game pays out too much?

[jay]

This is not how slots work. Its pure probability and the law of large numbers.

You have a PAR (Paytable and reel) table that outlines the symbols and what they pay. The RNG (Random Number Generator) picks 3 numbers and if they match something on the PAR you get a payout.

If you take the toss of a coin. Each side has equal probability. So you could say that you have a 50/50 chance of a particular outcome.
If you toss the coin 10 times you might get an outcome of 7 heads and 3 tails or even all 10 tosses could be one way or the other. Toss it 1000 times and you start to see the stats come close to a real 50/50.
If you toss the coin 10 million times even if there is 900,000 more heads than there are tails this is only a .09 variance and statistically unimportant to the outcome of 50/50.

So the difference between a chip that pays 95.9% and 85.2% is really just a few less entries on the PAR table and the law of big numbers.

The test for the Nevada Gaming board was that the slot manufacturer had to run 3, 10million spin runs to prove the stated percentage.

The fact that you are seeing a large number of payouts at this time is really just blind luck and not anything to do with the machine "forcing" some percentage. Put on another 10mm spins and you will start to see your stats come into line with the stated percentage.

If you look at your Coin-In / Coin-Out meters you should be able to see what the machine paid out %% wise from inception. Even after a clear chip the physical meters are the physical meters and don't change.

You can also go to the stats page of the machine by turning the reset key once when it is closed up and get the stats as well - this is only good since the last clear.

[spudgunman]

oh i didnt know about the reading meters trick "mid game" with a key turn thats handy

[jay]

I would love to do that in a casino as the key is the same across the board........however you can be arrested for even having one of those reset keys in your possession.
I saw a news article about a guy doing this in the casino one time, got arrested, and the judge actually blasted the casino industry for having not changed the key in more than 20 years.

The information being stats based, can't allow you to predict what the machine is going to do, and even with the key can't be altered. About the only thing it will help you determine is what the theroretical %% payback is. I would rather be playing a 98% machine than an 85%

I personally think that the payback percentage should be stated on every machine as part of the commitment to responsible gambling so people know their odds.

[spudgunman]

yea I would side with the judge - its the casino private property and intellectual property for anything on the casino floor so I get that. I purchased my own game so I could hack it up. When I am in the casino I will let them take my cash while I get free drinks its something I am happy to allow

your comments make total sense but I was really confused with the payouts.

I did clear the memory - the game is no longer paying out 50-100$ on a 10$ input. I must have reset something long term payout wise? (in a real casino I would suspect clearing CMOS is unheard of due to regulation so I dont imagine this is that big of a surprise that it fixed the odds payouts for me?)

[jay]

First off the %% payback is based on how much coin is given back, not purely the number of hits.

The clear wipes the statistics and resets certain features like reel sounds back to default but there is no short term or long term percentages.
The machine draws 3 numbers - if they match a winning combination you get paid.
There is no magical percentage that the machine is trying to get to. Its pure random luck.
The percentages are theoretical based on probabilities of actually hitting something.

In reality you could hit the top prize every single spin - just like power ball, the same numbers could come up week after week. The probability however of that occurring is relatively low.

To make the game fun (lights, noise, coins etc) you want the machine to show some action and draw people in.  So it won't be uncommon for a machine to hit frequently but with low payouts.
1 coin in, 2 coins out perhaps every 3rd spin... Under this you have still put in 3 coins to 2 out... and its a slow bleed with the house still winning.

If you have 64 reel stops, and 3 reels you have 64x64x64 = 262144 potential outcomes.
Remember a reel stop may be white space between symbols on the strips. If you had 16 symbols there would be 48 virtual reel stops (white space).

1 cherry in the first reel and blanks in the second / third reel could represent 2304 winning combinations 1 x 48 x 48 but the pay out is low.....

It may seem if the clear chip changed something but it has not.

[knagl]

so is the problem that the machine is so heavy on the income of coin that it is trying very hard to balance the books of odds and payout the balance that is currently holding in "home use credit play"

so would something as simple as a memory clear solve this problem?

Absolutely not.  IGT S+ machines are Class III machines, and every spin is independent of the previous or next spin.  The game does not care if the machine is in the red or the black, and does not adjust payouts accordingly.

It sounds like you're in the middle of a statistical "hot streak".  Things will turn soon enough.  The casinos always win in the long term, even if there are short-term periods where they lose a little bit.  The tide will turn on your machine and it will start eating money like a good slot machine should.  Not because it's paid out a lot, mind you, but because over the life of the machine, the program in there mathematically will pay out less than it takes in.