slot machines on Noordam

[cadu43]

This is probably a really silly question BUT are the slot machines on the Noordam tight on all days? Did anyone find they are looser on any particular day?

[james j feller]

CADU,

 

I never sailed on the NOORDAM but i have sailed on quite a lot of other HAL ships and to me the slots are all tight.

 

By the way i used to work at the DETROIT FREE PRESS CAMP on SLYVAN LAKE many moons ago, have you heard of it?

 

JIM

[Pokeynose]

They were loose on the Westerdam the first night, after that they were tight, this was 2 wks. ago.:mad:

[Sea Island Lady]

Two weeks ago on the Noordam, the slots were loose the first two nights and after that they paid horribly. I quit putting in my $10 a night on day 5, and bought 3 cruise lottery tickets instead. Figured my chances were better, but still didn't win. :(

 

HAL has started something new that I don't like - it's a gimmick to get you to spend more money in the slots. :rolleyes: Instead of giving change back, when you want to cash out, you have to put your room card in (this after setting up an account) and then the credit goes on your shipboard account. To re-use this credit, you put your card back in the machine. What they are trying to get you to do, is when you are out of the credit phase, you continue to spend/charge onto your account. I suspect that pretty soon, the casino will be a cash-free area and all transactions will be done with your room card.

 

Another thing they were doing on the Noordam...selling scratch-off lottery tickets for $1, each night in the casino.

[jtl513]

They were loose on the Westerdam the first night, after that they were tight,

 

Two weeks ago on the Noordam, the slots were loose the first two nights and after that they paid horribly.

I find it hard to believe that someone would go around at night during a cruise changing the programming on the slots. Besides, whenever I've ever heard of anyone hitting big payouts on the slots it was not early in the cruise.

[Pokeynose]

I find it hard to believe that someone would go around at night during a cruise changing the programming on the slots. Besides, whenever I've ever heard of anyone hitting big payouts on the slots it was not early in the cruise.

 

I never said they went around changing the slots, just that they didn't pay as well towards the end of the cruise. I got to know the Boss of the Casino and he said there was no way they could open the slots and change them and I believed him. You take your chances in any casino and if you expect to win all the time you better save your money. I went to have a good time and did, win or lose.:D

[jtl513]

I never said they went around changing the slots, just that they didn't pay as well towards the end of the cruise.

If they don't change the programming, then it's entirely happenstance whether they pay better early or late in a cruise.

[Pokeynose]

If they don't change the programming, then it's entirely happenstance whether they pay better early or late in a cruise.

 

You have your opinion and I have mine so let's just end it there. I'm a first time cruiser and you are the veteran so I guess I just don't know what I'm talking about.:rolleyes: I can't win.

[jtl513]

You have your opinion and I have mine so let's just end it there. I'm a first time cruiser and you are the veteran so I guess I just don't know what I'm talking about.:rolleyes: I can't win.

It has nothing to do with who has been on more cruises, and it's not a matter of opinion. Every slot machine in the world is programmed to pay out approximately a certain percentage. If that programming doesn't change, it is totally happenstance - including what happened on the previous cruise - whether a payout occurs early or late in the cruise.

[cadu43]

thanks all- Jim- I don't know the Detroit Free Press Camp- sorry. Hope all is good in Sterling Hts.

[Jade13]

Two weeks ago on the Noordam, the slots were loose the first two nights and after that they paid horribly. I quit putting in my $10 a night on day 5, and bought 3 cruise lottery tickets instead. Figured my chances were better, but still didn't win. :(

 

HAL has started something new that I don't like - it's a gimmick to get you to spend more money in the slots. :rolleyes: Instead of giving change back, when you want to cash out, you have to put your room card in (this after setting up an account) and then the credit goes on your shipboard account. To re-use this credit, you put your card back in the machine. What they are trying to get you to do, is when you are out of the credit phase, you continue to spend/charge onto your account. I suspect that pretty soon, the casino will be a cash-free area and all transactions will be done with your room card.

 

Another thing they were doing on the Noordam...selling scratch-off lottery tickets for $1, each night in the casino.

 

Can't you pay cash and receive cash back? If my DH spends cash he wants cash back as the ship board account would be in my name.

[sail7seas]

What happens if someone happens to hit a large slot jackpot and it is credited to their ship board bill but exceeds the amount of their onboard spending? At the end of the cruise, are they given the difference in cash? Do they have to go fight the long line at the office (people paying and/or disputing their bills) in order to get their cash.......the winnings they should have been given in the casino when they hit the jackpot?

 

 

That alone, in addition to smoke, is enough to keep me out of the casino and not gambling. The point of winning is to be given your 'pot' at the time. That is how one enjoys the fun of winning, No?

[Sea Island Lady]

jtl513 - I don't know about changing the slots mid cruise, but I do know that in all my 15 cruises, the same thing happens every cruise....the slots pay well the first couple of nights, and then they get tight.

 

This has been a discussion on many CC cruise boards. The assumption is that the slot computers are set at the beginning of a cruise, and they are set to pay well at first, and then decline throughout the week. I do not know anything about slot machines, or how to set them, so please do not try to get in an argument with me about them. All I know is what I have read on these boards, AND my first hand experience. ;)

 

The HAL slots were the worse I have seen, in that they almost seemed broken. I even hit something that should have paid triple (because I bid the max - which was 3X's) and the machine only paid me for a single bid. We had the manager over and he could not explain how the machine worked, or why I was cheated. In fact, he didn't seem to know anything other than how the new card system worked and he was really promoting it! :rolleyes: It WAS NOT a large amount that I had earned, so I just let it go.

 

Jade13 - You can use cash, but the machine will not pay out coins anymore (I missed that sound). If you want to cash out and move to another machine, you have to use the card system. You can also take your room key over to the cashier and get your credit in cash. No cashing in of coins.

 

sail7seas - As I mentioned above, you can still get your cash from the cashier. I imagine if you hit the jackpot, either a check, credit or cash would be given to you.

[Boytjie]

I find it hard to believe that someone would go around at night during a cruise changing the programming on the slots. Besides, whenever I've ever heard of anyone hitting big payouts on the slots it was not early in the cruise.

 

I guess $600 is not a huge payout on the slots, but I did hit that while waiting for the free raffle drawing in the casino our first night on the Zuiderdam. :)

 

I did not play much slots after that (so I can't comment whether it was looser or tighter). :D

 

Slots odds are just not great and always favor the casino. I don't think anyone goes around changing the odds. Is there any regulation of off shore slots? I guess not.

[sail7seas]

A $600 slot jackpot would be pretty big by my standards. I most assuredly would be very excited to win that sum. Congratulations!

[jtl513]

jtl513 - I don't know about changing the slots mid cruise, but I do know that in all my 15 cruises, the same thing happens every cruise....the slots pay well the first couple of nights, and then they get tight.

 

All I know is what I have read on these boards, AND my first hand experience. ;)

And the first hand experience of my DW and some friends on board have been just the opposite, winning large pay offs near the end of a cruise after having had only small ones early on.

[NetwrkEng]

Just as an FYI....I doubt if the cruise lines are on the leading edge of this but it will be coming...then just a few key strokes change them.

 

http://www.inbusinesslasvegas.com/2008/02/15/feature3.html

[Boytjie]

A $600 slot jackpot would be pretty big by my standards. I most assuredly would be very excited to win that sum. Congratulations!

 

Oh and I was quite excited and happy to win that! It paid for a couples massage on the beach (OK, in a cabana) at Half Moon Cay; to replace my smaller digital camera that died during the cruise; express service to have out shirts pressed for formal night and a few other things. :)

[cf_chuck]

Slots odds are just not great and always favor the casino.

 

The odds for any game of chance favor the casino. With slots, the casino has more wiggle room in setting the odds unless there is a regulatory policy that must be complied with.

 

I don't think anyone goes around changing the odds. Is there any regulation of off shore slots? I guess not.

 

I think that's a good guess. What agency would have the oversight responsibility to regulate the slots? But it's not just off shore considerations. Even some on-shore gaming establishments lack oversight.

[Djptcp]

If you have ever watched a program on slot machines (usually on the Travel Channel) you would know the slot machine payoff percentages are set at the factory. There isn't an employee in every casino in the world watching the slot machines and magically "tightening" or "loosening" them.

 

You may see signs in Vegas casinos saying "98% payout" on our slots. That means over the lifetime of the machine it will have paid off 98% of what it took in. Many people confuse this with when they sit down at a machine, they will get at least 98% back of what they put in. Doesn't work that way folks.

 

There are many myths about slots ("it's bound to pay off now because I've put alot of money into it already", for example) and you should watch one of these shows to get a feel for how the slots really work and why they are cash cows for the casinos. I'm a dedicated slot player and just take the wins with the losses!

[Boytjie]

The odds for any game of chance favor the casino. With slots, the casino has more wiggle room in setting the odds unless there is a regulatory policy that must be complied with.

 

The odds for games such as roulette can be mathematically calculated and is about 5%. With blackjack, the house edge in favor of the casino is less than 0.5%. Slots can have a house edge as high as 15%.

[catl331]

I've been wondering while reading this thread just how sophisticated the slot machine programming has gotten to be today. (I'm not referring to the server-based machines that NetwrkEng posted the article about, but just stand-alone machines.) Could one, for example, be set to do a 7-day cycle, with higher odds of payouts in the first days and automatically decreasing later on as Pokeynose and Sea Island Lady have suggested?

 

That would be useful to a cruise ship ... until it changed from a 7-day itinerary to a 10-day, or went though a repositioning cruise that was not an exact multiple of 7 days, and all the machines in the casino would have to be reprogrammed somehow.

 

Does anyone here have any recent experience in, or knowledge of slot programming?