Explain how slot machines are made to take maximum money and time from people

byJeff Kubina

It is in the casino and game centerSlot machineWhen playing, I think "I hit a bit more in a while!", But only a few people actually hit a big hit. This is because the manufacturing side is doing a lot of ingenuity to make people spend money and time "as little as possible", but hence, abroad has created many addicts. The Guardian explains how that slot machine is made to depend on people.

Hooked: how pokies are designed to be addictive | Australia news | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-interactive/2017/sep/28/hooked-how-pokies-are-designed-to-be-addictive


When you visited the website above, it first appeared with the letters "Please press the button until you want to stop" is a red button. As soon as this button is pressed, the display "+100" will appear, so when you press the button, I will stop convincing "ho ho" and stop pushing immediately.


The next thing that appeared was the blue button. Even if this button is pushed, basically "0" is displayed and there is no reward ...


"+100" appeared when you pressed the button several times. Since the frequency with which "+100" appears is rare, at the beginning it pushes the button while thinking "Do you really get rewards?" But if you do not quite get "+100", press the button fast until you get out, When I came out, I pushed the button fast, "Are you going out more?"


The above red button indicates "regular reward", the blue button indicates "irregular / intermittent reward". The former can predict that the reward will be given, but the latter will not know when the reward will be given until the reward is given. This "unpredictable reward" is one of the basic mechanics of many games including slot machines. People play games for a long time because they do not know when payment will be given.


In former gamblerAddicting remedy programAccording to Kate Seselja who operates the slot machines that "rewards can not be predicted" like this puts the players in the state of tension and expectation. And by thinking that "next time is right", 100% concentrating on the slot machine in front of us, people will spend a lot of money.


For example, in the following slot machines, the player wins when the same symbols are in line. The value varies depending on the symbol,JackpotThe more probable the symbols are, the less likely it is to line up. However, this slot is designed to give the player the impression that "the symbols are almost complete" even if no hits come out. Press "SPIN" ......


There was not a row in the middle, but a pineapple was served in a line above it. This is one of the mechanisms that gives players the impression that "it was regrettable!"


Several kinds of symbols are drawn on the "reel" which rotates with the slot machine. For example, in the following figure that developed a reel showing eight kinds of symbols, the probability that a jackpot with a dollar mark hits is one eighth.


However, in fact, manufacturers make adjustments so that high-value symbols do not appear frequently. So, the probability of the Jackpot symbol actually appearing is 1/16.


At this time, the important thing is "position". By arranging so that high-value symbols appear next to each other when hit does not come out, we control the impression of the player. In the following figures, symbols with high value are highlighted in red, symbols with low value are shown in blue.


By designing as above it makes the player think "It was regrettable!"


In the slot machine, three reels are arranged, but the number of rubosbols contained by three reels varies. The left reel that stops at the very beginning has a lot of jackpots, and the probability that a jackpot will go out decreases as you go to the middle and right. In the figure below, the probability that a jackpot will appear on the left reel is 1/16, but the middle one is 32/1 and the right is 1/44. By combining these elements, the mechanism of the slot machine is to make the player "unpredictable".


There are also slot machines that see whether symbols are in three rows instead of one row. In this machine, the player predicts "win" with symbols in three lines, but actually "small win" in one line is displayed. Given the money we spend, this "win" is a bit of a thing, but as the lights light up and the machine shows that "you win"! "I am winning" The user feels the rise of luckiness and keeps playing.


Making some gamblers won and getting some money creates the result of binding the gambler to the slot machine for a longer time.

The following blue graph shows a slot that decides whether to win or lose with only one row, and a red line shows a slot that decides to win or lose with multiple lines. The vertical axis shows the balance of money and the horizontal axis shows the number of play, and it is shown that the slot that decides to win or lose on multiple lines will allow the player to spend longer time playing the game.


Seselja says that he was constantly considering "how much time a day is allowed to spend on gambling". It was difficult to gamble everyday because of work and lifestyle, so I spent as much time as possible if I had time to spend on gambling and sent my days I can not spend any other money on other things.

According to the statistics of the Australian government, one out of six people regularly playing slot machines is said to be a serious addiction. Professor Charles Livingston, who is conducting research on gambling, said slot machines are designed to make people intoxicated, that people are made to spend the utmost time and money, and , It raises the problem that people do not understand these points.