Jun 11, 2016 - Collect WSOP Free Chips & Bonuses daily. All gifts came from active players like you and WSOP Texas Holdem Poker itself. No logins or registration required to get them. How to Win at Slots – 15 Actionable Slot Machine Tips & Tricks. For online slots nuts and enthusiasts, the flash of slots games are known for coming in a variety of themes, payouts, paylines and betting platforms, each featuring staggering arrays of winning potential ready to reward with the next big jackpot.
- Appendices
- Slots Analysis
- Miscellaneous
Introduction
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I designed the Atkins Diet slot machine in 2008 for a speaking engagement at a conference on slot machines in Sydney, Australia. It was used as an example of how video slots, sometimes known as pokies, are designed. I'll start with presenting the pay table and reel strips, and then I'll show the probability and return of the various ways to win.
Slot Machine Bonus Wins
Pay Table
The next table shows the Atkins Diet pay table. All wins must be left aligned. The Atkins symbol is wild and can substitute for any symbol except the scale.
Atkins Diet Pay Table
| Symbol | 5 in a row | 4 in a row | 3 in a row | 2 in a row |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins | 5000 | 500 | 50 | 5 |
| Steak | 1000 | 200 | 40 | 3 |
| Ham | 500 | 150 | 30 | 2 |
| Buffalo Wings | 300 | 100 | 25 | 2 |
| Sausage | 200 | 75 | 20 | 0 |
| Eggs | 200 | 75 | 20 | 0 |
| Butter | 100 | 50 | 15 | 0 |
| Cheese | 100 | 50 | 15 | 0 |
| Bacon | 50 | 25 | 10 | 0 |
| Mayonnaise | 50 | 25 | 10 | 0 |
Reel Strips
The following are the reel strips for Atkins Diet.
Atkins Diet Reel Strips
| Stop | Reel 1 | Reel 2 | Reel 3 | Reel 4 | Reel 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scale | Mayonnaise | Ham | Ham | Bacon |
| 2 | Mayonnaise | Buffalo Wings | Butter | Cheese | Scale |
| 3 | Ham | Steak | Eggs | Atkins | Steak |
| 4 | Sausage | Sausage | Scale | Scale | Ham |
| 5 | Bacon | Cheese | Cheese | Butter | Cheese |
| 6 | Eggs | Mayonnaise | Mayonnaise | Bacon | Sausage |
| 7 | Cheese | Ham | Butter | Cheese | Butter |
| 8 | Mayonnaise | Butter | Ham | Sausage | Bacon |
| 9 | Sausage | Bacon | Sausage | Steak | Buffalo Wings |
| 10 | Butter | Steak | Bacon | Eggs | Cheese |
| 11 | Buffalo Wings | Sausage | Steak | Bacon | Sausage |
| 12 | Bacon | Mayonnaise | Buffalo Wings | Mayonnaise | Ham |
| 13 | Eggs | Ham | Butter | Sausage | Butter |
| 14 | Mayonnaise | Atkins | Mayonnaise | Cheese | Steak |
| 15 | Steak | Butter | Cheese | Butter | Mayonnaise |
| 16 | Buffalo Wings | Eggs | Sausage | Ham | Eggs |
| 17 | Butter | Cheese | Eggs | Mayonnaise | Sausage |
| 18 | Cheese | Bacon | Bacon | Bacon | Ham |
| 19 | Eggs | Sausage | Mayonnaise | Buffalo Wings | Atkins |
| 20 | Atkins | Buffalo Wings | Buffalo Wings | Sausage | Butter |
| 21 | Bacon | Scale | Ham | Cheese | Buffalo Wings |
| 22 | Mayonnaise | Mayonnaise | Sausage | Eggs | Mayonnaise |
| 23 | Ham | Butter | Bacon | Butter | Eggs |
| 24 | Cheese | Cheese | Cheese | Buffalo Wings | Ham |
| 25 | Eggs | Bacon | Eggs | Bacon | Bacon |
| 26 | Scale | Eggs | Atkins | Mayonnaise | Butter |
| 27 | Butter | Buffalo Wings | Buffalo Wings | Eggs | Steak |
| 28 | Bacon | Mayonnaise | Bacon | Ham | Mayonnaise |
| 29 | Sausage | Steak | Butter | Sausage | Sausage |
| 30 | Buffalo Wings | Ham | Cheese | Steak | Eggs |
| 31 | Steak | Cheese | Mayonnaise | Mayonnaise | Cheese |
| 32 | Butter | Bacon | Steak | Bacon | Buffalo Wings |
Example Spin
Let's look at the following example spin.
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The way multi-line video slots work is to pick one random number for each reel and map it onto the corresponding stop on the reel strip. Let's assume that the random number chosen designates where the reel will stop on the middle row. The symbols above and below will be those directly above and below on the reel strips.
Random numbers of 27, 14, 3, 31 and 27, for reels 1 to 5 respectively, would have resulted in the example above. The following table shows the position on the reel strips where all 15 visible symbols fall on the screen.
Atkins Diet Reel Strips
| Stop | Reel 1 | Reel 2 | Reel 3 | Reel 4 | Reel 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 26 | 13 | 2 | 30 | 26 |
| Middle | 27 | 14 | 3 | 31 | 27 |
| Bottom | 28 | 15 | 4 | 32 | 28 |
It should also be noted that the reel strips wrap around. So, if the number chosen for the middle position is 1, then the top position would be 32. Likewise, if the middle position is 32, then the bottom position would be 1.
Symbol Distribution
The first step to calculating the return of a video slot is to count how often each symbol appears on each reel. The following table answers that question.
Atkins Diet Symbol Distribution
| Symbol | Reel 1 | Reel 2 | Reel 3 | Reel 4 | Reel 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Steak | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Ham | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Buffalo Wings | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Sausage | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Eggs | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Butter | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Cheese | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Bacon | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Mayonnaise | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Scale | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
Line Pay Math
Casino Bonus Slot Machines
There are 32 × 32 × 32 × 32 × 32 = 33,554,432 possible outcomes in Atkins Diet. The following table shows how many of these combinations result in each possible win. These figures are the result of a program with five nested loops that tallied the total for each win for each possible combination.
Atkins Diet Line Pay Combinations
| Symbol | 5 in a row | 4 in a row | 3 in a row | 2 in a row | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins | 1 | 28 | 513 | 1,024 | 1,566 |
| Steak | 431 | 2,996 | 32,480 | 326,656 | 362,563 |
| Ham | 955 | 5,157 | 42,112 | 315,392 | 363,616 |
| Buffalo Wings | 764 | 5,348 | 58,464 | 430,080 | 494,656 |
| Sausage | 1,595 | 8,613 | 54,432 | - | 64,640 |
| Eggs | 956 | 6,692 | 52,864 | - | 60,512 |
| Butter | 1,995 | 10,692 | 88,704 | - | 101,391 |
| Cheese | 1,996 | 13,860 | 85,536 | - | 101,392 |
| Bacon | 2,976 | 20,832 | 103,168 | - | 126,976 |
| Mayonnaise | 2,980 | 20,860 | 128,736 | - | 152,576 |
| Total | 14,649 | 95,078 | 647,009 | 1,073,152 | 1,829,888 |
The next table shows the probability of each possible win. This is the number of winning combinations for that win, shown in the table above, divided by the total number of combinations of 33,554,432. The total in the lower right cell reflects a hit frequency per line (probability of winning anything) of 5.45%.
Atkins Line Pay Probabilities
| Symbol | 5 in a row | 4 in a row | 3 in a row | 2 in a row | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins | 0.00000003 | 0.00000083 | 0.00001529 | 0.00003052 | 0.00004667 |
| Steak | 0.00001284 | 0.00008929 | 0.00096798 | 0.00973511 | 0.01080522 |
| Ham | 0.00002846 | 0.00015369 | 0.00125504 | 0.00939941 | 0.01083660 |
| Buffalo Wings | 0.00002277 | 0.00015938 | 0.00174236 | 0.01281738 | 0.01474190 |
| Sausage | 0.00004753 | 0.00025669 | 0.00162220 | - | 0.00192642 |
| Eggs | 0.00002849 | 0.00019944 | 0.00157547 | - | 0.00180340 |
| Butter | 0.00005946 | 0.00031865 | 0.00264359 | - | 0.00302169 |
| Cheese | 0.00005949 | 0.00041306 | 0.00254917 | - | 0.00302172 |
| Bacon | 0.00008869 | 0.00062084 | 0.00307465 | - | 0.00378418 |
| Mayonnaise | 0.00008881 | 0.00062168 | 0.00383663 | - | 0.00454712 |
| Total | 0.00043657 | 0.00283355 | 0.01928237 | 0.03198242 | 0.05453491 |
The next table shows the contribution to the return for each possible win. Each cell is the product of the probability, from the table above, and the pay table. The right cell shows a total return from line pays of 63.46%.
Atkins Diet Expected Returns
| Symbol | 5 in a row | 4 in a row | 3 in a row | 2 in a row | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkins (wild) | 0.000149 | 0.000417 | 0.000764 | 0.000153 | 0.001483 |
| Steak | 0.012845 | 0.017858 | 0.038719 | 0.029205 | 0.098627 |
| Ham | 0.014231 | 0.023054 | 0.037651 | 0.018799 | 0.093734 |
| Buffalo Wings | 0.006831 | 0.015938 | 0.043559 | 0.025635 | 0.091963 |
| Sausage | 0.009507 | 0.019252 | 0.032444 | - | 0.061202 |
| Eggs | 0.005698 | 0.014958 | 0.031509 | - | 0.052165 |
| Butter | 0.005946 | 0.015932 | 0.039654 | - | 0.061532 |
| Cheese | 0.005949 | 0.020653 | 0.038238 | - | 0.064839 |
| Bacon | 0.004435 | 0.015521 | 0.030746 | - | 0.050702 |
| Mayonnaise | 0.004441 | 0.015542 | 0.038366 | - | 0.058349 |
| Total | 0.070029 | 0.159124 | 0.331651 | 0.073792 | 0.634597 |
Scatter Pay
The scale serves as a scatter pay symbol. The player gets credit for a scatter pay if it appears anywhere on the screen. Unlike line pays, scatters don't need to be left aligned or on an active pay line. To be fair, scatter pay wins are based on the total amount bet. The following table shows the number of scatters per reel, total symbols per reel, and the probability of a scatter on that reel, which is 3×(column 2)/(column 3). The reason for multiplying by 3 is there are three visible positions on each reel.
Atkins Diet Scatters per Reel
| Reel | Scatters | Total Symbols on Reel | Scatter Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 32 | 0.18750 |
| 2 | 1 | 32 | 0.09375 |
| 3 | 1 | 32 | 0.09375 |
| 4 | 1 | 32 | 0.09375 |
| 5 | 1 | 32 | 0.09375 |
The next table shows the probability and contribution to the return for 0 to 5 total scatter symbols. The lower right cell shows that the scatter pay feature returns 6.98% to the return of the game.
Atkins Diet Scatter Pay Probabilities and Returns
| Scatters | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 100 | 486 | 0.000014 | 0.001448 |
| 4 | 25 | 20,898 | 0.000623 | 0.015570 |
| 3 | 5 | 353,916 | 0.010548 | 0.052738 |
| Total | 33,554,432 | 0.011185 | 0.069756 |
Bonus
The player earns the bonus if he gets at least three scattered scales. The sum of the probability of 3 to 5 scales in the table above is 0.011185. During the bonus, the player will get ten free spins, and all wins are tripled.
In this game, free spins use the same reel strips as the base game. We have already shown that the expected line pay return is 0.634597 and the expected scatter return is 0.069756. So, if the win is tripled, then the expected win per spin is 3 × (0.634597 + 0.069756) = 2.113058.
Next, there is a rule that free spins can be won in free spins, infinitely. The expected number of total spins in a bonus is 10/(1-10×0.011185) = 11.259335.
So, with 11.259335 free spins, and an average win per spin of 2.113058, the expected final win per bonus is 11.259335 × 2.113058 = 23.791632.
The probability of winning the bonus in the first place is 0.011185, so the expected return per initial spin of the bonus feature is 0.011185 × 23.791632 = 0.266105. Igt free slot games online.
Summary
The following table summarizes the three ways to win in the game. The bottom right cell shows an expected return of 97.046%. In other words, for every dollar the player bets, he can expect to get back 97¢.
Atkins Diet Summary
| Item | Return |
|---|---|
| Line Pays | 63.460% |
| Scatter | 6.976% |
| Bonus | 26.610% |
| Total | 97.046% |
More Deconstructions
I have deconstructed lots of slot machines. Here is a list of them:
- Deconstructing Jackpot Party analysis of the video slot machine.
- Deconstructing Lion's Share analysis of the classic MGM progressive game.
- Deconstructing Cleopatra analysis of the popular IGT game.
- Deconstructing Lionfish analysis of the slot game found on many Game Maker machines.
- Deconstructing Megabucks.
- Deconstructing the Atkins Diet slot machine.
- Deconstructing Lucky Larry's Lobstermania.
- Deconstructing Hexbreaker.
- Deconstructing Blazing Sevens.
- Deconstructing Hot Roll.
Internal Links
- Play Atkins Diet. Demo you can play for fun.
- Deconstructing the Atkins Diet Slot Machine. Earlier PDF version of this page.
- Slot machines main page.
- Appendix 4 shows how the return is calculated for my Wizard's Fruit Slot Machine.
- Appendix 5 analysis of the 21 Bell Slot Machine.
- Appendix 6 Analysis of Red, White, & Blue Slot Machine.
- Lock and Roll analysis of the skill-based slot machine found in North Carolina.
Written by: Michael Shackleford
By Bill Burton
Over the last year, I have heard many players complain that they are not having as many jackpots on the slot machinesas they used to have. I first heard this from a few of my friends who said they believed that the casinos were tightening the machines because the bad economy was forcing people to make fewertrips to the casino. I did not pay too much attention to this but then I started to notice other players posting the same opinions on several Internet forums.
It seems many of the players have come to believe that every casino was lowering the paybackpercentage on all of their machines.
A month ago I was contacted by a newspaper reporter from Colorado who requested an interview with me. He said he was writing a story about the casinos lowering the payback on the slot machinesthat were making it harder for the players to win. He wanted my opinion on the subject and he was surprised by my answer.
Why Players Win Fewer Jackpots
I told him I do believe that some casinos may be ordering new machines with lower payout percentages but I did not believe that this was the main reason why players may not be winning as muchas they used to. I gave him the following reasons for my answer.
Over the years there have been many myths associated with casino gambling. One of the most common ones is the belief that a casino can raise and lower a machine's payback with the flip of aswitch. This is not true because the slot machines have a computer chip in them that determines the pay back percentage. These are set at the factory.
In order for a casino to change the pay back, they would have to change the chip. In most jurisdictions, there is paperwork that has to be filled and submitted to the Casino Control Commissionfor each machine if the chip is changed. It is time-consuming and the chips are very expensive. For this reason, the cost of changing the chip in numerous machines on the casino floor does notmake economical sense.
Many of the gambling jurisdictions around the country require the casinos to report the overall payout percentages on a monthly basis. (California is not one of the States) These figures are amatter of public record and are published in some newspapers and gaming publications. I looked back on these figures over the last year and saw that there was very little change in most casinosaround the country. In some instances, there were even some of the payback percentages had increased.
A reason why some players feel that they may not be winning as often is the fact that many players are making fewer trips to the casino so they are not playing as many sessions. So because theyare playing fewer sessions they will see fewer big jackpots and fewer winning sessions overall. It is all proportional.
Some players may have decided to play lower denomination machines. Many of the nickel and penny slot machines have a higher hit frequency, which means you will have many smaller wins but not asmany big jackpots.
How To Help Your Payback Percentages
If you still honestly believe that your casino is lowering the return rate on the slot machines you have several courses of action. The easiest thing to do is to play the older machines. It isdoubtful that a casino would go through the expense of putting a new chip in an older machine to lower the return rate. You can try a new casino. You may find that your luck is better at adifferent casino and a change is your routine will let you enjoy some new experiences.
You can switch to video poker. It is the only machine game that will let you know the payback of the machine by readingthe pay table. However, if you do decide to try video poker, make sure you learn the strategy or get a strategy card to bring along with you when you play.
Switch to the table games. Playing table games is exciting and they offer a lower house edge than the slot machines. Many casinos give free table game lessons so you can learn the basics beforeyou sit down.
Let me close by saying again that I do believe that there will be some machines on the casino floors with lower returns, however, I do not believe that is as widespread as the rumors would haveyou believe. The casinos are in competition with each other for your business so they do not want to alienate the players by offering games where nobody can win.
As a customer/player you always have the option of taking your business elsewhere. The ultimate decision of where to play is entirely up to you.
Until next time remember, luck comes and goes...knowledge stays forever.
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