All poker players dream of pocket aces on a final table after an opponent has already shoved; all football players dream of that last second touchdown that wins them the game; all roulette players dream of taking a chance on a single number and then watching the wheel pay them off. These are the peaks that gamblers live for, and when it comes to slot machines the dream is to find a loose slot machine that pays out big and seemingly never stops doing so. This is how slot fanatics win big, this where they get the stories that they’ll be telling for years to come, so how can you spot loose slot machines, and is it even possible?
The legend states that loose slot machines are located all around the casino. They are put there to increase the odds of winning and for the casino to look good when someone keeps getting paid and when the jackpots keep getting hit. Whether this is true or not is up for speculation, but it certainly sounds reasonable. This legend also states that a machine that is looser than most will be surrounded by ones that are tighter than most, which means that if you miss out by just a machine or two then you could suffer, so it pays to make sure you have the right location.
Part of the legend also states that the loose machines are placed close to the entrance, which is in no small part down to the fact that if someone wins big, the casino wants all of the passer-by to see, but this part of the myth hails back to a different time and is unlikely to hold water in the modern meccas of Vegas, Reno, Florida and Atlantic City, where casinos are complexes with slot machines at their heart, and not small buildings with slot machines at the front. There are also those who believe that the loose machines are located at the end of the rows, but this also doesn’t hold much water and is based on very little.
One of the legends that might have some truth to it is that the machines located near the blackjack, craps and roulette tables are the tightest in the entire casino. This is because the casino wants those winning big on the tables to be enticed by the slots, and lulled in by the fact they think they’re on a hot streak (we’ve all been there) and then lose their money as a result. So with this in mind we can safely say that these slot machines should be avoided, but where are the loose slots located?
The casino cage slots are a good bet. Basically, it’s the same reason as the myth of the loose machines being located next to the entrance, so that people can see you win, but in modern casinos they want to tempt the people already inside into playing the slots, maybe by gambling their winnings or by catching them before they hit the poker tables. Slot machines are how casinos make the vast majority of their money, and things like poker bring in very little for them (with only rake being paid) so if they can tempt you away from your game of poker by showing you someone winning big on the slots, then they will.
Carousel machines are also a good bet, as these are open and can be seen from many directions. Basically, anywhere where the machines are more exposed, you are more likely to find a loose machine, because if these machines win on a regular basis then the casino gains just as much as the punter does, as they entice more people to play.
This is all conjecture though and is not really a science, but it is based on probability, and as any keen gambler will tell you, the only way you can take away the house’s advantage and increase your own, is to use the laws of probability and variance in your favor. There is also one other factor that all gamblers abide by, and that also comes into play when you arrive at these banks of machines and need to find the one loose machine, or the machine that is the loosest of them all, and that is luck. Luck is something that gamblers live and die by and it is not something that can be manipulated; winning can be very rewarding, but losing can have huge consequences, because this myth states that the loose machines will be surrounded by tight machines. So, as with the slot machines themselves, and indeed anything within the casino, finding a loose machine is down to luck.