Going to a casino in Las Vegas, playing on a slot machine and winning a huge fortune, must be the most common dream. While many of us go there and stake large amounts of money, hoping to hit a jackpot, many people also, think twice before doing so. This is because they are not certain about the credibility of the casino. In this article, we will discuss, how genuine are the slot machines.

Working of a slot machine

The slot machines are extremely popular with people of all age groups. They are simple to play and are known to give back huge returns. One only needs to push a button or pull a lever to get a winning combination. We do not realize when we play hundreds of rounds, putting probably only one coin per round and feel too pleased when a few tens or may be a hundred are returned once after so many rounds. Players understand that they stand a chance every time that is why they keep playing endlessly.

Doctoring the slot machines

Most of the people who go to play at a casino are common people and women, who do not know much about the internal operation of the machine. There are known cases of casinos, altering the video poker machines and slot machines to their benefit. Video poker is changed so that it does not give out royal flush jackpots. In case of slot machines, the computer chip in it is altered in such a way that it does not give the exact winning combination.

Worse is that it is designed to give a combination, which is very close to the winning combination. This is called the ‘near miss’ combination. The casinos do it to lure the customer into thinking that he was very close to winning. The customer then starts believing that he will surely win in the following two or three hands. This leads the player to play for a longer time on that particular machine. A clear example of this is, when a slot machine arranges two sevens on the payline and another seven exactly below the payline. The player then thinks that he was marginally close to winning.

Why do casinos and gambling firms do this?

It is quite understandable that gambling firms and casinos take such a step to multiply their profitability, over thousand times. They somehow, even get the beguiling machines certified with the respective regulatory bodies, with the help of their influence. The strange fact to be noticed here is that these machine are produced by IGT (International Game Technology), the world’s largest manufacturer of automated game machines.

Gaming Regulatory Agencies

It is imperative that everybody, who goes to play in a casino, should know that, to save people from playing on doctored slot machines or other game machines, there exists gaming regulatory agencies. The casinos can have their own laboratories to check their machine for any defect or they may approach an autonomous company, Gaming Labs International, which tests machines for such errors or problems. It is located at Toms River in New Jersey.

There is Gaming Control Board in Nevada, the main job of which is to ascertain that any cheating regarding gambling is brought to its notice and the cheater is brought to law. Interestingly, most of the cases with the board are regarding customers defrauding the casino.

Working of Gaming Regulatory Agencies

Theses agencies scrutinize the computer chips, used in slot machines, before they are installed in the machine and after they are out there in real play. The inspectors from these agencies visit the casinos on daily basis and verify that the chips used in the machines are the same. In the earlier days, the gaming control board worked differently.

Process of Approval of a New Slot Machine

When a manufacturer comes with a new slot machine and takes it for approval, it takes him about six months to get it approved. The first step towards sending a machine for approval at to the Gaming Control Board, one first requires a license to operate it in the state of Nevada. To obtain the license, one has to give in to financial inquiry and credentials of his company.

The machine is first tested for ascertaining that it is working at all odds. Its source code is also checked. Source code is the software, which is responsible for the machine to run. The machine is examined for, the way it generates its combination. It is checked for, whether there is a pattern that the machine is following or the combinations appear at random. The computer can generate thousands of combination. These days, all the machines are computerized. Mechanical machines are no longer in use these days. After initial analysis, the machine is sent for field trials. There the machine is noticed for any difficulty while being operated. As the operating conditions in a testing lab and actual casino differ greatly, field-testing I the time when examiners come across real problems with real customers. The machine may behave erratically after running continuously, for hours together.

Altering the Approved Machine

At first, the gaming regulatory body approves the first program of the machine, after the Gaming Board and the commission review it completely. Thereafter, the manufacturer is allowed to change it within the rules and make certain variations.

Therefore, after studying all this, we can conclude that casinos manipulate their slot machines to make profits. However, that can be translated into cheating the customers. Players are also known to integrate ways to cheat the casinos. The regulatory bodies are there to solve such problems on both the sides. Slot Machines are honest but they are altered many times. So, next time you go to a casino and you find something amiss, you know where to head.

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