My mother in law likes to play video poker, slots, etc.  She is convinced that casinos have all the computerized gaming devices like slots and video poker controlled by a central computer net and they can tighten or loosen the pay outs to co-incide with busy times or tourist seasons, holidays, etc.

I don't tell her, but I think she's full of shit.  Gaming machines are a license to steal and the casinos don't need to make it any worse.

Random number generators, made so they will come out ahead in the end.

Quoted: My mother in law likes to play video poker, slots, etc.  She is convinced that casinos have all the computerized gaming devices like slots and video poker controlled by a central computer net and they can tighten or loosen the pay outs to co-incide with busy times or tourist seasons, holidays, etc. I don't tell her, but I think she's full of shit.  Gaming machines are a license to steal and the casinos don't need to make it any worse.

everything is computerized in a casino.

I took a piss in one and the baffroom flushed itself...

Quoted: Random number generators, made so they will come out ahead in the end.

Absolutely, but the programming might vary.  A casino that caters to Vegas locals might run machines fairly loose, to take a smaller amount of money per visit over many visits.  A casino marketed to tourists might aim tighter to hit the mark for a bigger fucking on a single visit.

I just don't think the casinos vary the program on a day to day basis.

Quoted: Quoted: Random number generators, made so they will come out ahead in the end. Absolutely, but the programming might vary.  A casino that caters to Vegas locals might run machines fairly loose, to take a smaller amount of money per visit over many visits.  A casino marketed to tourists might aim tighter to hit the mark for a bigger fucking on a single visit. I just don't think the casinos vary the program on a day to day basis.

I think they audit the machines alot to check them.

Quoted: Random number generators, made so they will come out ahead in the end.

Taxman is dead on this, the chips are sealed in place on the mother board of each machine by the State police. Some chips pay out a lot a little of the time and others pay out a little a lot of the time Most large jackpots require the sate police to test the chips before payout.

To change the game type, payouts or anything requires state approval and then resealing of the new chips, so no we do not vary the payout percentage daily.

What about the "slot machine tournament" machines?  In Las Vegas, anyway, they will set aside a bank of machines, reprogram them to have positive payouts, and then let a bunch of old biddies pay a $50 entry fee to pound on the "spin" key for 20 minutes -- highest point total wins a portion of the entry fees.

I think they do the same on the rez casinos in WA, although there they use paper tapes.  There was a case last year where the casino forgot to take the tape out, and some poor woman won a bunch of money -- then the casino called it a "malfunction" and refused to pay her.  I think it was the one in Marysville, not sure though.

Actually almost all slots are computerized. Yes they are all controled with a central computer. Its usually to monitor fruad and the like. the only NON computerized games are actual card games and ruolette

The Nevada Gaming Commissiong has some pretty strict rules when it comes to random number generators.  Any mfg that sells a programable RNG anywhere can not sell their machines in the state of Nevada.  The pay outs in Nevada, on video poker machines, is manipulated by the payout scale.  When you play a video poker machine  it is 100%  random in Nevada.

Likewise, if you play a machine brand outside Nevada that you have played in Nevada you can be pretty sure it is on the up and up.  You will notice that the machines you see on Indian reservations (NC) for the most part,  are not sold in Nevada.            

I used to work at an Indian Casino in Oklahoma. The machines would print out a ticket and the person took the ticket to the cashier to get the money. I worked in the Vault counting money and auditing the payout tickets.

All the machines were connected to a network, so when a ticket was scanned by the cashier for payment, the computer system checked to see if the ticket info matched the info on whatever machine the ticket was printed from. This eliminated  people from trying to pass counterfiet tickets.

The machines were owned by a gaming company. They provided the machines and serviced them, in turn for a percentage of the profits. The casino staff had no way to change the set-up of the machines. All casinos are audited to check for compliance with gaming laws. The casino where I was at had a person who's full time job was to check all paperwork to make sure it met the gaming commissions standards.

Certian machines are set to pay better than others, and the machines do print a tape showing stats about the amount it was played, percentage of payouts etc. You have a machine paying out making noise and it encourages others around to keep playing.

I only worked there for a short time, so this is just basic info.

the odds are already way in there favor with anygame the casinos dont need to cheat.

Rule #1 in the gaming biz, they must make a hell of a profit at any cost. It was designed from the ground up to make you addicted and to spend more than you wanted to.