I don't know Bill.

Personal experience was that when the machines were new, I could play on $10 for a long time, one quarter at a time, until I finally hit a Strike. Last trip to Reno I played and played with 3 coins and don't recall (might have been once) hitting a bar-bar-bar on the center line. That was about 25 tokens and over $400 into the machines.

For whoever commented on the Atlantis, Reno I agree. I played and played and played and only got the same stupid strike, and they were hard to get. The cage had no extras, when I tried to exchange one with a cracked up case, which was actually missing pieces.

Airport downstairs was terrible, up at the gate waiting for a plane, they seemed to just pop out like candy.

Now if I go somewhere else and find a "tight" machine, it might be the same one that someone found was "loose" yesterday.

The whole point is, that it's totally random, but we are intelligent humans with memory. The machines are stupid, random machines. We make something of a lucky streak, machines don't care. We notice that it just cost $50 for one strike, the machine doesn't have a clue.

In the end the machine will take in (hypothetical) 13% and pay out 87%. I play and it costs $60 for one strike, the next person hits four strikes for $10, the machine just took it's 13%, plus paid a few for the cherries. All is well in the world of the machine and math!

I think the machine stinks, the other person rememebrs that "hot" machine they beat for $30.

Of course the stupid machines are smug about this whole issue, because they ALWAYS win.