Why do you play slots?

[zreb]

Slots can manage to be mentally engaging without being mentally demanding - probably the same principle behind why we might enjoy having music in the background. Sure, there's nothing truly and particularly interesting about a line of 5 of the same thing in a row, but when you put it in the concept of a game, the potential actual money won, the difficulty of actually pulling off that amazing win, with the sights, sounds, and themes that provide the context for the gameplay - seeing if that last symbol manages to hit sure feels interesting.

For many, roulette doesn't feel quite the same, it lacks the context that a slot provides to the experience and feels a bit slow and dry. You can still get a rush from roulette if you put down a lot of money, but many people get more enjoyment out of slots.

I understand where a few of your thoughts in your OP are coming from, but I think targeting your questions as slots in particular is a bit misguided though - you could ask similar questions about most kinds of gambling. If people want to double their money, why don't they put everything on a single hand of baccarat and then go home? Because that isn't as much fun for most people. They would rather split their bet up into a lot of smaller gambles, look for patterns, test their luck, and so on.

Is there a bit of irrationality mixed in there? Often, yes. But as long as people understand that and keep their spending levels in control, that's okay. There are some people that genuinely believe their betting systems can win, or that they can feel their luck or tell when a win is coming or when a machine is hot or cold, or various other gambling fallacies people make. Admittedly, those can be dangerous for people who don't keep themselves in control, but there are also many people who gamble who know perfectly well that the casino is going to come out ahead in the long term, and who are happy to pay a bit for the experience and for the wins here and there.

If you know deep down that it doesn't really make a difference whether you bet red or black, that your lucky paperweight is just a placebo, that summoning your focus to press that spin button at the exact right time doesn't make a 1000x hit any more or any less likely to occur, and that the power of positivity isn't going to grant you a winning keno ticket, it's okay to engage in those things for the fun of it.

You said that you sometimes had some fun with free spins and bonuses on slots where you didn't feel you were risking your own money. Are you sure that the fact that you were winning a bit of money was the only reason you had fun? Were you even making any more money than if you worked the same amount of time? I suspect that there was something else that you also found engaging in the experience and caused you to enjoy it. I'm not saying you should take up slots or gambling if you don't want to, but you may understand others a bit better if you can also understand your own experiences.

 

[bebo67]

Damn man same thing happens to me. I used to love ps and nintendo but ever since I got into slots it just isnt the same. I have tonnes of games and new ones but I cant just get into it cause now I know there is a chance to win a lot of money

But it does get expensive sometimes so sometimes breaks are forced upon us which is probably healthy for all of us.

But I will try and get into zelda from the old nintendo. Impossible not to love that game every once and awhile.

Omg. I was so addicted to Zelda and Mario. I would stay up all night playing it and then go to work on 2-3 hours sleep.

 

[dionysus]

Omg. I was so addicted to Zelda and Mario. I would stay up all night playing it and then go to work on 2-3 hours sleep.

pretty much only 2 i got into as wel

 

[Jasminebed]

I bought new platforms to play Zelda games. Oh, and the N64 was purchased with a (land based) casino win for Christmas one year, in a bundle with Ocarino of Time.

Kids got a Switch for the family for Xmas, might have to give my Son-in-law that Zelda game and offer to babysit for the next month or so, lol.

They have my Nintendo and N64 and those games for the grandkids. The titles for the Game Cube are the only ones I have not played.

 

[BabylonBear]

So I tend to stick to quick bouts of multiplayer games, as every game these days is either 'open world' or takes 60 hours just to complete

That's good value though, $50 for a 60 hour game, that's less than $1 an hour.

Other dopamine- stimulants like alcohol are short-lived, sex lasts about 3 minutes give or take, with cocaine marginally better at 11 minutes

But in terms of choosing slotting over other forms of gambling, having tried card & table games, I'd say slotting trumps those for sheer thrills & spills

Except Bonanza of course, which is a c

I'm with you that slots are better value for money than hookers and coke.

Half-decent escort at $200/hour (or if you're really just doing 3 minutes, let's say $100 for a quickie, amounting to $2000/hour)
Decent cocaine at $100/gram, will last you for an evening unless you're a heavy user.
Slots at $1/spin, 4 second spin means $900/hour, at 96% RTP that's $36/hour

Not as cheap as video games though, at $1/hour. Although you can't really share the escort/hookers with your friends/family, so there is also that.

 

[goatwack]

That's good value though, $50 for a 60 hour game, that's less than $1 an hour.


I'm with you that slots are better value for money than hookers and coke.

Half-decent escort at $200/hour (or if you're really just doing 3 minutes, let's say $100 for a quickie, amounting to $2000/hour)
Decent cocaine at $100/gram, will last you for an evening unless you're a heavy user.
Slots at $1/spin, 4 second spin means $900/hour, at 96% RTP that's $36/hour

Not as cheap as video games though, at $1/hour. Although you can't really share the escort/hookers with your friends/family, so there is also that.

Thankyou, I'd lost track of current prices

 

[BabylonBear]

You said that you sometimes had some fun with free spins and bonuses on slots where you didn't feel you were risking your own money. Are you sure that the fact that you were winning a bit of money was the only reason you had fun? Were you even making any more money than if you worked the same amount of time? I suspect that there was something else that you also found engaging in the experience and caused you to enjoy it. I'm not saying you should take up slots or gambling if you don't want to, but you may understand others a bit better if you can also understand your own experiences.

I am with you on this. The appeal of a big win is undeniable. I've had offers where they give me 10 free spins of 0.25, and normally I would bother logging in somewhere for 2.50 worth of spins, but part of me says well, I might win 100 from that, so I'll give it a go.

 

[BabylonBear]

Thankyou, I'd lost track of current prices

Yeah, Eastern Europeans have significantly brought down the prices for escorts. You can pop into an eastern European brothel, be in and out in 30 minutes for 50-100 euro/pound. Girl gets half, the house gets the rest. Receptionist gets paid twice minimum wage to take calls and make appointments. The girls do a tour for a few months, then go back home and have a nice chunk of money for college or whatever they want to do. I'm good friends with a few, one of them is doing a business degree now.

But the efficiency of brothels, cheap Eastern European labor, alongside amateur channels like instagram and "sugar daddy" websites which facilitate young girls to "give it a try" discreetly, have shifted supply/demand of sex workers in Europe, lowering prices...

They are still overpriced in the US, largely due to puritanical values and legal issues leading to lower supply..

 

[Siohmy]

Used to play them as they were entertaining and the features made up for the often paint drying elements of the spins. Unfortunately the industry in its wisdom thought those paint drying sections should be of house decorating duration so I’m pretty much on the verge of giving it up. Suspect I may not be alone. Have been going back to playing more on my PS4. Realise how much I’ve missed playing games and not losing money every time.

 

[Mr Wild]

I love to drink beer and play slots with friends. The more I drink the more I seem to win, some how I always wake up with an empty wallet!
But for me its all about entertainment, I will never be the one hitting the big win! (But who knows Someone inside me still believes!)

 

[BillyGoldblum]

Funnily enough that's the one I'm waiting to drop in price too!

It's heading towards the £25 or less territory, but still. Then it becomes work actually having to play it and taking away time from other games

I remember waiting for Monster Hunter to drop. It just wouldn't budge for a whole bloody year!

(I played about 10 minutes of it in 3 months)

Once I realized how expensive games were I decided to stop playing new games for 2 years and play old ones like resident evil 4 and zelda and whatever else. Then by that time the games I want to play are a year or two old and like $9-$29 instead of $80. The problem with that idea is I am so far behind games now I will never catch up unless I really got back into games. I stand at the game store and look at the hundreds of games and Im pretty overwhelmed I just end up leaving and going home and watching trailers to see what games are good. Then I forget the names of the games and say forget it and go play slots LoL ;p

red dead 2 will for sure get played by me..dont know about any others but the first one i absolutely loved especially the zombie mode too. So yep big fan of the series!

 

[BillyGoldblum]

Omg. I was so addicted to Zelda and Mario. I would stay up all night playing it and then go to work on 2-3 hours sleep.

lol you sound like my mother.

She used to wake me up at 2am because she couldnt beat a level and would get me to do it