]

@@ivandanov6061 I can very confirm that. Whats worse - of course, this also happens the other way around. Incredibly long series of loss - or few times the smallest possible win spins in say 200-300 times you hit Start. Definitely it is scripted by online casino on the basis of your behaviour. There must be different coefficients for different players.

[@ericlarson7556]

Smart channel David. This is one of the good ones YT has to offer.

[@royboy84]

Do you believe casino's in Vegas change the "looseness" depending on the day of the week? I've found mid-week slots to be a lot more generous than on a packed Friday night, could be circumstantial

[@jw8927]

that is a myth

[@serchme54]

Sorry to break your bubble but the Casino has the power to change the odds on the machines when to many patrons are winning on the same night.

[@worldpeace4823]

The simple answer is stop going to casinos, start saving ur money.

[@Icehso140]

Computers "randomize" based on an algorithm used by the programmer. They cannot truly randomize on their own. Each time the program is restarted, the algorithm is seeded with the same number and the results will be the same. Back in the 80's we learned of a way to include a human element in the algorithm. The computer has a running clock based on its cpu. When starting the program, we would use the number on that clock to seed the algorithm at the precise time the human pressed the enter button. Depending in the size of the clock, this produces many thousands maybe millions of possible outcomes since it would be nearly impossible for a human to guess what number is on the clock at that moment. So, the randomizing is based on an event that cannot be predicted.

[@chaosemerald4603]

Dave! You are so awesome to listen to. Thank you for your past and present contributions!

[@Berrynyc]

I'm not sure if i agree. Nothing is random in programming . RNG is total number or combination. Here is my take All combinations are pre-set as "arrays" meaning paylines. All combinations equal the total number of spins or a cycle (where RNG comes from) From all those combinations, it's decided the percentage or how many times will hit jackpot and other payouts. I did program a single payline a long time ago, and here how I did In 10 spins, i made to hit 1 time tripple 7s, 3 times cherries, and so on .which meant for 10 spins i hit 1 time 7s,3 times cherries and 6 spins are dead spins. When i changed the total count of spins to 1, every spin was tripple 7s

[@donnaschuepbach3830]

Loved your video and it sure dispelled some misinformation. I only gamble on cruiseships. Are their machines set differently? Thank you in advance.

[@andrewtitcombe8378]

So if a machine has a larger skimmed off cashpot than the one next to it. Then playing the one with the highest cashpot. Will have a better percentage of win capability due to the higher cashpot?

[@jw8927]

No

[@CryptoChef99]

I like how the lotteries in most states for scratch offs have to disclose how many times of each possible win was already won & how many are left in circulation. Not that scratch offs are any better but u do get somekind of data.

[@SonnyDK]

Weird if they disclose that. That information alters the probability to win and therefore the odds of the game.

[@iceman4326]

i've seen a lady hit a jackpot for $5,000. then they paid her then she stuck in another $20 and hit it again for $5,000 on the same machine... of course i'm lucky to stick in $5,000 and win $20 lol

[@HollyPlummer-v8k]

This is literally what I did for a living for 20 years at IGT!

[@DrSchor]

You are a great fellow to know. So, how do the winners all around me at slots beat the machine? Thanks for your tips.

[@someoneelse6934]

Here in New Hampshire true “slot machines” are illegal. They get around it by using “Historical Horse Racing” machines. The spins are based off of randomized horse race results from the past 30 years. The actual video of the finish of the race is show in a tiny window on the machines. Other than that, they act exactly like regular slot machines.

[@DavesGarage]

Many tribal casinos do something simiilar, backing the gameplay with a bingo game that determines the actual outcome!

[@nickpapagiorgio8832]

I appreciate the effort here, but like all descriptions of casinos and slots, it's short-sighted. There are a slew of factors that the casino will use to its advantage, up to (and sometimes beyond) the letter of the law. Where it gets really bad is when you gamble in a casino that doesn't have the stricter laws like Nevada. Here in my state, the casinos are practically allowed to steal from you if they so desire. True randomness isn't forced at any time except when a button is pressed - until then, all factors are preset based on a central decision/system/algorithm to determine win % for that player/machine/button press. A casino can change percentages based on many factors (that require computer algorithms to calculate due to the sheer volume of data) at any time, when THEY decide. The win % is based on parameters such as: the slot's location and newness, time of day (attract players/$ vs. force players out when bankrolls are spent and casino floor personnel shifts are over), casino win $/% for the day/week/month/year, the customer history (whether you put your card in the slot or not, they know who's playing that machine if your driver's license is in their system), player $ won/lost for the session/day/week/month/year/time period, session win/loss $ (if you're nearing $0, temporarily increase the odds to give a psychological boost so that you feel like you got a little more playing for your $), your betting pattern (is it different than usual, which means you may have more/less bankroll than typical), etc., etc., etc. Dozens of factors that predetermine if the press of that button return rate is higher/lower. All of this is factored in to provide as much profit as possible by keeping one factor constant: that the information they're required to file with the state meets the minimum necessary to keep their license. Sometimes all this amounts to is paying a fee to the state if they don't meet minimum requirements. And those fees are always acceptable to the casino since the profits made far outweigh the relatively tiny fees. So basically, their goal is to predetermine as much as possible while keeping within the law. Is it cheating by the casino? Legally, no. Technically/morally... well what do you think?

[@jw8927]

Delusional. Where do you even began to address this?

[@Konitama]

I will say that while slot machines don't have memory of previous spins, there is some math behind the likelihood of a winning spin happening... If you've had 10 losing spins in a row, it's less probable to keep getting losing spins each time you do it. Obviously there's still the exact same chance each spin, but if we're looking at streaks, probabilities change. Like flipping a coin. Obviously the probability is 50/50, but the odds of landing on heads 10 times in a row is not 50/50. Not that I'm suggesting you keep dumping money into a slot machine if you've lost 10x in a row... but yeah.

[@Sensistar4200]

instant subscribe, this guys got lots of good knowledge

[@novamaster0]

Have you thought about buying a slot machine for your garage? Per some cursory googling, you can own a non-profit machine as long as it's at least 25 years old. You should check out Strange Parts who actually wired a slot machine into an ATM, so that way if you pull money out of the ATM it triggers a winning pull of a slot machine.

[@dumptrucklakai]

how come you always pick mini jackpot.....if its random? grands and majors you never pick 3,....but mini always picked

[@evangelinegonzales9009]

I hit bonus on small denominations but i dont win but i lose on big denominations . I think theres a room that they can manipulate the machine because machine have id numbers esp in reservations. Vegas is strict, they could be closed down if they cheat.

[@henryngan]

BTW, I used to worked for the certification body........

[@Joecuzzi]

Now I need to buy a watch that displays mileseconds😊

[@tomysshadow]

The example I've heard for how a slot machine works is, imagine there is a bag with a million white marbles in it, and one black marble. You get to pull any one marble out of the bag, and if you pull out the black marble, you win. _Intuitively,_ you would think that over time, if you keeping pulling out more marbles, the bag gets smaller until only the black marble is left, so you'll surely win if you just keep going. However, in actual reality, every time you pull out a marble, the bag is refilled and reshuffled around, so you are always pulling out of the big, million marble bag. The bag does not get smaller.

[@djdedan]

yeah that's call draw with replacement, basically you draw a marble look at it and then put it back. You don't refill it, you just put it back. Refill brings up questions of what do you refill it with? There are some systems where the bag does get smaller, such as scratcher tickets, and even some jackpots in slots where they have to hit by a certain amount can be thought of that way, since the chances of hitting it increases as the amount moves toward the target...

[@dfuseidazza6129]

@@djdedan its called rng 🤣

[@MrEvtmazda]

Better example is a stack of pull tabs and every hit of the button is pealing back another pull tab

[@leonvan1963]

So would increasing your bet, mean you are able to pull out more marbles at once?

[@Official_G_G]

This has just changed the way i look at slots wow thanks

[@russellcrawford4809]

I've spent hours and hours and hours sitting at slot machines and JUST FROM MY OBSERVATIONS ONLY, I'm certainly not an engineer nor a mathematician versed in probabilities, but this I do know and question that YES slot machines can be PROGRAMED to change probabilities and keep you playing. Example, stick $20 in a penny machine , spin , spin , spin , loosing all the way down to only a couple dollars then you hit bonus and win say $15 or so. Keep playing same machine and this will happen 2-3 times in a row then suck it ALL out , teasing you to put in another $20 thinking " it will hit "

[@susanstrange3436]

When I go to the casino on an Indian reservation, I play for fun. I usually bet one up the lowest bet. That way, I can play longer. If I win, it's great. If not, then I had fun and lost only what I allowed myself to lose. Thanks for your input.😉

[@chuckh4077]

Good idea. I played dancing drums slot and tried to trigger the bonus round. Lost $300 quickly playing $5 to $ 8 per spin.

[@ihbarddx]

Until three years ago, I worked with a company that helped casinos optimize their floor arrangements of slot machines. Yes, the odds of winning are going to be the same for each pull in a session, and past runs of winning or losing do not affect future events. That said, the casinos track the payouts of each machine on the floor, and they may pull a machine that is paying out too much. If there is contention between theory and evidence, the house acts on evidence - even if it’s just bad luck.

[@AlexKidd4Fun]

Surely there's something broken or even tampered with on a machine paying "too much". At least that's what the floor manager is thinking. Bad luck for the casino is good luck for the customer. Sheesh. 🤦‍♂️

[@liryan]

I saw this in action. I won 1000HKD in a slot machine in Macao in 2013. A dude walked to me and congrated me, give me the token to get cash and PULL THE MACHINE AWAY.

[@madezra64]

@@liryan F for the slot machine just trying to do its job...

[@RobertSzasz]

@@liryan probably to do an analysis on it. You were probably tracked for a bit until a preliminary check for tampering was done.

[@liryan]

@@RobertSzasz I am not aware of any tracking, I just walked out with the slot machine, chatted with the guy about the weather. Since I know it's my luck, I just blow my winnings into some handmade chocolate (disgusting taste), some duty free alcohol

[@eyeonart6865]

One arm bandits is correct word. Makes people homeless, hungry, no cars etc the city of sin is correct.

[@tomislavnovak885]

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[@tomislavnovak885]

Well, the investment-advisor that guides me is..

[@tomislavnovak885]

Cathie Wood

[@tomislavnovak885]

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[@PaulPreston880]

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[@Gfhdbfbbc]

Wow wow please is there any way to reach there services, I work 3 jobs and trying to pay off my students loan for a while now

[@DBR00]

I used to work in slot Manufacturing. You basically hit the nail on the head for every point. One thing I may mention is at the random number generator it's not necessarily cycling through millions of combinations. Each factor in the game has its own decision point which is weighted. There is a number assigned to each event that can happen in the game. Then several random numbers are chosen. I'm going to make a video shortly that clearly explains how the math Works behind the scenes

[@tomasdvoracek6098]

looking forward to it :)

[@jeffcrisp2159]

I would assume, being a coder myself, that there are a finite number of outcomes and each one is assigned a number. The rng's seed is based on that count 0-X. Now my big issue is, the RTP. if a machine is expected to maintain a certain rtp, it gets its result, looks at the value of the outcome and it then decides whether to pay it out or pick another "random" outcome. Else a machine could come online and NEVER payout or PAYOUT 100% Of the time. He says it in the video, it may go out of rtp % but will eventually come back into spec. I don't believe the machine, if it wasn't constantly calculating it's rtp, it could do as i mentioned, good or bad... of course a manufacturer or the gaming establish would never admit this because it would doom the industry!!!! And be illegal!! I would assume the gaming commission allows them to programmatically adjust to keep them from going broke or making too much money!!

[@ausun9102]

You are right, it is not completely random @@jeffcrisp2159

[@javi_park]

post the video

[@bretriley219]

​@@jeffcrisp2159that's interesting. I'm a technician/operator. We never adjust the payout because they are paying too much. They will always make up for the large payout, or when they don't pay out in a while. All of our games are very close to the payout we have chosen, no matter what jackpots, etc have happened. I'm not sure how this happens, probably way over my head.

[@capicolaspicy]

On the subject of lowering the payout percentage when a game becomes very popular, all I can say is that in 10 years working at a Hard Rock Casino as a tech, they have never had me change the payout after a game was placed on the floor. The paperwork and permissions to change that do not allow the house to arbitrarily change percentages at will. Also while I know they are testing remote optioning of the machines from the back of the house in Las Vegas, to my knowledge it is not in any kind of an implementation in general yet. As a technician I don't like the idea personally. As a contractor it would take away a fair chunk of the work I currently get paid to do. This was a good video about how they really work!

[@jimlthor]

I'm just imagining me trying to explain how this works to the guys I work with who all believe the casino rigs things against them, specifically. "Yea, they saw I won $40 and turned down the payout so I lost it. Then I moved to a new machine and they did it again. Fuck them, I'm never going back!" 2 days later... Telling me how they won $600 because of their skill

[@capicolaspicy]

The hard rock properties are tribal casinos owned by the Seminole tribe in Florida.

[@anzelac5808]

@@capicolaspicyand they make up there own rules..

[@capicolaspicy]

​@anzelac5808 LOL not quite but you can believe that if you wish. Having worked on the inside for 12 years now almost there are more rules than you can imagine and they are monitored very carefully. Just to get inside the part of the machine where the settings are programmed takes at least three people or more and everything is recorded on multiple cameras.

[@anzelac5808]

@@capicolaspicy do the machines have face recognition just curious..

[@aofgrant]

I'm not a gambler, but I found that fascinating. Thank you Dave!

[@sensforce]

I keep hearing the varying percentage that a machine pays out. What nobody has been able to tell me is what amount of time the payout is delivered over. Is it over a month, a year or the life of the machine? Does a machine have a lifespan from the day it is initiated? Are these machines leased by the casinos and the day it gets set up they start a timer? For example 5 years, and over the 5 years the machine will deliver 95% payout? I have so many damn questions!! 🤯

[@gigi9301]

Don't even try to figure it out; just have a few drinks, go shopping and let your gambling friends lie to you about how much they have won or lost.

[@ethandosier411]

@@gigi9301then why do know it alls like this guy not have the answer? There’s no way that it is still completely random odds after someone hits a huge jackpot, or let’s say 2 big jackpots. The payout ratio HAS TO HIT THE %…so the machine literally can’t give out larger payouts if it is down let’s say 500%…someone riddle me that

[@gigi9301]

@@ethandosier411 My best answer to you is to invest in the stock markets/ etf's and solid mutual funds instead of any of this gambling crap. How do you think these casinos have huge fountains in the middle of the desert? Why are those pretty ladies so nice and giving you free drinks? Because it's a SCAM

[@balok1546]

I worked on Vegas slots quite a number of years ago, when there were still some backward machines on the floor that used tokens. One property wanted me to design an upgrade to their existing machines. They wanted to make them report the take, and allow the setting of odds at the control booth, just like their next door competitor. While there, I learned of the "attract" modes that the slot would enter after an idle period. The machines would change the odds, from time to time, as mentioned by winstonsmith478. There was a method to the madness. The entrance machines would be more generous, and have higher audio volumes that their brothers, deep in the slot machine nest. They would also adjust their odds, based on the fullness of the internal hopper. If the hopper was very full, the odds would be "looser". Low levels would make the machine stingy. This is kind of in contradiction to your statements of past events influencing future outcomes. The reason is they didn't want to send an attendant to the machines to empty out the hopper a bit, or fill it a bit, all the while keeping records of the gazin and guzouts. When not working, I would cruise the rows of machines, looking through the stepper reel openings, for a full machine. To me, there was also a slightly different flash pattern on the belly lights, but that may have just been superstition. I'd stop at a "ripe" machine & play not more than 5 spins. I'd usually hit a small win, and move on. Invariably, I'd attract a small entourage following me. Not casino staff, but old ladies, wanting to grab up the 'lucky' machine that I had uncovered. Sadly, the attract mode was reset & the odds reset to normal for them.

[@mollyds4528]

You talking about actual coins, back in the day?

[@B3Band]

Holy wall of text! Either use paragraphs or make your own damn video lol

[@balok1546]

@@B3Band Sorry, I thought it was entertaining. I'll delete my comment

[@christopherrose5676]

this can go in the long list of "things that never happened"

[@sandielink5972]

How could you tell which machines were “full”?

[@skaarfvagly3959]

I like the extremely low-volatility machines that pay just about the same as I put in. If I can put in $100 but make the casino make I think I put in $1500 because I won $1500 but also lost $1500, I don't come out with monetary gains, but the Casino is gonna be sending me free offers to come back, and I get a bunch of points towards the next tier level.

[@trevorgwelch7412]

I don't believe slots are random . Casino profits are in the $ Billions .

[@gslogar1]

I think you did explain the changing of odds in machine. In Las Vegas the chip that defines the odds are controlled by the gaming commission they insure the machine odds are strictly control. Further, if a casino wants to changes the odds on a machine they must inform a gaming commission employee that they want to change the odds on a specific machine and that employee must witness and approve that change with video evidence. That is a pain for the casino owners so it will take very special conditions for the casino to change the odds. It rarely happens.

[@ayamore]

If I sit at a 1.00 dollar machine, and feed it 5,000.00 over a period of lets say five hours, and I lose most of it, I am down to the last 20.00 on the machine and I hit a jackpot of lets say 1,500.00 " You are telling me I have to pay taxes on that 1,500.00? How about the 3,500.00 I lost trying to win that money? lol. Talk about losing all the way around...

[@Tstumpman]

I worked as a programmer for the second largest slot machine company and directly worked on converting type III machines into type II machines. So I have a fair bit of direct knowledge of the inner workings of both of those types. Dave is basically correct in everyone he's said here but if anyone's got any further questions about that I could maybe answer.

[@Superzxoz]

Are Canadian VLTs Type II or Type III machines?

[@jdavis7515]

Why has no casino ever gone broke because the random events always favored the players? Even if just for a one hour period when all 2500 machines hit massive jackpots? The event is random, what about available symbols? Are better symbols available at specific times over the course of play? If the payout to the player is supposed to always be "Shooting for" 95%, how does the casino ever make money, it would seem the odds must favor the player, but they don't. You and Dave suggest that total random events are responsible for the ongoing success of a casino, but I know you cannot provide one example where the random events had such devastating effect, the casino could not cover player wins. How can slot machines go on hot streaks? They do, I've seen it. They seemingly pay, pay, pay, or a pay/lose combination. Especially when they will for for long periods of time. And with this line I would add, the streak suddenly stops when a jackpot or larger win is achieved. This would not be possible in pure randomness.

[@Tstumpman]

@@jdavis7515 I'm not sure where your question was in all that so I'll focus on just one aspect: the 95 percent thing-- Imagine a 100 sided dice. Each time you roll it, you have to pay a dollar. 91of the dice faces give you back the dollar you paid. 2 of the faces give you two dollars and six of those faces give you nothing. Roll that dice enough and on average you'll get 95 cents back for every dollar you spent.

[@jdavis7515]

@@Tstumpman There were actually several. You fail to answer the most important, which you just tried to explain. The law dictates the casino must pay back X amount of every $1.00, or something close to that. Your answer fails to explain how the casino is never the loser. And they never will be, but there is more to it than a simple RNG. Indeed the RNG doesn't care about the history of the machine, but the casino does.

[@Tstumpman]

@@Superzxoz I'm not sure, never dealt with Canada. The primary difference between class ii and class III machines is that class ii is for jurisdictions that don't normally allow slot machines, so the underlying slot simulation is based on something that is legal in that area, like bingo. So under the hood, a simulated game of bingo is played out, then your winnings are translated into a kind of pre recorded "slot pull" and you see some reels spinning which eventually pay out equal to the hidden bingo game you're actually playing. Class III is closer to what you actually might think a slot machine is doing.

[@crappiehookking387]

I still feel like the casino cheats and doesn't pay out what they can. If the payout ratio is 90% they program it at 20% because if it was 90% payback there wouldn't be alot of sad people leaving the casino broke.

[@dodgydruid]

Here in the UK in the early eighties I worked for a while programming fruit machines and how those systems worked was on a 1024 repetitive cycle and that the payouts were calculated by the amount of plays and losses and the "brain" would kick itself back into its pre-set cycle with very little RNG involved and during the "kick" it was impossible to win anything known as the dead zone as this was the point the fruit machine was earning its keep and punters were to be fleeced. In between payout and earning keep, various "near misses" were programmed in to keep punters interested and some throwaway low wins would on occasion happen again to keep interest for playing and to keep gambling laws happy but the old adage of the house always wins is very apt here, the house was on a 25 to 1 win ratio all the way. The actual symbols were by and large meaningless, every roll of the reels was controlled but if you were good with patterns you could ascertain when a machine was due to pay out something juicy.

[@James_Bowie]

"it was impossible to win anything known as the dead zone as this was the point the fruit machine was earning its keep and punters were to be fleeced" ... this I can well believe. The 'generator' can be as (pseudo) random as it likes; it's what happens with the a machine's payout control strategy that matters. While generated number sequences may have no 'history', payouts sure do!

[@michaelh7394]

The only event that is random is if the spin is a win or loss. Everything else is programed into the machine. The computer runs 3 programs. First is the random number generator we all know about. The player does not have the ability to change the out come of this program. The next and most important program is the money calculator. If the spin is a loser, the machine adds the bet to the denomination balance the player is using. If the machine can play .01, .05, .10 .25, 1.00 or 5.00 dollar amounts, each one has a separate balance containing total amount played and total amount paid out over the life of the machine. Two side notes - first by changing the denomination of the bet, you will affect the payout by using a different counters. Thus there is no need to change machines, just change the denomination. Second - when using free bets, the counters re not affected, thus you will only be paid on random bonuses. Which is why playing free bets, you do not win as much. If the spin is a "winner', the money program updates the counters and uses a random number generator along with payout percentage to determine amount of the win. The amount paid can range from pennies to major jackpot. The Grand Jackpot is set by the casino to hit at a date and time determined by them. You will NEVER win a Grand Jackpot by the money program. The next program to run is the eye candy. This displays the win on the screen or the loss. The dollar amount is passed to this program, and it determines if there will be a bonus or line hit. It is all done before anything is displayed on the screen. In other words, the display is informational only. Another note is in some jurisdictions there are laws prohibiting the use of near hits. This is when 2 bonus symbols are displayed and a third is displayed on the last row above or below active lines. It does not stop all of the near hits, but just the ones programed by the machine.

[@anzelac5808]

What abt them predetermined pick a coin?and do these new slots have face recognition?

[@philipstephens5960]

I once worked for a company that created a slot machine game for iPhones. Even though it didn’t pay out real money, the algorithm used for determining the outcome of each “pull” was exactly the same as described in this video: each spin was independent of every other, and on average the virtual slot machine paid out 95%. In other words, we programmed the virtual slot machine using the same rules used for real slot machines in Las Vegas. The starting state of the machine was randomized, BTW, so the outcome never depended on where the reels ended up on the previous pull.

[@hifiandrew]

I agree, the slot apps are excellent simulators of real slot machines. They pay out at the same rates. And one thing is as true on those apps as real life: whatever you win will always, always, always be lost back if you keep playing. I once won a billion "dollars", coins, credits, whatever you want to call them on the slot app. Eventually lost it all back. The only reason I play it is because it offers a few little real life rewards (I just got $50 in real life free play redeeming it) AND because they give you free credits every day to keep playing. If they didn't, i'd quit the app tomorrow. I hate to think some suckers somewhere pay real money to those apps for credits to play. Why would you ever pay real money for pretend money? Once I lose my daily allowance of free credits, I close the app and I'm done for the day.

[@gerakore8948]

do they use seed based RNGs? or have they gone pure? how and when do they re-seed them?

[@monad_tcp]

Aren't all mobile games basically slot machines ?

[@gman83090]

It that aristocrat by any chance cash man Casio and lighting link

[@ecospider5]

I like playing on my phone until I have a really bad loosing streak. Then I start playing the real slot machine during my winning streak. This plan should be foolproof. I don’t understand why I am poor. I guess I just haven’t done it enough.

[@mhaiyaaj]

If the winning are not remembered and does not affect future payout, then how could you get 95% return throughout the life of the machine? 95% return is bogus then.

[@epremeaux]

I was a slot tech in Arizona early 2000's. At least at that time, odds were fixed at time of installation, burned into secured eeprom (with holographic tape), and inspected by independent gaming board inspectors. Even access to the gameboard was secured behind locked metal shields. I heard all kinds of myths from players... and I was thought.. "if only..." Its kind of crazy how many conspiracy theories players have, as if the casino was actively fighting against them, yet they keep playing anyway. At lest in Az, it would take an ACTUAL conspiracy between a tech and two gaming inspectors to even TRY to run a fix a machine. Players dont seem to realize that even with just taking a few cents per play, paying out multiple jackpots per month, when averaged out over the life of the machine, is like trying to count drops in a bucket.

[@James_Bowie]

"Players don't seem to realize " ... that sums up most gamblers (i.e losers). Totally clueless about odds and totally wedded to superstitions.

[@jerrymylove1754]

How do you become a slot tech? Is it a fun job?

[@hiep9759]

Casino control machines if they know you play big bet . They have a lot guy work on computer control. They will give you hard game

[@mrautomation]

for me after a big win there always seems to be a mechanism in place that makes sure any other slots I touch are dead (I have that consistent experience on online casino's). Which make me think its not that random. I have a feeling that a casino can manipulate RTP on a per player base, which makes sure you stay within a certain bandwidth. I've been playing online casino for too long and experiencing the same everywhere. Lets call it consistent randomness ;-)

[@anzelac5808]

Bingo!they track ur players card!

[@pepip1000]

Yes I absolutely agree with you about the players card. It's to manipulate and keep you at a certain tier. They give you a nice win here and there. But behind the scenes in the control room they make sure you gradually give it back, and you do. I tested this out one night at my Australian casino. I on purpose kept pulling my card out and played few spins without it and a few with. I had staff rapidly come down to check up on my machine. I know it wasn't for my benefit but I know they were keeping a eye out on me for knowing there's truth with the card controlling your play. I won $25 grand jackpot over a year ago. Ever since then I never won nothing, not even a minor or good handpay. I know im not a amateur gambler by any stretch. But to pick all random machines and play my certain ways and not win anything for over a year? It's ridiculous.

[@krisbest6405]

Its definetly timing. I played 25cents and hit $5,000. I,ve never paid tax in Australia for wins.

[@whitelightning2]

Not bad Dave, 20 year veteran of the Slot Tech world and for the most part you are dead on. The only thing I'll add is that while it is possible that some casinos use server based gaming (which would have the ability to change the paytable either scheduled or at random), I have never seen that done at least here in the Midwest or at any casino I've traveled to in the US for projects. The majority of us still have to notify gaming, and there is a process to it that has a lot of moving parts. It's not something that's done on a whim and typically requires the machine to be off for a day or so depending on the policies and procedures of the casino and local gaming regulations.

[@hicknopunk]

In Japan they can change payout tables from a server to give favorable play to specific customers. Heck, a regular at pachinko can kinda cheat by holding tension on the bar without using a hand too while a random person will be kicked out.

[@jimmydandy9364]

Which casino does that ? To my knowledge here in North America, machines are set and tested at a factory before shipped to casinos, and the setting and testing is done as per gaming commission specs, no casino can dynamically change anything about the machine. INTERNALLY in a machine, as part of the algorithm, yes, a machine can dynamically change the random number ranges to add/remove winning numbers - pay TABLE remains the same, payout percentage over time remains the same - and hit frequency (SKILL setting) can be changed manually on the chip, by gaming commission.

[@whitelightning2]

​@@jimmydandy9364 Machines are not set up at the factory however they are tested of course (we still find broken stuff in new machines, it happens). I've literally installed thousands of new machines in the last 20 years. Just so we're on the same page, lets define terminology here. In the Casino world, the Paytable is a back end setting in the machine that you don't see as a player, synonymous with the payback percentage, hold percentage, etc... The pay symbols listing a player sees in the help menu is just there to show you what you'll get on winning combinations, That has nothing to do with what's happening behind the scenes in the machine. It is up to the property to decide what percentage to set a machine to. All jurisdictions have rules for a range of payback percentages but most are similar enough. In mine it's 80% to 100%, but the software developers typically don't create anything with a paytable lower than 85% (Yes, there are exceptions when bonus devices and progressives are involved, but the overall percentage still has to be in the legal range). In my jurisdiction, If I wanted to change a penny machine from 85% to 95%, I would submit a memo to the gaming agent, Wait for the machine to be dropped (all money removed) and with the gaming agent go break the gaming seal and do a ram clear (complete memory wipe) and then set up all the typical communication options, limits ($1200 taxable lockup, etc..) The percentage and max bet. We would give the machine a new Asset number, that's the 4-6 digit number that our back end system uses for accounting and a slew of other things. At that point the machine would be tested (we run cash, ticket and free-play tests) to make sure the accounting meters are working, and after approvals from gaming, Surveillance, accounting and myself verifying the options are correct it is put up for play. Machines do not dynamically change anything to add/remove winning combinations, That would be completely against regulations in any jurisdiction. Whatever percentage we set the machine to, it typically averages out to over 10M handle pulls. Hit frequency is not a skill setting (there is no skill involved), it's a function of how the virtual paytable is designed by the engineers and is just how often any winning combination comes up. If I can find any good resources for you on how virtual paytables work, I'll reply again. That's too much to type out in a comment (as if this isn't long enough already)

[@whitelightning2]

@@hicknopunk That's why I'm not a fan of server based gaming. It takes away the integrity of the machines. I think anyone that walks in the door should have the same chances as a VIP. As far as cheaters, we take that seriously no matter who you are.

[@hicknopunk]

@@whitelightning2 i totally agree with you. I played a little pachinko until I learned they rigged it to reward VIPs.

[@PizzlesTechTime]

The weird thing is when a slot machine gets hot you keep winning and when it is not you lose every spin. I had 10 bonuses in a row on a game won 900 on a $1.50 bet. Ever since then I have lost every time I played. Lol I feel like the near misses are employed more than ever.

[@Thamstras]

It's worth noting that almost none of this video applies to the kind of machine you find all over the UK, the so called "pub fruit", aka: Cat C/D AWP machines. If you walk up to one make sure to read the glass/help screen carefully. If it says it's "compensated" then past play will absolutely effect future performance.

[@hilaryg7674]

I have been gambling in Vegas since I was 16. I was born in the 60's. Yep, it's true. The only place I ever got carded was at Circus Circus. This is the first time I have ever learned this stuff about slots. Some info you just know by playing-- like brand new machines are ABSOLUTELY looser :). Anyway, thanks for a great video!

[@KCMOSlayer339]

This is false I was playing a bonus with 100 free spins I got all progressives in the first 10 spins then not another one in the next 90

[@ciddax754]

Back in the day, when they switched from completely mechanical slot machines (except the lights) to digital ones they kept the spinning wheels for some years. In the beginning of that period (80ties to early nineties) storage space was precious and the machines used pregenerated tables of random numbers. But then someone got his hands on such a machine and dumped the rom. In germany you have those slot machines everywhere. Every pub, snack stand or restaurant had one. The dude made printouts of random tables the most common slotsmachines had. Then he drove from village to village as every pub had at least one slot machine. He put in some cash, let the slot machine run and compared the results with his printed table. That way he could tell, how many plays until jackpot. If it made sense, he inserted the right amount of coins and scored a jackpot, otherwise he hopped into his car and drove to the next slot machine.

[@mateuszwagner8886]

How do you know that? I cannot find anything on the internet

[@Zealor365]

You make a convincing argument for Las Vegas, but it is completely untrue at the majority of indian owned and operated venues. Our machines are based on a 20,000 count "pull tab" system where the machines display is for entertainment only. Each time the wager button is pressed, a "pull tab" is chosen from the cue and paid accordingly. The casino has the option of replacing the "pack" of pulltabs in the machine every 24 hours. This system allows the casino to adhere to the states required payout ratio and still average a 70-90% take on most machines.

[@thinkerbell129]

Nice explanation! It’s a bit more complicated when you factor Laws of Volatility. I was Director of Engineering on 1st electronic gaming machines (74) IGT. We purchased 1st electronic slot company (Fortune Coin (78). The RNG technology has evolved dramatically, we would say “there is no random” as most everything repeats…eventually. The psychological factor is huge factor which you touch on, it’s bigger. Good work….flashback for me..Bob

[@calisingh7978]

Yes so you could sit down and count if you want to spend 16 hrs

[@EnergeticWaves]

I don't care if they return 98% or 10% either way you eventually lose all.

[@franksitas2051]

If the slots are always looking forward and not back, how do they determine a 95% return rate?

[@caffeineau]

Thank you for this video. There's so much misinformation out there! I spent the first 5 years of my career working for a company that was subcontracted by various jurisdictions around the world to test machines and games before they were allowed to be sold. It was interesting and working out the maths to calculate the expected return-to-player (to verify manufacturer's claims) for some of the more complex games was a fun puzzle. I eventually grew disillusioned with the whole industry (even though I was working on the 'good' side, making sure that the machines did as they were told). The final straw for me was whan I was doing some before-opening-hours testing at a venue, and I saw the long line of pensioners waiting to be let in. One even yelled 'Charge!' as he ran to get his favourite machine. In all, over 5 years and literally hundreds of millions of dollars put through machines, I only even witnessed 1 maxmimum win event on a machine.

[@chrismorris3580]

Sounds about right. I worked for a company that tracked earnings on slot machines, arcade machines etc.. The amounts I'd see go through the slot machines as pure profit (even in small shops) genuinely blew my mind. So glad I'm out of that industry, didn't feel right.

[@4jp]

The maximum win contributes almost nothing to the return though. Assuming 128 virtual stops for a three reel game and a 10,000 credit prize max, the biggest win only contributes 0.47% to the return. If the game payback is 90%, this is almost meaningless. A player who gets zero max wins over an infinite number of spins would have a 89.53% return instead of 90%.

[@greatwolf.]

A natural question to ask is what kind of random number generator do the machines use? Is it PRNG-based eg. LCG(probably not this because of its short period), Mersenne Twister etc.? or does it source its randomness from some external physical entropy? Second question is why don't the casinos use some kind of provably-fair system which you often find from online crypto gambling sites? Or what about using a blockchain's merkle root or block hash as a starting seed?

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

Many machines don't even bother with random number generators. Instead, they have long, pseudo-random sequences pre-programmed into them with wins programmed at certain intervals which are designed to provide just enough encouragement to keep people playing while still not returning as much money as has been spent. Each number of coins which you can bet on a single play has its own separate sequence, so you can't cheat the system by recording the sequence for a single coin to predict a win and then stuff lots of coins into the machine just when a win is due. Doing this will cause the machine to switch to the sequence which it uses for the higher number of coins so that you can't guarantee a win. And casinos don't like "fair" because it means that the house can lose in the long run. This is the same reason why roulette wheels have zero and double-zero spaces.

[@RobertSzasz]

Pretty sure modern systems use hardened hardware rng as frequent seeds. The odds are plenty to get the gamblers money, no need to risk trouble with the law.

[@joeneighbor]

Yea we used the Mersenne Twister in our machine. Was highly regulated and tested by each state licensing lab. We used the DIEHARDER test, etc., and used enough bits so the so the randomness was within a tight theoretical range and the roll-over length was high. We had to show them live onsite at the lab, give printouts, etc. I can't recall what sources of entropy we used (was back in 2003'ish). Seems like we saved the seed encrypted in nonvolatile RAM so it wouldn't just start over when a machine was restarted. Some people did and I'm sure still use HW based RNGs. And/or they XORed the output of the HW RNG with a PRNG incase the HW failed. Also note there was a lot more regulations around RNGs. Like you had to put RNG reads in your UI loops. So it was pretty much impossible for anyone to sync up to the current seed since it was always evolving.

[@billyguthrie3176]

The hard rock here when it used to be just cherokee casino use to have a a free pamphlet called where the money goes. when people started reading those an seeing how much money the casino was making they began to realize they were getting ripped off big time. so naturally they complained. the complaints led to them discontinuing the pamphlets!

[@chrismike318]

It doesn't take a pamphlet to figure out that they don't build all those casinos and pay for all those flashing lights on the winnings of the players.

[@jackgerberuae]

😂

[@BurtBowers]

Slots are made to take in more then to pay out if they didn't no casino can be in business today, highest revenue comes from slots not table games just to be clear on that.

[@emilechiasson3173]

First of all, thanks for the episode. It's really good! I do disagree with one of your statements, and perhaps that's because I'm Canadian and Vegas casino's are more generous with "foreign" players. I've been visiting Vegas for the last 25 year's, and I can obviously only talk for myself, but I've been receiving a lot more than the 2% you mentioned.

[@randallskaar9460]

How can each pull be a random event but yet the machine is programmed to pay out 92.5%? That does not compute.

[@alanmusicman3385]

I remember building a TTL "slot machine" in the very late 1970s - that was the first time i realised how they must work. Mine was really simple, it had a freewheeling counter going from 0 to 15 at high speed and when you pressed the go button the state of the counter's bit 3 was latched into a win/lose bistable. Then it flashed segments on a seven segment display for a while - just for effect - and then lit up backlit "Win" or "lose" transparancies accordingly. So, on my machine I had a 50-50 chance of winning or losing - rather better than any fruit machine I have ever played! But, as you show here the basic principle was the same the random moment when you press the start button is when you really win or lose. It was, I think, the second or third electronics project I ever built - felt like such an adventure!

[@winstonsmith478]

According to the wife of a coworker who worked at a Las Vega casino many years ago, the odds on gaming machines closest to the entrance are set for better odds. That made sense, so I tried that out on machines closest to an air curtain entrance to a major casino and found it to be true in a major way. To turn off the winning alarm on a slot machine you need to play again and lose. I won, put in another quarter to turn it off, and immediately won again, wishing I'd put in more than one quarter! On electronic slot machines with digital displays, I came up with my own theory that when a computer based machine is not played for a certain period of time, it can assume that there is a new player and might give a quick, small payoff to get them hooked. I tried that on a very slow day in a large area with entire rows of unused slots, got some small payoffs, and was quickly approached by one of the casino gals who told me that my odds were better if I stuck with a single slot. That's when I figured my theory was correct since they wouldn't tell employees the truth on that topic. Probably just the opposite.

[@DavesGarage]

It makes sense to me too and I think they SHOULD do it, but couldn't find anyone who'd say they still do!

[@winstonsmith478]

@@DavesGarage Yes, poor sentence construction on my part. I should have said, "Many years ago, according to the wife of a coworker..." I did my experiments back then.

[@vegasstarfish]

While this may have been the case many years ago, it hasn’t been for quite sometime. The casino isn’t interested in “getting you hooked” and they sure aren’t sending employees out to throw you off the trail. The holds are set, the casino gets its percentage of the take every day without fail. It’s not that deep.

[@gmailcom-ii2to]

Dave excellent video, put your story is incomplete. Please explain how the 75% - 98% pay out is determined? If the random number generator is random. And each play is independent or all previous plays, is the 75% - 98% pay out achieved? What’s the relationship between the random number and what final when position/pay out? (Another video?)

[@BrainBreak0]

So there is many well known social engineering tactics that advantage gamblers use to see the exact payback percentage on certain machines. And from my experience machines closer to entrances do not pay better. I'd say (I can't prove this obv) newer machines that are very loud has the better payout structure for the first few weeks. It was just an interesting observation I was doing back in the days.

[@billweck3883]

Dave, I usually have to replay you sometimes twice. Lots of good stuff and done so well. Thanks.

[@sunshinelavender1663]

I feel better now😂

[@woodwaker1]

Was interesting when you talked about paper tapes. I was in Crypto in the USAF - we used paper tapes for messages, and one time paper tapes were used for secure communications during and after WII.

[@hiroehayes593]

You can help your chances by playing less volitile slots. Usually the ones that are simpler with less features or the old school ones. Also, stay away from the penny slots. High limit room slots are better. 🎉

[@MrXanderii]

Question for you. When you go into bonuses where you select chests too claim the prize. Is that always predetermined before you select anything?

[@shemikawortham1999]

Thanks for asking that question 😊 I wonder is it already predetermined, I always pick the mini no matter how much I bet or if i’m 2/3 away from picking major or mega I always get mini

[@simplytine2939]

90 percent mini 8 percent minor

[@jw8927]

It is predetermined if the game does not reveal what you did not pick.

[@misterpositive9337]

Based on personal experience, I would go to a busy casino rather than a quiet one. The busy casino have more chance to pay out because its absorbing money from the herd and giving some back out.

[@gordeng4001]

Good one Dave, I was a slot tech and later a slot manager in Cripple Creek, Colorado all thru the 90s and the early 2000s. everything you said is Factual!

[@sunshinelavender1663]

I love cripple creek!!! That was the first Texas holdem’ table I sat at. 🙂

[@bobflatman278]

​@@sunshinelavender1663 you do know Golden Nugget has taken over Wildwood. 1st thing they did was take out the self serve soft drink,cheap Beverage manger. Typical Nugget reaction 🤑

[@imaxfli]

What about KENO machines. Can they be programmed to know the numbers a player is playing, therefore prevented semi-jackpots or jackpots?????

[@gordeng4001]

​@@imaxfliIf the machine is totally electronic, then yes! If it is the type that has balls floating in air with the numbers on them, like bingo, then No!

[@imaxfli]

You are saying a GAMEKING Keno machine can be programmed to not pay , say, 7 out of 7's??????? Think most experts would disagree with you. So you are saying a Machine can be programmed to know the numbers a player is playing and then NOT hit these numbers???? @@gordeng4001

[@robqg]

I've never understood the appeal of them - if you want to gamble it would make more sense to gamble on sports, where there's some amount of skill involved. In the UK, they take up space in arcades that could be filled with pinball tables! Mostly in the UK they seem to target the already deprived sections of society.

[@jeremywj]

People like slots machines because they give them that rush of dopamine every time they hit the spin button. Even without double tapping to stop the reels, this can mean 15-20 "hits" of what is basically a drug a minute. It's even been said/proven that many slot players hate getting small (or even big) wins because it slows the game down. It's not the win that gives them the rush, it's the brief moment of "will I win". Other forms of gambling, like betting on sports or table games, are much slower and you don't get that hit as often. So basically, the answer is the dopamine rush. You start playing to win money, and you keep playing because of the addition.

[@Ormaaj]

Dopamine isn't really drug-like though. Ironically anybody with ADHD can attest to the lack of dopamine being what really destroys autonomy over one's executive functions. I think I'd prefer a gambling problem over an executive dysfunction really.

[@chrismike318]

Thanks for this breakdown! I can verify that before the days of networked slots things were very different. A friend was a slot tech at a local casino and explained that the payout rate they had to adhere to was an average across the machines, so they might have five machines that paid 85% and one that paid 98%. Then, rather than changing the payout on a machine which involved a lot of work and the state gaming board, they would often rearrange the machines when the casino was slow. At that time you could remember the asset tag of a machine that seemed to pay well and find it elsewhere in the casino if it moved. I'm sure the move to networked machines made a considerable difference to the bottom line, even if it kept the reporting numbers relatively unchanged.

[@madezra64]

The more I learn about the old days of Casino technology, the more old school criminal side of it makes sense. It sounds like modernizing and networking the machines played a big part in making the game more fair for all and push out some of the more old school criminality behind it. But I'm sure there's modern Robert DeNiro's out there still, just a lot younger and a lot slicker.

[@RobertSzasz]

Well, it probably didn't make much difference to the total bottom line of the casino, just made even the best informed gamblers have the same rates as everyone else.

[@chrismike318]

@@RobertSzasz this is logical, but there is something driving the casino's willingness to invest in upgrading all that equipment. That driver is usually regulatory or bottom line profits. I guess it could be that the regulatory burden is lessened - less paperwork if the state can just get a feed from the system.

[@Rorschach1024]

Networking most likely allowed that "95% machine" to move about the floor after each idle period expired such that it never sat at an idle machine for very long, and most likely concentrated it's time deep in the bowels of the casino floor where the traffic was lowest.

[@jimlthor]

​​@@chrismike318robably stopped insider jobs too. I wonder how much money casinos lost due to employees tipping a buddy off, or if this is even a consideration I do agree with the regulation thing though. It's so much easier to show your work now vs back in the day where they had to hand write all that junk and probably keep tags and shit to attach to their paperwork. I dunno shit about casinos, btw. I dont like gambling in them.. So I'm just an idiot with an imagination. I'll stick to options, which is also rigged against poor folks

[@ViralWatchMedia]

I will tell you from experience casinos absolutely do loosen up during the first few months that they're open because I won every time I went to my casino for the first month it was open and so did my mom. It was crazy

[@mattym8]

In the industry many developers create virtual reels of symbols. The game developer runs simulations of millions of plays to determine the return to player. Symbols on the reels get adjusted and sims repeated until the desired RTP is reached. Other properties like frequencies of wins are also tweaked this way.

[@happypanda7003]

While I do understand that a slot machine use a RNG to generate the final result of a pull, what I fail to understand is why there were reports of syndicates recording slots results for hours, and use this to predict the outcome of their future bets. Doesn't this contradict what a RNG is suppose to do ?

[@pdrg]

A factor you might enjoy is that (even as a hangover in all video machines but since mechanical reels) the symbol pattern of the physical reel maps onto a much larger virtual reel, in the same order etc but one physical lemon on a physical reel may actually be a series of 4 lemons with a single winning symbol either side. This gives the appearance of "near misses" even when they weren't even close. More importantly, it means you can control the odds precisely, and this this how it was and likely still is implemented as it can be proved "fair" at every stage.

[@caffeineau]

The virtual reel concept was banned about 20 years ago. Precisely because it is misleading and gives a false impression of near misses. Even the wording that is displayed on-screen can't hint or suggest the you were 'almost lucky' or anything like that

[@diannemccarthy8685]

​@@caffeineau and yet, as two of the reels hit the bonus symbol, the last wheel makes diff sounds or changes speed to bring your attention to the sequence and when it doesn't hit, you are left with the impression of a near miss. You are led to the assumption of a near miss with the visuals and sounds, all designed, I'm sure, to keep you playing, whatever the algo is doing internally.

[@caffeineau]

Yes it's all very underhanded and sneaky. The designers are always looking for new ways to make their machines stand out, or seem more attractive. A dirty industry feeding on hopes and dreams and providing misery in return

[@dariosanmiguel4201]

Having gotten lost in all my winning tactic/strategies what works for me best and keeps me easily playing for hours betting dollars is slow betting, meaning i long count to 12 bw every spin. I kinda end up gambling as much as the next guy tapping out 88Cents every 2 seconds but my bets when hitting win hundreds vs tens of dollars.

[@murkrow1]

Good and useful video. I have a question here - if I play a game, and have lets say 10 losing spins in a row, then change the game to another and win lets say 100x in the first spin, does that mean if I continued playing the first game, I would win these 100x in the first game's 11th spin?

[@Qenton]

All machines use a black box method for their random number generator. So you have a black box on the board that is certified and responsible for generating the payout. Those are consistent and very controlled. This allows many developers to "skin" the slot machine without having to "prove" their code. So in a sense, every machine is pretty much the same machine with set probability differences, but the same machine nonetheless.

[@capicolaspicy]

Actually the CPU box inside the machine has a separate gaming lock installed as well as a seal. No black box or anything special about the motherboard it's a generic industrial PC motherboard running code from a hard drive or memory cards or proms installed on the board.

[@keysix6371]

If nobody wins people start to get suspicious so somebody's got to win at some point

[@SyphistPrime]

Very fascinating. I'm not much of a gambler because I hate the prospect of losing more than I like the prospect of winning, but nevertheless this topic is still very fascinating. Casinos have these things optimized pretty well, and I find it absolutely fascinating to learn even just a little bit of what they've done to do so.

[@robbyrose6904]

If you win a very good jackpot you will immediately know because all of a sudden , “ Where are you staying sir/mam ?” The idea is to compliment you with upscale free room and dinner options to keep you around long enough to reinvest their losses .

[@SyphistPrime]

@@robbyrose6904 interesting, I am not surprised they would do that. Thanks for the info.

[@jayoh2527]

Another good tip is know your bankroll, I limit myself to $500; and change in to 20s so essentially I have 25 $20 bills. Slot machines reset when it collects actually money and not tickets. If you want a quick hit, use an actual bill not a ticket. So I strategically use $20 dollars bills, if I'm up to $25-$30 I instantly cash out if I'm down to $12-10 I'll cash out too and extend my playing time.

[@noahclark4404]

I’m not sure that they “reset” with insert of money, however bill or ticket for sure doesn’t play a factor

[@georgespalding7640]

Not really true but whatever makes you feel good about your gambling.

[@brucedavenport]

Consider that the law requires a casino to provide a payout ratio, likely to match or exceed their casino gambling license. It’s not broken down by machine, nor is compliance required over all time frames. If the licensed time frame is by month, then a casino could payout 75% on some days and times, and 98% on other days and times, so long as the compliance percentage over the required time frame is met. The actual display of the wheel position is not random. Consider the many possible no pay positions. When the machine is going to pay $0, not pay, any $0 payout position will legally suffice. Here’s where the casino can choose the ‘near hit’ loosing combination that they find most influences you to continue to play. If the wheel positions were actually random, how is it that the three jackpot symbols all line up perfectly, one position below the actual pay line so many times? There is a huge control over all these aspects as casinos try to maximize play at their machines. After all, the only way they can increase profit is to increase revenue, because of the adherence to their gambling license. The simple odds of a sequence hitting is irrelevant.

[@hicknopunk]

One thing you didn't cover was that "random" numbers were hard to generate with older cpus, so that is why the paper tape was important as a large say 32 bit cpu could be used to generate result results and then the slot machine could just be 8 bit.

[@supersat]

I've heard rumors (from a reliable source) that most slot machines still use old 16-bit x86 code/boards to generate their random numbers, as they have already been certified by the Gaming Commission. Everything else is just a fancy skin on top. That being said, I can imagine modern code is capable of producing a lot more "truly random" sequences. Our understanding of PRNGs has progressed significantly since the 80s.

[@joeneighbor]

Some used, still use, HW RNGs though.

[@celluloiddaydream]

@@supersat A lot of older IGT game king video poker or S2000 3-reel slots (late 90's vintage) used an Intel i960 32-bit CPU. which was one of the forerunners of the 486, in the sense that it had 32 addressing, etc.. Still, the instruction set had a different pedigree than the 8080/8086/80286/80386 series, which was more or less merged at an "architectural" level, so that (I think) that the i960's 32-bit features were forked to create the 486, on the one hand, but with the opcodes swapped out to make the 486 backward compatibles with the 386. Even then the i960 did not support virtual memory or protected mode, it was simply a 32-bit address space, unlike the 80286 which actually only supported 24-bit addressing, etc.

[@lesbonser]

Hi Dave! I always enjoy your videos, and this one is no exception. Fun to watch it, and even fun to read the other comments. You have people commenting from all around the world! I used to work for a slot machine manufacturer. I was first in customer support for the company's casino management system--that back office system that managed the player cards and monitored the individual slot machines on the floor. I later transitioned into the Compliance Department and was responsible for submitting our game themes and new hardware to the various state gaming control agencies and independent test labs for testing against their regulations and technical standards. The company was later acquired by a large lottery services company, and I was responsible for submitting lottery systems to the same independent test labs for randomness testing. So I have a pretty good idea how all this stuff is interconnected and how it works. I retired in 2016 and gaming regulations change over time, but based on my personal knowledge, your video is the first I've seen that was 100 percent accurate. Thank you for not spreading any more untruths about slot machines and casino gaming.

[@carl2488]

Your experience sounds very extensive and interesting. And I too found this video to be brilliantly accurate about how slots work.

[@sitnhere]

. Yeah.....like the bogus lie that quick-stopping the reels does not affect the outcome. what it does is change the outcome of what it would have been if you had continued at the same pace of play.....but they don't divulge that part. It's still considered "random", but you just changed that randomness. They try to control the slotting public with their total randomness message.....which is true for what it is. Just like everything else they do to stay within legal realms of oversight. There is no such thing as 100% random just like there is no such thing as 100% control. The human element(player) is the ultimate outstanding factor in play. They can only work with percentages.....not absolutes. End of story. You don't have to be a genius or a programmer to be blessed with common sense. IN fact.....most programmers have very little common sense by their very nature.....and mathematicians and engineers alike.

[@ChrisDIYerOklahoma]

Great video. I game a lot...slots. Last night won $8K on a $25/spin 3-reeler. The one thing you said about higher limit slots (like $5, $10, $25 min bet) is true vs max betting on a 1c machine. I also hit two more jackpots last night betting $8.80 and $12/spin on those newer type electronic machines. Most cringe betting higher vs lower, but it seems to me the odds favor higher demons on a machine set up for high minimum demons.

[@BrotatoChip]

What about during bonus/free spin sequences? Is it all decided on the initial spin which triggered the bonus, or does each free spin pull from a better/higher paytable?

[@flisko123]

im wondering that too, also is free spin payout decided by how much u bet or not

[@binhhuynh5979]

I have a question about those bonus picks in which you have to match 3 to get a jackpot. Is that random too? Because I seem to hit the mini almost every time.

[@anzelac5808]

Same!so annoying or always one away from the progressive 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@billbasener8784]

On a similar note about human intuition and random sequences. You can tell a sequence of Hs and Ts written by a person from an acttual sequence from coin flips is that real ones tend to have longer sequencea of repeated. People intuitively feel like HHHHHH shouldn't happen as often as they actually do - once you get a few Hs we feel due for a T.

[@DavesGarage]

Indeed! If you give kids an assignment to go home and flip a coin 100 times, you can spot the ones that faked it because they're "too" random!

[@billbasener8784]

@@DavesGarage love the channel, BTW. Subscriber and liked!

[@russlehman2070]

What most people don't fully understand is that it takes very large numbers of trials (as in the hundreds of thousands to millions) before the actual results will start to converge on the theoretical numbers. This insures that the casinos will show a pretty consistent profit, whereas the players, even on a game with a really poor payout, will get that occasional "lucky streak" that keeps them coming back.

[@mickgibson370]

@@russlehman2070 When my brother and his wife go gambling, both of them has a hundred dollars to spend. My brother spent his hundred and his wife has made 4,000! It is LUCK!

[@threeMetreJim]

@@DavesGarage I had the exact same assignment to do as a junior school student (

[@walldoo99]

A rule of thumb is, if you are going to play slots, when you quit playing a given machine, walk far enough away that you won't see the next person hit a jackpot.

[@SonnyDK]

It is explained in this video that the payouts are not determined by a sequence. As such it has no relevance. You would (most likely) not have won the jackpot, even if you had stayed.