Cracking the slot reels - Here you go!

[Zoozie]

I'm wondering whether Microgaming has anything to say to this topic. Weighted reels in online 5reel video slots are something uncommon, and I'm wondering why this thread doesn't get more attention.

Brian, if you have some time during the renovation, could you please ask somebody at MG about this issue?

It is also a mystery to me why this has not caused a major riot yet. Maybe slots people are not so aware or care about this. Gambling authorities like WizardOfOdds etc. does also not care about slots. If his BJ card was weighted I think it would be another matter...


I am working on Cleopatra now, the first non-MG slot. And I can already tell you now that it is not weighted and IGT knows the exact maths of 5-reel slots and can also calculate the effect of free spins. They seems to be ahead of many online software providers even though it is actually not that advanced math. I know this because I was mailed some intersting documents from IGT.

Maybe slot people do not know or care, but it is interesting that they really seem to like the non-weighted slots. When Thunderstruck came it was huge succes and people also like IGT slots (I do!).

[kimss]

It is also a mystery to me why this has not caused a major riot yet.

I would assume that this thread is brought to the coffetable up for discussion especially in MG-HQ, that doesn't mean that they will interact in this thread. It could just be that their system is fair, in that case this thread will infact strengthen their software since it's tested to the max. This would infact make everybody extremely happy I would think,

[gerilege]

The payout of LotsAReels 5-Reel depend on the jackpot size of course.
This can only be won on line 25, but for payout this is identical to given
each of the 5-wild wins on all 25-lines the same average value.

Here are the results:
Jackpot-size | payout%
5000$|90.8%
10000$|91.36%
20000$|92.76%
30000$|94.16%
40000$|95.57%
50000$|96.95%
60000$|98.37%
70000$|99.77%
71625$|100%
80000$|101.18%


As you can see the break-even point occurs when the jackpot is 71625$.
But I have can not remember ever to have seen the jackpot this high.

Gerilege: Maybe you can also try your program on it and confirm the results?

I can confirm the above payout% except for $5000 which is 90.65%, but that was only a typo. 90.8% is for $6000.
Base payout (i.e jackpot would be $1000) is 90.09%.

And that means that Lotsaloot is likely not weighted.

Updated analyzer is attached.

[kimss]

Here are some more spins, went for a smaller sample size this to get the overview.

• 5 Reel Drive
• Loaded
• Oriental Fortune
• Reel Strike

Dont mind the first line on 5 reel drive, the one with rp:1, this is due to an empty line in the datafile.

[aka23]

SPECTACULAR SLOT REELS ARE VOID!

After doing some more studying on this there is something strange going on on theese reels. Seems that there are different layouts for each reel with the same symbols. One needs to map different symbols for each reel, therefore I void this setup. If there is an admin in here please delete the spectacular mapping from my previous post.

For Spectacular, I consistently get results matching your original post with the missing symbol 14 being empty. I am using HTTPAnalyzer, rather than HTTPWatch. I recall that HTTPWatch requires upgrading to the professional version (pay version) to view content on most web sites, but I am not certain about that.

[Zoozie]

I have a question about the B&M version of Enchanted Unicorn.

On the WagerWorks version the rules say retriggers only allowed up to a total
of 180 free spins. But I can not find this wierd rule in the B&M version papers I have on " Enchanted Unicorn". Anyone here that has played it live and can remember seeing this wierd rule?

For payout% this rule is negligible though.

Zoozie

[SlotsWizard]

I have a question about the B&M version of Enchanted Unicorn.

On the WagerWorks version the rules say retriggers only allowed up to a total
of 180 free spins. But I can not find this wierd rule in the B&M version papers I have on " Enchanted Unicorn". Anyone here that has played it live and can remember seeing this wierd rule?

For payout% this rule is negligible though.

Zoozie

I've played that game at a couple of B&Ms - but I didn't even know that it had a free spins feature! I thought its only feature was where you get the treasure chest on reels 1 and 5, which is similar to Chain Mail's bonus round. How on earth do you get the free spins? Obviously it must be pretty difficult because I played that game quite a bit and never got them once!

Anyway.... that's not why I came to this thread. I was actually going to put my thoughts in about the weighting of the 5-line 5-reel slots. I don't really see anything wrong with having 1 symbol on each reel, weighted, for this particular kind of game (more on that in a moment). Three things:

1. They were created back in the day, so they are probably similar to 3-reelers which of course use weighting. Plus, I don't think many people play these games much anyway.

2. There's no difference between having symbol A weighted to appear at a 5:1 ratio compared to symbol B, versus having an unweighted reel strip with five symbol A's and one symbol B.

3. The reason why this can only work for this kind of game is because there are no scatters. I think that's the key. Weighting wouldn't work if there were scatter symbols, because they appear 3 times as often as the payline symbols (you could weight them but it wouldn't be as effective as a non-scatter game).

So, that's my theory... I'm not sure if it's correct, it's just a hunch.

[Zoozie]

I've played that game at a couple of B&Ms - but I didn't even know that it had a free spins feature! I thought its only feature was where you get the treasure chest on reels 1 and 5, which is similar to Chain Mail's bonus round. How on earth do you get the free spins? Obviously it must be pretty difficult because I played that game quite a bit and never got them once!

1. They were created back in the day, so they are probably similar to 3-reelers which of course use weighting. Plus, I don't think many people play these games much anyway.

2. There's no difference between having symbol A weighted to appear at a 5:1 ratio compared to symbol B, versus having an unweighted reel strip with five symbol A's and one symbol B.

3. The reason why this can only work for this kind of game is because there are no scatters. I think that's the key. Weighting wouldn't work if there were scatter symbols, because they appear 3 times as often as the payline symbols (you could weight them but it wouldn't be as effective as a non-scatter game).

So, that's my theory... I'm not sure if it's correct, it's just a hunch.

Sorry, my mistake. I was talking about "Cleopatra"! But I wrote "Enchanted Unicorn by mistake"

2. Yes, you this is correct.

3. "Five Reel Drive" have scatters and is still weighted, so you are a little wrong here.

[brianzz]

Bonus games
Three or more Sphinx symbols in any position on any reel initiate the Cleopatra™ Free Spin Bonus. The game automatically plays 15 free spins at triple the pays based on the original wager. 3 or more scatter Sphinx symbols during the bonus game re-triggers the bonus and you are awarded an additional 15 free spins. The bonus ends when the free spin meter reaches 0 or 999 free bonus spins have been played. You are then shown the total win for the bonus, credits added to the credit meter, taken back to the base game and any line and scatter pays from the initiating play are then added to the credit meter.This bonus feature accounts for up to 9% of the total return for this game.

[Mousey]

First off, most of this is all waaay over my head. However, I do greatly appreciate the hard work, particularly Zoozie and kimss, and your sharing all this info with the forum. Payout percentages per slot is highly interesting and appreciated, and is much more info than we receive from the casinos. Perhaps when all is said and done, a list of slots (and clones) w/payout percentages could be shared?

And the fact that 5 reelers are weighted, while it doesn't surprise me, doesn't sit well with me as a player.

And again, thank you all.