Do slot machines have a minimum pay back % on ships or can the cruiselines set it at anything they like? They certainly don't seem to return much in the way of winnings in general
They can, and do change the percentage of pay back during the cruise. I don't know when the pay back percentage goes up, however it seems that the first day out the lovely Mrs. Jones (Vita) seems to do better than she does later in the cruise.
If there is such a thing for payouts on the slots then I didn't reap any of the rewards. I donated each and every day. I did it with a smile because I was on a lovely floating hotel with a few port stops. You can't get any better than that. Donate or win, either way I have fun!
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1991 Holiday
2007 Victory & Triumph
2008 Conquest & Liberty
2009 Valor, Freedom, and Splendor
2010 Glory and Liberty
2011 Glory
In my experience, the slots seemed to pay off on the first day so you get sucked in and keep coming back, however, I have hit in the morning on sea days as soon as they open.
Working in the business, table games, I have often wondered if the cruise lines roll the winning percentages back and forth during the cruise. My experience has always been winning going, losing coming back. First day wins seem to be more common. I have never talked to a casino slot tech on board, but, I know in mainland casinos they manipulate the payout % regularly so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they also do it on board. Just FYI
We played slots a little bit each day, dropping $20 a day or so. Wife won $100 the first nite out. I hit $1000 the next to the last nite. I did not see a whole lot of large payouts the whole trip, but I did not spend a lot of time in there. This was my first time in a casino, we had a blast.
Working in the business, table games, I have often wondered if the cruise lines roll the winning percentages back and forth during the cruise. My experience has always been winning going, losing coming back. First day wins seem to be more common. I have never talked to a casino slot tech on board, but, I know in mainland casinos they manipulate the payout % regularly so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they also do it on board. Just FYI
I'm a computer engineer, and I sometimes board the ships to work on the systems aboard. I have talked to the techs who maintain the slots, and I can absolutely guarantee you that they do indeed roll the percentages from day to day, and sometimes from hour to hour.
When we did a B2B on the Imagination last April I thought the slot payouts were the worst we'd ever seen. My husband asked the pit boss what the payback percentage was and he replied 80% ....that's pretty poor!
Guess the best idea is if you want to play slots use the mainland casinos since paybacks are generally posted and strictly regulated. Cruise lines in my opinion stick it to the customer a little harder than regular casinos. To add insult to injury they dont even offer a single free drink to the players. ( Another reason to sneak on alcohol).
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1995-Jubilee
1996-Imagination
1998-Destiny
1999-Paradise
1999-Sun Princess
2002-Pride
2004-Pride
2006-Pride
2008-Valor and Glory
2009-Spirit and Splendor
2010-Freedom of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas
2010-Carnival Spirit
2011-Carnival Dream
2012-Allure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas
Guess the best idea is if you want to play slots use the mainland casinos since paybacks are generally posted and strictly regulated. Cruise lines in my opinion stick it to the customer a little harder than regular casinos. To add insult to injury they dont even offer a single free drink to the players. ( Another reason to sneak on alcohol).
If you play in the casino quite a bit on the ship they will buy you a drink or 2 a day...but nothing to get too excited about
There is a reason the casinos are only open in International Waters. The ships don't have to follow any gambling regulations at sea or pay any taxes. Even in ports were gambling is legal, like New Orleans, the cruise lines don’t want their casinos regulated. I have heard that sometimes ships stay in port overnight and of those sometimes the casino opens sometimes not, depending on the regulatory enforcement of the port.
The Gaming Commission in Las Vegas controls how the slots work there. They set a minimum payback but it is way lower than the market competition generates but they also require that the functions, payback, or odds of the slots cannot be changed on the fly. The slots must have static programs and a commissioner has to review and approved the machines any time they are changed. I don’t know if any other state has the same rules. Technology wise it would be easy to make the payout odds variable and even controllable from a central site.
I am alloting $50 per day for the gambling. If I don't see some type of reasonable return within $25; I will bail out. Any winnings if any will be put away and not "re-invested".
When we did a B2B on the Imagination last April I thought the slot payouts were the worst we'd ever seen. My husband asked the pit boss what the payback percentage was and he replied 80% ....that's pretty poor!
Seems to me that the cruise lines can set the percentages however they want since unless you can swim for hundreds of miles you are not going to another casino.
Play the slots for fun if you like (I do once in while) but just don't expect to make a lot of money.
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Joe
Imagination 1996
Sensation 1997
RCI Monarch of The Seas 1998
Ecstasy 2000
Carnival Miracle 9/24/07
Upcoming Fascination 11/5/09
When we did a B2B on the Imagination last April I thought the slot payouts were the worst we'd ever seen. My husband asked the pit boss what the payback percentage was and he replied 80% ....that's pretty poor!
Seems to me that the cruise lines can set the percentages however they want since unless you can swim for hundreds of miles you are not going to another casino.
Play the slots for fun if you like (I do once in while) but just don't expect to make a lot of money.
Yup, I play the slots for fun and count on loosing all the money I put in. Since I don't drink I do allow myself some time on the slots and blackjack table.
Yep, I love playing the slots... I'm hooked on penny slots, they just have alot of options..... the day my sis hit $750 on a nickel machine was the day we stopped playing quarters...
Also, they have many penny machines that have progressive payouts ranging from a few dollars to several thousand... my sis won the 3 lowest progressives on one machine without playing max bet... I think the total was around $140 (penny machine).
I don't expect to see those particular slots on the ship but I will have fun just the same.
carnival slots
....that's pretty poor!
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