Do you win on slots in casino?

[Guindalf]

While it is true that payouts can't be changed without changing chips or software and are strictly controlled (moreso on land, where there a re legal constraints), it is also true that modern machines can be set to anything from 82% to 98% payouts. That means that over the lifetime of the machine, it will pay out 82-98% of everything it takes in. That doesn't necessarily mean that you will only lose $2 for every $100 you play, though.

 

There are many tips given to Vegas gamblers that are worthy of noting. First, it's a safe bet that the % settings of the slots on a ship are lower than those on land and certainly lower than in Vegas. All slot must have the percentage visible for customers to see, so they will be on display somewhere - maybe not easily accessible, so you may have to ask.

 

The 'rake' on table games is generally much higher than on land, too. Where the house cut may be one or two percent in Vegas, expect 5-10% for a poker table (and possibly more for a tournament).

 

Going back to slots, it used to be the case that the machines closest to the door played the best and those inside had a much lower payout. This was to attract people in and then, of course, they'd lose more. I'm not so sure this is the case any more, certainly among the more, er, shall we say, legally abiding, casinos.

[kands6191]

On our last Reflection cruise my husband said he wanted to learn craps. On the first afternoon he want to the lesson they gave in the casino. Later when it opened he played, getting pointers from the dealer who taught the class. He played for about 3 hours, had a lot of fun, and turned $100 into about $400. He slowly lost it over the week and was never that lucky again on the craps table. I played a little slots here and tgere. Every time I walked away between $25 - $300 ahead. I never won anything huge, but several times I did better than ever on the bonus round.

I always have a budget when I gamble so I know what I have to lose. Therefore I always have a great time because I have already determined what the cost of my entertainment will be.

Good luck!

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[dkjretired]

While it is true that payouts can't be changed without changing chips or software and are strictly controlled (moreso on land, where there a re legal constraints), it is also true that modern machines can be set to anything from 82% to 98% payouts. That means that over the lifetime of the machine, it will pay out 82-98% of everything it takes in. That doesn't necessarily mean that you will only lose $2 for every $100 you play, though.

 

There are many tips given to Vegas gamblers that are worthy of noting. First, it's a safe bet that the % settings of the slots on a ship are lower than those on land and certainly lower than in Vegas. All slot must have the percentage visible for customers to see, so they will be on display somewhere - maybe not easily accessible, so you may have to ask.

 

The 'rake' on table games is generally much higher than on land, too. Where the house cut may be one or two percent in Vegas, expect 5-10% for a poker table (and possibly more for a tournament).

 

Going back to slots, it used to be the case that the machines closest to the door played the best and those inside had a much lower payout. This was to attract people in and then, of course, they'd lose more. I'm not so sure this is the case any more, certainly among the more, er, shall we say, legally abiding, casinos.

 

The percentage is however set at the factory and not changed during the lifetime of the machine.

 

Perhaps in the early days they pit machines in certain spots but now the casinos are planned according to corporate polIckes.

[WonderMan3]

It's my theory that the slot machines are set loose the first few nights of the cruises so that word get's around that they are paying off, then they reset them to make money for the casino.

 

J.

 

 

It used to be that way. On the older machines they would actually have to go in and swap out chips to adjust payout percentage. It was a lot of work so they would only do it a couple times during the cruise. Whether they increased or decreased the payout percentage likely would've depended on how much money they were taking in or paying out. On a Princess cruise in 2007 this is where we first noticed this happening. Machines that were paying out left and right the first few days of the cruise suddenly got tighter a few days into the cruise then tighter still a few days after that. They also would go and swap out the betting buttons and adjust the programming so that some machines now had a lower maximum bet you could play. I know all this can be done as I have an older IGT slot machine at home and my husband has swapped out the payout percentage chips on several occasions, so others saying that the payout percentage cannot be changed don't know what they are talking about.

 

That has all changed with the advent of server based gaming. Now through a computer database that ties to most of the machines in the casino they can adjust payout percentages, maximum bet, etc. at any moment from behind the scenes. And they do adjust those payout percentages throughout the cruise on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. You'll notice a surge in wins and jackpots generally each night around the time that the shows are getting out from the theater. They do this to get the attention of people passing through the casino hoping they'll stop and play. Then they'll draw the payout percentages back down about 30 minutes or so afterward. So you can't say that slots will be looser at the beginning versus the end of the cruise because they have the ability to change it at anytime.

 

They use that server based technology in most land based casinos now too. Aria in Vegas was the first casino to open with all of that in place, older casinos have had to retrofit. In some cases in some casinos the older reel machines are not tied to the system, so your odds on those machines will likely stay more consistent as they won't change out the chips that often. Because of that I would expect those older machines to be set tighter. The difference between those casinos and cruise ships is that US land based casinos have to abide by strict gaming laws that limit how they can change the odds. For instance they cannot change the odds while a customer is actively playing a machine. I believe there is a 4 minute rest period before the odds can be adjusted. They also have a minimum payout percentage they cannot go below. This is not true on cruise ships where they are not subject to those US gaming laws so it's essentially a free for all. This is why your odds are generally much worse playing on a cruise ship than going to Vegas or your local casino.

 

All this being said I have won jackpots. I won 3 on my recent Constellation cruise (from $1600 to $1900) and 4 on my Eclipse cruise last year (from $1300 to $3800). But I do a lot of play so I still ended up down at the end of both cruises. Still, walked away with 75% of the money I brought on to spend for this last cruise. And the play my husband and I do gets us lots of perks through Blue Chip Club. We earned a free 7 night cruise in a Sky Suite based on our play from this most recent cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[miched]

I put 3 coins in the machine. Spun the wheel and it read that I won 2 coins. Got two coins back. According to the machine I won two but according to my math I lost one.

 

 

Technically it is right because when I put my money down on a table or in a machine it no longer belongs to me. I have to win it back. When you see the payoff amount that the casino has paid out it includes that two that you got back out of the 3 that you put in. All casinos brag about some type of payoff but you never see them publish how much they took in to pay out that amount, unless you get their financial statement from the stock owners meeting.

 

It is like going to an amusement park, or any entertainment venue. Pay the fee to ride the ride to get your thrill. The only difference in a casino is you have the chance to leave the ride with your money back plus a little more.

 

Good luck 🎰🎲

[jpcello]

Not Celebrity, but last summer my sister and I cruised Regal Princess to NE/Canada. First night after dinner I headed to the casino. Found the machines I like -- penny machines and the max bet is $1.25. There were three machines in a row. I sat down at the middle machine and played about $40 with nothing to show. Decided to move one machine to my right. Put $20 in and on next to the last spin hit the bonus spins. When all was said and done, I had hit not quite the jackpot but after counting the bonuses (11 of 12) I had won $7500. I've never won that much money in my life so it was a great way to start the cruise.

 

I never expect to win. I hope to break even. Winning $7500 was insane!

[dkjretired]

It used to be that way. On the older machines they would actually have to go in and swap out chips to adjust payout percentage. It was a lot of work so they would only do it a couple times during the cruise. Whether they increased or decreased the payout percentage likely would've depended on how much money they were taking in or paying out. On a Princess cruise in 2007 this is where we first noticed this happening. Machines that were paying out left and right the first few days of the cruise suddenly got tighter a few days into the cruise then tighter still a few days after that. They also would go and swap out the betting buttons and adjust the programming so that some machines now had a lower maximum bet you could play. I know all this can be done as I have an older IGT slot machine at home and my husband has swapped out the payout percentage chips on several occasions, so others saying that the payout percentage cannot be changed don't know what they are talking about.

 

That has all changed with the advent of server based gaming. Now through a computer database that ties to most of the machines in the casino they can adjust payout percentages, maximum bet, etc. at any moment from behind the scenes. And they do adjust those payout percentages throughout the cruise on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. You'll notice a surge in wins and jackpots generally each night around the time that the shows are getting out from the theater. They do this to get the attention of people passing through the casino hoping they'll stop and play. Then they'll draw the payout percentages back down about 30 minutes or so afterward. So you can't say that slots will be looser at the beginning versus the end of the cruise because they have the ability to change it at anytime.

 

They use that server based technology in most land based casinos now too. Aria in Vegas was the first casino to open with all of that in place, older casinos have had to retrofit. In some cases in some casinos the older reel machines are not tied to the system, so your odds on those machines will likely stay more consistent as they won't change out the chips that often. Because of that I would expect those older machines to be set tighter. The difference between those casinos and cruise ships is that US land based casinos have to abide by strict gaming laws that limit how they can change the odds. For instance they cannot change the odds while a customer is actively playing a machine. I believe there is a 4 minute rest period before the odds can be adjusted. They also have a minimum payout percentage they cannot go below. This is not true on cruise ships where they are not subject to those US gaming laws so it's essentially a free for all. This is why your odds are generally much worse playing on a cruise ship than going to Vegas or your local casino.

 

All this being said I have won jackpots. I won 3 on my recent Constellation cruise (from $1600 to $1900) and 4 on my Eclipse cruise last year (from $1300 to $3800). But I do a lot of play so I still ended up down at the end of both cruises. Still, walked away with 75% of the money I brought on to spend for this last cruise. And the play my husband and I do gets us lots of perks through Blue Chip Club. We earned a free 7 night cruise in a Sky Suite based on our play from this most recent cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Most of what you said is incorrect but I am not in a position to put up links.

[mrsgoggins]

 

We have an upcoming cruise on Infinity. In the past, we have not had enough wins in Celebrity casinos to justify spending a lot of time there. Has anyone won on slots in Celebrity casinos?

 

I turned $300 OBC into $330 of 'real' cash playing video poker on the Infinity during our recent Infinity Panama Canal cruise. Hardly a big win, but I would have been happy to get just 80% of the OBC in cash, so 110% really put a smile on my face.

[miched]

It used to be that way. On the older machines they would actually have to go in and swap out chips to adjust payout percentage. It was a lot of work so they would only do it a couple times during the cruise. Whether they increased or decreased the payout percentage likely would've depended on how much money they were taking in or paying out. On a Princess cruise in 2007 this is where we first noticed this happening. Machines that were paying out left and right the first few days of the cruise suddenly got tighter a few days into the cruise then tighter still a few days after that. They also would go and swap out the betting buttons and adjust the programming so that some machines now had a lower maximum bet you could play. I know all this can be done as I have an older IGT slot machine at home and my husband has swapped out the payout percentage chips on several occasions, so others saying that the payout percentage cannot be changed don't know what they are talking about.

 

That has all changed with the advent of server based gaming. Now through a computer database that ties to most of the machines in the casino they can adjust payout percentages, maximum bet, etc. at any moment from behind the scenes. And they do adjust those payout percentages throughout the cruise on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. You'll notice a surge in wins and jackpots generally each night around the time that the shows are getting out from the theater. They do this to get the attention of people passing through the casino hoping they'll stop and play. Then they'll draw the payout percentages back down about 30 minutes or so afterward. So you can't say that slots will be looser at the beginning versus the end of the cruise because they have the ability to change it at anytime.

 

They use that server based technology in most land based casinos now too. Aria in Vegas was the first casino to open with all of that in place, older casinos have had to retrofit. In some cases in some casinos the older reel machines are not tied to the system, so your odds on those machines will likely stay more consistent as they won't change out the chips that often. Because of that I would expect those older machines to be set tighter. The difference between those casinos and cruise ships is that US land based casinos have to abide by strict gaming laws that limit how they can change the odds. For instance they cannot change the odds while a customer is actively playing a machine. I believe there is a 4 minute rest period before the odds can be adjusted. They also have a minimum payout percentage they cannot go below. This is not true on cruise ships where they are not subject to those US gaming laws so it's essentially a free for all. This is why your odds are generally much worse playing on a cruise ship than going to Vegas or your local casino.

 

All this being said I have won jackpots. I won 3 on my recent Constellation cruise (from $1600 to $1900) and 4 on my Eclipse cruise last year (from $1300 to $3800). But I do a lot of play so I still ended up down at the end of both cruises. Still, walked away with 75% of the money I brought on to spend for this last cruise. And the play my husband and I do gets us lots of perks through Blue Chip Club. We earned a free 7 night cruise in a Sky Suite based on our play from this most recent cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Most of what you said is incorrect but I am not in a position to put up links.

 

Totally agree. Many myths that is all BS. I worked in a casino and the gaming commision had very strict rules and monitored everything. If their was a way to control the payoffs at certain times all of their friends and relatives would be cashing in at the right time. There are many theories that are false and if all of that BS was correct why wouldn't others be playing at the right time and why would the OP lose all of his winnings plus 25% of his original stake? Apparently he doesn't believe in his theory because he wasn't playing at the right times.

 

 

Oh, and by the way I was a card mechanic dealing all of the games and could manipulate the cards and deal out winning hands to the players that TIPPED. If you believe that I can also sell you a bridge.

 

 

Good luck 🎰🎲

[riclop]

My husband and I usually spend a lot of time playing slots on Royal Caribbean.

 

We have an upcoming cruise on Infinity. In the past, we have not had enough wins in Celebrity casinos to justify spending a lot of time there. Has anyone won on slots in Celebrity casinos?

They are not there for you to win ,it's not regulated .

[FastandFurious]

Retired now but law enforcement background. IF anyone on the ship could adjust the payout winning percentage in a dynamic fashion such as time or date what could possibly go wrong! I can think of multiple "enriching" scenarios without even breaking a mental sweat.

[Marelaine]

On our first cruise, I won $450 on the slots the first night. It was my gambling allowance the rest of the cruise. We broke even, but had fun. On Royal Princess a few years ago, I hit THE jackpot for $2800 on a progressive slot, at 11 pm the last night of the cruise. Re-invested that in a Celebrity cruise. On our last Celebrity cruise the the machines were really tight, and the payouts were teeny, but we did see another passenger hit a progressive jackpot for over $5K about mid cruise. There's no rhyme or reason to payouts. It's random.

[DYKWIA]

We made a very small profit on the slots on our last cruise by playing our OBC. The knack (for us) was to keep cashing out your winnings and not leaving the money in the machine. Once the winnings were cashed out that money didn't go back in the machine. The cruise before my wife didn't cash out as she was playing and despite winning $400 ended the cruise down.

[WonderMan3]

 

 

 

Totally agree. Many myths that is all BS. I worked in a casino and the gaming commision had very strict rules and monitored everything. If their was a way to control the payoffs at certain times all of their friends and relatives would be cashing in at the right time. There are many theories that are false and if all of that BS was correct why wouldn't others be playing at the right time and why would the OP lose all of his winnings plus 25% of his original stake? Apparently he doesn't believe in his theory because he wasn't playing at the right times.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and by the way I was a card mechanic dealing all of the games and could manipulate the cards and deal out winning hands to the players that TIPPED. If you believe that I can also sell you a bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck [emoji620][emoji456]

 

 

Um, you contradict your own statements. You say that the Gaming Commission (for land based casinos) monitors everything, which they do. So that's how a casino employee could not enrich friends and family, as there are tight controls. That being said, the casino has some leeway within those controls to change payout percentages within a certain range, adjust maximum or minimum bets, change denominations, control things like volatility of a machine (whether a machine gives frequent pays at a lower amount or less frequent pays at a larger amount). There are rules they have to follow but technology has given them a much easier way to change settings than a decade ago when machines all had to be adjusted manually. To bring this back to cruising I know for a fact that the newer ships have server based gaming. When I cruised on NCL Jade in 2009 the casino host told my husband and I that they had been testing out server type systems on their ships at that time and would roll it out in full on a ship when they launched Epic in 2011. He didn't give details about what they would or would not change on machines at any given time but he did confirm the technology was going to be used and I'm sure the other cruise lines have done the same. And you can research all the things that server based gaming can give the casino the ability to do to know what they are capable of. Not every casino is using this technology yet as it costly to retrofit so perhaps where you worked they were not doing this.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[chromered7]

My husband and I usually spend a lot of time playing slots on Royal Caribbean.

 

 

 

We have an upcoming cruise on Infinity. In the past, we have not had enough wins in Celebrity casinos to justify spending a lot of time there. Has anyone won on slots in Celebrity casinos?

 

 

Why waste money and time on a cruise just to waste your time on slot machines??????????? Just move Vegas

The House always wins.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[mrsgoggins]

We made a very small profit on the slots on our last cruise by playing our OBC. The knack (for us) was to keep cashing out your winnings and not leaving the money in the machine. Once the winnings were cashed out that money didn't go back in the machine.

 

This is my strategy exactly - and I broke even doing this in January and made a $30 profit a few weeks ago ($300 OBC each time). I love the challenge and note down amounts every time I play, so I am not just guessing that 'I broke even' :).

[DYKWIA]

This is my strategy exactly - and I broke even doing this in January and made a $30 profit a few weeks ago ($300 OBC each time). I love the challenge and note down amounts every time I play, so I am not just guessing that 'I broke even' :).

 

Even if you end up slightly down it's good challenge to get as much of the non refundable OBC (that you've paid for) back in your wallet rather than wasting it on over priced tutt in the gift shop, "never to be repeated" (until next cruise) counter sales, not very special editions of whisky, or the new $10 burgers.

[dkjretired]

 

 

Um, you contradict your own statements. You say that the Gaming Commission (for land based casinos) monitors everything, which they do. So that's how a casino employee could not enrich friends and family, as there are tight controls. That being said, the casino has some leeway within those controls to change payout percentages within a certain range, adjust maximum or minimum bets, change denominations, control things like volatility of a machine (whether a machine gives frequent pays at a lower amount or less frequent pays at a larger amount). There are rules they have to follow but technology has given them a much easier way to change settings than a decade ago when machines all had to be adjusted manually. To bring this back to cruising I know for a fact that the newer ships have server based gaming. When I cruised on NCL Jade in 2009 the casino host told my husband and I that they had been testing out server type systems on their ships at that time and would roll it out in full on a ship when they launched Epic in 2011. He didn't give details about what they would or would not change on machines at any given time but he did confirm the technology was going to be used and I'm sure the other cruise lines have done the same. And you can research all the things that server based gaming can give the casino the ability to do to know what they are capable of. Not every casino is using this technology yet as it costly to retrofit so perhaps where you worked they were not doing this.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I don't know how it was done but your quote should not be under my name, I never said the above things. Shows up on post #39.

[ChucktownSteve]

When we cruised the Mercury in 2011 the daily slot winnings posted in Celebrity Today averaged $40,000 per day. On the Equinox it averaged under $20,000 and when I sailed on Eclipse in January, they didn't even post it.

 

Seems like they tightened the slots quite a bit over the years. I stopped playing when the machines stop playing back but sucked up my money. I don't mind losing but I at least want some entertainment.

[mrsgoggins]

Even if you end up slightly down it's good challenge to get as much of the non refundable OBC (that you've paid for) back in your wallet rather than wasting it on over priced tutt in the gift shop, "never to be repeated" (until next cruise) counter sales, not very special editions of whisky, or the new $10 burgers.

 

I think you and I have much in common :D. We don't ever venture into the stores, the flyers for art sales, jewellery sales and various other invitations go straight into the bin and I don't go to the counter sales! Happy that other enjoy doing so though ;p

[leehal]

My husband and I usually spend a lot of time playing slots on Royal Caribbean.

 

We have an upcoming cruise on Infinity. In the past, we have not had enough wins in Celebrity casinos to justify spending a lot of time there. Has anyone won on slots in Celebrity casinos?

 

We won $600 on our last cruise, walked away and used it for paying off our on board spend, still have $400 left for this cruise.

[CrazyCruisersRUs]

Sometimes I'm lucky and break even, but no I put in more than I take out. I used to stay ahead, but I agree the slots are MUCH tighter than they used to be. I set a small limit that I'm willing to lose each cruise and when that's gone, I'm done. There are some cruises I never play slots at all.

[WonderMan3]

 

I don't know how it was done but your quote should not be under my name, I never said the above things. Shows up on post #39.

 

 

Have no idea what you're talking about. Post 39 shows up to me as my reply to miched's post.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[lostchild]

I don't know how it was done but your quote should not be under my name, I never said the above things. Shows up on post #39.

 

This is because in post #32, you quoted Wonderman3 but accidentally deleted the end quote tag. When miched quoted your post in #34, it makes it looks like he quoted Wonderman3. So when Wonderman3 quoted miched, it looks like he quoted you. When Wonderman3 replied to your post above, it looks like he was quoting himself. It is a gift that keeps on giving. LOL :D

[firegal2539]

Guindaf,

I am positive that ship and Indian owned land casinos are under different rules, they do not have to post the percentage on the slots 86 to 98%. The privately owned casinos have to give you this if you ask for it. I asked for the percentage on my last cruise and was told passengers don't get to see that. I could be wrong but it is what I have read and been told in casinos.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk