6 ms·

It may be this stuff is true for current slot machines, but it isn't immediately obvious if you try one. In fact, current slot machines are an incoherent mess.

It may be this stuff is true for current slot machines, but it isn't immediately obvious if you try one. In fact, current slot machines are an incoherent mess. When I played recently, I couldn't tell whether I had a near-miss or even a win until credits counted upward. I couldn't feel any excitement because I didn't know what was going on. It would have taken me several hundred dollars worth of play to even understand what was happening. Maybe this is part of the plan, or maybe their product gets used no matter how bad it is - as long as those rewards pay out randomly.

phil248 9y ago
I'be had the same experience, though you will start to get the hang of more complicated machines after a couple dozen spins. I wonder if that complexity adds to the allure. "Now that I understand this complicated machine, I better not let that that hard earned knowledge go to waste"
- quickthrower2 9y ago
  There is definitely a machismo about being able to master the UK pub slot machines with all the features and tests of "skill".
  - darrenf 9y ago
    When I used to throw tons of money at the things, what amazed and impressed my friends wasn't that I would regularly win money - I wouldn't, and I was always up front about how much I was pissing away - but just that I understood what the hell was going on. It felt like neither mastery nor machismo.
    - thinkingemote 9y ago
      What did it feel like? Honest fatalism, a happy cynicism? I'm thinking your experience may not be unique, perhaps most gambling addicts are fully aware what they are doing? Maybe it's a common thing with all addicts, or perhaps gambling as it's less, well, chemical allows the brain to see things clearer.
      - darrenf 9y ago
        It changed over the years. From, like, 92-00 I was sinking way more money than I could properly afford into them, and often hated the experience. Losing felt absolutely horrible, but winning felt fantastic. Most of my friends would gamble too, but I took it that much further. I'd put enough money for the drinks I wanted in one pocket, and the other pocket was my gambling funds. It was very fatalistic, I knew that I was virtually guaranteed to go home drunk, skint, and angry with myself. Often I'd swear blind en route that if I emptied my pockets today, then that was it, this shit had to stop - and of course, those would be the days when I'd take out a jackpot or two, buy a big round of celebratory drinks, etc. But I got into pretty significant debt over the whole time, taking out credit cards and maxing each one out (on cash withdrawals!!) within a couple of months. From 00-03 I paid off my debts, was still gambling a lot but could afford it. I don't recall much negative emotion, it was mostly just "this is what I do when I'm in the pub". I'd win some, lose some, it didn't really matter. I liked "knowing" that "hey, it's turned red, that means it's about to pay". If I wasn't playing, I'd watch those who were and enjoy spotting where they were turning down obvious money, not collecting the "good" features, etc, and hope I could jump on after they're done and take their cash. This was the peak of the period I referred to in the previous post, when colleagues would ask how on earth I knew what was going on, and could I help them spend their £1-3 as a bit of fun. My gf at the time wasn't such a fan and, in fact, bet me that I couldn't go a year without playing - which was a stroke of genius. Obviously I took the bet, and won. For the last few weeks leading up to the anniversary I was kinda salivating at the idea of spending a couple of hours posting money into a fruity again, and when I did ... meh. Nothing. I lost, I didn't care, and the hold was basically broken. Since then, it certainly helps that, at least in London, fruit machines have all but disappeared from most pubs, and as jackpots have gone up the fun has gone out of them anyway because they seem to pay out respectable wins much more seldom. I'll still throw £20 or £40 in one if I'm in a pub on me lonesome and waiting for a train, say, and I enjoy playing online but it doesn't consume me and, in fact, I tend to make a profit most months - I find it very easy to limit both my downside and the upside. Back in the day, quite often a win would just mean I could play longer, whereas these days I'm like "cool, I'm £50 up, I'll take that and get on with something else".
        9y ago
- moduspol 9y ago
  I definitely felt that way about three card poker (a common table game) when I first started playing. It ends up, though, that optimal strategy is as simple as just playing Q-6-4 or better. [1] I think these things are all about making it seem complicated up front so that when you start getting the hang of it, it feels like you might understand something other players don't. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_card_poker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_card_poker
solipsism 9y ago
Perhaps you just aren't familiar with basic slot concepts? A typical slot player will sit down and first figure out the shape of the lines. Once you know those, it's trivial to notice when you got a near miss. Slot machines have complex bonus games sometimes, but the base game is almost always quite simple, as long as you understand the basic concepts.
- lawlessone 9y ago
  There's no such thing as a near miss in this outside of our own perception. A loss with is a loss no matter how close that last jackpot symbol was.
dsnuh 9y ago
No kidding. Feels like it should have a QR code on the machine. you can use to download an app that explains what is happening. Or at least a PDF of the probably 10 page payout schedule. And to even get to whatever 3D Ellen Simpsons Plants vs Zombies Wheel of Fortune Jeopardy bonus round. Oh, and those penny slots? Great deal. Only have to wager about $5 per pull to get the good jackpots. Couple that with the strip casinos putting lights on top to signal whether your play has been enough to receive comped drinks. I'll stick to craps, thanks.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
DelTaco 9y ago
Yeah I had the same problem, so I created my own slot machine. However it's only on Android so I can't pull a real lever :( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TImMendez.SillySlots https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TImMendez.... if you're interested, made in Unity.
- quickthrower2 9y ago
  Cheeky you have to pay or watch a long ad to reload once you run out. Reload prices are silly but can imagine you'll get some addicts.
flukus 9y ago
I think it's designed this way, they want you becoming reliant on things like sound effects, interactive featurettes and flashy graphics to know how well you've gone. Once you're accustomed to this you can then be manipulated, they can give you some fancy noises and start a featurette, then when you win nothing you think you were just unlucky that time, but the next time you get free spins...
technofiend 9y ago
If you're so inclined you can buy a slot machine program and save yourself a ton of money. As WOPR said in War Games: "The only winning move is not to play." But if you'd still like to gamble just to gamble there's a hilariously dated set of books by John Scarne you may want to read. Try Scarne on Dice or Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling. He does a decent job of explaining the rules to then common casino games including a layman's introduction to probability and payouts. The most entertaining part of the books is his language: he writes in the same dialogue used by gangsters in 40s movies. The books can be found on the cheap in garage sales or at Half Price Books.

phil248 9y ago

I'be had the same experience, though you will start to get the hang of more complicated machines after a couple dozen spins. I wonder if that complexity adds to the allure. "Now that I understand this complicated machine, I better not let that that hard earned knowledge go to waste"

quickthrower2 9y ago
There is definitely a machismo about being able to master the UK pub slot machines with all the features and tests of "skill".
- darrenf 9y ago
  When I used to throw tons of money at the things, what amazed and impressed my friends wasn't that I would regularly win money - I wouldn't, and I was always up front about how much I was pissing away - but just that I understood what the hell was going on. It felt like neither mastery nor machismo.
  - thinkingemote 9y ago
    What did it feel like? Honest fatalism, a happy cynicism? I'm thinking your experience may not be unique, perhaps most gambling addicts are fully aware what they are doing? Maybe it's a common thing with all addicts, or perhaps gambling as it's less, well, chemical allows the brain to see things clearer.
    - darrenf 9y ago
      It changed over the years. From, like, 92-00 I was sinking way more money than I could properly afford into them, and often hated the experience. Losing felt absolutely horrible, but winning felt fantastic. Most of my friends would gamble too, but I took it that much further. I'd put enough money for the drinks I wanted in one pocket, and the other pocket was my gambling funds. It was very fatalistic, I knew that I was virtually guaranteed to go home drunk, skint, and angry with myself. Often I'd swear blind en route that if I emptied my pockets today, then that was it, this shit had to stop - and of course, those would be the days when I'd take out a jackpot or two, buy a big round of celebratory drinks, etc. But I got into pretty significant debt over the whole time, taking out credit cards and maxing each one out (on cash withdrawals!!) within a couple of months. From 00-03 I paid off my debts, was still gambling a lot but could afford it. I don't recall much negative emotion, it was mostly just "this is what I do when I'm in the pub". I'd win some, lose some, it didn't really matter. I liked "knowing" that "hey, it's turned red, that means it's about to pay". If I wasn't playing, I'd watch those who were and enjoy spotting where they were turning down obvious money, not collecting the "good" features, etc, and hope I could jump on after they're done and take their cash. This was the peak of the period I referred to in the previous post, when colleagues would ask how on earth I knew what was going on, and could I help them spend their £1-3 as a bit of fun. My gf at the time wasn't such a fan and, in fact, bet me that I couldn't go a year without playing - which was a stroke of genius. Obviously I took the bet, and won. For the last few weeks leading up to the anniversary I was kinda salivating at the idea of spending a couple of hours posting money into a fruity again, and when I did ... meh. Nothing. I lost, I didn't care, and the hold was basically broken. Since then, it certainly helps that, at least in London, fruit machines have all but disappeared from most pubs, and as jackpots have gone up the fun has gone out of them anyway because they seem to pay out respectable wins much more seldom. I'll still throw £20 or £40 in one if I'm in a pub on me lonesome and waiting for a train, say, and I enjoy playing online but it doesn't consume me and, in fact, I tend to make a profit most months - I find it very easy to limit both my downside and the upside. Back in the day, quite often a win would just mean I could play longer, whereas these days I'm like "cool, I'm £50 up, I'll take that and get on with something else".
      - 9y ago
moduspol 9y ago
I definitely felt that way about three card poker (a common table game) when I first started playing. It ends up, though, that optimal strategy is as simple as just playing Q-6-4 or better. [1] I think these things are all about making it seem complicated up front so that when you start getting the hang of it, it feels like you might understand something other players don't. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_card_poker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_card_poker

solipsism 9y ago

Perhaps you just aren't familiar with basic slot concepts? A typical slot player will sit down and first figure out the shape of the lines. Once you know those, it's trivial to notice when you got a near miss. Slot machines have complex bonus games sometimes, but the base game is almost always quite simple, as long as you understand the basic concepts.

lawlessone 9y ago
There's no such thing as a near miss in this outside of our own perception. A loss with is a loss no matter how close that last jackpot symbol was.

dsnuh 9y ago

No kidding. Feels like it should have a QR code on the machine. you can use to download an app that explains what is happening. Or at least a PDF of the probably 10 page payout schedule. And to even get to whatever 3D Ellen Simpsons Plants vs Zombies Wheel of Fortune Jeopardy bonus round. Oh, and those penny slots? Great deal. Only have to wager about $5 per pull to get the good jackpots. Couple that with the strip casinos putting lights on top to signal whether your play has been enough to receive comped drinks. I'll stick to craps, thanks.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

DelTaco 9y ago

Yeah I had the same problem, so I created my own slot machine. However it's only on Android so I can't pull a real lever :( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TImMendez.SillySlots https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.TImMendez.... if you're interested, made in Unity.

quickthrower2 9y ago
Cheeky you have to pay or watch a long ad to reload once you run out. Reload prices are silly but can imagine you'll get some addicts.

flukus 9y ago

I think it's designed this way, they want you becoming reliant on things like sound effects, interactive featurettes and flashy graphics to know how well you've gone. Once you're accustomed to this you can then be manipulated, they can give you some fancy noises and start a featurette, then when you win nothing you think you were just unlucky that time, but the next time you get free spins...

technofiend 9y ago

If you're so inclined you can buy a slot machine program and save yourself a ton of money. As WOPR said in War Games: "The only winning move is not to play." But if you'd still like to gamble just to gamble there's a hilariously dated set of books by John Scarne you may want to read. Try Scarne on Dice or Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling. He does a decent job of explaining the rules to then common casino games including a layman's introduction to probability and payouts. The most entertaining part of the books is his language: he writes in the same dialogue used by gangsters in 40s movies. The books can be found on the cheap in garage sales or at Half Price Books.