Behind the Reels
Harnessing Lady Luck?
The Top 10 slot superstitions.
By Matt Villano

Every gambler has his or her superstitions: the lucky turtleneck, the lucky seat, the lucky card-keep. Many roulette players have certain rituals pertaining to when they place their final bet. Most craps players believe the outcome of each roll depends on how a croupier sets the dice. Slot players are no exception to this rule. Many of us have our favorite machines, our favorite chairs, even our favorite sections of each particular casino. Once we set up shop near our Number 1 slot, we have superstitions, too. Here are 10 of the most common.

#1: Get coins hot or cold

Depending on whom you ask, either hot coins or cold coins can trick a machine to hit. Some slot players (perhaps the hot-blooded ones?) believe if you heat up coins before you insert them into a machine, the machine will be much more likely to hit a jackpot. Conversely, other players insist the trick is chilling coins with ice before dropping them in the slot. Naturally, spokespeople from slot manufacturers such as IGT and Bally Technologies declined to comment.

#2: Don’t sit—stand

Most slot-machine chairs aren’t connected to machines themselves, but that doesn’t stop a phalanx of players from believing that their odds of winning at certain machines are higher if they stand. One player told me she thinks the machine “knows” when she’s getting comfortable, and rewards her with a losing run. Her solution? She stands the whole time, even if it means suffering a foot-ache.

#3: Big brother is watching

Technically speaking, casinos certainly have the ability to track in real-time how much money you’re winning by reading your players card. This fact leads many slot players to erroneously believe it’s bad luck to use the card during a hot streak, for fear of tipping the casino that they’re winning too much. In truth, of course, every pull is entirely random, and has just as much chance of winning as the next.

#4: Those darn operators

Over the course of war movies (or an NFL game), you’ve probably heard the saying, “No Guts, No Glory.” Yet many slot players believe that if a slot operator interrupts their play for any reason to inspect the guts of their machine, they will not, in fact, win again. These players allege that slot operators, even if they’re just looking inside the machine, change the “payout cycle.” Nothing could be farther from the truth.

#5: Every day is like payday

Superstitious slot players also believe that some days are luckier than others, because casinos loosen or tighten certain machines. Again, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Each machine is set at a particular pay rate at the manufacturer, and must be inspected by the local gaming commission to guarantee that it pays out at that rate. Once this rate is established, a casino cannot arbitrarily change it on their own—it’s a major deal that involves, once again, getting a member of the gaming commission out to the casino to supervise the process.

#6: Newer is better

Ever wonder why new casinos make such a big deal about their openings? Or why existing casinos make such a big deal about new slot machines? One simple explanation: slot players believe new machines have a higher likelihood of doling out big bucks. Many players think fledgling slots are rigged to be loose for their first few days of life. Again, absolutely untrue. The machine doesn’t know it’s new.>

#7: Back-to-back?

Superstitious slot players have strong feelings about jackpots—especially once a jackpot has just hit. In one corner sit the positivists, those who believe that jackpots are more likely to hit back-to-back. In the other corner sit the negativists, those who believe that once a jackpot hits, it is far less likely to hit again for quite a while. We rationalists know the truth: a jackpot has the same exact chance of hitting with every spin.

#8: Location is everything

Some slot players swear that the location of a machine has a bearing on how lucky the machine really is. There may actually be a scintilla of truth in this philosophy. Casinos frequently put “looser” machines near the main entrance of a casino to create excitement that entices other gamblers to come in. Finding these machines, however, is entirely serendipitous, especially since most casinos regularly cycle machines around the gaming floor.

#9: Moving on

They’re called nomads—those slot players who pick up and move along if they don’t hit anything in their first three spins. Those who employ this strategy believe that if a machine doesn’t show them some love in the first few minutes (or, say, the first $20), it’s time to try another machine and start the love all over again. Eventually, over thousands of spins, this strategy might actually work. It is, however, no more statistically viable than just staying put.

#10: Being owed

Perhaps the most common belief (or superstition) among slot players is the notion of a tight machine “owing” you for your efforts. These players believe that if they put in enough money, the machine quite literally “owes” them some sort of return for their investments. In reality, the machine has no idea who you are or what you’re spending; it’s going to hit when it’s ready to hit, regardless of you. Still, it’s always fun to dream.