Runnin unlucky?

[Kosop]

Ah, well I stand corrected then. Do you think the losses are from regular players just getting the edge or from some high roller just nailing the hell out of em?

 

[arccos]

Ah, well I stand corrected then. Do you think the losses are from regular players just getting the edge or from some high roller just nailing the hell out of em?

I'm just guessing here, but I would say a few really big bets. The more you play, the closer you get to the expected house edge, so regular players eventually get close to the expected 99.5% return for blackjack, for example. It only takes a few successful really large bets at a smaller casino to skew the results.

If a progressive gets hit on a slot, it will skew the results, too, but usually the odds at slots have more than made up for it during the previous months.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Slots

The answer to a casino's prayers is SLOTS and MORE SLOTS (not FREE SLOTS though ).

Many slot games are designed to be entertaining, with some really big wins. This can mask the fact that long term they are the worst game to play, returning an average of 95%.
They are also the easiest games to adjust, as the house edge is not easily derived from the paytable.
One trick exposed recently was that MG slots have more symbols on reels 4 and 5 than reels 1,2 and 3. This means that 2 and 3 in a line will hit relatively often, but the bigger 4 and 5 of a kind will hit much less than expected from the hit rate of the small wins. It is also possible to add and subtract symbols to fine tune the payout percentage, and most players will not be able to tell the difference.
I have noticed that fancy new poker and card games are being released. Sometimes these are a really good deal, but often the fancy rules disguise a poor return.

Probably the best slots are at Ausvegas/Lasseters, there a certified payout is posed for each individual slot, and some come close to 98%. Their VP is not so good though, and can pay less than the best slots!

I have only come upon one casino that had "bent" card games, and that was the old "Lucky Chance". They cheated because they made out that the Blackjack was a six deck game, however, it came nowhere near to the expected payout for it's rules, and seemed to pay just like a slot (which is probably what it was). They also have a bonus, earned at 2.5% of wagers with Blackjack allowed - there is NO WAY I could have lost under this regime if the BJ was honest to it's 0.5% house edge!
I have heard of other software that can be rigged, but these are mainly the small brands. The big brands such as MG, RTG, and Playtech cannot afford the risk of being caught cheating. Look what happened to English Harbour when they screwed up an upgrade. The software will never fully regain credibility after that, the trust has gone, and only time will tell if they can recover from the event.