Zoozie said:
Actually there could be a difference IF the reels are weighted. Ie. if
it is a common situation(high weight) where a wild symbol is in left upper corner, then some lines should be better than others. Line 1 will not benefit from this, but line 3(or is it 2) and 5 (or is it 4) will benefit from this. Maybe I wrong, but I have been wondering for this for some time, and this is my conclusion.
A pleasantly futile task, analyzing slot machines
That's right, there would be a difference, but in my opinion this is unlikely. I don't see how the software maker or the casino would benefit from such weighting. A non-weighted slot is simpler to program = cheaper to produce = more efficient business, therefore according to my (modest) logic weighting is unlikely. I think a weighted 5-reel 9-line slot would actually be a lot more complicated to program, while achieving the desired return%? Anyway, which line would you weight, and why? With 24,300,000 possible natural outcomes, weighting would just complicate matters for the programmer...
The purpose of a (single line) weighted slot, the way I see it, is to produce a maximum number of "almost-big-hits" to excite the player, with a limited number of possible symbols, as the 3-reel single-line slot might have just say 30^3=27,000 possible combinations so the jackpot would happen too often without weighting. Also a single-line 3-reel weighted slot is probably dead simple to program. In a five-reel, multi-line slot, the "near-bigwin" effect can be achieved without weighting because there are a lot more natural possibilities for a near-miss combination.
It would also be unfair to weigh a certain line without informing the player. This would add an element of predictability to a random game and give one player an advantage over the other player, and this is not a characteristic of fair casino games (VP and BJ etc skill factor notwithstanding). The weighted single line slot is fair, because it's the same line, for everyone. The payout-weighted progressives are fair because they tell you which line has the biggest possible payout.
I guess what I'm saying is it would not make much sense to weight a slot like that. What's the big idea? Also, the Wizard says multiline slots are usually not weighted, so I think it's a fair guess they're not weighted.
Cheers,
SM