4 ms·

> they largely focus on the sensory experience not the gambling side Every time I’ve sat at a slot machine, it’s not even clear if you’re winning or not, or wh

by teeray 3y ago

> they largely focus on the sensory experience not the gambling side Every time I’ve sat at a slot machine, it’s not even clear if you’re winning or not, or what the rules are. It boils down to “push button, watch absurd animations and sounds.” I just find all that sensory overload irritating, so I don’t usually stay. I can see, however, that if you like that experience, it could be powerfully attractive.

garciasn 3y ago
Yes. Exactly this. No one understands and there isn’t a need to understand. You put money in and either you lose it all or you win some percentage back that you lost before. I’m not a gambler, but out of all of the ways to lose your money in a casino the video slot machines make the least sense to me; they just don’t seem at all enjoyable win or especially lose.
- wombatpm 3y ago
  I’ve never trusted video slot machines, probably because I know as a developer how easy it is to rig them. Always show a jackpot hand if you’d have increased your bet, payout a winning spin every so often to keep the mark sitting down, and have the big payouts only happen to some who punches in the right combo on the right machine during a specific window in time.
anjel 3y ago
In the old days (1970s-1980s?) you could ask a casino employee for a card with the gaming odds for the various games / game bets the house was offering the gambler. About ten years back I was in a casino and had the same feeling of disconnect watching others play slots (IIR, it was in Palm Springs Ca.) So I see the casino manager walk by and ask him for a card on the odds for slot machines. He let out a long laugh and said "I haven't seen those in a long time but if I even had one to give you, I would get fired for showing you that kind of info."
- preinheimer 3y ago
  Every modern slot machine I’ve used will show you exactly that information. It’s somewhere in a help menu. It’s not at all comprehensible, imagine boilerplate TOS from a big company, with a third year statistics course mixed in. But it’s there.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  Doesn't the state regulate the odds there? If so it would be public information anyway.
  - skippyboxedhero 3y ago
    Yes, all the online casinos have this information too. An interesting question is whether providers of these fake money casinos actually alter odds to maximise yields? Presumably. I believe FIFA has fixed odds for their gambling stuff.
    - saiya-jin 3y ago
      What are the chances somebody from law enforcement is going to decompile your cryptographically signed obfuscated binaries to hunt for exact numbers in equations that can span across whole codebase if you want... exactly. You can just spin a new company every few years claiming completely new software, so law has tough time building case and catching up and probably couldn't care less unless somebody literally snitches on you.
      - jacquesm 3y ago
        The casino industry is as highly regulated as they come. Code is inspected, fines are huge and licenses to operate can be withdrawn in case of established fraud. There are many ways casinos try to part their visitors from the money but fraud - these days, not the past - usually isn't the driver. But psychology, greed and environment are just as effective, if not more effective at accomplishing the same goals. The best way not to lose any money in a casino is by not going there in the first place. Most people believe they are immune to the envy of thinking other people around them are winning but they'd be wrong and the whole environment there is geared to make you move into FOMO mode until you're broke.
yieldcrv 3y ago
video slot machines are especially insidious its weird and I hate that the states are all in on it, I’m fine with states having casinos but its one thing for “the house to always win” and there is a possibility of them implementing something wrong, its another thing for the state to come in and say “the house never loses” and the courts backing that up because you won at the time
notyourwork 3y ago
This is my experience! My wife loves to play penny slots whenever we are in Vegas. She sets a budget, plays and I hang with her. I really have trouble parsing what’s going on. Happy to drink for free while my wife gets her $20 penny slot fix.
Aerroon 3y ago
>It boils down to “push button, watch absurd animations and sounds.” Because that's it. It's just a random number generator that decides whether you win or not. Then based on that it generates all of the bells and whistles to show you, but what's happening on the screen doesn't matter. You've already won or lost by the time you pressed the button. It's just if (Math.random() < 0.4) win() else lose()

by teeray 3y ago

garciasn 3y ago

Yes. Exactly this. No one understands and there isn’t a need to understand. You put money in and either you lose it all or you win some percentage back that you lost before. I’m not a gambler, but out of all of the ways to lose your money in a casino the video slot machines make the least sense to me; they just don’t seem at all enjoyable win or especially lose.

wombatpm 3y ago
I’ve never trusted video slot machines, probably because I know as a developer how easy it is to rig them. Always show a jackpot hand if you’d have increased your bet, payout a winning spin every so often to keep the mark sitting down, and have the big payouts only happen to some who punches in the right combo on the right machine during a specific window in time.

anjel 3y ago

In the old days (1970s-1980s?) you could ask a casino employee for a card with the gaming odds for the various games / game bets the house was offering the gambler. About ten years back I was in a casino and had the same feeling of disconnect watching others play slots (IIR, it was in Palm Springs Ca.) So I see the casino manager walk by and ask him for a card on the odds for slot machines. He let out a long laugh and said "I haven't seen those in a long time but if I even had one to give you, I would get fired for showing you that kind of info."

preinheimer 3y ago
Every modern slot machine I’ve used will show you exactly that information. It’s somewhere in a help menu. It’s not at all comprehensible, imagine boilerplate TOS from a big company, with a third year statistics course mixed in. But it’s there.
jacquesm 3y ago
Doesn't the state regulate the odds there? If so it would be public information anyway.
- skippyboxedhero 3y ago
  Yes, all the online casinos have this information too. An interesting question is whether providers of these fake money casinos actually alter odds to maximise yields? Presumably. I believe FIFA has fixed odds for their gambling stuff.
  - saiya-jin 3y ago
    What are the chances somebody from law enforcement is going to decompile your cryptographically signed obfuscated binaries to hunt for exact numbers in equations that can span across whole codebase if you want... exactly. You can just spin a new company every few years claiming completely new software, so law has tough time building case and catching up and probably couldn't care less unless somebody literally snitches on you.
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      The casino industry is as highly regulated as they come. Code is inspected, fines are huge and licenses to operate can be withdrawn in case of established fraud. There are many ways casinos try to part their visitors from the money but fraud - these days, not the past - usually isn't the driver. But psychology, greed and environment are just as effective, if not more effective at accomplishing the same goals. The best way not to lose any money in a casino is by not going there in the first place. Most people believe they are immune to the envy of thinking other people around them are winning but they'd be wrong and the whole environment there is geared to make you move into FOMO mode until you're broke.

yieldcrv 3y ago

video slot machines are especially insidious its weird and I hate that the states are all in on it, I’m fine with states having casinos but its one thing for “the house to always win” and there is a possibility of them implementing something wrong, its another thing for the state to come in and say “the house never loses” and the courts backing that up because you won at the time

notyourwork 3y ago

This is my experience! My wife loves to play penny slots whenever we are in Vegas. She sets a budget, plays and I hang with her. I really have trouble parsing what’s going on. Happy to drink for free while my wife gets her $20 penny slot fix.

Aerroon 3y ago

>It boils down to “push button, watch absurd animations and sounds.” Because that's it. It's just a random number generator that decides whether you win or not. Then based on that it generates all of the bells and whistles to show you, but what's happening on the screen doesn't matter. You've already won or lost by the time you pressed the button. It's just if (Math.random() < 0.4) win() else lose()