casino payouts

[Texancruisers]

My DW and I are not BIG gamblers, but we have enjoyed playing the slots on all of our past cruises. But on our recent Grandeur of the Seas cruise the casino was so TIGHT that is was just plain NOT fun!!! :mad:

 

Is it just us, or have the RCCL casinos been decreasing payouts steadily over the last few years?

 

We consider the casino and the money we allot there as part of our entertainment, but it isn't even entertaining when all you do is lose, lose, lose, and then when you do finally hit a bonus round the payout is so pathetic it just makes you MAD!!!!!

 

I was playing on a machine betting one dollar and went into a "bonus" round. The machine paid out a GRAND TOTAL of $4.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

 

RCCL, we hope you are reading this!!!!!! We will cease to "play" in your casinos if things don't get better.

[cb at sea]

I've yet to play in a ship's casino where anything was "loose"...ever! There is no incentive to pay out...you're a captive audience!

 

Save your gambling money and next vacation, head to Vegas.

[bouhunter]

I've yet to play in a ship's casino where anything was "loose"...ever! There is no incentive to pay out...you're a captive audience!

 

Save your gambling money and next vacation, head to Vegas.

 

I have to agree on the cruise ship slots. Odds on any slots aren't good and you will get even less "playing money" on cruise ships. Play and have fun if you want and plan on no winnings.......

 

As usual CB has to make a silly irrelevant comment - "head to Vegas"........:rolleyes: Not to worry she will never return to this (or any) thread to see my reply:D

[LA_CA_GAL]

My DW and I are not BIG gamblers, but we have enjoyed playing the slots on all of our past cruises. But on our recent Grandeur of the Seas cruise the casino was so TIGHT that is was just plain NOT fun!!! :mad:

 

Is it just us, or have the RCCL casinos been decreasing payouts steadily over the last few years?

 

We consider the casino and the money we allot there as part of our entertainment, but it isn't even entertaining when all you do is lose, lose, lose, and then when you do finally hit a bonus round the payout is so pathetic it just makes you MAD!!!!!

 

I was playing on a machine betting one dollar and went into a "bonus" round. The machine paid out a GRAND TOTAL of $4.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

 

RCCL, we hope you are reading this!!!!!! We will cease to "play" in your casinos if things don't get better.

 

I have found the slots beyond horrendous.

 

It is just an exercise in aggravation, so I don't play them anymore.

[ZoeyVictoria]

I agree that the payouts have been decreasing over the years. I find myself less and less interested in slots and have learned to play blackjack and 3 card poker. It seems more expensive initially, but I found that it is cheaper than slots over the course of the cruise because I win more frequently.

[LMaxwell]

An unregulated game of chance is "tight". Surprise, surprise, surprise...

[chfenton]

But on a recent Oasis cruise, the table wasn't open yet early in the afternoon. So I decided to plunk a $100 into a $5 wheel of fortune machine near the entrance. 4 spins later I hit for $800. So for me that never plays slots, I would have to say they were very loose.

[TonyFred]

Its a matter of luck and timing. I hit a Wheel of Fortune machine on the Allure at midnight on Halloween for 2000 bucks. So you never know.

[leisuretraveler223]

As a borderline degenerate gambler, who spends a little more time than I should in Vegas, I do have some observations about this.

 

Yes, cruise ship slots are notoriously tight. But that isn't actually a difference the typical player can truly see in their play. If a good machine pays back 99% of what it takes in, and tight machine might only give back 85%. But the difference isn't really coming across in frequent small winnings. Instead the difference is in the statistical frequency of the big jackpots.

 

No slot machine maker or casino would ever have an incentive to make a machine "tighter" by limiting the small or modest payouts. To do so would dramatically change the user experience and would truly be quickly identified and result in less play on that particular machine.

 

Instead, if a major jackpot, which is already pretty uncommon, becomes statistically even less common, the slot machine operator (casino) makes more money.

 

Whether on a cruise or in a land based casino, when someone says "the slots seem to be getting tighter", they are really not seeing that. The difference between loose and tight is a statistical difference only seen on the casinos balance sheet.

[bouhunter]

As a borderline degenerate gambler, who spends a little more time than I should in Vegas, I do have some observations about this.

 

Yes, cruise ship slots are notoriously tight. But that isn't actually a difference the typical player can truly see in their play. If a good machine pays back 99% of what it takes in, and tight machine might only give back 85%. But the difference isn't really coming across in frequent small winnings. Instead the difference is in the statistical frequency of the big jackpots.

 

No slot machine maker or casino would ever have an incentive to make a machine "tighter" by limiting the small or modest payouts. To do so would dramatically change the user experience and would truly be quickly identified and result in less play on that particular machine.

 

Instead, if a major jackpot, which is already pretty uncommon, becomes statistically even less common, the slot machine operator (casino) makes more money.

 

Whether on a cruise or in a land based casino, when someone says "the slots seem to be getting tighter", they are really not seeing that. The difference between loose and tight is a statistical difference only seen on the casinos balance sheet.

 

I agree your comments make sense for most casinos. However I do think that ship machines DO pay out less overall, and that "small/modest" payouts seem less than any land based casino we visit. It IS a captive audience and I think they DO care less about keeping the clientele happy and do reduce all pay-outs......

[Retired LEO]

My wife only hits in the casino if I'm not there. Last week on the Enchantment I walked away for a few minutes and when I returned she showed me her ticket for over $1,100.00. Happens every time. Whenever she's in the casino, I go somewhere else.

[leisuretraveler223]

I agree your comments make sense for most casinos. However I do think that ship machines DO pay out less overall, and that "small/modest" payouts seem less than any land based casino we visit. It IS a captive audience and I think they DO care less about keeping the clientele happy and do reduce all pay-outs......

 

I understand that people think that way. But the reality is they are always better off just decreasing the frequency of the jackpot. They still hold the greater percentage and there is no disincentive to play.

[Allensfan]

We just returned from Oasis and I enjoyed being in the casino much more than I thought I would. We played wheel of fortune slots for $1.00. But a full spin costs $3.00. So we would each put $100.00 per play. Sometimes we won, sometimes we didn't. On the first day I hit $600.00 which was awesome. On the last day I hit $1,000. $360.00 and $500.00 on the same $100.00 'investment....so I walked away with $1800.00. I wish I had kept track of all the money we put in the machines and how much we won....but I didn't.

 

Over all I think you have better odds of controlling your destiny with black jack than with slots but I thought the bells and lights on the slots were so much fun.

[orville99]

Net slots winnings over our last three cruises were enough to cover the cost of booking an additional cruise next year - so I guess it all depends on how you play and which machines you like.:)

[robin13]

This is why I will be playing Blackjack on my IOS cruise next month. I never win on the slot machines but I have walked away from a Blackjack table with a profit of $1000!

 

I live in Dallas and we go to Winstar in OK which is the largest casino in the world. I only play the slots there as they charge you .50 cents a hand on Blackjack and Poker. I refuse to pay that and besides with the slots they are always sending us coupons with free play money.

[rudeney]

I go to Vegas about twice a year for conferences, and my game of choice is Black Jack. I never play slots. I know that slots can be more exciting with the thrill of big payouts, but I prefer the slow pace and social interaction at the Black Jack tables. If I sit at a table for a few hours and lose $200, I still generally feel like I had fun. And I feel like I had some level of "control" in the game, being able to decide to hit or not, double or not, etc. The same loss at a slot machine has me feeling nothing but disappointment in wasting time and money.

 

Of course the very few times I had a big payout on a slot machine, it was exciting, but that was a rare experience, whereas at the table, when there's a good crowd and an entertaining dealer, I have just as much fun, but spread out over several hours. I would say the same about other table games - poker and craps - but I prefer the slowness of Black Jack over craps, and the "team spirit" of it over poker.

 

Just my $0.02.

[tinkertoy9000]

Yes, I agree that ship's casino slots are very tight. When you win a "jackpot" it's not really that much money. I used to go to Vegas quite often and the slots there are now as tight as ever, even at off the strip hotels and locations like the Station casinos.

 

But I do budget for playing the slots for a while each night as a part of my on-ship entertainment. And believe it or not I had my biggest slot jackpot win ever on a cruise ship, a $5K win on a penny slot on Oasis. I was surprised and I think the casino staff was also because they did not know how to pay the jackpot. LOL ... Then the next day that slot machine disappeared from where it was and was replaced by a different one. LOL

 

I think each casino on ships have a few slots that pay enough to keep you playing for a while and the others are extra tight. You will see certain people on certain slots most of the evening while other slots are always vacant.

[bouhunter]

Net slots winnings over our last three cruises were enough to cover the cost of booking an additional cruise next year - so I guess it all depends on how you play and which machines you like.:)

Actually with slots it mostly just depends on how lucky you are. :)

Edited August 12, 2015 by bouhunter

[leisuretraveler223]

I live in Dallas and we go to Winstar in OK which is the largest casino in the world.

 

WinStar is the largest casino in The U.S. Not the world. And that is based on square footage, not number of games or tables. According to the WinStar website, there are 99 table games. Venetian Macau has 800.

[leisuretraveler223]

I had my biggest slot jackpot win ever on a cruise ship, a $5K win on a penny slot on Oasis. I was surprised and I think the casino staff was also because they did not know how to pay the jackpot. LOL ... Then the next day that slot machine disappeared from where it was and was replaced by a different one. LOL

 

This story is HIGHLY suspect. First, a $5,000 jackpot, while exciting, is hardly unheard of. Perhaps the first attendant was inexperienced and wasn't clear on procedure. But there is no way "they" (intimating the entire casino operation) didn't know how to pay the jackpot.

 

But, even if that was somehow the case, there is no WAY that a slot machine "disappeared... and was replaced by a different one" in the middle of a cruise.

[robin13]

I was only quoting what they say in their ads on the radio. I guess I need to call them and let them know that they are using deceptive advertising (lol).

[leisuretraveler223]

I was only quoting what they say in their ads on the radio. I guess I need to call them and let them know that they are using deceptive advertising (lol).

 

Not unusual. According to the various properties (Foxwoods, WinStar, MGM Las Vegas, Venetian Las Vegas), they're are numerous "largest" casinos in the world!:D

[3Blessings]

It seemed like the slots were paying out on our recent Adventure of the Seas cruise. Although this is based on what was "advertised" over the loudspeaker as I don't gamble - according to it there was a $30,000 winner and lots of winners of varying amounts under $10,000.

 

But we were on an excursion with someone that had won $7000 the night before so I know the slots at least paid that out.

[TheTruthCanHurt]

It seemed like the slots were paying out on our recent Adventure of the Seas cruise. Although this is based on what was "advertised" over the loudspeaker as I don't gamble - according to it there was a $30,000 winner and lots of winners of varying amounts under $10,000.

 

But we were on an excursion with someone that had won $7000 the night before so I know the slots at least paid that out.

 

 

I only really play tables... but as it relates to any gambling game.

"paying out" and winning are two different things?

It might have cost you $500 to hit that 250 dollar jackpot...

[orville99]

This story is HIGHLY suspect. First, a $5,000 jackpot, while exciting, is hardly unheard of. Perhaps the first attendant was inexperienced and wasn't clear on procedure. But there is no way "they" (intimating the entire casino operation) didn't know how to pay the jackpot.

 

But, even if that was somehow the case, there is no WAY that a slot machine "disappeared... and was replaced by a different one" in the middle of a cruise.

 

Video slots can be re-programmed and re-configured in well under an hour, so it is really easy for a video slot to "disappear". Even the older mechanical slots can be swapped out in a few hours. They carry spare machines in the event that one breaks down. We've seen slots (both mechanical and video) "disappear" in the middle of a cruise.

 

We were also in a slot tournament on FOS where the video slots we would play in the tourney went out of service about 10 minutes before the tourney started, and when they came back on line they were completely different games.

Edited August 12, 2015 by orville99