Am I Being Paranoid

[hughdal]

Maybe this has been happening all along but I'm surely seeing a trend.

1. Slots I'm playing seem to be connected to my IP address.
2. Slots seem to be scripted for the 1st session.
3. Collector games cost more and pay less.
4. If you don't win in the 1st 5 spins, leave.
5. I'm being paranoid.

Let's look at 1. Sometimes I play on my phone and sometimes I play on my desktop. Same games, different device. I know something's up when I log back on and the spin amount has change from the default (usually £1) to my bet amount .40 pence. Why would it track my bet amount and why would it track me. Then I go to a different device and the best amount is back to the default £1. My conclusion, yes the "game" tracks my IP address.

2. This scripting seems to follow a common trend. Log on to a new game, spin 12 times. I guarantee you will win within the 1st 5 spins and most likely have a slow 3rd wheel spin for the winning bonus with exciting music and drum rolls. you won't get the bonus though.

3. I hate collector games. Bowls, pots, bee hives or rockets ships it doesn't matter, you'll never fill them and get the bonus till you've drained you bank roll. Yes, the game is 95.%% RTP but the collectors are probably 10% RTP. Additive, you bet, just one more and it'll pop. Nope.

4. See answer in 2.

5. I'm a paranoid foil hat fanatic and deserve to loose cause online slots are fair and regulated by government agencies that are looking out for my wellbeing.

Hughdal

 

[ollygarch]

I usually work on a default RTP of 40%. Yes in (my) reality that is all you can look forward to as a return. The other 50%+ goes to some lucky sod who gets the jackpot. Which of course is how these games are designed. You are encouraged to 'keep going' chasing the big win. Collector games I agree with you, avoid collecting anything from air miles, through supermarket bonuses, to games. Are you old enough to remember green shield stamps? They devalued faster than the average South American currency.

 

[satchnz]

Let's look at 1. Sometimes I play on my phone and sometimes I play on my desktop. Same games, different device. I know something's up when I log back on and the spin amount has change from the default (usually £1) to my bet amount .40 pence. Why would it track my bet amount and why would it track me. Then I go to a different device and the best amount is back to the default £1. My conclusion, yes the "game" tracks my IP address.

Do you ever notice that when you return to a slot (at the same casino) days later, and you previously left that slot at the end of a bonus, the bonus end screen pops up again showing the amount you won? I’m not sure if this happens with all Providers, but it definitely happens with Prags. The bet amount sometimes stays as it was last time, and sometimes it has changed back to the default amount.

I don’t think it tracks your IP address. Most of us that are with residential ISPs get new IP addresses allocated over time, unless you have a fixed IP plan which almost always costs extra. Also I play on offshore crypto casinos with a VPN which allocates a different IP address each time, yet I still see the above bonus end screen scenario next time I play the same slot on the same casino.

I have however thought this behaviour to be a bit strange, but then you want this sort of thing to happen if you get tossed out of the site mid bonus round.

 

[Mark_Lottomart]

Do you ever notice that when you return to a slot (at the same casino) days later, and you previously left that slot at the end of a bonus, the bonus end screen pops up again showing the amount you won? I’m not sure if this happens with all Providers, but it definitely happens with Prags. The bet amount sometimes stays as it was last time, and sometimes it has changed back to the default amount.

I don’t think it tracks your IP address. Most of us that are with residential ISPs get new IP addresses allocated over time, unless you have a fixed IP plan which almost always costs extra. Also I play on offshore crypto casinos with a VPN which allocates a different IP address each time, yet I still see the above bonus end screen scenario next time I play the same slot on the same casino.

I have however thought this behaviour to be a bit strange, but then you want this sort of thing to happen if you get tossed out of the site mid bonus round.

I'm no technical expert, but I'm pretty sure the slot providers remember your PlayerID in order to launch the game with previous settings etc. As you say, it's not IP related.

 

[Guntis]

I don't like when the game starts from the previous session. Say, if you hit a good bonus on Pragmatic slots and leave the game straight after that, from experience, don't expect anything this time.

With Pragmatic slots, it seems like you can reinstall Windows and change your ISP provider - you'll still start the game from where you left off, and the same stake.

It could be different by casino, but the one I play is exactly as I described.

Play'n GO slots on the other hand are different, you can just reload the page and start it afresh. That's what i prefer.

 

[jasonuk]

3. I hate collector games. Bowls, pots, bee hives or rockets ships it doesn't matter, you'll never fill them and get the bonus till you've drained you bank roll. Yes, the game is 95.%% RTP but the collectors are probably 10% RTP. Additive, you bet, just one more and it'll pop. Nope.

This is part of a couple of wider trends - more dopamine for worse wins, and the illusion of progress (the new version of "just missed"). Everyone knows about the popularity of lightning link - given every game seemingly wants to copy it - but the three collectors model has become popular too.

I get LL, you see the Aristocrat full screens that pay $10k+, you see orbs that throw out $1k+ wins... but the online ones seem to be a lot tamer, and it's a lot of faffing about for often 10x-15x wins (and many are not skippable, thanks UKGC).

For the collectors, it seems like the worst of all worlds - the "collection" part is a straight up lie because it's randomly triggered (as per game rules), and even if you get two or three you're not necessarily on for a decent pay... some of the LnW ones can pay under 50x for all three triggered!

Do you ever notice that when you return to a slot (at the same casino) days later, and you previously left that slot at the end of a bonus, the bonus end screen pops up again showing the amount you won? I’m not sure if this happens with all Providers, but it definitely happens with Prags. The bet amount sometimes stays as it was last time, and sometimes it has changed back to the default amount.

Another example of "free dopamine", I believe Games Global titles can do the same.

I usually work on a default RTP of 40%. Yes in (my) reality that is all you can look forward to as a return. The other 50%+ goes to some lucky sod who gets the jackpot.

It'll depend on your volatility preference, but that makes sense - 20-40% for the most volatile, 70-80% for the least volatile. A few slots over the years have been broken down into their segments, and it shows how vital the mini-features or bonus rounds can be (and by extension, how bruising the game can be if you're not seeing either).

One that comes to mind was Narcos - if I recall was split almost equally between the base spins, the walking wilds spins, and the two bonuses. So if you're not seeing the bonuses you're at 48%, and if you're not seeing the walking wilds either you're at 24%!

 

[satchnz]

I don't like when the game starts from the previous session. Say, if you hit a good bonus on Pragmatic slots and leave the game straight after that, from experience, don't expect anything this time.

With Pragmatic slots, it seems like you can reinstall Windows and change your ISP provider - you'll still start the game from where you left off, and the same stake.

It could be different by casino, but the one I play is exactly as I described.

Play'n GO slots on the other hand are different, you can just reload the page and start it afresh. That's what i prefer.

+1

I always do a backup spin now to rid myself of this “issue”. Entering a game seeing you got a healthy bonus last time is very off putting as it’s hard to feel it will happen again so soon. Hell, opening a slot to see you had the bonus on the last spin in the previous session is off putting given the frequency of bonus rounds these days!

 

[thr0b]

There’s nothing unusual here. It’s expected behaviour - the provider knows who you are via the casino, and good providers remember your favoured settings. Other providers don’t remember your settings, and always revert to default, but they still know which player is playing because of the communication between casino and provider.

I mean, they likely know you only as a number, but they know you.

It’s good that they recall anyway; in these days of varied RTPs, it’s always an indication of something being changed that on a game that you play regularly, it’s suddenly loading with a default £2.00 stake.

 

[hughdal]

So i have my "Never Play" slots:

Collector
Jack Pot
Mega Way
Any Fishing
Any Copy Right
New
RTP below 94.5%


My IP address is tracked, my device ID is stored, The slot site knows my game play history. The slot creator knows all the click bait tricks. The UKGA legislates my game play.

Leaves me with DOA

Hughdal

 

[snorky510238]

How is it that I can suddenly hit a shitty spell in a game (yes, worse than standard shite games produce, if that’s imaginable), then suddenly think I bet I am logged out of the Casino. Press the home button and sure enough, I am logged out.

How is it possible to be playing a game, whilst at the same time being logged out?

 

[hughdal]

How is it that I can suddenly hit a shitty spell in a game (yes, worse than standard shite games produce, if that’s imaginable), then suddenly think I bet I am logged out of the Casino. Press the home button and sure enough, I am logged out.

How is it possible to be playing a game, whilst at the same time being logged out?

Obvious. You have entered the Twilight Zone.

 

[jasonuk]

How is it that I can suddenly hit a shitty spell in a game (yes, worse than standard shite games produce, if that’s imaginable), then suddenly think I bet I am logged out of the Casino. Press the home button and sure enough, I am logged out.

How is it possible to be playing a game, whilst at the same time being logged out?

A lot of systems will be distributed in nature, so it will depend on when systems perform the check, or when they issue the credentials.

I have seen it the other way as well, where a provider token has been rejected after loading and the only way to resolve it is to log out and back in and generate a new one.

There is a trade-off between security and performance, and historically performance would win most of the time - which becomes a problem when you have a rogue admin account rampaging through a network and disabling the account doesn't stop them because the associated tokens and authority live on!

 

[snorky510238]

Surely, the second I am logged out of the Casino, the game shouldn’t work.

 

[Guntis]

This has happened to me many times too, but not in every casino. I think when you start a slot, you get connected to the provider's server and you're essentially there, and then get logged out of the casino due to inactivity.

And yeah, as far as i can remember, i never won when it happened. It's like you get into that Bermuda Triangle, lol

 

[jasonuk]

Surely, the second I am logged out of the Casino, the game shouldn’t work.

As said, it'll depend on the implementation. A lot of distributed systems will use "tokens", which will have a nominated lifespan (e.g. 6 hours). If the website logs you out for inactivity, it'll be up to the system whether it revokes those tokens or not - and often it does not for simplicity or efficiency.

So those tokens remain active for the duration - which can cause some interesting anomalies across websites - you've already mentioned game providers, but it also happens where operators utilise multiple domains for their products (e.g. sports vs casino).

If it ever became a concern, they can implement revocation lists to revoke the tokens when you log out - but for now they're happy to leave the anomaly be... less friction that way, and sometimes can work in your favour (e.g. I've still been playing a slot unaware the underlying website has crashed )