Gaming Guru

Ask The Slot Expert (Loose and Tight Slot Machines)

Dear John,

Are there really loose and tight machines?

Thanks,
R.S.

Dear R.S.,

Yes, there are loose and tight machines, but keep in mind, as Albert Einstein might have said had he been a slot player, "It's all relative."

Slot manufacturers offer many different programs for their machines. Double Diamond, for example, has about two dozen programs available. Each of these programs has a different long-term payback.

There is no standard that says a machine that pays back x percent is loose and a machine that pays back y percent is tight. But we can say that a machine that pays back more than another is looser. We should really talk about looser and tighter machines.

The manufacturers offer so many programs for two reasons. First, some casinos want to earn more from their slot machines than other casinos, so they order tighter machines. You can see this effect in the slot payback percentages published in Strictly Slots. Some casinos consistently have higher paybacks than others; these casinos ordered looser programs than the other casinos.

The second reason manufacturers have different programs is because some casinos want to mix looser and tighter machines on their slot floors. Frank Scoblete, in Break the One-Armed Bandits, interviewed a casino executive who told him where he placed the looser machines on his slot floor to encourage other players to play.

All the best in and out of the casinos!
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@home.com.

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