Do you play a slot machine? Do you know that playing a slot machine is always a losing proposition in the long run. It is an activity that costs you money. The longer you play, the more you lose. On this page you can read:
● How a slot machine works.
● This keeps the fun going
● What rules apply to the owner and staff?
● What to do if you have a problem with a slot machine?
The chances of winning depend on the type of machine.
You can win nothing, a little or a lot in a game. How and how much the machine has to pay out is determined by law. This varies depending on the type of machine.
Type of machine in the gaming arcade or catering industry
Many machines – such as slot machines – in a Dutch arcade or restaurant must pay out at least 60% of the winnings per 100,000 games*. These machines are manufactured according to Dutch rules and have a “regulator” specifically for this purpose.
It is precisely because of this regulation that the winnings can be below 60% for a longer period of time. The slot machine then has to pay out more at a different time, so that 60% is paid out for over 100,000 games. The probability of a payout therefore depends on where the regulator’s “counter” is located in the machine.
* For your information, a game in an arcade lasts at least 3 seconds. A game in a hospitality industry lasts on average at least 4 seconds. So 100,000 games means 83.33 hours of continuous gaming in the arcade and 111.11 hours of continuous gaming on a hospitality machine.
Type of vending machine in Holland Casino
A vending machine in the Holland Casino works differently: there, the chance of winning a prize is the same for every game. A machine in the Holland Casino must pay out 80% of all players’ bets as prizes.
Even with this type of slot machine, you can win nothing, a little, or a lot at once. However, the probability of winning is the same for every game.
Arcade or catering?
We receive complaints about slot machines in arcades and restaurants every week. Machines with controllers in particular can pay out little or nothing for long periods of time. Inspections almost always show that these machines comply with the law. Inadvertently, the law has determined that with machines with a “controller”, the chance of winning something varies depending on the game.
Unfortunately, this can make gambling problems worse: you can keep playing until you have put thousands of euros into a machine. You assume that this machine will pay out because it hasn’t paid out for a long time. It might be the case. But by then you will have already lost a lot of money. At best, you will earn some of it back. And that’s only if you don’t continue playing the points you have won in the meantime.
Continue playing with points won?
The 60% payout rate means that on average you only win back 60 cents of every euro. If you keep playing with the points you won and lose them, you might win back 36 cents of the 60 cents you won, but only 22 cents of that 36 cents.
So if you play with the money you have won long enough, nothing will be left of your original stake. Of course, you can get “lucky” once in a while.
But in a game of chance, the player always loses in the long run.
Do you doubt that the game is fair?
A gaming hall or casino is licensed by us and must therefore follow rules. The slot machines are checked.
You can recognize an approved slot machine by its symbol. Another sticker – the company sticker – shows who the gaming machine belongs to: the license holder.
We are often asked by players to come and check whether a slot machine is OK. The Gambling Authority no longer does this. In the past we did this. Back then, machines that were found to be OK were always found to be OK.