How Bingo Machines Operate. Most players don't know how Bingo machines work, or that there are even different types. While knowledge of these devices isn't necessary for you to play the game, it does help you understand how random the outcome is, and why cheating cannot happen. You can typically find the loose machines by watching others play before you pick a machine or by simply asking around. The best way, according to BingoAlabama.com, is to talk to one of the local bingo players who frequently plays the machines, as most locals tend to stay away from tight machines that do not pay out. “ It looks like a regular slot machine,” explained Nieman, but it’s so much more. “All of the newer games are all video based, so you’ve got a large video screen in the middle.” Using Bluetooth technology, Nieman said the older slot machines – those without video screens – can be incorporated into the system as well.
You don’t need to be a gambling veteran or genius to play slots, in fact, you don’t need to know anything about gambling at all, and because of this fact most people don’t understand their inner workings – which makes it that much easier to explain away a losing streak with some false logic.
Like other myths or legends, they get passed from person to person until eventually they assume some resemblance of truth. While most of these misconceptions are mostly harmless, they can cause frustration in players. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones and see if we can bust them wide open.
Someone hit a jackpot on a machine you just left
So, you’ve just finished up at your machine without any decent pay-out and you start looking around the casino for the one that will win you a jackpot. All of a sudden you hear the jackpot alarms going off and you look back to see that the machine you had just left has paid out huge to the very next spin.
That should have been your jackpot, right? If you’d just spun once more, you’d have won big!
This is easily one of the most common misconceptions about slot machines and the way they work. Slot machines have a computer chip inside that runs a random number generator that continuously cycles through numbers – even while the machine is not being used. These numbers correspond to stops on the wheel that displays the symbols on screen. If you had remained at the machine and played that one extra time, it’s highly unlikely you would have stopped the number generator at that exact nano-second to display that same combination of numbers. Truth be told, the person who sat down at that machine after you, had no better or worse chance of winning it than you did.
How Does The Bingo Screens Work On Slot Machines Without
You can predict the odds of winning by counting the symbols
Another common misconception is that you can predict the stops on a wheel in a slot machine by counting the symbols and doing a little maths. Let’s say you count 20 symbols on each wheel of a three-wheel slot machine – so you work out that 20 x 20 x 20 = 8,000 and put your odds at 1 in 8,000 of hitting a jackpot. Well, unfortunately, if it were that easy, I’m pretty sure slots would have been removed from casinos decades ago. The aforementioned random number generator actually generates a sequence of stops for each wheel each time the machine spins, so if the number generated for this spin is 256, then your working out looks more like 256 x 256 x 256 = 16,777,216 possible combinations! The reason slots can offer such huge pay-outs is because of their ability to generate millions and millions of possible combinations – they work out really well for the casino.
A machine that has not given you a win is due to hit
You always want to believe that if you could sit there long enough eventually the machine will pay you out because of some statistical measurement you’ve taken. Unfortunately, there’s no actual way to determine when a payout is imminent.
Every time you spin the wheels it’s considered a random occurrence and has nothing to do with what has happened in previous spins, or how long you’ve been playing. Don’t allow this misconception to keep you playing longer than you should, or for longer than you can afford.
Knowing when to stop is incredibly important in gambling, and not knowing can have severe consequences on your bank balance.
Slot machines can be loosened or tightened with the press of a button
This one actually crops up a lot when people talk about their pay-outs from sots, and in reality, the truth is much the same as the previous old sores already mentioned. The machines’ computer chip determines their pay-out percentage and this is set in the factory. For the casino to change the pay-out ratio would mean replacing the chip entirely – which requires far more work than simply flicking a switch or pressing a button. Casinos typically decide on pay-out percentage before purchasing the machines and have them shipped in ready to go. It is far too expensive and time-consuming to switch chips every time you decide you want feel like upping the house edge.
The temperature of coins affects the machine
As far as these myths go, this is a weird one and sounds more like an “old wives’ tale” than anything else. Slot machines are simply not affected by temperature – so you can stop rubbing that coin now. It doesn’t matter if you play old or new, hot or cold coins, they will not affect your odds. After all, the coin slot is a mechanical device and has no feeling.
Using the auto play feature pays less than clicking
This myth speaks specifically to online casinos and playing slots online but can also be translated to brick-and-mortar casinos where people believe that pulling the lever pays out more than pressing the button. The random number generator and the chip inside the machine have no way of determining how the reels were spun, and even if they could, there would be no benefit to the casino to pay out less for the autoplay function – it is simply a myth.
You can’t do anything to improve your chance of winning
With all the talk up until now about randomness, wit might surprise you that this is indeed a myth that can be busted. Just because you can’t do anything to affect the outcome of any given spin at a slot machine, doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to improve your chances of winning overall.
Not all slot machines pay out at the same rate – with some having pay-out rates from 85% to 98%. You always have a chance at winning regardless of the pay-out rates, but the higher the rate the higher your overall return is likely to be. So, technically, you can improve your chances of winning by carefully picking which slots to play. You can also improve your chances in online slots by taking advantage of bonuses and rewards available from the online casinos – the house is typically stacked in a casino so take every advantage you can get.
So if you want to try your hand at busting some of these myths for yourself, or just want to see what all the fuss with slots is about, why not give it a try on one of our slots games?
Alternatively, if all this talk of myths and legends still has you a little wary of slot machines, why not try out a game of online bingo?
We’re here to help you keep it fun – remember to set your deposit limit. Click here for more details on the safer gambling tools available including reality checks and the ability to take a break from your gaming.
Enjoy This? We Thought You May Like:
To understand how, or even why bingo-based slot machines exist, it helps to have a quick background on Native-American (NA) gambling.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The IGRA was signed into law in 1988 and established the framework for Indian gaming. It gave the authority to tribes to conduct, license, and regulate gaming.
Class I, II, and III Games
For legal reasons, the IGRA created 3 different classes of gambling. Class I refers to simple, traditional social games for small prizes and is not controlled by the IGRA. You won’t find these at casinos.
Class II games are games of chance based on bingo and similar games, like pull-tabs or lotteries. Class II games are most attractive to NA casinos because not only do they not require tribes to enter into state compacts, but tribes don’t have to pay taxes on Class II gaming revenue.
Finally, Class III is a catch-all classification for games that don’t fall under Class I or II classifications. Class III includes traditional casino games such as true slot machines, roulette, craps, etc.
How Bingo-Based Slots Work
Many early NA casinos were nothing more than bingo halls. As time marched on and customers flocked to slot machines, companies innovated what essentially were (and still are) fancier displays of bingo games.
When you play a slot machine at a NA casino and there’s a bingo card somewhere on the screen, that’s a good indication you’re playing a Class II machine instead of a true, Class III slot machine.
Whereas Class III machines operate in a independent manner, Class II machines are really just an elaborate display for the bingo games running in the background. When you hit the spin button, you enter into a game of bingo. Like real games of bingo, Class II games require at least two players. If you’re at a small casino that’s not busy, the reels may spin for an abnormally long time while it waits for someone else to join the game.
And while each slot manufacturer may design their Class II game slightly differently, they always involves the same bingo elements: multiple players attempting to match certain patterns on their cards compared to numbers centrally called.
Are Bingo-Based Slots Fair?
Native American casinos often get a lot of criticism for their self-regulating nature and lack of transparency, especially when compared to Vegas casinos which are required to publish all sorts of information like payouts and revenue.
But the fact is bingo-based slots can actually be more transparent than their Class III counterparts (if someone does the legwork). Within Class II machines’ paytable will be a list of all the winning bingo patterns and resulting pays. With a little bit of effort, you can actually calculate the odds of each pattern and win and combine them to create an “expected return” value which is equal to the game’s payout. Trying to figure out the payout on a traditional Class III machine is impossible without running it through millions of spins.
Class II vs Class III
Though what’s going on in the background varies between Class II and III games, the player’s experience is basically the same. Both types of games have a specific payout associated with them. The bingo balls and cards generated by Class II machines come from random number generators, just like Class III machines.
So while some are suspicious of Class II games and their operation, the end result is practically no different from any normal slot machine.