Pool & Spa News: Hit the jackpot: riches may await those who heed the siren call of the slots

If you're headed for Atlantic City, odds are, you'll play the slot machines. You might not be a gambler per se; you may even think slot machines are an exercise in futility. But you'll play.

You know you will.

With their snazzy lights, colors, sounds and the primal simplicity of the game, slot machines carry a virtually hypnotic fascination. They allow you to play at your own pace, with no expertise required. You're provided with a nice little sound-and-light show for your money. Even if you're only marginally lucky, you can make a $2 roll of nickels last the better part of an afternoon.

Slot machines have become the most popular form of casino-style gambling in the United States. It's no wonder, then, that once you're near a machine, you'll end up trying your luck at least once, whether you planned to or not.

A beguiling beginning

The first slot machine was invented in 1899 by Charles Fey, a mechanic working in San Francisco. His wagering machine, called the "Liberty Bell," consisted of three spinning reels printed with diamonds, spades, hearts and Liberty Bells.

The pull of a handle caused the reels to spin independently of each other and, if three matching symbols lined up when the reels stopped, the machine rewarded the player with the payout of a few coins.

Fey's simple machine was a hit, and soon thousands were installed in cigar stores, barbershops, saloons and the like. These early machines' suspicious reluctance to hit jackpots quickly earned them the nickname "one-armed bandit."

When moral crusaders got the machines banned after the turn of the century, manufacturers disguised their slots as "gum machines," and changed the playing card symbols to cherries, oranges and other fruits. These symbols, along with the Liberty Bell and the bar (based on early gum wrapper labels), have remained with us ever since.

In the 1940s, the newly legal casinos of Las Vegas added slot machines as a simple distraction for the wives and girlfriends of high rollers, who were busy playing the "real" games. But the slots proved to be a bigger draw than expected. Eventually, revenue from slots began to compete with the haul from the table games.

In the 1960s, electronic machines offered more payout combinations and larger jackpots. The addition of sound effects, music and images licensed from TV shows and other popular icons made slot machines even hotter. They now account for more than two-thirds of casino revenue nationwide.

Beating the slots

Contrary to their one-arm bandit nickname, casino slot machines pay back the coins played into them at rate between 80- and 98 percent. Machines with the highest payout percentages are known as "loose" machines, while "tight" machines are just the opposite.

However, a casino boasting the "loosest slots in town" might be referring only to select machines, while other slots in the same casino are considerably tighter.

Payouts are calculated over the long term, which can mean anywhere from a few weeks to several months, or even the life of the machine. In theory, a machine might gobble nickels for years before finally awarding a jackpot.

Plenty of books and Web sites offer secrets for "busting the slots." Some are based on wildly complicated mathematical strategies; others rely on superstition. But the machines are basically computers programmed to the house's advantage, and no "system" will get them to pay out more than they're designed to do.

So how do you beat the slots? Perhaps the better question is, "How can you have the most fun playing?"

If your only goal is to enjoy yourself at the casino for an hour or two, it's a simple matter of having realistic expectations, learning a bit about the machines and quitting while you're ahead--or, at least, not too deeply in the hole.

On the other hand, if you're hoping to win enough to tell your boss to swallow his stapler, then you'll need a bigger bankroll, a stronger stomach and a solid strategy. There's still no guarantee that you'll win, or even break even, but you aren't going to let that stop you, are you?

If you insist on trying to beat the house big time, select a slot machine with a large progressive jackpot. These jackpots grow by a percentage of each coin played.

Progressive machines can be linked together through the casino or through the entire state, contributing to a single, often staggering, jackpot. The chances of hitting one are remote in the extreme, but it has been done. The current record is $27.6 million, won a few years ago on a "Megabucks" machine in Las Vegas.

You'll have to play the maximum coins to qualify for the progressive jackpot, so expect to burn through your bankroll quickly. But because you're planning to win, that should be a minor concern. Reason and common sense shouldn't figure into it.

If you'd rather focus on the fun of playing the slots, here are some ways to boost your luck:

* Read the fine print. First, read the pay table carefully on your selected machine. You don't want to see the right symbols line up only to realize you didn't play enough coins to qualify.

* Look for the lucky ones. Second, try to find the loosest machines. Casino folklore holds that the highest concentration of loose machines is placed near change booths, where players waiting for cash can be motivated by the sounds of nearby jackpots. Loose machines also can be found in high-visibility areas and near restaurants and snack bars, where diners might be encouraged by the sound of winning machines to eat quickly and get back to the action.

Conversely, the conventional wisdom is that a casino's tightest slots are found at entrances to encourage players to move deeper into the game floor; around game tables, where serious gamblers might be distracted by the noise; and near ticket lines, where people waiting for other entertainment are not in a gambling frame of mind.

* Go for the coins. Finally, the best, though least exciting, tip for enjoying the slot machines is simply to not play back the credits you've accumulated. If you start with $100, play it, but let payouts drop into the tray.