A couple of Stupid (or not so stupid) questions??

[Captain Hook]

I have several video slots and was wondering if when you go into a Bonus Round are the credits you win when you make a choice on the screen already predetermined by the RNG or is it truly pure luck that you pick the big prize.

In other words it doesn't matter which box you pick (Jackpot Party) if you win 500 credits you would have won 500 credits no matter which box you picked or is it luck.

Also when I set up my game you can set up the MAX BET in the setup screen. If the Top Glass say's win up to 50,000 credits does it matter if the machine is set 9 Lines time 5 credits per line equals 45 credits max   or 9 Lines times 20 credits per line equals 180 credits max.

Is it still 50,000 credits for a jackpot??

If its the same then why set the machine for 9 lines by 20 credits other than to spend your money faster??


Thanks much

Captain Hook

[jay]

Top Awards are somewhat a factor of the RNG.

Assuming there are 5 choices to be picked. The amounts and their placement is choosen by the RNG.
When you hit spot number 1 you get whats behind spot 1, so your choice does matter.
There is no skill and your choice is still random.

500 is not forced on you.

The same can be said for games like video poker. The deck (52 cards) is shuffled (by the RNG) and dealt.
When you choose to hold certain cards the ones next delt come from the remaining cards in the virtual deck.

[knagl]

I saw a PAR sheet for Jackpot Party a while back.  The outcome of the bonus is not pre-determined -- all of the possible awards (and poopers) are placed behind the presents on the bonus screen, and your choices do affect the amount of the bonus.  The way the machine is able to maintain its average payback percentage is by figuring the math of the average award in the bonus -- over the long term of the bonus getting hit, the number of picks before hittng a pooper will average out, and the total credit amount won will average out.

You can see how that works with this example: offer people who walk up to you two doors to pick from.  One of them has 50 coins behind it, the other zero.  Over time, you'd pay out an average of 25 coins for every player who gets to pick a door -- you could expect every player who gets to play Captain Hook's Fabulous Door Selection Game to win 25 coins.  Using that concept, a slot designer can determine how much the "picking" bonus round will pay on average, and make sure that the base game plus the bonus add up to a specified percentage payback.


The 50,000 credit top award, assuming it isn't part of the bonus, but rather by lining up five of the top symbols on the reels, would change depending on the max bet configuration (the more coins you bet per line, the more the award is worth).  More than likely, that piece in the glass that says "win up to 50,000 credits" is a removable/replacable sticker -- casinos would change the sticker based on what the top award is.  By pressing the "see pays" button on the machine, you should be able to determine what the top award is.

[Captain Hook]

OK I see that that there is a certain amount of luck to what prize you win when you choose an item in the bonus. But what about my other question??

Is the Jackpot on a machine we'll say 50,000 credits weather it is set up for Max Bet of 9 Lines and 5 Credits per line for a total of 45 or if Max Bet is set for 9 Lines and 20 Credits per line for a total of 180 is the Jackpot still 50,00 credits???

It seems if you have to play Max Bet to win the Jackpot and one machine is set for 9 times 5 equals 45 Max Bet  and the next identical machine is set for 9 times 20 equals 180 Max Bet then is stupid to play the second machine to try to win the same 50,000 credit Jackpot.

You just lose your money 4 time faster.

Thanks Much

Rick

[Brianzz]

Is the Jackpot on a machine we'll say 50,000 credits weather it is set up for Max Bet of 9 Lines and 5 Credits per line for a total of 45 or if Max Bet is set for 9 Lines and 20 Credits per line for a total of 180 is the Jackpot still 50,00 credits???

The 50,000 credit top award, assuming it isn't part of the bonus, but rather by lining up five of the top symbols on the reels, would change depending on the max bet configuration (the more coins you bet per line, the more the award is worth).  More than likely, that piece in the glass that says "win up to 50,000 credits" is a removable/replacable sticker -- casinos would change the sticker based on what the top award is.  By pressing the "see pays" button on the machine, you should be able to determine what the top award is.

Look at the see pays... the top award is multiplied by number of coins bet per line, which is what Kevin said

[StatFreak]

I saw a PAR sheet for Jackpot Party a while back.  The outcome of the bonus is not pre-determined -- all of the possible awards (and poopers) are placed behind the presents on the bonus screen, and your choices do affect the amount of the bonus.  The way the machine is able to maintain its average payback percentage is by figuring the math of the average award in the bonus -- over the long term of the bonus getting hit, the number of picks before hittng a pooper will average out, and the total credit amount won will average out.
...

Nice post knagl.    K+

I've argued in favor ot that point a few times against those who were sure that the outcome was predetermined. I didn't have a PAR to stand behind, but since the available prizes never varied, it was obvious to me that the designers could simply calculate the long-term EV and let the player have free will.

I haven't been able to defend the argument as staunchly for games like Mermaid's Gold where there are only three choices; there is really no way to prove that the choice one makes affects the final outcome.

My personal experince with that game and others with limited choices suggests that the RNG picks from sets of prizes based on a weighted virtual table so that the odds of getting large winning amounts is much more rare than getting the smaller amounts, but that once the outcome of three (or whatever) choices has been selected, the player's choice still determines the final prize. Again, the weighting of the virtual table's prize structure would determine the long-term EV of the bonus without having to force a specific selection on the player.

When it comes to games like MG, the only ways to know for certain would be to decompile the code for the bonus round, talk to the programmers who designed the game, or perhaps get confirmation in a PAR sheet, if it described the bonus structure in enough detail.

Stat