Do Land Based Casinos Have the Power to Tighten Up Machines?

Hiya LCB'ers,

I have noticed shortly after the first of they year that Slots and Video Poker machines that were generally hot are now not paying. Is it just a coincidence? I personally don't think it is. I think if the eye in the sky sees too many Jackpots won on certain machines and stat reports on players are analyzed and if there are too many wins on a particular machine they tighten them up.

I am sure the machine itself is analyzed for pay-outs too and if the same players keep coming back to that machine and have caught on they stop it cold from paying out.

What i don't know is if the Casino has the ability to do this or is it the software company that has to adjust machines.

Have you found your favorite machines are no longer loose and new ones are now the hot machines?
Does the Casino have free reign to change the payout percentage or is it the software supplier?

Lips

I think you're right. I get the RNG thing but they at least have the ability to limit the frequency of slot bonuses or multipliers on video poker. Something is definitely fishy. I have seen players that know of a machine that paid in the past and they just won't give up on it. It's months of no payouts and they keep thinking it's gonna hit but it never does. I just want to tell them to move on but none of my business if they want to keep wasting money.

Omg i know i see these regular die-hard players waiting or these machines to rebound and they never do! It can be frustrating and takes some time to find new paying favorites........sigh.

First off the casino being able to change RTP is TRUE.

Casinos changing it whenever they want is FALSE.

Yes the casino can change RTP, but not on the push of a button.  The slots are  regulated by the gaming commission.  There is a significant process they have to go through to change the RTP.  They have to actually seek approval from the regulating body.  The task of actually changing the RTP requires the actual swapping out of Chip/Software/Firmware in a sealed box.  The RTP is predetermined via the chip/software/firmware.  This is calculated and determined by casino and approved by regulating body when installing the machine.  These programs are calculated and precise to the point that the RTP should never be changed for the life of that particular slot, but again if for some odd reason it does need to be changed there is a strict procedure. 

When Rtp is sent it is normally based upon millions of spins.  There is a lot of luck involved specifically being able to hit the button at the exact time that there is a good code on the RNG.  It is possible to hit back to back to back jackpots or nada nada nada.

Thanks so much for that information it makes sense it would have to go through the regulatory board. Makes me feel better that the casino can't do it just any old time!

Obviously there are so many superstitions when people are playing in the casino, play with the card don't play with a card, cashout and redeposit.  The best one is seeing someone hit a jackpot after you get off a machine.  If you stayed it doesn't mean you would have hit it.  RNG is constantly throwing out codes even when machine is not being played, so its all about hitting the button at the precise time.

Oh I know what you mean. I see people that look sick when they see a jackpot won on a machine they just got up from. It's all a matter of the moment when you hit that button and RNG. I just wanna tell them but it would take too much energy.

At any casinos that aren't on tribal lands, they have to clearly post their slots payouts at the entrance to the casino.

I worked at a few landbased casinos over the years and yes the payout ratio can be changed. Each gaming vender can set the rtp etc to whatever they want. Yes the RNG can be changed just as BMW has stated. With working in the industry, and I still do just from home now, I think this is why when I do go to landbased I stick to a certain vender when playing. I know what these games are capable of paying and what the RNG is set to. Just a little note, the penny slots are the worse games to play at landbased...this is just my opinion of course

Hi rayoflight,

Can you share which vendor that is?  Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top?   

medtrans

The penny slots are usually horrible, I will agree with that. I'd also love to know which software you prefer rayoflight

I think everyone is anxious to find out what rayoflight is playing

Honestly the best paying slots in the whole casino are the 3 reel, 1 line machines.  Mainly because the RNG is only generating results for 1 line.  Versus the newer multi-line, mult-way machines. Where the RNG is having to generate for multiple pay lines and multiple different reel style setups.  So therefore, when there are more ways to pay involved.  Their are more ways to loose involved.  Meaning there are more ways to loose than win, in like a 9 line machine, over a 1 line machine.  Then even more ways to loose in a 20 line machines, more ways to loose in a 25 line machine.  You get the picture.
So yes it would seem some days that all we can do is hitting loosing machines, especially if we are playing the more pay lines, and more pay ways machines.

Yes indeed, agreed.  Unfortunately the old 3 reel 1 liners are becoming extinct. 

The lower the denomination the lower the RTP.  The casino has to take their profit on all machines and they have to take more on lower denominations because of the lesser amount of money being played and higher cost to run the machine compared to a dollar machine.  Just an example of RTP for denomination could be:

1 cent  87%
25 cent 92%
$1  96%
$5  98%

Some casinos will advertise something like 97-98% payback on certain $1 slots.

It was VGT, down in Oklahoma.. If I can post their link you can take a look at their games. https://careers.vgt.net/

Well shoot it took me to their career page lol..sorry about that I was just doing a fast google search.

Try http://www.vgt.net/ that would be the page you were looking for.

Thank you cheeta! I was in a hurry this morning when I posted. But yes VGT is a great vender that provides mostly 3 reel 1 line classic machines. My favorite that you can win quite a bit on is Money Bags. Most all of VGT machines has a free spin feature that triggers at random. Your screen can turn red after any winning spin giving  you potential to win huge and jackpot. Anyway, these games or this vender rather does set their rtp extremely high giving us players better odds over other games in the casino.