Are the Slot Machines tighter in the Cruise Ship than Las Vegas?

[Palm_trees]

I love to spend time at the casino on the ship while cruising. But usually I do not have much luck with the slot machines in comparison to Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

 

I know that in general slot machines are a losing bet but I tend to come out ahead on the slots maybe 40% of the time I go to Las Vegas and maybe 20% of the time on cruise ships. I wonder if the slots are statistically tighter on cruises in comparison to American land based casinos. Anyone know?

[Grandpaul]

Yes they are.

[wtcruzr]

The Cruise Industry does not have to report their payout percentages to any Gameing Comission so we have no idea of what their payouts are. However they have to let us win sometime or we would stop feeding their little machines. Your on a cruise, set a daily gambling budget and have a good time! It's part of the entertainment.

 

(Kinda of self-delusional to think we are going to Vegas to get rich, is it not?)

[cb at sea]

If it's possible to be "tighter" than Vegas or Atlantic City, I'd have to say YES!!! They have no incentive to "entice" you to the casino--where else will you go????? I've never won ANYTHING on the ship's slots! Hubby has had some good runs at blackjack, but I've always gotten dealers that NEVER lose!

[blindrid]

Direct answer: Noone knows for sure as it is not public knowledge

 

My guess would be yes but I still see some pretty good winners from time to time - That's typically why I stay with table games.

[NYCFOD]

When I was on my first cruise I asked one of the dealers this question. In Australia, it's pretty much the law everywhere that the pokies (as they call slots back home) pay out 86% of what is fed in. The dealer on the Fair Princess told me that the casino industry has done a lot of research and found out that if they pay out less than 86% people stop feeding the slots. I suspect that is the case around the world. If gamers don't see some winning going on in the casino, they stop betting.

[keyguide]

My guess is that they are lower than the 86% outbound but even lower on the way home. Any thoughts?

[Cruzman]

I rarely play the slots on cruise ships. but I am a people watcher. In the casino on a cruise ship, winning on the slots is extremely rare. I have spoken to very few that actually came out ahead. Personally, I did come out $25 to the good on a cruise in 1978.

[JennyandJoeS]

YES, YES, they are tighter on cruise ships. I live in Las Vegas and they have tightened them up here, but at least sometimes you get a little play for your money, but not on a cruise ship. They just suck up your money and you are broke in no time. Really no fun when they are set that tight.:(

[RichardK]

My guess is that they are lower than the 86% outbound but even lower on the way home. Any thoughts?

 

People familiar with the business will all tell you that they do not change the payout on individual machines, banks of machines, or all the slots in the casino, daily, weekly or even monthly.

 

It is what it is..............................

[BruceMuzz]

By this point nearly everyone on planet earth knows that slot machines are a sucker's game. They have the worst odds of any game in the casino.

 

If you enjoy losing, quickly or slowly, play the slot machines.

 

It's no secret, you will lose all your money if you play them. The only question is: How many times will you need to pull the handle or push the button before your money is gone.

 

The payback odds are set on a computer chip. The machines pay back a certain percentage of the money that is paid in. The more often a machine is played, and the higher the bets placed, the more often it pays out.

 

In Vegas the machines at the end of the aisles tend to pay out more, and more often. Are the odds set differently on these machines? No.

The machines at the end of the aisles tend to be played more often, so they pay out more often.

 

It works the same with cruise ships. Slot machines on most cruise ships receive only a small fraction of play compared to Las Vegas. It's very simple math: You put less in and you get less out.

[gailc]

I never win on the slots on a cruise, but I sometimes lose less than $50 so that is a win for me!

 

JennyandJoeS - That's not what I wanted to find out. We're headed to Las Vegas tomorrow so not happy the machines are tighter! We do better in Vegas than on a cruise.

 

Gail

[NYteacher]

I have no doubt that the payoffs are very tight--but oh so enjoyable when you get extremely lucky.

 

DH and I won enough on a progressive slot jackpot that it paid for every possible expense connected with the cruise (including airfare) on HAL's Statendam in 2005.

[SelectSys]

They have no incentive to "entice" you to the casino--where else will you go?????

 

Absolutely! it's not as if one can go down the street to a competing casino when steaming at 20+ knots on the open ocean. The only worse bet on the ship is bingo. The payouts on bingo are probably under 20% of the take.

[reeran]

Pertaining to slots, we have been lucky on the ships...in other words we broke even or came close:eek: LOL

 

I was told by several people that the slots pay more in the beginning of the cruse so that you win a little and go back to the dining room or on an excursion and tell your friends & they in turn visit the casino, it would make sense but I don't know if it is true or not. I like to play black jack.

[rlmac1001]

First cruise I went on DH didn't want to do the Captains dinner. We went to the casino, I was not happy about it though. So I was pouting...lol I was walking around and found 2 quarters on the floor and went and sat at a machine 2 over from DH. Found 3 more quarters in the tray so I had enough for 1 play.

 

I won and won again and again... now I have 20 bucks in credits...yeah I am happy now. THEN I hit the progressive pay off and paid for our entire cruise, bar bill, did some shopping on the ship and still had a little left over.:D

 

Remember this was all done on 1.25 that I found to start with...LOL

[lakemurraykid]

Yes, the slots are definitely much tighter than in Vegas. Every now and then they will pay out a little just to get you to continue playing. We have never won anything that amounted to anything except on our last cruise. My DH won $400 at the dollar slots. That was it for us. But, playing slots is fun. We set an amount to spend each evening and when it's gone, that's it for us. We plan this into our cruise budget.:)

[chasetf]

By this point nearly everyone on planet earth knows that slot machines are a sucker's game. They have the worst odds of any game in the casino.

While I agree they are a "sucker's game", it is not true they have the worst odd of any casino game. The worst odds are Keno. ;)

[chasetf]

.... I wonder if the slots are statistically tighter on cruises in comparison to American land based casinos. Anyone know?

The reason the cruise ship slots are tighter than land based casinos is they have no competition. A LV casino knows you can walk next door if are dissatisified with their returns. ;)

[chasetf]

double post ...ugh

[cruzincurt]

The ships have lower payback percentages. The slot machine manufacturer's offer anywhere from 84% and up. The casino orders the chip installed with the payback percentage they want.

 

The payback percentage is calculated over the life of the machine. In Vegas they do indeed have different paybacks at the end of the aisles so passer bys see people winning. and want to join in. The machines on the way to the cashier cage and the buffet line are lower to yank that last coin out of you if you can't resist the urge while standing in line.

 

For banks of machines in Vegas, only one machine has to be set for say 98% to allow them to post the sign (small print "up to 98%) leading people to believe that all the machines in the bank have that payout.

[silentbob007]

The real money suckers are those penny and nickel slots. Of course, I won a whopping $30 in nickles on my cruise ... and ran like heck. :)

[NCTribeFan]

I won $500 one night on my first cruise. Put in about $25! I was happy!

 

I played the 2 cent slots for the first time on my Miracle cruise. I was hoping to win a BMW! HA!

 

It was fun, though. All this noise and it sounded like you were really hitting it big time. Then you discover you won $6.42. LOL.

 

I'd read some people really liked the Wheel of Fortune $1 slots. I'd normally only played the quarter slots, since those $1 machines can really clean you out quickly. I played the quarter Wheel of Fortune and cleared about $85 one night.

 

Last night on the Miracle, I'd had a little too much wine (had to finish off that bottle from dinner and use up those drink coupons!). I put in about $150 in the Wheel of Fortune Red, White & Blue $1 slot and cashed out with $899!

 

Problem is, next time I cruise, I'll keep trying to duplicate that win, just like I did on every cruise after the first, and they'll just get it all back.