Get this from a library! The slot machine answer book: how they work, how they've changed, and how to overcome the house advantage. John Grochowski.
I’ve put together a list of 11 slot machine books worth reading. By reading these books you’ll gain knowledge on the background of slot machines, the strategies that pros use, mathematical advantages, spotting the best machines, and more.
These books were written by gambling professionals including John Grochowski and Frank Scoblete, who give you a look into their mind and provide you with the secrets they use to win at slots.
1 – The Slot Machine Answer Book
John Grochowski is a gambling author and the first to have a casino gambling column in a major U.S. newspaper. His book The Slot Machine Answer Book was published in 1999 and is a question and answer format that breaks down the information into small sections that are easy for beginners to digest.
The chapters in this book begin with a quiz to test the knowledge you already know. Then you’re given the information and answers relating to these questions.
With this book you’ll learn a lot of the basic fundamentals of slot machines such as how they got started and progressed, general functions of slot machines, how odds work, and a basic approach to playing different types of slot machines.
2 – Slots Smarts
Slots Smarts was written by Claude Halcombe and published in 1996. His book focuses on slot strategies and money management.
This book is great for beginners, it includes general information about slot machines and it shows you the gambling environment that would work best for you based on your type of personality.
It includes four different game plans called The Green Plan, The Silver Plan, The Gold Plan, and The Emerald plan. Each of these plans includes a different strategy based on which environment you want to play in.
You’ll learn Halcombe’s personal strategy of keeping fixed daily stakes, limiting his casino visits, and winning more and loosing less. You’ll also learn how he picks his casinos, machines, and about machines that look the same but play differently and why that is.
He also includes a spreadsheet to help you make a game plan and keep track of your own strategy. This will help you continuously develop your winning strategy and help you keep track of game patterns.
3 – Slots Conquest
Slots Conquest was written by Frank Scoblete and published in 2010. Slots Conquest is an eccentric book that gives readers both useful information and humor.
Scoblete talks about how playing higher denomination machines give players a better edge to win. He suggest having a 401G, similar to a 401K for retirement, a 401G is for a gambling fund.
Building your 401G to a higher amounts means you can afford to play higher denomination machines and continue to have the edge on the casino. This is very useful information for today’s players because there are many quarter to dollar slot machines on the floors of casinos now.
He builds on this point of having a 401G gambling fund by explaining why when you’re ahead, you shouldn’t call it quits and take your winnings. He also talks about money management, common myths and mistakes, mathematical edge, advantage slot machines, and how to identify which machines to hit and which machines to ditch.
To add to the humor of the book, Scoblete includes stories about slot adventures and players who claimed to have psychic slot experiences.
4 – Powerful Profits from Slots
Powerful Profits from Slots was written by Victor H. Royer and published in 2003. His book is a step by step format that lays out everything you need to know about making a profit from slots.
Some of the topics Royer covers are:
- Differences in slots, why some look the same but pay differently
- Which machines to choose
- Three reel machines
- Slot machine program secrets
- Pay cycles and how to recognize them
- Win potential
- And more
Royer teaches that you only need to be informed to win slots. You will learn that the house always has the edge, but Royer provides methods and strategies to come out a winner through dedication to his strategies.
5 – Break the One Armed Bandits
Break the One Armed Bandits was written by Frank Scoblete and published in 1994. Scoblete put tons of research into this book and includes a chapter where he discusses his interview with slot machine personnel.
The book starts with background and history on slot machines. Scoblete includes interesting information about house edge, stats, and bankroll. He then gives you a list of 8 different slot types that have historically had the highest and lowest payouts.
The next part of the book is 20 pages worth of interview with casino personnel. This gives readers and inside look at how casinos think regarding slot machines. This will help further your understanding of house and mathematical edge.
Scoblete finishes up the book by giving readers information about money management, bankroll, and the most common schemes everyday players get conned into. There’s also a short section on taxes and the IRS related to gambling.
6 – The Smarter Bet Guide to Slots
The Smarter Bet Guide to Slots was written by Basil Nestor and published in 2004. This is one book in a series of The Smarter Bet books by Nestor. Nestor wrote this book as a guide to finding high paying machines.
Here’s a look at some of the topics he covers:
- Payback comparisons
- Video poker strategy tables
- Progressive jackpot evaluation
- Loose machines
- Casino layout evaluation
- Finding the best odds
- Malfunctioning machines
- And more
7 – Secrets of Winning Slots
Secrets of Wining Slots was written by Avery Cardoza and published in 1998. Cardoza is a professional gambler and gambling author. He also owns Gambler’s Book Club.
This book has more than 20 strategies including:
- Finding high paying machines
- Increase your chances to win the big jackpot
- Frequent payoffs
- How to get freebies
- How to get extra points
- How to get cash back
- Avoiding sucker machines
- Cardoza’s slots action chart
- Multipliers
- Mega pay lines
- Buy your play
- Multi pay lines
- Big berthas
- Multiple progressives
- Mega progressives
- Wild symbols
- And more
He also provides information on percentages, history, slot clubs, misconceptions, and money management.
8 – How to Win Millions Playing Slot Machines
How to Win Millions Playing Slot Machines was written by Frank Legato and published in 2000. Legato is a gambling author, editor, and founder of a gambling magazine. This book covers a wide variety of topic and adds humor to make it a fun and easy read.
Legato covers:
- Slot machine history
- How slots work
- Virtual reel strips
- Random number generators
- Payback percentages
- Slot jockeys, machine hogs, and cowpoke
- Players clubs
- Tournaments
- Promotions
- And more
9 – John Patrick on Slots
John Patrick on Slots was written by John Patrick and published in 1994. Patrick is a professional gambler, video instructor, and TV host. In the 80’s and 90’s man considered Patrick the main gambling authority because he had more books about the subject than anyone else. His TV show also helped build his reputation.
After computers became common and were able to run millions of possibilities a few things Patrick wrote have been found to be incorrect. But overall he still adds a great deal to the available knowledge about gambling.
Patrick’s book is meant to be a universal guide to the gambler. It has strategies that are easy to learn and can be applied to slots or table games. By being disciplined, players can learn game patterns and apply strategies to win in any game they play.
Patrick also gives useful tips and advice about money management.
10 – Secrets of Modern Slot Playing
Secrets of Modern Slot Playing was written by Larry Mak and the most recent edition was published in 2004. Mak is a high school teacher turned slot machine author.
His book covers:
- Reel spinning
- Coinless slots
- Multiline video slots
- Role of luck
- Slot playing myths
- Streaks
- Common playing mistakes
- How the casino thinks
- How the casino wants you to think
- Betting strategies
- Loose machines
- Best floor location
- Quarter slots
- Dollar slots
- And more
11 – The Big Book of Slots
The Big Book of Slots was written by Marten Jensen and published in 2006. Jensen is also known as the Doctor of Gambling for his seven best selling gambling books. Jensen has been a computer engineer, professional player, and mathematician for over 30 years, which allows him to fill his books with the best knowledge available.
This book is a large guide to all things slots. With 25 chapters, this book covers:
- 50 of the most popular slots
- Professional tips
- 21 winning strategies
- Frequent payoffs
- History of slots
- Highest payoffs
- Slots clubs
- Comps
- Free trips
- Cash back bonuses
- Losing machines and how to spot them
- Illustrations
- Photos
- Charts
- Money management advice
- How to spot profitable machines
- And more
Conclusion
Whether you’re looking for humor or a real winning strategy, you can find it in these books. Slot machines can be found in practically any casino or gambling facility and having the knowledge to play the best way could win you a big haul the next time you play these one armed bandits.
QUESTION: I was playing a slot machine, and I had to go to the bathroom. Usually, I put a coin cup on the machine, and people leave it alone. This time I couldn’tfind any coin cups around, so I just left my players card in the machine and hoped that would signal people I was still playing. I couldn’t have been gone five minutes, and when I came back,someone else was playing the machine. Not only that, my player card was gone. The other player had put it on top of the machine, and a slot attendant had taken it away. I had to go to theplayers club booth to get a new card.
Do you think that was all kind of rude? Shouldn’t the other player have left my machine alone? I complained to a casino manager, but she didn’t seem to think it was any big deal.
ANSWER: If I were a slot machine designer, I’d program a “machine in use” feature that would light up and lock the machine when a player wanted to take a bathroombreak or get a drink. Perhaps unlocking it would be keyed to re-entry of your players club card. It would all be on a timer, of course --- holding a machine for 10 minutes to go to the bathroomis reasonable; holding it for an hour while you go to lunch isn’t.
Some international slots have such a feature, but U.S. casinos prefer to deactivate it. So we need to devise signals that we’ve just stepped away for a minute. Leaving a player ratingcard in a machine is not a strong enough signal. People forget to take their cards when they leave machines all the time. It’s no breach of etiquette for another player to assume some otherforgetful soul has left without his or her card.
It’s more effective to lean a chair forward against the machine, and to ask other players to watch it for you while you make a quick trip. Do not leave anything of value behind. I seeeyeglasses and cigarettes and lighters left to save machines all the time, but the worst I ever saw was a wallet, obviously loaded with cash. I was just passing when I saw it, but alerted aslot attendant to keep an eye out until the owner returned.
With TITO taking over slot floors --- before long, coins and tokens will disappear from the slot universe altogether --- there are fewer and fewer coin cups to act as place holders. Eventhey weren’t perfect, of course. I once saw a man turn a coin upside down on a the screen of a nickel game where he had more than 2,000 credits. A short time after he walked a way, a woman afew seats away cashed out and looked for a coin cup, and the only one nearby was the one on the man’s screen. She took it.
Now THAT was a breach of etiquette. Playing a machine where someone else has left a players card is just business as usual.
QUESTION: How is it that a casino can afford to pay you 800 coins for four Aces on some games, 2,000 on some others, but only 125 on Jacks or Better? On the gamesthat pay more, are they programmed so the Aces come up less often?
ANSWER: On the contrary. We hit four Aces more often, not less, on games such as Double Bonus Poker (800 coins for a five-coin bet), Double Double Bonus Poker (800coins most of the time, but 2,000 if the four Aces are accompanied by a 2, 3 or 4) or Super Aces (2,000 coins) than we do on Jacks or Better (125 coins). That’s because we adjust our playingstrategy to account for the bigger payoffs on those Aces. The prime example is a full house that includes three Aces. On Jacks or Better, we just take the full house payoff. On the other gamesmentioned, we hold the three Aces and discard the other pair, hoping for the fourth Ace.
So how can games such as Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus and Super Aces pay us so much more than Jacks or Better does on Ace quads? Because what they give you on four of a kind, theytake away elsewhere on the pay table. One thing all those big Ace games have in common is that they pay only 1-for-1 on two pair, instead of the 2-for-1 you get on Jacks or Better. The drop inthe two-pair payoff costs us about 12 percent of our return in the long run, giving game designers plenty of leeway to give us bigger bonuses elsewhere on the pay table.
QUESTION: Whenever I've won a hand-paid jackpot (no matter how large or how small), the attendant paying the jackpot has asked me to 'spin-off' the winningcombination. It seems that the 'request' to spin-off a winning combination is tantamount to 'requiring' me to make a bet that I otherwise might not make. I don't mind doing it, butwhat if a player refused to make that one, last, final bet to 'spin-off' a winning combination? Does the player still get paid? Does the casino employee do it? Whathappens?
The Slot Machine A John Grochowski 1999 Full
ANSWER: The casino still has to pay you if you refuse to spin off the winner. Usually, a slot attendant, in the presence of a security guard, will take a coin outof the machine hopper and spin off the winner. It has to be reported, and it’s a bit of a hassle for them, so I spin off the winner --- with one exception. On multiline video machines, ahand-pay may be triggered just because you’ve accumulated a large number of credits on the machine. I’ve hit the cashout button with a losing combination on the screen, and have been asked, “Idon’t suppose you’ll spin that off?” In that situation, my answer is, “No, sorry.”
John is the author of six books on casino games, including 'The Slot Machine Answer Book.' You can find his weekly column atwww.scoblete.com