That is the wrong interpretation - atleat the math says so. The 97% payout is a payout over millions (billions) of 1$ bets made on the machine - called the gam

That is the wrong interpretation - atleat the math says so. The 97% payout is a payout over millions (billions) of 1$ bets made on the machine - called the game cycle. You have to remember that players win and lose too. Theoretically, if I were to wager 1$ over a million spins, I should be left with 970K$. That is what happens too if we consider the payout of the machine over the full lifecycle of the slot game. The problem is that a player's funds are always limited. So when they hit a losing streak, they would lose all money by the time a winning streak can come their way. The house however has theoretically infinite funds at their disposal.