While the slot machine has become very popular to players, as many myths as there are coins being dropped on them have sprouted around these machines. Many of these myths have their origins from the early days of the slot machines and have since persisted into the modern casinos.

On the other hand, misconceptions about the game usually arise from preconceived notions unrelated to the game being applied to it. This leads players into making faulty assumptions which lead to a rather disappointing loss of money.

Here are some of the more popular myths that players usually encounter at the reels and a little bit of explanation on what’s wrong with them.

Counting the number of symbols will tell you the odds of winning

This myth is actually true in the context of the older reel style machines. These machines use the now iconic reels slot machines are associated with. For convenience and ease of maintenance, symbols were kept to a minimum. Thus you can simply get to know how many possible combinations are there by using permutations. For instance, in a three reel game with twenty symbols, you can get the number of combinations by multiplying the number of symbols from the first reel to that of the second and the third. That is, 20 x 20 x 20, which results in 8000 possible combinations.

In the case of the modern slots, however, this is now outdated. While there are still reel style symbols flashed on the screen, these are only for show. Combinations are created by random number generators, which creates millions of numerical combinations in every spin. The symbols on the other hand, are randomly assigned to a number combination, making it rather difficult in determining the odds at which a particular sequence of symbols would appear.

A machine that is not hitting for a long time will hit on your turn

This one stems out from the assumption that reel motion follows a set pattern, which again stems out from the early slots era. This one, though, has no basis at all, as even the the earlier machines were designed to randomly roll out the combinations.

The idea is also somewhat related to the misconception of luck applied to the game. This is usually one of the most common misconceptions many casino gamers hold. This can be again countered by the fact that, in a carefully controlled game, nothing can influence the outcome of the spine and thus there are no chances of predicting the outcome. A rather disappointing offshoot of this belief is the notion that, when someone actually hits on the machine that you just left, you could have won that if you just continued playing. This can bring a lot of anxiety over your fate and can make you irritated when you believe on this one.

Casinos can change a machine’s payability with the touch of a single button

Casinos indeed can, and often do, change a machine’s payability, but not with a single button. Rather, they do it with countless numbers of button presses and complex procedures. Reprogramming the electronic slot machines often involves complicated coding and tinkering of the machine’s electronics to have it changed. Also the casino must first obtain a state permission to allow it to change to payout settings from preprogrammed standards, or else risk losing its license to operate.

This one is often used by disgruntled gamers who were not able to hit in their runs. Over time, many people actually believed these comments and considered it a likely possibility.

By Morris Walker
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