Gaming Guru

Article Says Casinos Can Make Machines Pay on Request

Dear Frank,

I have an article clipped from a Halifax newspaper last week that probably made other newspapers via wire services that described "easter eggs." It appears that slot manufacturers can indeed program in code that can payoff on request if players are aware of the machines and code. The article says that casino operators can lead their "whales" to specific machine types to allow them to win and stretch their gambling money. There are slot program developers that can insert their "signatures" into slot code. And then there is JLo's mother who can sit down and win $2.5 million with little effort after being shown to a machine by Borgata employees/administrators. The article goes on to say that people that are knowledgeable have been making lots of money on their information. As you might conclude the casinos are angry and put out. Apparently they feel that only they should be able to fix payoff rates. The casinos feel that these people are cheating other players, something only the casinos should be able to do.

Would you like to comment on this and the belief that slots only use very clean RNGs?

Sincerely,
Stanley

Dear Stanley,

John Robison has said that the designers of slots can make them do just about anything "including massaging your feet." So, can casinos ask for machines that they can give to their high rollers and Jennifer Lopez's family members that pay back more or give you a definite win? Yes, they can. Do I think they actually do this? In America I would say that they would be crazy to do this since they can give back in comps and cashback enough money and goods to make playing the higher denomination machines (or putting through a fortune on lower denomination machines) worth it for the premium players. It would also violate just about all the casino control commissions' laws -- the casinos who do this would lose their licenses. In other countries, the laws might be different, so in Canada and Europe and the East, the machines might be programmed to do whatever the casino wants them to do.

All the best in and out of the casinos!
Frank Scoblete