Initially, land casinos installed slot machines as a diversion for casual slot machine players. That is a little bit of Slot Machine History. Unlike traditional casino table games (such as blackjack or craps), slot machines don’t require any gambling knowledge, and anyone can get in the game with a minimum bet.
This business concept proved to be a huge success — slot machines eventually become the most popular and the most profitable casino game in the world, bringing in more the majority of the annual casino gaming profits in the United States.
This is How Slot Machines Work. The base technology of the slot machines has also changed a lot over the years. The classic mechanical iron and wood designs have been almost completely replaced by computer-controlled slot machines. But essentially the slot game has remained the same. The slot machine player pulls a handle to rotate a series of reels – typically three, that have pictures printed on them. Winning or losing is determined by which pictures line up with the slot machine pay line, a line in the middle of a viewing window. If each reel shows the same winning picture along the slot machine pay line, you win (certain single images are sometimes winners as well – read the instructions before you play). The payout — depends on which pictures land along the pay line.
How Slot Machines Work – Classic Slot Machine
The classic slot machine design works on an elaborate configuration of gears and levers. The central slot machine element is a metal shaft, which supports the reels. This shaft is connected to a handle mechanism that gets things moving. A braking system brings the spinning reels to a stop, and sensors communicate the position of the slot machine reels to the payout system. A coin detector initially registers that a coin has been inserted and unlocks a brake so the handle can move.
Conventional mechanical slot machines eventually gave rise to electrical machines that worked on similar principles. In an electrical machine, the reels are spun by motors and the stoppers are generally activated by solenoids, but the slot machine game basically plays out the same way. Electrical machines have more sophisticated money-handling systems, like those you might find in a vending machine, and flashier light and sound displays.
In both types of systems this is How Slot Machines Work, once the reels have come to a stop, the slot machine needs to read whether the player has won or lost. Now, we’ll examine some systems for making this determination.
How Slot Machines Work – Payout
There are many different payout systems used in slot machines. In one of the simplest designs, a slot jackpot is detected by measuring the depth of notches in the discs that drive the reels.
When you insert a coin in this slot machine, it falls into a transparent case. The bottom of the case is a movable shutter that is connected to a metal linkage. Normally, the linkage holds the shutter closed. But when the slot machine hits the jackpot, the third stopper shifts the linkage up, opening the shutter so the coins fall out of the machine.
Normally this is How Slot Machines Work, there is no real secret. Slot machines have more elaborate versions of this design in order to pay out partially on certain combinations of images and pay out completely on the slot jackpot combination.
How Slot Machines Work – Modern Slot Machines
In the past 20 years, electric slot machines and fully mechanical slot machines have both been replaced by computerized slot machines.
Most modern slot machines are designed to look and feel like the old mechanical slots, but they work on a complete different concept. The outcome of each pull is actually controlled by a central computer inside the slot machine, not by the motion of the reels.
Even though the computer tells the reels where to stop, the slot machine games are not pre-programmed to pay out at a certain time. A random number generator at the heart of the computer ensures that each pull has an equal shot at hitting the slot jackpot.
Computer systems have made slot machines a lot easier to handle. Slot machine players can now bet money straight from a credit account, rather than dropping coins in for every pull. Slot players can also keep track of their wins and losses more easily, as can the casino operators. The operation is also simpler in modern slot machines — if they want to, slot players can simply press a button to play a game, rather than pull the handle.
One of the great advantages of the computer system for slot machine manufacturers is that they can easily configure how often the machine pays-out (how loose or tight it is).
How Slot Machines Work – Slot Machine Odds
Let’s see how the computer program can be configured to change the slot machine’s odds of hitting the jackpot. In a modern slot machine, the odds of hitting a particular symbol or combination of symbols depends on how the slot machine virtual reel is set up. Each stop on the actual slot machine reel may correspond to more than one stop on the virtual reel. Simply put, the odds of hitting a particular image on the actual reel depend on how many virtual stops correspond to the actual stop.
This is How Slot Machines Work – A modern slot machine’s program is carefully designed and tested to achieve a certain payout amount. The payback percentage is the percentage of the money that is put in that is eventually paid out to the slot machine player. With a payback percentage of 85, for example, the land or online casino would take about 15 percent of all money put into the slot machine and give away the other 85 percent.
How Slot Machines Work – Variety of Slot-Machine Designs
When you hit the slot machines in a land or online casino, you’ll have dozens of slot gaming options. Slot machines come with varying numbers of reels, for example, and many have multiple pay lines. Most slot machines with multiple pay lines let players choose how many lines to play.
For slot machines with multiple bet options, whether they have multiple pay lines or not, slot players will usually be eligible for the maximum jackpot only when they make the maximum bet. For this reason, gambling experts suggest that slot machine players always bet the maximum.
Usually slot machine variations are only aesthetic. Video slot machines operate the same way as regular machines, but they have a video image rather than actual rotating reels. When these games first came out, slot players were very distrustful of them; without the spinning reels, it seemed like the slot games were crooked. Even though the reels and handles in modern slot machines are completely irrelevant to the outcome of the game, manufacturers usually include them just to give slot machine players the illusion of control.
Above are only a few of today’s popular slot machine variations. Game manufacturers continue to develop new sorts of slot machines with interesting differences on the classic slot machine game. A lot of these variations are built around particular themes.
Oh, and one more thing – be careful with Crooked Slot Machines; they are still around sometimes. Learn how to spot them!
That’s it. This is How Slot Machines Work !