1. How Much To Find Loose Slot Machines Without
2. Find Slot Machine Games
3. How Much To Find Loose Slot Machines Machine
4. Wild And Loose Slot Machine
5. Find Slot Machines By Casino

After some time has passed, figure out whether or not you’re breaking even. If you are, stay put! It could be a loose slot machine! If not, move to another machine. For example, if you spend about twenty dollars at a machine over half an hour and only get about ten dollars back, that’s probably not a loose machine. Leave and find a better one.

The ultimate goal for a slot player is finding a loose machine amidst the vast sea of machines on the casino floor. Some equate the task equal to finding the proverbial needle in a haystack while others concede it is more like looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Players dream of finding a loose slot machine but few achieve their goal. One reason for this is that the term “loose” when describing a slot machine is relative to the location and casino.

A player from Las Vegas who plays slots at a local’s casino getting 98 percent payback would not consider a slot machine in Atlantic City that is set to payback 94 percent as a loose machine. However the player from Atlantic City where the average slot return is 91 percent would consider this same machine a loose one. Older slot machines were set at a higher house percentage than new machines are.

First, we should define the term loose slot machine. Payback is the overall percentage that a machine will return to the player in the long run. A loose machine is one that is set to pay back a higher percentage than other machines so the term loose would be relative to the other machines in the same casino.

Fact or Myth

Over the years there has been much speculation and conjecture amongst slot players as to where the loose slot machines are located. There are many myths that have been circulating associated with the placement these loose slot machines on the casino floor. Here are a few to consider and some reasoning behind the myth.

• Loose machines are surrounded by tight machines. The reasoning behind this myth is that many players like to play more than one machine at a time. If a loose machine is surrounded by a tight machine a player will give back the winnings from the loose machine if they simultaneously play the machines on either side.
• Loose machines are placed by the entrance. The reasoning behind this myth is that people will see players winning and this will entice them to come into the casino and play. The basis for this myth can probably be traced back to downtown Las Vegas where the casinos were in walking distance of each other. People walking down the street could see the players winning at the slots and walk into the casino. Most of the new mega-resorts have multiple entrances so I would doubt the validity of this myth.
• Machines near the table games are tight. The reasoning behind this myth is that the noise of the machines will distract the table game players. Another reason is that a table game player will be tempted to play any coins they have when they leave the table on their way to the cashier’s cage.
• Machines near the end of the row are loose. The reasoning behind this myth is that players seeing other players win will be likely to go down into the row to play the machines.
• Machines near the showroom and buffet are tight. The reasoning behind this myth is that players waiting in line for a show or for the buffet are a captive audience. They may be tempted to play a few coins to kill time while they wait. The machines are tight because they can’t leave the area to play other machines.
• Machines near the casino cage are loose. The reasoning behind this myth is that the casino wants you to see people winning while you are waiting in line. This will entice you to play more.
• Round Carousals of machines are looser that rows of machines. The reasoning behind this myth is that the carousels can bee seen from any direction in the casino. They want to put the loose machines where they winners are highly visible.

Think Like a Casino Executive

One of the problems with the myths is that no two casinos are the same. Each casino has a VP of slots who makes the decision about the placement of the machines. Try to think like a casino executive. Where would you put the loose machines?

Casino executives have heard all the myths concerning the placement of loose machines that the players have. If I were the manager I would not put a loose machine on the aisle. I would bury it further down the row. Think of this as reverse psychology. If I know where the players think the loose machines are I would want to put tight machines there instead.

Be Realistic

Unless you play an exorbitant amount of slots, the chances of really identifying a loose slot machine will be slim. You could just as easily have a very lucky winning session on a low payback machines as a losing session on a machine with a high payback percentage. You might never play enough to be sure.

This does not mean you should give up your quest to find loose slot machines. Playing different machines in search of a loose one will add some variety to your slot play. You might not find a loose slot but you might find a new game that you enjoy playing. The hunt for a loose slot machine can be fun and that’s what casino gambling should be.

Forget the myths that abound in casinos

by Frank Legato

Millions and millions of words have been written over the years of the modern history of slot machines on how to find the “loose slots” on the floor. It was this magazine, in fact, that actually led to the notion of “loose slots,” when it first published its payback charts in the late 1980s.

But can you actually walk into a casino and know where the loosest games are?

The answer: You can make an educated guess, but not as effectively as you once could. Let me explain.

In the old days, there were outward characteristics of a casino floor to which one could pay attention in a quest to choose a loose slot from among the thousands on the floor. These visible signs had much to do with how slot floors were designed.

Merchandising of slots on he casino floor is much like the merchandising of consumer products in department stores. Slot managers want the most visually exciting games in the most visible locations. These days, they have a wealth of visual stimulation from which to choose—slots offer eye candy ranging form giant fortune wheels to arcade-style bonus games to remarkable displays of video animation.

However, 25 years ago, a “visually exciting” game meant one thing: people were winning. The slot games, by and large, all looked the same. What made them exciting was the image of someone winning, with bells and buzzers going off and coins clanging in hoppers.

Therefore, in the old days, you could expect the loosest slots to be in your field of vision when you entered the casino. You could expect them to be on the ends of aisles, or visible from show lines. You could expect tighter games to be located in areas conducive to “impulse” play—near coin-redemption booths to catch the odd coins; near the room elevators to offer that last chance at getting even.

Other than these assumptions related to merchandising, one could expect looser slots deep in the casino, in the less-accessible banks; and tighter ones to be easier to get to.

These assumptions are no longer reliable, because of several developments.

First, the development of microprocessor technology has provided many more ways to visually attract players—slots no longer all look the same, and all have attention-grabbing elements that do not necessarily relate to whether or not someone is winning.

Second, the very fact that scores of articles were written advising players that the loose slots were on the end of the aisle—or by the show aisle, or near the front, etc.—led them to become widely accepted theories among the playing public on where to find loose slots. Slot officials laying out their floors wanted to avoid the obvious and predictable—why place loose games where players expect them to be? If players expected the loose games to be on the end, they may now be second from the end.

Finally and most importantly, players became more knowledgeable. Thanks in no small part to magazines such as this, players began to track actual payback percentage numbers. Casino marketing departments, in response, started to use “loose slots” as a positioning tool—something to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Casinos plugging their loose slots added loose video poker—a game on which the player can simply view the pay table and know the theoretical return.

With players viewing actual payback numbers regularly, and with no need to use the visual stimulus of people winning as a way to merchandise the slot floor, payback percentage became, for casinos, a matter of policy.

This is evidenced by the charts—you will see consistent policy in any given denomination for casinos within any given market. Every slot game is offered by manufacturers in six or seven different payback percentage configurations. Instead of purchasing banks of slot games with differing percentages, slot managers today will almost always purchase all the units of a given game with the same percentage program within any one denomination.

If the casino’s policy is to return 92 percent on quarters, every game in the quarter denomination will have a theoretical percentage close to 92 percent. The games on the end will return around 92 percent, as will the games in the middle, by the show aisle and near the coin redemption booth (tickets have made “impulse play” a rarity in any event). This means the old method of choosing games according to where they are in the casino is, by and large, obsolete with respect to finding the loose games.

So what’s a loose-slot-hunter to do? How do you find the loose games on today’s casino floor?

The answer is by knowing the games that are likely to return the highest, based on several factors.

First, pick a casino or, in the case of Nevada, a region, in which the slots have proven themselves—through actual, reported numbers as in our payout charts—to offer players the highest return. If you’re in Nevada, for instance, head for the locals casinos instead of the Strip. If you’re in Atlantic City, head for Borgata, Hilton or Sands. In Illinois, go to Casino Queen.

If you have chosen a casino known to offer players a fair shake, you can pretty much assure yourself a loose slot game by choosing the right game style. The types of games may have proliferated, but one common denominator to loose slots has remained the same: The higher the denomination, the higher the payback.

How Much To Find Loose Slot Machines Without

Casino slot departments across the industry still follow this time-honored tradition of awarding the player a better return for higher wagers.

You also will find a higher overall return, in general, in the more traditional game styles. Therefore, in a local Las Vegas casino, if you play a traditional reel-spinner in the dollar denomination, you can be virtually certain the return is 96 percent or higher. If you move up to the $5 denomination, you’re flirting with 98 percent or higher.

If you’re a quarter player and go for the traditional reel-spinners, you’re looking at a 94 or 95 percent payback in local Las Vegas.

Don’t believe the old methods of finding loose slots; they were once valid, but no more. And don’t believe a popular myth that never was true—the notion that you can simply ask someone working for the casinos where the “hot machines” or “loose machines” are.

First of all, a slot attendant or other floor person is not going to be privy to the actual payback programs purchased for the machine; only the slot director or other executive who actually purchased the machines knows that.

Secondly, a machine’s past performance is no indication of how it will perform in the future. A machine can be churning out jackpots for five days straight; it doesn’t mean it will keep churning out jackpots.

The best gauge these days of a loose slot game is the policy of the casino, as proven by actual returns to actual players. The second is the game style.

Find Slot Machine Games

In the end, if you want loose slots, play in the casinos that have already proven they offer loose slots.

TIP OF THE MONTH

Bottom Line: Play What You Like
While it is true that these days, unless you play video poker, it is difficult to know with certainty where the loosest slots are, you can know which casinos are the most generous, and thus have the best chance of finding loose slots.

But the bottom line to enjoying your casino experience is not finding the games with the best payback percentages—it is to find the games you most enjoy playing.

A “loose slot” does not guarantee you will win. You can find the loosest game on the floor and still lose all your money in short order. You can play the tightest game on the floor and go home rich.

How Much To Find Loose Slot Machines Machine

This is because, as we have said many times, payback percentage is a long-term number. The payback percentage represents not what you, personally, will receive in jackpots as a percentage of your wagers this evening, or even this week. It is a number representing the percentage of every wager placed on that machine through its entire life—several years worth of spins—that will be returned to everyone who has played that machine. Normally, a slot game will reach its theoretical payback percentage over play during a given week, but not a given night. On a given night, anything can happen.

That also means on a given night, anyone can win on a game that has a low payback percentage. People would not play penny games if no one was winning—and penny games have the lowest payback percentage on the slot floor. Someone is winning on these games, and a whole lot of people are playing them.

Wild And Loose Slot Machine

A whole lot of people play the lowest-returning games for one reason: They are fun to play. The reason you should pick one game over another is that you like to play it. Decide what type of game you like to play, and then seek out the highest possible returns in that particular game genre.

Find Slot Machines By Casino

Fun is the key. Payback is gravy.