Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Slot machine players

A recent post recent slot machine blog post explained that there are many types of slot machine player. Well now there are some more – supplied by readers:

From Peter:

The swearer type:
Those who swear or utter profanities everytime something doesn’t work, or the features dont come up.

The touchy-feely :
Those who believe in touching or stroking the machine..
(Don’t know if this works)

The peek-a-boo:
Taking the reserved sign and hiding the screen while the feature is playing..
Is this so the machine doesn’t know who it should pay out to ?

The runaway :
Hiding from the machine while the feature is playing..
This is a cousin to the peek-a-boo, and just as successful.

The hard lucker :
“mate, I just did $300 on that machine, and not one payout – hope it works for you”
Secretly wishing that you have the same luck they did.

Mr Disposable income – aka Last of the big spenders
How to dispose of all your income by betting maximum credits with maximum lines…
(nice if it pays, but a lot of cash can slip into the mysterious black innards of the spinning wheels syphon..)

From Michael:

1) The Hanger-On: one who has put all their disposabe income into the machines, but refuses to go home scared of the miissus/old man and hoping to bump into any sucker to squeeze dry, quite often they aren’t players but merely “hangers-on” out for a free beer or drink, paid for by any head they may know who is having a run of luck;

2) The Rambler: sits silently at a machine, feeding it $50.00 after $50.00, but as things quite often do, they have a change of luck and that is when the metamorphisis takes place, what was once a timid, cofidence-depraved shadow of a human being is now acting Master of Ceremonies at the local After Dinner Speaking Club;

3) Rain-Man: the counter of Double-ups, actually believing they have some sort of God-given talent to pick each and every double-up whether it is “their” machine or not and don’t comprehend why the person playing the machine is starting to get agitated at their constant calling of the double-up, prone to being removed from premises; (No intention whatsoever to demean those amongst us with Mental Disadvantages);

From Kylie:

The Old Man: The old man that sits on the machine next to you with $20 credit but only playing 1 or 3 lines, and you can see all the pays that they are missing.
The Old Lady: Sits there betting max credits but playing only 5 lines. Also annoying when you can see all the missed payouts! My grandmother does this!

From Lucky Bill:

The players that tap,tap ,tap all the buttons at the same time as reels are spinning. That’s a sure fire winner of getting a huge jackpot (not). Never seen it work yet & surprise never will

From Patrick:

The Touchy feely:- Rubs the front screen, pats the sides and even on the rare occasions whispers to it. I love watching these people, some have a pattern they repeat, never seems to work for me…

From Lizzie:

The colour wearer: Also the colour green, figures very prominently in the attire, worn by some ladies I know, and somehow, that has some success attached also to their success, so they say.

No doubt there are more player types out there – keep them coming in.

Petrol damages pokies turnover

The high price of petrol, coupled with a recent interest rate rise appears to be hitting pokies revenue in New South Wales, Australia:

“THE state Budget is facing a $137 million black hole after latest figures revealed clubs and pubs have experienced a dramatic reduction in revenue increases from poker machines.”

Daily Telegraph

Note that the quote references a reduction in increases – real revenue has gone up, but not at the expected rate. If it is hits to discretionary income that is reducing pokies turnover, then its unlikely to be from the chronic players – more likely to be from the casual pokies players.

The overall revenue received by the NSW government from poker machines is around 1.3 billion dollars – from a population of about 6.7 million people. This is around $200 for every citizen, whether of gambling age or not.

Do pokies have secrets?

Do slot machines or their makers have secrets? Is there a behind the scenes secret laboratory or two dedicated to the mysterious psychology of gaming machine player attraction?

Well its certainly possible. An Australian MP wants information, but an industry representative doesn’t seem too concerned:

“No-pokies MLC Nick Xenophon has called for the Independent Gambling Authority to subpoena all data and research from manufacturers on how pokie machines work and are programmed”

Advertiser Article

So what is it about slot machines that makes them potentially addictive? Is it the lights, the sounds, the games? Its hard to boil it down without manufacturers data, but there is perhaps some evidence that certain game types work – look at how many games you see that have the same core game but with different graphics.

Perhaps also there is a certain amount of Pavlovian conditioning – over time the sights and sounds weave themselves into an irresistible pattern of attraction. The first time you hear or see a gaming machine you are unlikely to run over and be immediately entranced – it takes time – and usually a few nice wins.

Pokies tax grab

Do you sometimes wonder why you can lose so much playing the pokies? Its not actually the fault of the machines – they just do what their regulator tells them they must do, and the results are usually engineered to line the pockets of your government as much as possible:

“VICTORIA pockets about $33,000 a year in tax from each Victorian poker machine, almost twice as much as any other state.”

Herald Sun

The $33,000 figure is not what each machine wins in a year – its just the governments cut. They actually make a fair bit of money for the venue they reside in as well. Multiply that amount by almost 30,000 machines present in that state and it represents a major windfall for the state.

Nothing stops the pokies

A recent armed holdup at a gaming venue in Victoria, Australia proved that slot players take their hobby very seriously. From media accounts it has been divulged that during the holdup players continued playing their machines, and even when the police arrived, continued to do so:

“The witness said the crime scene was bizarre, as people continued playing the pokies and turned a blind eye to the incident.”

News Article

How odd is it that people will continue to play in the face of a holdup! Its possible that some players simply didn’t notice – after all the gaming machines do hold your attention. Possibly some others just didn’t want to get involved.

Its hard to think of another situation where people would ignore such an event or not run away and hide under a table.