Indian Casinos - shady practices?

Where I live there are only Indian Casinos and no other competition.

I wouldn't consider myself a gambler and haven't been to Vegas in decades, but I do play slots locally every now and then. I see it as a form of entertainment and know the chances of winning aren't that spectacular. That being said I want to share something that happened to me recently.
Let me know if you think it is coincidence or something else.

I usually play slots with my husband. He was not there at the time. I was on a machine, and a Native American casino worker came an tapped the back of my chair. It was very obvious and made me jump a bit and look back.
After that I started winning.... a lot. I kept winning all night. About an hour after that, another Native American worker (looked kinda like a pit boss or something, not a regular casino worker) came up and asked me how I was doing. I have never once experienced a worker like that say anything, to me or anyone else nearby.

I know they say slots machines are random, etc, but they are computers and they can obviously be programmed to only payout a certain amount, so is it possible for them to payout to certain machine at a certain time? What do you think, just a lucky night or was I flagged for a win?

a reply to: JAGStorm

just a lucky coincidence. I love to play slots but I play them at online casinos.

I win so much more then I ever did a land based ones.

First rule about any Casino is figure out what you can spend take cash and leave the debit card at home .

Secondly from what I understand most slots are set on a percentage. 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 or other payouts per dollar .

Finding the good ones is pot luck. I’ve heard rumors that they rotate pay out cycles in each machine automatically. Unless you find slots were the payout is announced . ( rumor not fact )

Lastly and importantly, if you leave a casino and break even your a winner .

Dbl post and I have no earthly idea why it happened ?

Ha, you ran into the opposite of the 'cooler':



What did they tape to the back of your chair?

Maybe people don't have the disposable income anymore and the casinos are trying to get new addicts hooked to keep their revenues up.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You got lucky

Gambling is heavily regulated, even on the Indian casino.

And you...we stole their land now you steal their money, wtf!!!
j/k

a reply to: ClovenSky

Love William Macy, and I actually saw that movie.
If they were doing anything, I don't think they were trying to hook me as you say, but more
bring attention that I was a woman sitting alone. Something like how some clubs
let women in for free but charge men a cover

a reply to: JAGStorm

Ah, tapped and not taped. Lol, reading comprehension for the win. I thought they taped something to your chair, sending a signal to the security booth to turn up the odds for the machines you were playing. Or something completely impossible like that.

I am very lucky that I have absolutely no luck at all. My first few tries at gambling, I lost and lost without a hint of luck. Even things I do well, when I bet on them, I lose .... all of the time. I guess I am blessed in knowing that if I gamble, I will lose, so I don't even bother.

Used to go for the Sunday Buffet..

The computers can be reset from the observation post, but I do not think that anyone can make a machine pay out for a person or make it so they do not pay out, they just reset them. If the machine is set by the program to pay out it will pay out till it's quota is met to keep the rate of return right. I knew someone who worked on these at the Casino close by here about ten years ago and he explained how it works. Now the machine can be reset remotely, that will stop the winning from a cycle, but at that time they could not boost winnings. Since then there are lots of different machines and computer controlers so I do not know what is now happening. The friend I knew who worked on that died maybe five years ago. Nobody to ask now.

a reply to: ClovenSky

"I guess I am blessed in knowing that if I gamble, I will lose, so I don't even bother."
Yea, me too, but that didn't stop me from trying. I can't tell a lie worth squat, either.
Blessed, that's the word.

a reply to: ToddB

There have been a few times i've been unbelievably "lucky".

I was at the Venetian checking in. On the way to my room, I wanted to just try one machine.
This is so long ago, it's when they still used quarters!! I plopped in three quarters and I won just under $400 on my first spin. I didn't play for the rest of my stay, that is how you really win, you have to stop.

I have a friend that does very well at the poker slots. Bit takes nerves of steel and discipline according to him

I prefer the holdem and omaha tables around 4pm when the geezers are stupid drunk and turn into rabbits.
Even a halfassed rounder can do ok; it's not even gambling.

As Amarillo Slim used to say..."If you can't spot the chump at the table...It's you"

I read some of the regulations that governed "chance" and "skill" games. The "chance" games like slot machines had to maintain legally set winning ratios. To do that they had to maintain logs of every payment made by a player, the state of the slot reels and every payout whether in coins, tokens or accumulator. The software could adjust the probability of a win based on the current ratios - letting you more likely to win if you had a long bad run, less likely to win if you just had a good win.

There were books on how to use this strategy. Avoid the machines that just had a big winner. Those needed to "cool off" that win. You could try losing the first few games in order to increase the chances of a big win a few games after.

I went to a concert at the Soaring Eagle and blew through $50 on the poker machines just for the hell of it.

It was great being able to smoke cigarettes on the gaming floor. It was surreal with the sound of all the machines playing music and making noise. There was a lot of people hooked up to machines and plugging them with cash along with the action at the tables.

I don't mind that the local tribe is making bank with a casino, I just hope it helps their community rather than lining the pockets of a few.

a reply to: JAGStorm
Washington State is an Indian Casino state so I know what you mean. It's a kind of bizarre situation sometimes.

You kept winning all night. And I'm guessing you did not stay at that same machine all night? Your luck actually followed you around?

It's not that uncommon for a boss to talk to someone who's winning a lot, they want to get to know you and see how they can get you to spend your winnings there.

Maybe they were doing some kind of experiment to see, if someone, not a high roller, has a really lucky night, how much money will they walk out with? Will they stay there and spend all the winnings? Maybe they have a scheme they are testing to target people who appear to be social for wins so they spread the word like the social butterflies they are, bringing more suckers in to the casino. Maybe they profiled you as a sociable person? Or maybe they stalked you online and found you to be somewhat active on social media?

I just dont see the need for them to tap your chair so hard and make it obvious... making you aware of it kind of defeats the purpose.

a reply to: 3n19m470

Yes, I kept winning at different machines.

Maybe they were doing some kind of experiment to see, if someone, not a high roller, has a really lucky night, how much money will they walk out with?

Yes, I suspect something like this.

As bizarre as it sounds I did feel like they wanted me to know they were "targeting" me!
Thank goodness in a good way!

There is also the chance the security and a few other employees have noticed the patterns of the slots and were testing them.
Pointing you out to say to security, "now this one will hit".
Either as a security measure, or, since this is ATS, Maybe the employees are conspiring to rob the casio Oceans 11 style by playing the "winner" slots in a sequence.......

It may not hurt to bring the issue up to the casino security if you feel so inclined.