Casino Questions

Return to Player (RTP) is the term used to describe the proportion, or percentage, of the money staked on a slot machine that is returned to players in prizes over time. In the United Kingdom, by law, a slot machine must clearly display the percentage RTP figure but, even so, RTP is frequently misunderstood. It is also worth noting that there is no statutory minimum RTP figure for slot machines.

Winning on a slot machine is based purely on chance, as determined by the machine itself. Correctly interpreted, an average RTP of 90% means that a slot machine will, on average, pay out 90% of takings over an unspecified period of time. What is definitely does not mean is that a player will win on 90 spins out of every 100, or win £90 for every £100 staked, because each spin is a completely independent, random event. RTP is an average calculated over a significant number of spins – typically 10,000 or even 100,000, or more, depending on the type of slot machine – so, in a single session, the actual RTP could be significantly lower or, indeed, significantly higher than the advertised figure.

So-called ‘compensated’ slot machines are the only type in which the results of previous spins have any bearing on future play. If such a machine is operating below, or above, its advertised RTP, it may be designed to become more, or less, generous for a period of time to compensate. However, once again, the result of each spin is determined purely by chance, so pumping money into a machine that has not paid out for a while may still not result in a jackpot payout.

On the physical layout of a craps table, the pass line is a long, narrow bar that extends along the sides and front of the table. In a bricks-and-mortar casino, the pass line is readily accessible by all players at a table, who can place chips upon it without assistance from the craps dealer.

The pass line is significant because the pass line bet is, far and away, the most popular bet placed on any craps table. According to one estimate, nine out of ten craps players favour the pass line bet. The pass line bet is, essentially, relatively simple. A player placing a pass line bet is betting with the dice or, in other words, betting that the person throwing the dice, known as the ‘shooter’, will win.

If, on the first roll of the dice at the opening of a game, known as the ‘come-out’ roll, the shooter rolls 7 or 11, the pass line bet – which always pays even money – wins. If, on the come-out roll, the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12, he or she is said to have ‘crapped out’ and the pass line bet loses. If the shooter rolls any other total on the come-out roll, he or she establishes, or sets, a ‘point’ and the pass line bet enters a second phase. Once a point has been established, pass line bettors require the shooter to roll that same point total again, before rolling a 7, to double their money. If, on the other hand, the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the point total for a second time, the pass line bet loses.

Pai Gow Poker is a low-risk variant of poker, loosely based on the traditional Chinese domino gambling game known as Pai Gow. Pai Gow Poker is played with a 53-card deck, including a joker, which can be used to complete a straight or a flush or, failing that, as an ace. Each player places one, and only one, bet on each hand, subject to table limits, and all the players plat against the same banker, or dealer, hand. Each player is dealt seven cards and must form two hands; a five-card hand, known as the back, big or high hand and a two-card hand, known as the front, small or low hand. Obviously, the only possibilities for the two-card hand are a pair or a high card and the high hand must outrank the low hand, according to standard poker rules.

The object of Pai Gow Poker is to beat the banker on both the high and low hands. If a player does so, he or she has a winning bet at even money, less 5% commission. If a player wins one hand and loses the other, his or her bet pushes and, if he or she loses and/or ties both hands, his or her bet loses. One of the oddities of Pai Gow poker is that, while standard poker rules apply for the most part, the ace-low, or ‘Wheel’, straight is the highest, rather than the lowest, possible straight.

Not to be confused with the late Yugoslav statesman, TITO is an acronym for Ticket In, Ticket Out, which is the method by which modern slot and video poker machine players collected their winnings. TITO technology has been in existence since the early Nineties and, essentially, uses machine-dispensed, barcoded tickets as an alternative to coins. It of course applies to bricks and mortar casinos.

The transition to coinless slot machines has been rapid. TITO is popular with casinos because it avoids refilling slot machines, thereby reducing labour costs and downtime, and allows jackpot wins to be paid quickly and efficiently. Previously, nickel slot machines were notoriously labour-intensive, requiring any jackpot over $50 to be paid by hand. Likewise, slot players can insert a banknote into a machine and, at the end of a playing session, print out a ticket that can be redeemed at the casino cage or a redemption machine, or ‘kiosk’. Of course, coins do not drop into the coin tray, but some machines simulate the sound of falling coins.

Players no longer need to carry buckets of coins to and fro across the casino floor and can insert a ticket from one machine directly into another without cashing it first. Tickets do have an expiry date, up to a maximum of 180 days in Nevada casinos, but, in the meantime, can easily be tucked away in a wallet or purse for future use. Nevertheless, in Nevada, millions of dollars’ of slot machine tickets expire each year, with 75% of the revenue going to the state government and 25% being retained by the casino.