Be wary of 'fake must-hits'.
e.g. Must hit by $1,200. Machine run up to 1,199.99 and stops...for weeks/months.
China Shores Quick Strike Online is a game that has been developed not only for the online casino market, but also for land-based casinos. It is, therefore, carefully designed with user accessibility and real-life punters in mind all at once.
I've never seen that happen.
There also are suuuper-sloooow must-hits. One Non-LasVegas $200 must-hit at $199...might require $1,600 to drop (ouch!).
That's just a function of the meter move, also, if you had a must-hit at $199.00 and it would take $1,600 coin-in to push it all the way up to $200, then that's a playable machine, I would suggest. There would have to be a ton of factors to make that not be a playable machine.
And must-hits which don't move on every bet.
They shouldn't, necessarily. That's especially true if you're making a minimum bet, (which is playing with the least volatility and doesn't hurt the return, provided all other things are equal) the meter move is just whatever dollars/cents amount it is and often differs between the different jackpot levels. It's not unusual for a small (Minor) jackpot to move faster than the Major, sometimes.
Often jackpots with a big range have faster meters whereas jackpots with a lesser range have slower meters. If you have a jackpot with a short range and a fast meter, it's important to remember that it's very likely that the jackpot itself (at base) probably contributes a good bit to the base return of the game, along with the meter move.
I'm waiting for the 'must-hit' which sometimes moves backwards (haven't seen it yet, but given the 2016 pz3, maybe....)
Heh, that was funny.
I've never seen that happen.
The fake-must-hit. I don't remember the exact name...but a giveaway is seeing three machines in a bank of '$1,200 must-hit' and two are at 1,199.99. There's a series which is fairly common around the US.That's just a function of the meter move, also, if you had a must-hit at $199.00 and it would take $1,600 coin-in to push it all the way up to $200, then that's a playable machine, I would suggest. There would have to be a ton of factors to make that not be a playable machine.
$200 must-hit at $199. $1,600 meter. 87%. Yes barely playable... in practice, I never see the machine above $198, which isn't playable.Saw a $20 minor must-hit at $19.97 once. Guy ran $80 through machine & it didn't move a penny. I don't know the meter, but I left.
That's especially true if you're making a minimum bet, (which is playing with the least volatility and doesn't hurt the return, provided all other things are equal) the meter move is just whatever dollars/cents amount it is and often differs between the different jackpot levels.
Quick Hit Slot Machine Tricks
WMS G+. Only moves on wins.The fake-must-hit. I don't remember the exact name...but a giveaway is seeing three machines in a bank of '$1,200 must-hit' and two are at 1,199.99. There's a series which is fairly common around the US.
I'll look out for that, then. The thing actually has, 'Must-Hit,' verbiage on it?
$200 must-hit at $199. $1,600 meter. 87%. Yes barely playable... in practice, I never see the machine above $198, which isn't playable.
Saw a $20 minor must-hit at $19.97 once. Guy ran $80 through machine & it didn't move a penny. I don't know the meter, but I left.
Apparently the meter on your second sentence is more than $80/penny. That's pretty insane. The longest meter I've ever seen on something that I thought would (normally) possibly be playable was $12.00/penny or $16.00/penny on the second-lowest of four jackpots...obviously, it didn't end up being playable.
WMS G+. Only moves on wins.
That's right, I recall those now. Used to have a ten-bank of them at the casino I most frequently visit, but they're gone now and have been for perhaps over a year. The meter move on those is theoretical rather than necessarily actual, just like the long-term return of the machine (though it approaches actual) but usually a fixed amount of win moves the meter a penny.
For example, if the base game + bonus games (not including the jackpots at all) has a return of 80%, and the meter move is a penny for $4.00 won, then the long-term effective meter move is a penny for every $5.00 coin-in. It doesn't really change anything (in terms of expectation) just that you're not necessarily guaranteed to move the meter that fast.
I've seen machines $2400, guaranteed to hit three times by $2500 taken off the floor for good. Coincidence? In $50,000 coin-in, paying out $24XX up to 3 times, a week later it's gone, but they chose then. Probably cost them $900 once, the increase from the $1500 reset, and it probably wasn't moved to a machine where $900 is won with odds of 1/50,000. Regulators dgaf. Belie dat. Could have waited a week, someone would have hit it, but they didn't. They took action against best wishes and best interest of the public. Unethical boys.
I've seen machines $2400, guaranteed to hit three times by $2500 taken off the floor for good.
'Player's Equity' money must be placed into another jackpot slot. Sometime when upgrading software, the machine won't hold the progressive money, so it has to move somewhere else before the software upgrade...which can be great if the money moves into an easily hit-able slot. But really bad if they move it into an almost impossible to hit progressive.I played part of a machine which hit at around $2,418, $2,433, and $2,493.
I'll look out for that, then. The thing actually has, 'Must-Hit,' verbiage on it?
Yes. The line I'm thinking of is at least 4-6 years old. No AP plays them. Regular players at the casino won't be tricked. But a traveling AP (or ploppy) looking for must-hits might be confused.The longest meter I've ever seen on something that I thought would (normally) possibly be playable was $12.00/penny or $16.00/penny on the second-lowest of four jackpots...obviously, it didn't end up being playable.
The 'Engine Ablaze' and 'Quick Strike Quad' meters are some of the worst. I think the $12.50 mini is usually 800-1200 ($8.00/penny) or worse. And the upper meters are 2000-2400 or higher...Some people who don't check meters might occasionally get a terrible surprise. The popular 0.25/1.00 $5K-10K progressives usually have 667/250 meters (sometimes 667/222), but I've seen one with 2000/667 meters (e.g. $20.00/penny for the major). Got killed on one minor because it took me so long to realize the meter was 667 (and not 250).
Konami QuickStrike $500/$50 usually is 400/133, but I've seen it at 200/67, 200/80, ??/83, ??/200, 800/267. In one casino, 4 different sets of meters co-exist. Just like with VP, some casinos set some banks really hard to milk unsuspecting poppies.
QuickStrike $200/$20 is usually 400/200, but it was mis-set at one casino at 80/200 (Major set 5x too fast). At another casino, it was deliberately set at 1000-2000/500 on one side of a bank, with normal setting on the other side. After 1-2 years, they changed the 1000-2000/500 to the lower regular setting.
One casino has two Quickstrike $2000/$200s set at 2000/1600 (rather than the more common 400/200).
That's right, I recall those now. Used to have a ten-bank of them at the casino I most frequently visit, but they're gone now and have been for perhaps over a year. The meter move on those is theoretical rather than necessarily actual, just like the long-term return of the machine (though it approaches actual) but usually a fixed amount of win moves the meter a penny.
First time I played a G+..was at 49.90. It took me $35 to drop. Didn't realize than betting $0.10-0.20 might have been better (since it moves based on wins, not coin-in).Quick Strike Slot Machine
G+ are still extremely common. Some casinos have 40-50+ machines. They have blue, orange, and black colored jackpot boxes.
Tricky issue is the $500 progressives start at both $250 or $350.
There's also a wide variety of meters on minor and major (sometimes the minor & major meter are the same, sometimes not).
When machines have both (1) different hold percentages (2) different meter settings ... life gets a little more fun for the mathematicians.
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There is a machine (Turbo Boost, I think) .... where the 500/50 progressives randomly jump up by large amounts. They do move up slowly with most coin-in.
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As I commented earlier, I'm waiting for the new machine, where the progressives occasionally move downward (The extra 'Player's Equity' would have to be stored in a hidden meter, to be added later in a Turbo Boost-like jump or some other bonus). See the 2016 pz3 for how something like this might work in practice.
Quick Strike Slot Machine
There is a direct effect on meter movement and how often a must hit will hit. ThisThis video admits it, how a predetermined jackpot value is the sole method determining a must-hit being 'randomly' awarded.
Further evidence, the casino reset all must-hits in a bank when changing the meters, all had enough play to guarantee $500 with old meter rates, but were unhit after $100,000 coin-in, all $290.
Saw this:
the machine on the right seems better than the one on the left.
then I thought 'When is a slot machine (in general) worth playing?
(assume it's set to the higher of:
-minimum payout allowed by state law
-minimal payout possible by the manufacturer)
I didn't read most of the comments so if this is redundant I apologize. I skimmed them and pretty much noticed everyone was talking about must hits but these are not those. Anyhoo... this is how I play reels like progressives. The problem is finding out the return. Without going into great detail I think you need to know what the return is for the machine. Actually all I need to know is how much will I expect to lose per hour? How many spins does it take on average to make the jackpot I am trying to hit? Pretty simple from that point. Can I outrun my loss per hour in the long run over time. Most jackpots that I play are usually 3 reel machines with a single line but I play others as well. Some only need to be double jackpot and others like Black Gold need to be 5x from the reset point and you better be able to lock down the machine for weeks on end... No Joke... weeks!! Something like this probably isn't high enough and I would guess that you need to do some 888 for a long period of time. You might get some heat if some wise slot guy sees you doing the old 888 with two others or a little 12 and 12 with one partner. Of course usually you won't get the heat with slots compared to locking down VP. Since I can't really break down the numbers and it is very difficult for me to get access to any PAR Sheets cause you got to be somebody to get that info I usually know about the machines I play from word of mouth or just sheer volume of the millions of spins that I have already spun. I don't need that many spins... usually 100k coin in is enough for me to know what is going on but a million coin in and I know for sure what the hold is!
'Player's Equity' money must be placed into another jackpot slot. Sometime when upgrading software, the machine won't hold the progressive money, so it has to move somewhere else before the software upgrade...which can be great if the money moves into an easily hit-able slot. But really bad if they move it into an almost impossible to hit progressive.
It's either Vegas or A.C. that has a law on that specifically stating that player equity money has to move to a Progressive that is as likely or more to hit, perhaps both jurisdictions.
Yes. The line I'm thinking of is at least 4-6 years old. No AP plays them. Regular players at the casino won't be tricked. But a traveling AP (or ploppy) looking for must-hits might be confused.
The 'Engine Ablaze' and 'Quick Strike Quad' meters are some of the worst. I think the $12.50 mini is usually 800-1200 ($8.00/penny) or worse. And the upper meters are 2000-2400 or higher...
Some people who don't check meters might occasionally get a terrible surprise. The popular 0.25/1.00 $5K-10K progressives usually have 667/250 meters (sometimes 667/222), but I've seen one with 2000/667 meters (e.g. $20.00/penny for the major). Got killed on one minor because it took me so long to realize the meter was 667 (and not 250).
The Quick Strike Quads are the ones with which I am familiar. It's really not that big of a deal, in my opinion. I would suggest that, if one is really paying attention, one might lose one to two dollars in theoretical before making the determination that the meter move is too slow to play.
QuickStrike $200/$20 is usually 400/200, but it was mis-set at one casino at 80/200 (Major set 5x too fast). At another casino, it was deliberately set at 1000-2000/500 on one side of a bank, with normal setting on the other side. After 1-2 years, they changed the 1000-2000/500 to the lower regular setting.
I've seen some with super fast minors, $0.90/$0.01 meter move, but those have since been fixed. Maybe, 'Fixed,' isn't even the right word, but changed, anyway.
First time I played a G+..was at 49.90. It took me $35 to drop. Didn't realize than betting $0.10-0.20 might have been better (since it moves based on wins, not coin-in).
I tend to bet as small as I can stand to do anyway to reduce variance, so it wouldn't make a huge difference to me whether or not it is win based as long as the Line Pays are the same and there is no verbiage on the Rule screen stating that Free Games become more likely with a greater bet, or anything like that.
G+ are still extremely common. Some casinos have 40-50+ machines. They have blue, orange, and black colored jackpot boxes.
Tricky issue is the $500 progressives start at both $250 or $350.
There's also a wide variety of meters on minor and major (sometimes the minor & major meter are the same, sometimes not).
Absolutely, they just seem to have gotten rid of most of the G+ must-hits in this area. I still see many of the same games, but most of them don't have a progressive. I think there are still a few at one casino close to me, but they really don't get much play at all.
When machines have both (1) different hold percentages (2) different meter settings ... life gets a little more fun for the mathematicians.
The hold percentages don't really concern me because I tend to make really conservative assumptions about the base return percentage, anyway, so the only thing knowing the specific hold percentages would do for me is get me on a few more borderline plays than I would normally do...with very low $$$/hour value.
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There is a machine (Turbo Boost, I think) .... where the 500/50 progressives randomly jump up by large amounts. They do move up slowly with most coin-in.
That would be more interesting to figure out how to account for, any guidance on the Rule screen? If not, probably take a lot of straight up watching others play.