Slot Technician Shares Slot Secrets

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a former slot technician, who chooses to remain anonymous. Over a few beers, he revealed some "inside information" that was really very interesting.

He revealed some "secrets" to me, some of which I had already known, but some were new to me:

1. Don't play penny slots if you are trying to make money. They are programmed to eventually take your money away. Psychologists designed them to do this. They are OK to play if you just want to have fun, but like a pinball machine, don't expect much more than some free play as a reward. If you walk away a winner, consider yourself very lucky, but don't go back to the same machine you just won from.



2. Over time, some machines that aren't being played or are not paying out will have their percentage return increased to encourage play ( this is a manual process ) or they are removed and replaced by more popular machines.



3. I asked him specifically about my favorite game, Cleopatra Keno. He said it is a good game, but always play it at the 25 cent or dollar denomination level ( but dollar is too rich for my blood! ). Quarters and dollars have better odds for the player. They never change the percentage return for dollars, and these are set to pay at a higher percentage return. Never play nickels or pennies.



4. I asked him where the best machines were. First of all, he recommended the older machines in downtown Las Vegas like the Union Plaza or The El Cortez. If you are on the strip you are really at their mercy. Go a little off the strip, try places that advertise the highest returns like South Point and The Joker Wild in Henderson on Boulder Highway.



5. Eventually all slot machines in a casino will be networked to one central computer, where the percentage returns for any machine can be changed in real time ( by "pushing one button" ) and the new chip programs can be remotely loaded and installed!

And after a few more beers he revealed an even more extraordinary secret that I promised I would not tell anybody!

But then again, maybe it was the beer talking, who knows? Everybody knows that luck is just being in the right place at the right time, ... right?