This is the second of two reports examining slot advantage play. Yesterday: Operators can tap advanced metrics to identify slot advantage players
Even casual slot fans can benefit from advantage-play concepts that have operators cracking down on well-funded teams and individuals, author and “slot grinder” Ben Rosenthal says.
“You don’t need to be some math guy or anything like that. You can be a very casual player who plays slots once every couple of weeks or so,” said Rosenthal, a Connecticut resident who left professional poker to focus on advantage slot play. “Instead of losing a few hundred dollars, why not try actually winning?”
His book, Breaking the Slot Code, became available May 18 from Huntington Press, parent company of Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com. A related website provides free and subscriber-only content, including analysis of more than 170 true-perseverance slot games that can yield positive expectation for players. (Huntington Press publisher and CEO Anthony Curtis is on the CDC Gaming advisory board.)
Breaking the Slot Code examines 25 true-persistence games, but Rosenthal said readers can apply its concepts to other titles with similar mechanics. True-persistence games, also known as “variable state” or “accumulation” games, typically involve a must-hit-by progressive or a player collecting symbols that build toward a bonus, with the accumulation remaining for the next player to continue building. Advantage players swoop in only when the collection has grown large enough that their expected return tops 100 percent.
Rosenthal gave as an example the Scarab game, which incorporates a 10-spin cycle and displays the countdown. During the first nine spins, any scarab symbol displayed in the base game remains locked on the screen, then transforms into a wild card for the 10th spin. A player who finds a game with multiple locked symbols and only one or two spins left in the cycle can have an increased chance of making money.
Rosenthal said players can check all levels of multi-denom games, because each has its own accumulation status. He avoids “perceived-persistence” games, which make random bonus payments unrelated to the size of the collection. Players can’t tell any difference between the two formats just by looking at the display.
“That’s the tricky part,” he said. “The number-one thing you want to do is read the game rules. Usually, you have to scroll through a lot of pages. If you can never gain an advantage, it’ll pretty much say the meter is just for show.”
He also tells players that locating a true advantage play is no guarantee of winning. “Even great finds can still lead to losses, depending on the game.” He recalled a session in which he lost $10,000 on a machine near its must-hit-by number.
Rosenthal, who said he is banned from playing slots in two casinos and one cruise line because of his winnings, acknowledged that the number of deep-pocket slot advantage players can make the search for an edge difficult in some locations. He criticized those who get “really aggressive” to move players off a ripe machine.
“Some of them stand really close to people on machines or smoke in the person’s face, really nasty stuff,” he said. “That kind of person you definitely want out of your casino.”
While some casual players who see people waiting for a machine might give up their seat voluntarily, “You shouldn’t have to deal with a guy breathing down your neck. If you’re leaving because you had an uncomfortable experience, that’s wrong,” Rosenthal continued. “Not only should they speak up (to security staffers), but I think security should be more vigilant about that kind of stuff.”
Some players might understand advantage slot play, but not have the discipline to make it work for them. “There are people who are just gamblers at heart, who know advantage play, but don’t want to put in the time. They get frustrated” and wind up playing negative-expectation games.
While pros are prepared to risk thousands on advantage play, Rosenthal’s book is aimed at bringing the knowledge to players with much smaller bankrolls.
“You could go into a casino with a few hundred dollars and safely play 80 percent of the machines (in the book),” he said. “I lay out exactly which machines you can play with that amount of money — and which ones you can’t.”
