Just got my first machine...now what?!?

[ShutterBun]

Greetings all,

I've just become the proud & happy owner of a 1995 vintage IGT Double Double Diamond machine. My wife and I are finally getting around to having our wedding reception party (a mere 8 months after our wedding) and opted for a Las Vegas theme, seeing as how that's where we got married. So we splurged a bit and got a nice big slot machine for the party.

Like so many others here, I have a lot of "newbie" questions about our new toy. I've got the service manual for the machine, which is helpful, although a lot of the information (such as schematics, chip settings, etc.) sails comfortably over my head, so I suppose I'm looking for a more practical "real world" (or is it "reel world?) guide for a new owner.

Here are my "special snowflake" details:

The machine, as I said, is an IGT Double-Double Diamond. I've determined it is an S+ machine. We hope to have it hanging around our family room as a permanent diversion for things like parties and guests to play when they visit (we live in Hollywood, and there seems to be no shortage of fun-loving guests coming over!)  I'd like the machine to be able to pay out in coins, but over a certain threshold (say, 40 coins or so) to revert to hand-pay. As far as I understand, this should easily be doable with the machine's set-up mechanism. Is there available a walk-through guide or video (hopefully) which will really "hold my hand" and walk me through the steps required to set my desired hand-pay threshold? I've seen several helpful menu spreadsheets, but most of them seem to assume I already know how to access and read the LED menu displays. I need a real "step one: turn the key, look at this number..." kind of thing.

Also, I'm wondering about the practical aspects of being a slot owner. Sort of a "things they don't tell you about owning a machine" guide. For example, how many coins do you typically stock your machine with, to allow it to pay out for a reasonably busy day of use? How much do you keep in reserve to handle large payouts? What if someone comes along and hits a jackpot in the first 5 minutes of play? Is there a graceful exit strategy for that scenario?

For those who own cash-based machines, what kind of profit/loss do you tend to see from your machines, if any? Granted, the "fun" aspect is our main goal here, but we're expecting (hoping) that the machine will at least pull its own weight, money-wise.

Any other "I wish I'd known this back then..." advice for an excited new owner?

Thanks in advance, and than you for these excellent forums for folks like me.

[ShutterBun]

Update: I've located Ricks "Newbie Guide to Owning a Slot" so I'm hoping that may answer some of my more esoteric questions. (I figured such a guide probably already existed)

[Ron (r273)]

Welcome to New Life games ShutterBun.

Years ago I made up the attached to help newbies understand
the complex navigation thur an S+. Hope it may help.

On another note you say you want to pay out coins for parties and guest to play.
I assume you know using real money is illegal no matter if it is in your home.

As far as changing it to pay out 40 coins and then go in to handpay I will let
some of our experts jump in to help you. It has been so long for me I can't
remember the pages to go to.

Ron (r273)

[StatFreak]

...
For example, how many coins do you typically stock your machine with, to allow it to pay out for a reasonably busy day of use? How much do you keep in reserve to handle large payouts? What if someone comes along and hits a jackpot in the first 5 minutes of play? Is there a graceful exit strategy for that scenario?

For those who own cash-based machines, what kind of profit/loss do you tend to see from your machines, if any? Granted, the "fun" aspect is our main goal here, but we're expecting (hoping) that the machine will at least pull its own weight, money-wise.
...

...
On another note you say you want to pay out coins for parties and guest to play.
I assume you know using real money is illegal no matter if it is in your home.
...

First, ShutterBun

Second, I second what Ron said.

You can use "real money" as long as all of it is YOURS and no one loses or wins anything. Of course, then you'll have to trust everyone not to pilfer from the tray. That will depend on the quality of your friends (or it will be an interesting test of their integrity.)  That's one reason most here use tokens or run cashless with tickets.

As far as running the machines in live play (for profit), not only is it illegal in every state, it's a sure way to lose friends when there are disputes or after they've lost too much. It only takes one angry loser to drop a dime to the authorities that you're running a private casino. Then you'll lose the machines, any cash in or near them (or worse), and be facing criminal charges.  

That's a gamble most here would never take.


StatFreak
  Global Moderator

[ShutterBun]

Excellent points. Thanks all for the advice!