I
finally discovered something that has a lower payback than slot machines – New
Jersey Turnpike tolls! As I write this,
we’re back on the East Coast for personal business. After landing at Newark, we had to drive up
to the Boston area. I couldn’t believe
the toll from Newark airport to northern end of the Turnpike. It was $3.60 to go about 20 miles. Throw in the $12 toll to cross the George
Washington Bridge to cross into New York and I was out more than $15 after only
being on the road for 25 minutes! It
takes quite a bankroll to drive on these roads, and with NO chance of
winning. We had only left NJ less than a
year ago and all these tolls had gone up considerably since we left!
On
a more serious note regarding slots, I received a very good question from a
reader this past week. He acknowledged
what I had written several weeks ago that the average slot machines paid only
92-93% and that video poker generally paid 97-100+%. He asked that given that casino gambling is
just a form of entertainment, what is so bad about the idea of taking $100 of
your bankroll to go for a huge jackpot on a slot machine, especially given that
winning a similar amount at video poker would take a long time with smaller
wins along the way. I have to admit,
that it took me a little while for me to come up with a response.
I
think the best I can come up with is that if you go in with your eyes open as
to what you are doing then I can’t really say there is anything wrong with
it. Gambling is entertainment and if it
brings you enjoyment to take part of your bankroll and put it into a low
payback slot machine with a jumbo-sized jackpot, that is your choice. If I have any issue with the concept it is
that it is very hard, if not impossible to go into this with your eyes truly
open. Yes, you can know the size of the
jackpot, but you don’t know the probability of actually hitting it.
The
other issue is that it is standard practice in casino gaming that if the game
has a huge jackpot (usually Progressive) then the payback of the game tends to
be even lower. This is true for both
slot machines and even table game sidebets.
Outside the casino, this is even truer for things like Lotto. Most state lotteries have paybacks in the
50-60% range. Players are willing to
play games with very low paybacks in hope of winning that life altering
prize. Again, however, in the case of Lotto, we are
able to compute the probability of winning the top prize. This is not the case for slots.
While
the low payback of regular slots is concerning, and the presumed even lower
payback of a Progressive slot is even more concerning, the biggest concern
still belongs to the notion that there is no way to know anything about a slot
machine. We don’t know the probability
of the jackpot spin or any other result.
We have no way of knowing the overall payback of the machine by a simple
glance at the glass. In a place like
Nevada, the payback can be no less than 75% so that is about all we really
know.
So,
that all said, if you feel that you want to play a game that has a
life-changing jackpot with a portion of your bankroll, I can understand the
desire to try your hand at a slot machine.
It is probably the only chance
you have for a multi-million dollar prize.
If you are looking for a gigantic jackpot, I would personally recommend
a Pai Gow Poker sidebet or the Six-Card sidebet for Three Card Poker. The prizes will only be in the few hundred
thousand to $1 million, but you’ll still be playing games with higher paybacks.
In
the end, it is your money and you have to decide how you want to spend it and
what provides you the most enjoyment. If
chasing a mega jackpot on a low paying machines with a portion of your bankroll
is what brings you joy, I won’t stop you.
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