Mesin slot
Sebuah mesin slot (American English), dikenal juga dengan variasi mesin buah (British English), puggy (Scottish English),[1] the slots (Canadian English dan American English), mesin poker/pokies (Australian English dan New Zealand English), fruities (British English) atau slots (American English), adalah sebuah mesin perjudian yang menciptakan sebuah permainan peluang untuk konsumennya. Mesin slot juga dikenal secara pejoratif sebagai bandit satu-tangan Karena lengan mekanikal besarnya yang ditempatkan pada sisi dari versi mesin mekanikal awalnya dan permainan yang 'memiliki kemampuan untuk mengosongkan' kantong dan dompet pemainnya seperti yang dilakukan penjahat.
Sebuah mesin slot memiliki tampilan standar dengan fitur sebuah layar menampilkan rel atau gulungan yang "berputar" saat permainan diaktifkan. Beberapa mesin slot modern masih mengikutkan sebuah tungkai sebagai sebuah umpan desain skeuomorfik untuk memicu pemain. Bagaimanapun, mekanis dari mesin terdahulu telah digantikan oleh generator nomor acak, dan sekarang telah digunakan tombol dan layar sentuh.
Mesin slot memiliki satu atau lebih detektor mata uang yang menvalidasi bentuk pembayaran, apakah koin, uang tunai, kupon, atau token. Mesin akan membayarkan menurut kepada pola dari simbol yang ditampilkan ketika rel-rel berhenti "berputar". Mesin slot adalah metode perjudian yang paling terkenal dalam kasino dan menyumbang sekitar 70% dari rata-rata pemasukan kasino Amerika Serikat.[2]
Teknologi digital telah menghasilkan variasi dalam konsep asli mesin slot. Seperti pemain pada dasarnya memainkan permainan video, pabrikan dapat menawarkan lebih banyak element yang menarik, seperti babak bonus lanjutan dan grafik video yang lebih variasi.
Etimologi
Julukan "mesin slot" datang dari tema slot dalam mesin untuk memasukkan dan mengeluarkan koin.[3] "Mesin buah" datang dari gambar buah tradisional pada rel putaran seperti lemon dan cherry.[4]
Sejarah
Sittman dan Pitt dari Brooklyn, New York mengembangkan sebuah mesin perjudian pada tahun 1891 yang merupakan cikal bakal mesin slot modern. Mesin itu memiliki lima drum yang menahan total 50 kartu terbuka dan didasarkan pada poker. Mesin itu terbukti sangat populer, dan tidak lama banyak bar dalam kota memiliki satu atau lebih dari mesin ini. Pemain akan memasukkan sebuah koin uang dan menarik sebuah tangkai, yang kemudian memutar drum dan kartu yang ada pada mereka, Sang pemain akan mengharapkan kombinasi kartu tangan poker yang bagus muncul. Di sini tidak ada mekanisme pembayaran langsung, jadi sebuah pair king mungkin memberikan pemain segelas bir gratis, yang kemudian royal flush dapat pembayaran sebuah cerutu atau minuman; Hadiah bergantung sepenuhnya kepada tawaran dari pemilik mesin. Untuk meningkatkan kesempatan poker house, dua kartu biasanya dikeluarkan dari set remi, sepuluh sekop dan jack hati, menggandakan peluang melawan kemenangan sebuah royal flush. Drum tersebut juga dapat diatur untuk mengurangi peluang kemenangan pemain.
Karena besarnya angka dari kemungkinan menang dalam permainan aslit berbasis poker, itu membuktikan secara praktik tidak mungkin membuat mesin yang mampu menghadiahkan sebuah pembayaran otomatis untuk semua kemungkinan kombinasi kemenangannya. Pada suatu waktu antara 1887 dan 1895,[5] Charles Fey dari San Francisco, California merancang sebuah mekanisme otomatis yang jauh lebih sederhana[6] dengan tiga rel putaran mengandung total lima simbol: ladam, berlian, sekop, hati dan sebuah lonceng Liberty; Lonceng yang kemudian memberikan nama pada mesin ini. Dengan menggantikan sepuluh kartu dengan lima simbol dan menggunakan tiga rel ketimbang 5 drum, kerumitan membaca kemenangan pun dapat dikecilkan, memungkinkan Fey untuk mendesain sebuah mekanisme pembayaran otomatis yang efektif. Tiga lonceng dalam sebaris akan menghasilkan pembayaran terbesar, sepuluh nickel (50¢). Lonceng Liberty adalah sebuah sukses besar dan memunculkan sebuah alat mekanikal permainan yang bertahan dalam industrinya. Setelah beberapa tahun, alat tersebut dilarang di California, tetapi Fey tetap tidak mampu memenuhi permintaan pesanan alat tersebut dari daerah lain. Mesin lonceng Liberty sangat populer sehingga banyak di tiru oleh pabrikan pembuat mesin slot. Pertama dari mesin ini, juga dinamakan "Lonceng Liberty", diproduksi oleh pabrikan Herbert Mills dalam 1907. Pada 1908, banyak mesin "lonceng" yang kebanyakan telah dipasangkan dalam toko cerutu, salon, arena boling, rumah bordil dan tukang pangkas.[7] Mesin Awalnya, termasuk sebuah Lonceng Liberty tahun 1899, sekarang adalah bagian dari koleksi Fey dalam Museum Nevada.[8]
Mesin pertama Lonceng Liberty diproduksi oleh Mills menggunakan simbol yang sama dengan rel seperti yang asli dari desain Charles Fey. Tidak lama kemudian, mesin diproduksi dengan menggunakan simbol yang lebih patriotik, seperti bendera dan lingkaran, pada roda. Setelahnya, sebuah mesin serupa dengan panggilan Lonceng Operator diproduksi yang menyertakan pilihan untuk menambahkan perekatan mesin pengeluar permen karet. Seperti permen karet yang menawarkan rasa buah-buahan, simbol buahan diletakkan dalam rel, seperti: lemon, ceri, jeruk dan prem. Simbol lonceng pun ditarik, dan sebuah gambar dari tongkat permen karet buah-lonceng, simbol bar aslinya, juga dihadirkan. Set simbol ini terbukti sangat populer dan digunakan oleh perusahaan lain yang mulai membuat mesin slot mereka sendiri: Caille, Watling, Jennings dan Pace.[9]
Sebuah tehnik yang umum dipakai untuk menghindari hukum perjudian dalam sejumlah negara bagian adalah menghadiahkan makanan. Untuk alasan inilah, ada sejumlah mesin bola-permen karet dan mesin penjual yang sayangnya disalah pahami oleh pihak berwenang. Kedua kasus Iowa dari State v. Ellis[10] dan State v. Striggles[11] digunakan oleh kelas hukum kriminal untuk mengilustrasikan konsep dari ketergantungan pada otoritas seperti kaitan pada aksiomatik kata ignorantia juris non excusat ("ketidakpedulian pada hukum bukanlah alasan").[12] Dalam kasus ini, mesin penjual permen mint dinyatakan sebagai sebuah alat mesin perjudian karena mesin tersebut, secara peluang diproduksi internal, dan sering memberikan pengguna selanjutnya sejumlah token penukaran untuk lebih banyak permen. Walaupun hasil dari penayangan penggunaan oleh pemakai selanjutnya dari mesin, pengadilan mengeluarkan aturan bahwa "Mesin tampak seperti peluang untuk pemain berjudi, dan demikian juga sebaliknya".[13]
Pada 1963, Bally mengembangkan mesin slot pertama yang eletromekanikal secara penuh dengan sebutan Money Honey (Walau mesin awalnya seperti mesin Bally's High Hand draw-poker telah menunjukkan dasar dari konstruksi elektromekanikal semenjak 1940). Tugas dari elektromekanikalnya yang membuat Money Honey mesin slot pertama dengan pelompat tanpa dasar dan pembayaran otomatis hingga 500 koin tanpa bantuan dari seorang petugas.[14] Kepopuleran dari mesin ini yang berujuna pada peningkatan pra-dominasi dari permainan elektronik, dengan tuas sisi segera menjadi sebuah vestigialitas.
Mesin slot video pertama dikembangkan pada 1976 di Kearny Mesa, California oleh Las Vegas–basis Fortune Coin Co. Mesin ini menggunakan sebuah modifikasi dari 19-inci (48 cm) Sony Trinitron reseptor warna untuk layar dan papan logiknya untuk semua fungsi mesin-slot. Purwarupanya kemudian dipakaikan dalam lemari siap-pajang mesin-slot, ukuran-penuh. Produksi unit pertama memasuki percobaan pada Hotel Hilton Las Vegas. Setelah beberapa modifikasi untuk mengalahkan percobaan curang, mesin slot video disetujui oleh Komisi Permainan Negara Bagian Nevada dan kebetulan menemukan kepopuleran pada Las Vegas Strip dan di kasino pada pusat kota. Fortune Coin Co. dan teknologi mesin slot videonya dibeli oleh IGT (Perusahaan Teknologi Permainan Internasional) pada tahun 1978.[butuh rujukan]
Mesin slot video pertama Amerika yang menawarkan sebuah "layar kedua" babak bonus adalah Reel ’Em In, dikembangkan oleh WMS Industries pada tahun 1996.[15] Mesin tipe ini telah muncul di Australia dari setidaknya tahun 1994 dengan Permainan Three Bags Full.[16] Dengan mesin tipe ini, layar akan berganti untuk menyediakan sebuah permainan lain dimana pembayaran tambahan akan dihadiahkan.
Pengoperasian
Tergantung mesinnya, pemain dapat memasukkan uang kontan atau, masukkan "tiket masuk dan keluar" ke mesin, selembar tiket dengan sebuah barcode, masuk ke dalam mesin slot dengan desain sedemikian rupa. Mesin kemudian diaktifkan dengan tuas atau tombol (baik fisik atau sebuah layar sentuh), yang mana mengaktifkan rel yang memutar dan berhenti untuk menyusun kembali simbol-simbol. Jika seorang pemain mencocokkan kombinasi kemenangan dari simbol-simbol, pemain mendapatkan kredit berdasarkan tabel pembayaran. Simbol-simbol bervariasi tergantung dari tema dari mesin. Simbol-simbol klasik termasuk objek seperti buah-buahan, lonceng, angka keberuntungan tujuh. Kebanyakan permainan slot memiliki them, seperti estetika khusus, lokasi, atau karakter. Simbol-simbol dan fitur bonus lain dari permainan adalah bertipe sejalan dengan temanya. Beberapa tema berlisensi dari waralaba media populer, termasuk film-film, serial televisi (termasuk game shows seperti Wheel of Fortune), hiburan dan musisi.
Mesin slot bergaris jamak menjadi semakin populer sejak 1990. Mesin-mesin ini memiliki lebih dari satu garis pembayaran, artinya simbol-simbol terlihat yang tidak segaris dengan garis horizontal utama dapat dipertimbangkan sebagai kombinasi kemenangan. Mesin slot tradisional tiga-rel umumnya memiliki satu, tiga dan lime garis pembayaran sedangkan mesin slot video mungkin memiliki 9, 15, 25, atau sebanyak 1024 garis pembayaran berbeda. Kebanyakan menerima bervariasi angka kredit untuk memainkannya, dengan 1 sampai 15 kredit per garis umumnya. Semakin tinggi jumlah taruhan, semakin tinggi pembayarannya jika pemain menang.
Salah satu perbedaan utama antara mesin slot video dan mesin rel adalah dalam cara menghitung pembayaran keluar. Dengan mesin rel, satu-satunya cara untuk menang jackpot maksimum adalah dengan bermain sejumlah koin maksimum (umumnya tiga, terkadang empat atau bahkan lima koin perputaran). Dengan mesin slot video, nilai pembayaran tetap dikalikan oleh jumlah koin per garis yang dipertaruhkan. Dengan kata lain: pada mesin rel, pertaruhannya lebih disukai bila penjudi memainkan dengan jumlah koin maksimum yang sebisanya.[17] Bagaimanapun, tergantung pada struktur permainan dan fitur bonusnya, beberapa slot video mungkin masih mengikutkan fitur yang dapat meningkatkan peluan dalam pembayaran dengan membuat taruhan ditingkatkan.
Permainan "Multi-way" menjauhkan garis pembayaran tetap untuk mengutamakan perbolehan pembayaran simbol-simbol dimanapun, sepanjang setidaknya ada satu di antara tiga rel beruntun dari kiri ke kanan. Permainan "Multi-way" mungkin disetel untuk memperbolehkan pemain bertaruh per-rel: untuk contoh, dalam sebuah permainan dengan sebuah pola 3x5 (sering direferensikan pada permainan sebanyak 243-cara), bermain satu rel memperbolehkan semua tiga simbol dalam rel pertama untuk berpotensi dibayar, tapi hanya pada baris tengah membayar untuk rel sisanya (sering disetel dengan menggelapkan porsi dari rel tidak terpakai). Permainan multi-way lain menggunakan sebuah pola 4x5 atau 5x5, dimana disana ada hingga lima simbol dalam setiap rel, membolehkan sampai 1.024 dan 3.125 cara untuk menang masing-masing. Permainan pabrikan Australia bermerk Aristocrat Leisure menhadirkan sistem ini sebagai "Reel Power", "Xtra Reel Power" dan "Super Reel Power" masing-masing. Sebuah variasi melibatkan pola dimana simbol bayarkan bersebelahan satu sama lain. Kebanyakan dari permainan ini memiliki sebuah formasi rel heksagonal, dan sangat mirip permainan multi-way, setiap pola tidak termainkan akan digelapkan dari penggunaan.
Denominasi dapat berjarak dari 1 sen ("slot penny") sampai pada $100,00 atau lebih per kredit. Tangganya dikenal secara umum sebagai mesin "limit tinggi", dan mesin yang menyetel memperbolehkan taruhan seperti itu umumnya terletak dalam area tersendiri (yang mana mungkin memiliki tim petugas terpisah untuk melayani kebutuhan dari siapa yang bermain di sana). Mesin akan menghitung secara otomatis kredit dari yang diterima oleh pemain untuk penukaran uang kontang yang dimasukkan. Mesin terbaru mengizinkan pemain untuk memilih dari pilihan denominasi dalam layar buyar atau menu.
Terminologi
A bonus is a special feature of the particular game theme, which is activated when certain symbols appear in a winning combination. Bonuses and the number of bonus features vary depending upon the game. Some bonus rounds are a special session of free spins (the number of which is often based on the winning combination that triggers the bonus), often with a different or modified set of winning combinations as the main game and/or other multipliers or increased frequencies of symbols, or a "hold and re-spin" mechanic in which specific symbols (usually marked with values of credits or other prizes) are collected and locked in place over a finite number of spins. In other bonus rounds, the player is presented with several items on a screen from which to choose. As the player chooses items, a number of credits is revealed and awarded. Some bonuses use a mechanical device, such as a spinning wheel, that works in conjunction with the bonus to display the amount won.
A candle is a light on top of the slot machine. It flashes to alert the operator that change is needed, hand pay is requested or a potential problem with the machine. It can be lit by the player by pressing the "service" or "help" button.
Carousel refers to a grouping of slot machines, usually in a circle or oval formation.
A coin hopper is a container where the coins that are immediately available for payouts are held. The hopper is a mechanical device that rotates coins into the coin tray when a player collects credits/coins (by pressing a "Cash Out" button). When a certain preset coin capacity is reached, a coin diverter automatically redirects, or "drops", excess coins into a "drop bucket" or "drop box". (Unused coin hoppers can still be found even on games that exclusively employ Ticket-In, Ticket-Out technology, as a vestige.)
The credit meter is a display of the amount of money or number of credits on the machine. On mechanical slot machines, this is usually a seven-segment display, but video slot machines typically use stylized text that suits the game's theme and user interface.
The drop bucket or drop box is a container located in a slot machine's base where excess coins are diverted from the hopper. Typically, a drop bucket is used for low-denomination slot machines and a drop box is used for high-denomination slot machines. A drop box contains a hinged lid with one or more locks whereas a drop bucket does not contain a lid. The contents of drop buckets and drop boxes are collected and counted by the casino on a scheduled basis.
EGM is short for "Electronic Gaming Machine".
Free spins are a common form of bonus, where a series of spins are automatically played at no charge at the player's current wager. Free spins are usually triggered via a scatter of at least three designated symbols (with the number of spins dependent on the number of symbols that land). Some games allow the free spins bonus to "retrigger", which adds additional spins on top of those already awarded. There is no theoretical limit to the number of free spins obtainable. Some games may have other features that can also trigger over the course of free spins.
A hand pay refers to a payout made by an attendant or at an exchange point ("cage"), rather than by the slot machine itself. A hand pay occurs when the amount of the payout exceeds the maximum amount that was preset by the slot machine's operator. Usually, the maximum amount is set at the level where the operator must begin to deduct taxes. A hand pay could also be necessary as a result of a short pay.
Hopper fill slip is a document used to record the replenishment of the coin in the coin hopper after it becomes depleted as a result of making payouts to players. The slip indicates the amount of coin placed into the hoppers, as well as the signatures of the employees involved in the transaction, the slot machine number and the location and the date.
MEAL book (Machine entry authorization log) is a log of the employee's entries into the machine.
Low-level or slant-top slot machines include a stool so the player may sit down. Stand-up or upright slot machines are played while standing.
Optimal play is a payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game.
Payline is a line that crosses through one symbol on each reel, along which a winning combination is evaluated. Classic spinning reel machines usually have up to nine paylines, while video slot machines may have as many as one hundred. Paylines could be of various shapes (horizontal, vertical, oblique, triangular, zigzag, etc.)
Persistent state refers to passive features on some slot machines, some of which able to trigger bonus payouts or other special features if certain conditions are met over time by players on that machine.[18]
Roll-up is the process of dramatizing a win by playing sounds while the meters count up to the amount that has been won.
Short pay refers to a partial payout made by a slot machine, which is less than the amount due to the player. This occurs if the coin hopper has been depleted as a result of making earlier payouts to players. The remaining amount due to the player is either paid as a hand pay or an attendant will come and refill the machine.
A scatter is a pay combination based on occurrences of a designated symbol landing anywhere on the reels, rather than falling in sequence on the same payline. A scatter pay usually requires a minimum of three symbols to land, and the machine may offer increased prizes or jackpots depending on the number that land. Scatters are frequently used to trigger bonus games, such as free spins (with the number of spins multiplying based on the number of scatter symbols that land). The scatter symbol usually cannot be matched using wilds, and some games may require the scatter symbols to appear on consecutive reels in order to pay. On some multiway games, scatter symbols still pay in unused areas.
Taste is a reference to the small amount often paid out to keep a player seated and continuously betting. Only rarely will machines fail to pay even the minimum out over the course of several pulls.
Tilt is a term derived from electromechanical slot machines' "tilt switches", which would make or break a circuit when they were tilted or otherwise tampered with that triggered an alarm. While modern machines no longer have tilt switches, any kind of technical fault (door switch in the wrong state, reel motor failure, out of paper, etc.) is still called a "tilt".
A theoretical hold worksheet is a document provided by the manufacturer for every slot machine that indicates the theoretical percentage the machine should hold based on the amount paid in. The worksheet also indicates the reel strip settings, number of coins that may be played, the payout schedule, the number of reels and other information descriptive of the particular type of slot machine.
Volatility or variance refers to the measure of risk associated with playing a slot machine. A low-volatility slot machine has regular but smaller wins, while a high-variance slot machine has fewer but bigger wins.
Weight count is an American term referring to the total value of coins or tokens removed from a slot machine's drop bucket or drop box for counting by the casino's hard count team through the use of a weigh scale.
Wild symbols substitute for most other symbols in the game (similarly to a joker card), usually excluding scatter and jackpot symbols (or offering a lower prize on non-natural combinations that include wilds). How jokers behave are dependent on the specific game and whether the player is in a bonus or free games mode. Sometimes wild symbols may only appear on certain reels, or have a chance to "stack" across the entire reel.
Pay table
Each machine has a table that lists the number of credits the player will receive if the symbols listed on the pay table line up on the pay line of the machine. Some symbols are wild and can represent many, or all, of the other symbols to complete a winning line. Especially on older machines, the pay table is listed on the face of the machine, usually above and below the area containing the wheels. On video slot machines, they are usually contained within a help menu, along with information on other features.
Technology
Reels
Historically, all slot machines used revolving mechanical reels to display and determine results. Although the original slot machine used five reels, simpler, and therefore more reliable, three reel machines quickly became the standard.
A problem with three reel machines is that the number of combinations is only cubic – the original slot machine with three physical reels and 10 symbols on each reel had only 103 = 1,000 possible combinations. This limited the manufacturer's ability to offer large jackpots since even the rarest event had a likelihood of 0.1%. The maximum theoretical payout, assuming 100% return to player would be 1000 times the bet, but that would leave no room for other pays, making the machine very high risk, and also quite boring.
Although the number of symbols eventually increased to about 22, allowing 10,648 combinations,[19] this still limited jackpot sizes as well as the number of possible outcomes.
In the 1980s, however, slot machine manufacturers incorporated electronics into their products and programmed them to weight particular symbols. Thus the odds of losing symbols appearing on the payline became disproportionate to their actual frequency on the physical reel. A symbol would only appear once on the reel displayed to the player, but could, in fact, occupy several stops on the multiple reel.
In 1984, Inge Telnaes received a patent for a device titled, "Electronic Gaming Device Utilizing a Random Number Generator for Selecting the Reel Stop Positions" (US Patent 4448419),[20] which states: "It is important to make a machine that is perceived to present greater chances of payoff than it actually has within the legal limitations that games of chance must operate."[21] The patent was later bought by International Game Technology and has since expired.
A virtual reel that has 256 virtual stops per reel would allow up to 2563 = 16,777,216 final positions. The manufacturer could choose to offer a $1 million jackpot on a $1 bet, confident that it will only happen, over the long term, once every 16.8 million plays.
Computerization
With microprocessors now ubiquitous, the computers inside modern slot machines allow manufacturers to assign a different probability to every symbol on every reel. To the player, it might appear that a winning symbol was "so close", whereas in fact the probability is much lower.
In the 1980s in the U.K., machines embodying microprocessors became common. These used a number of features to ensure the payout was controlled within the limits of the gambling legislation. As a coin was inserted into the machine, it could go either directly into the cashbox for the benefit of the owner or into a channel that formed the payout reservoir, with the microprocessor monitoring the number of coins in this channel. The drums themselves were driven by stepper motors, controlled by the processor and with proximity sensors monitoring the position of the drums. A "look-up table" within the software allows the processor to know what symbols were being displayed on the drums to the gambler. This allowed the system to control the level of payout by stopping the drums at positions it had determined. If the payout channel had filled up, the payout became more generous; if nearly empty, the payout became less so (thus giving good control of the odds).
Video slot machines
Video slot machines do not use mechanical reels, but use graphical reels on a computerized display. As there are no mechanical constraints on the design of video slot machines, games often use at least five reels, and may also use non-standard layouts. This greatly expands the number of possibilities: a machine can have 50 or more symbols on a reel, giving odds as high as 300 million to 1 against – enough for even the largest jackpot. As there are so many combinations possible with five reels, manufacturers do not need to weight the payout symbols (although some may still do so). Instead, higher paying symbols will typically appear only once or twice on each reel, while more common symbols earning a more frequent payout will appear many times. Video slot machines usually make more extensive use of multimedia, and can feature more elaborate minigames as bonuses. Modern cabinets typically use flat-panel displays, but cabinets using larger curved screens (which can provide a more immersive experience for the player) are not uncommon.[22]
Video slot machines typically encourage the player to play multiple "lines": rather than simply taking the middle of the three symbols displayed on each reel, a line could go from top left to the bottom right or any other pattern specified by the manufacturer. As each symbol is equally likely, there is no difficulty for the manufacturer in allowing the player to take as many of the possible lines on offer as desire – the long-term return to the player will be the same. The difference for the player is that the more lines they play, the more likely they are to get paid on a given spin (because they are betting more).
To avoid seeming as if the player's money is simply ebbing away (whereas a payout of 100 credits on a single-line machine would be 100 bets and the player would feel they had made a substantial win, on a 20-line machine, it would only be five bets and not seem as significant), manufacturers commonly offer bonus games, which can return many times their bet. The player is encouraged to keep playing to reach the bonus: even if they are losing, the bonus game could allow them to win back their losses.
Random number generators
All modern machines are designed using pseudorandom number generators ("PRNGs"), which are constantly generating a sequence of simulated random numbers, at a rate of hundreds or perhaps thousands per second. As soon as the "Play" button is pressed, the most recent random number is used to determine the result. This means that the result varies depending on exactly when the game is played. A fraction of a second earlier or later and the result would be different.
It is important that the machine contains a high-quality RNG implementation. Because all PRNGs must eventually repeat their number sequence[23] and, if the period is short or the PRNG is otherwise flawed, an advanced player may be able to "predict" the next result. Having access to the PRNG code and seed values, Ronald Dale Harris, a former slot machine programmer, discovered equations for specific gambling games like Keno that allowed him to predict what the next set of selected numbers would be based on the previous games played.
Most machines are designed to defeat this by generating numbers even when the machine is not being played so the player cannot tell where in the sequence they are, even if they know how the machine was programmed.
Payout percentage
Slot machines are typically programmed to pay out as winnings 0% to 99% of the money that is wagered by players. This is known as the "theoretical payout percentage" or RTP, "return to player". The minimum theoretical payout percentage varies among jurisdictions and is typically established by law or regulation. For example, the minimum payout in Nevada is 75%, in New Jersey 83%, and in Mississippi 80%. The winning patterns on slot machines – the amounts they pay and the frequencies of those payouts – are carefully selected to yield a certain fraction of the money paid to the "house" (the operator of the slot machine) while returning the rest to the players during play. Suppose that a certain slot machine costs $1 per spin and has a return to player (RTP) of 95%. It can be calculated that, over a sufficiently long period such as 1,000,000 spins, the machine will return an average of $950,000 to its players, who have inserted $1,000,000 during that time. In this (simplified) example, the slot machine is said to pay out 95%. The operator keeps the remaining $50,000. Within some EGM development organizations this concept is referred to simply as "par". "Par" also manifests itself to gamblers as promotional techniques: "Our 'Loose Slots' have a 93% payback! Play now!"[butuh rujukan]
A slot machine's theoretical payout percentage is set at the factory when the software is written. Changing the payout percentage after a slot machine has been placed on the gaming floor requires a physical swap of the software or firmware, which is usually stored on an EPROM but may be loaded onto non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) or even stored on CD-ROM or DVD, depending on the capabilities of the machine and the applicable regulations. Based on current technology, this is a time-consuming process and as such is done infrequently.[rujukan?]
In certain jurisdictions, such as New Jersey, the EPROM has a tamper-evident seal and can only be changed in the presence of Gaming Control Board officials. Other jurisdictions, including Nevada, randomly audit slot machines to ensure that they contain only approved software.
Historically, many casinos, both online and offline, have been unwilling to publish individual game RTP figures, making it impossible for the player to know whether they are playing a "loose" or a "tight" game. Since the turn of the century, some information regarding these figures has started to come into the public domain either through various casinos releasing them—primarily this applies to online casinos—or through studies by independent gambling authorities.[butuh rujukan]
The return to player is not the only statistic that is of interest. The probabilities of every payout on the pay table is also critical. For example, consider a hypothetical slot machine with a dozen different values on the pay table. However, the probabilities of getting all the payouts are zero except the largest one. If the payout is 4,000 times the input amount, and it happens every 4,000 times on average, the return to player is exactly 100%, but the game would be dull to play. Also, most people would not win anything, and having entries on the paytable that have a return of zero would be deceptive. As these individual probabilities are closely guarded secrets, it is possible that the advertised machines with high return to player simply increase the probabilities of these jackpots. The casino could legally place machines of a similar style payout and advertise that some machines have 100% return to player. The added advantage is that these large jackpots increase the excitement of the other players.
The table of probabilities for a specific machine is called the Probability and Accounting Report or PAR sheet, also PARS commonly understood as Paytable and Reel Strips. Mathematician Michael Shackleford revealed the PARS for one commercial slot machine, an original International Gaming Technology Red White and Blue machine. This game, in its original form, is obsolete, so these specific probabilities do not apply. He only published the odds after a fan of his sent him some information provided on a slot machine that was posted on a machine in the Netherlands. The psychology of the machine design is quickly revealed. There are 13 possible payouts ranging from 1:1 to 2,400:1. The 1:1 payout comes every 8 plays. The 5:1 payout comes every 33 plays, whereas the 2:1 payout comes every 600 plays. Most players assume the likelihood increases proportionate to the payout. The one mid-size payout that is designed to give the player a thrill is the 80:1 payout. It is programmed to occur an average of once every 219 plays. The 80:1 payout is high enough to create excitement, but not high enough that it makes it likely that the player will take their winnings and abandon the game. More than likely the player began the game with at least 80 times his bet (for instance there are 80 quarters in $20). In contrast the 150:1 payout occurs only on average of once every 6,241 plays. The highest payout of 2,400:1 occurs only on average of once every 643 = 262,144 plays since the machine has 64 virtual stops. The player who continues to feed the machine is likely to have several mid-size payouts, but unlikely to have a large payout. He quits after he is bored or has exhausted his bankroll.[butuh rujukan]
Despite their confidentiality, occasionally a PAR sheet is posted on a website. They have limited value to the player, because usually a machine will have 8 to 12 different possible programs with varying payouts. In addition, slight variations of each machine (e.g., with double jackpots or five times play) are always being developed. The casino operator can choose which EPROM chip to install in any particular machine to select the payout desired. The result is that there is not really such a thing as a high payback type of machine, since every machine potentially has multiple settings. From October 2001 to February 2002, columnist Michael Shackleford obtained PAR sheets for five different nickel machines; four IGT games Austin Powers, Fortune Cookie, Leopard Spots and Wheel of Fortune and one game manufactured by WMS; Reel 'em In. Without revealing the proprietary information, he developed a program that would allow him to determine with usually less than a dozen plays on each machine which EPROM chip was installed. Then he did a survey of over 400 machines in 70 different casinos in Las Vegas. He averaged the data, and assigned an average payback percentage to the machines in each casino. The resultant list was widely publicized for marketing purposes (especially by the Palms casino which had the top ranking).[butuh rujukan]
One reason that the slot machine is so profitable to a casino is that the player must play the high house edge and high payout wagers along with the low house edge and low payout wagers. In a more traditional wagering game like craps, the player knows that certain wagers have almost a 50/50 chance of winning or losing, but they only pay a limited multiple of the original bet (usually no higher than three times). Other bets have a higher house edge, but the player is rewarded with a bigger win (up to thirty times in craps). The player can choose what kind of wager he wants to make. A slot machine does not afford such an opportunity. Theoretically, the operator could make these probabilities available, or allow the player to choose which one so that the player is free to make a choice. However, no operator has ever enacted this strategy. Different machines have different maximum payouts, but without knowing the odds of getting the jackpot, there is no rational way to differentiate.
In many markets where central monitoring and control systems are used to link machines for auditing and security purposes, usually in wide area networks of multiple venues and thousands of machines, player return must usually be changed from a central computer rather than at each machine. A range of percentages is set in the game software and selected remotely.
In 2006, the Nevada Gaming Commission began working with Las Vegas casinos on technology that would allow the casino's management to change the game, the odds, and the payouts remotely. The change cannot be done instantaneously, but only after the selected machine has been idle for at least four minutes. After the change is made, the machine must be locked to new players for four minutes and display an on-screen message informing potential players that a change is being made.[24]
Linked machines
Some varieties of slot machines can be linked together in a setup sometimes known as a "community" game. The most basic form of this setup involves progressive jackpots that are shared between the bank of machines, but may include multiplayer bonuses and other features.[25]
In some cases multiple machines are linked across multiple casinos. In these cases, the machines may be owned by the manufacturer, who is responsible for paying the jackpot. The casinos lease the machines rather than owning them outright. Casinos in New Jersey, Nevada, and South Dakota now offer multi-state progressive jackpots, which now offer bigger jackpot pools.[26][27]
Fraud
Mechanical slot machines and their coin acceptors were sometimes susceptible to cheating devices and other scams. One historical example involved spinning a coin with a short length of plastic wire. The weight and size of the coin would be accepted by the machine and credits would be granted. However, the spin created by the plastic wire would cause the coin to exit through the reject chute into the payout tray. This particular scam has become obsolete due to improvements in newer slot machines. Another obsolete method of defeating slot machines was to use a light source to confuse the optical sensor used to count coins during payout.[28]
Modern slot machines are controlled by EPROM computer chips and, in large casinos, coin acceptors have become obsolete in favor of bill acceptors. These machines and their bill acceptors are designed with advanced anti-cheating and anti-counterfeiting measures and are difficult to defraud. Early computerized slot machines were sometimes defrauded through the use of cheating devices, such as the "slider", "monkey paw", "lightwand" and "the tongue". Many of these old cheating devices were made by the late Tommy Glenn Carmichael, a slot machine fraudster who reportedly stole over $5 million.[29] In the modern day, computerized slot machines are fully deterministic and thus outcomes can be sometimes successfully predicted.[30]
Skill stops
Skill stop buttons predated the Bally electromechanical slot machines of the 1960s and 1970s. They appeared on mechanical slot machines manufactured by Mills Novelty Co. as early as the mid 1920s. These machines had modified reel-stop arms, which allowed them to be released from the timing bar, earlier than in a normal play, simply by pressing the buttons on the front of the machine, located between each reel.
"Skill stop" buttons were added to some slot machines by Zacharias Anthony in the early 1970s. These enabled the player to stop each reel, allowing a degree of "skill" so as to satisfy the New Jersey gaming laws of the day which required that players were able to control the game in some way. The original conversion was applied to approximately 50 late-model Bally slot machines. Because the typical machine stopped the reels automatically in less than 10 seconds, weights were added to the mechanical timers to prolong the automatic stopping of the reels. By the time the New Jersey Alcoholic Beverages Commission (ABC) had approved the conversion for use in New Jersey arcades, the word was out and every other distributor began adding skill stops. The machines were a huge hit on the Jersey Shore and the remaining unconverted Bally machines were destroyed as they had become instantly obsolete.[butuh rujukan]
Lihat Juga
Referensi
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- ^ Cooper, Marc (December 2005). "How slot machines give gamblers the business". The Atlantic Monthly Group. Diakses tanggal 2008-04-21.
- ^ "Slot Machine - Definition of slot machine by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com.
- ^ OED, fruit, n.
- ^ "History of slot machines".
- ^ "Charles Fey article". Casinogambling.about.com. 2009-06-22. Diakses tanggal 2009-08-04.
- ^ "The Long, Colorful, Profitable History of Slot Machines". The Indian Observer. Diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal January 30, 2014. Diakses tanggal 2016-07-18.
- ^ "CM-5716-P-06 Machine, Slot". Nevada State Museum. Diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal October 1, 2015. Diakses tanggal 2015-09-18.
- ^ Fey, Marshall (1983). Slot Machines A Pictorial History of the First 100 Years. Liberty Belle Books. ISBN 0-9623852-7-1.
- ^ 200 Iowa 1228, 206 N.W. 105. (Iowa, 1925).
- ^ 202 Iowa 1318, 210 N.W. 137. (Iowa, 1926).
- ^ Singer, Richard G. The Proposed Duty to Inquire as Affected by Recent Criminal Law Decisions in the United States Supreme Court Diarsipkan 2008-12-19 di Wayback Machine.. 24 April 2000.
- ^ State v. Ellis. 200 Iowa 1228, 206 N.W. 105. (Iowa, 1925). (citing to Ferguson v. State of Indiana, 178 Ind. 568, 99 N. E. 806 (1912); City of Moberly v. Deskin, 169 Mo. App. 672, 155 S. W. 842. (1913).)
- ^ "Bally Technologies, Inc. | Company Information". Ballytech.com. Diarsipkan dari versi asli tanggal September 30, 2009. Diakses tanggal 2009-08-04.
- ^ "HALL OF FAME IN SLOT GAMES : Casino Player Magazine - Strictly Slots Magazine - Casino Gambling Tips". casinocenter.com.
- ^ "3 Bags Full". arcade-history.com.
- ^ Harris, Tom (2002-02-26). "How Slot Machines Work". Diakses tanggal 10 July 2014.
- ^ "Slot machine trends featured at G2E". Casino Journal (dalam bahasa Inggris). Diakses tanggal 2020-03-01.
- ^ "Info" (PDF). gaming.unlv.edu.
- ^ Electronic gaming device utilizing a random number generator for selecting the reel stop positions
- ^
Collier, Roger (1 July 2008). "Do slot machines play mind games with gamblers?". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 179 (1): 23–4. doi:10.1503/cmaj.080870. PMC 2464464
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- ^ Thompson, Andrew (2015-05-06). "Slot machines perfected addictive gaming. Now, tech wants their tricks". The Verge (dalam bahasa Inggris). Diakses tanggal 2019-11-30.
- ^ Knuth, Donald E. "3. Random numbers". Art of Computer Programming. II. Seminumerical Algorithms (edisi ke-1st). hlm. 3–4.
- ^ Richtel, Matt (12 April 2009). "From the Back Office, a Casino Can Change the Slot Machine in Seconds". The New York Times. Diakses tanggal 10 December 2009.
- ^ "The latest community slot games offer play mechanics and features designed to overcome the shortfalls of previous products and concepts". Casino Journal (dalam bahasa Inggris). Diakses tanggal 2019-12-03.
- ^ "Division of Gaming Enforcement Announces Approval for Interstate Progressive Slot Machines" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
- ^ "Division of Gaming Enforcement Announces Interstate Progressive Slots Link with Nevada" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
- ^ "Slot machine cheat bilked casinos with ingenious gadgets". USAToday.com. Diakses tanggal 2014-06-08.
- ^ LaPointe, Michael (2020-02-04). "The Edison of the Slot Machines". The Paris Review (dalam bahasa Inggris). Diakses tanggal 2020-10-08.
- ^ Koerner, Brendan (8 February 2017). "Russians Engineer a Brilliant Slot Machine Cheat—And Casinos Have No Fix". Wired. Diakses tanggal 7 February 2017.
Bibliography
- Brisman, Andrew. The American Mensa Guide to Casino Gambling: Winning Ways (Stirling, 1999) ISBN 0-8069-4837-X
- Grochowski, John. The Slot Machine Answer Book: How They Work, How They've Changed, and How to Overcome the House Advantage (Bonus Books, 2005) ISBN 1-56625-235-0
- Legato, Frank. How to Win Millions Playing Slot Machines! ...Or Lose Trying (Bonus Books, 2004) ISBN 1-56625-216-4
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