Roulette Machines

[e77]

I used to test on-line casino games and they definitely weren't rigged as the house cut was a percentage and the profit increased the longer someone played the game.

Can't speak for all casino games, however.

 

[Mtoto]

There is no incentive for any major betting firm to rig these games in any way, because the maths effectively does it for them. High turnover, low margin has always been the bookies' way, and it has built billion-pound businesses without any need to fiddle (unduly, anyway).

The belief that the same numbers come up too regularly to be co-incidence is a classic example of a gambler's fallacy. The odds of a number coming up twice in a row in roulette are 36-1. If you watch 20 spins, and are just looking for, say, the same number twice in five, it's long odds-on that you'll find it.

It's a bit like the old betting trick on birthdays, where you get a decent-sized group of people to offer you odds on two of them having the same birthday. It's an even money chance when you have 23 people, and massively odds-on when you get to 30, but you'll still find people offering you 5-1 against and thinking that they are shafting you.

Human brains crave order. They look for it everywhere, and react badly to the very idea that something is random. The definitive book on the subject is Fooled By Randomness, which is well worth reading whether you are interested in betting or more traditional investments.

Online poker, roulette, the machines: it's all random. It's why some people have lucky streaks, and also why betting firms make profits from one year to the next. They have maths working in their favour, and for as long as an apple coming loose from a tree continues to fall down rather than up, the one per cent grind will get everyone in the end.

Sport, of course, is another matter, as our chairman - God preserve him - can testify.

 

[Scanny]

Is there any sort of regulatory body for these crack machines

 

[Mtoto]

There are limits on the number that can be installed in one shop (if there weren't, many bookies would have banks of them, as they are the difference between profit and loss for plenty of the shops these days). I think the limit is four, though there have been reports of some firms setting up "shops within shops" to try to get round it.

The limit is ultimately set by the Government, though I guess that if the Gambling Commission recommended a review, or ban, on machines in shops - ie. that they should be limited to casinos only - the legislators would eventually take note. But since the GC seems to be nothing more than a quango that spends all its time raising money to pay for its own administration, there's not much chance of that.

The bookies would also resist any curbs with every ounce of energy they could muster.

 

[Scanny]

There are limits on the number that can be installed in one shop (if there weren't, many bookies would have banks of them, as they are the difference between profit and loss for plenty of the shops these days). I think the limit is four, though there have been reports of some firms setting up "shops within shops" to try to get round it.

The limit is ultimately set by the Government, though I guess that if the Gambling Commission recommended a review, or ban, on machines in shops - ie. that they should be limited to casinos only - the legislators would eventually take note. But since the GC seems to be nothing more than a quango that spends all its time raising money to pay for its own administration, there's not much chance of that.

The bookies would also resist any curbs with every ounce of energy they could muster.

Yes you are right, they are limited to only x4 machines per shop.

Thats probably the only good thing.

Anyone remember when they first game out? Around 2001 I think.

Ladbrokes Cash Quests? Win up to GBP 50,000.

I think the Casinos complained and then they were restricted to GBP 500 max payout.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

I think the Casinos complained and then they were restricted to GBP 500 max payout.

Thats £500 max payout per spin.......... Not total

 

[Scanny]

Thats £500 max payout per spin.......... Not total

Yes thats correct.

Sorry, just logged on...

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Yes thats correct.

Sorry, just logged on...

No need to apologise fella, i think the max you can put on one number is £13.75 straight and a 25p corner gives you £499.50

 

[Scanny]

No need to apologise fella, i think the max you can put on one number is £13.75 straight and a 25p corner gives you £499.50

I could do with one of those!

 

[Scanny]

Anyone going for a spin today or over the weekend?

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Is there any sort of regulatory body for these crack machines

They are regulated by the Gambling Commission. There is an ongoing study going into them which could result in the amount of machines per shop being reduced. The bookies will fight long and hard to stop that happening though as this is where they make so much profit.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Won £50 last night online with Ladbrokes Casino. Just kept betting on the number that was spun previously and within about 10-15 spins it came in.

 

[Scanny]

Won £50 last night online with Ladbrokes Casino. Just kept betting on the number that was spun previously and within about 10-15 spins it came in.

Nice one!

 

[Sheebo]

So how much did SCANNY win this weekend?

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I once saw a bloke pump £3,000 (cash!) into a machine in Southwick, I'm sure it wasn't you, Uncle Spielberg.
But, seriously, they make an overall profit 6 days a week. Even in the one I work at, which isn't very busy, we tend to make atleast a £1,000 profit on them daily, and that is including the odd several hundred payout. Roulette is, comfortably, the most popular game on the machines, and I can understand why. I got addicted to them in Corals for a while.. and that's from someone who has seen what they do to people.

 

[Stat Brother]

I once saw a bloke pump £3,000 (cash!) into a machine in Southwick

Seriously 3k.
How long did that take to play?
Did he walk away with anything?

 

[Arthritic Toe]

There is no incentive for any major betting firm to rig these games in any way, because the maths effectively does it for them. High turnover, low margin has always been the bookies' way, and it has built billion-pound businesses without any need to fiddle (unduly, anyway).

The belief that the same numbers come up too regularly to be co-incidence is a classic example of a gambler's fallacy. The odds of a number coming up twice in a row in roulette are 36-1. If you watch 20 spins, and are just looking for, say, the same number twice in five, it's long odds-on that you'll find it.

It's a bit like the old betting trick on birthdays, where you get a decent-sized group of people to offer you odds on two of them having the same birthday. It's an even money chance when you have 23 people, and massively odds-on when you get to 30, but you'll still find people offering you 5-1 against and thinking that they are shafting you.

Human brains crave order. They look for it everywhere, and react badly to the very idea that something is random. The definitive book on the subject is Fooled By Randomness, which is well worth reading whether you are interested in betting or more traditional investments.

Online poker, roulette, the machines: it's all random. It's why some people have lucky streaks, and also why betting firms make profits from one year to the next. They have maths working in their favour, and for as long as an apple coming loose from a tree continues to fall down rather than up, the one per cent grind will get everyone in the end.

Sport, of course, is another matter, as our chairman - God preserve him - can testify.

Spot on. Why would anyone designing a gambling machine bother with complex logic involving number sequences, time since a number last appeared etc, when you can just let maths do it all for you. Just stick the right number of cherries and lemons on your one-arm bandit and Bob's yer uncle. Its random. Even if it just payed out big, its just as likely (or unlikely) to do it again on the next spin.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Seriously 3k.
How long did that take to play?
Did he walk away with anything?

Seriously, £3k. We couldn't quite believe it. He kept pulling notes from his pocket. It seemed never ending. The second he was out the door, having lost the LOT (he got £400 up at one point, I think he had put in £500 at that point and was up to £900), we emptied the machine and banked the lot. Don't want that much hanging about the shop! It's not an isolated incident, either. I've seen people lose hundreds, even a grand, playing the roulette.

That said though, it is swings and roundabouts. On Good Friday I was in Boundary Road, and come 4 o'clock the machines were showing an overall profit of £2,500 but come closing time just 2 hours later, we were £500 down on them. A geezer collected a cool £1,500 from £50 staked, amongst other heavy winners.

 

[Stat Brother]

Seriously, £3k. We couldn't quite believe it. He kept pulling notes from his pocket. It seemed never ending. The second he was out the door, having lost the LOT (he got £400 up at one point, I think he had put in £500 at that point and was up to £900), we emptied the machine and banked the lot. Don't want that much hanging about the shop! It's not an isolated incident, either. I've seen people lose hundreds, even a grand, playing the roulette.

That said though, it is swings and roundabouts. On Good Friday I was in Boundary Road, and come 4 o'clock the machines were showing an overall profit of £2,500 but come closing time just 2 hours later, we were £500 down on them. A geezer collected a cool £1,500 from £50 staked, amongst other heavy winners.

It's odd, as my initial reaction is 'bollox'.
But obviously that's what those machines do, and just cos 3k would set me up for months, doesn't mean everybody else thinks like that.

So for 3k I guess he was expecting to at least double his money, maybe triple it.
Bloody scary stuff.

 

[Cecil]

That said though, it is swings and roundabouts. On Good Friday I was in Boundary Road, and come 4 o'clock the machines were showing an overall profit of £2,500 but come closing time just 2 hours later, we were £500 down on them. A geezer collected a cool £1,500 from £50 staked, amongst other heavy winners.

What's the betting that the £1,500 ended back in the machines after not very long though?