The reason most ship's slots don't pay out is because they audience is captive. In Vegas if the slots are bad, you go to another casino next door. While in port in San Juan I went across the street to a hotel in Old Town (can't remember which one) and won $175 in the first $8 I put in in quarters. Then I lost it all in the ship's casino later that night. Just call me SUCKER!
But I am suree someone came along right after you did on the ship and won the money you lost. That's the way it goes....that's why it is called gambling. My wife has had good luck on slots the last night out,and on the last night out on the SOS i won 147 at BJ....so go figure..!!!!!
I play the slots occassionally for the entertainment value and to empty my pockets... and wallet. <grins> A few years ago, we were on the Grandeur of the Seas, a few months after it had gone into service. According to some of the casino staff, that week was one of the highest pay out weeks for slots in RCI's history. I can't remember the number but I was huge. Anecdotally, I saw at least six or seven jackpots in the times that I was in the casino. (None were mine of course.) You can't help but notice, with the bells clanging and the police car lights revolving. It draws your attention and a crowd of spectators. The casino manager has to come over and turn off the alarms. Then, they apparently issue a check if the pay-out is more than is in the machine. I was in there when there was more than one jackpot alarming at a time.
One night, the jackpot alarms went off at one of the dollar video slots in one of those round kiosks in the middle of the casino. Of course, I and other curious onlookers went over to see what he won. It was about 3 grand. The casino manager turned off the alarms and went to get him a check. While he waited and everyone was congratulating him, he decide to burn up the rest of the few silver dollars he had left. About the third one, darn if he didn't hit another jackpot for about 2 grand. Amazing.
Bob "MacTarheel"
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On Carnival there is no reporting to the IRS however if your jackpot is over a certain amount and I am not sure what that figure is but I believe it to be in the $10000 range they pay you out of Miami not on the ship. At that point the IRS is probably informed.
I'm reading all the reasons why a ship's slots are tight...and I'm amazed.
First of all, most of the stories of winning or losing are anecdotal; like picking up
a grain of sand on the beach which HAPPENS to be brownish with a hint of red, and declaring ALL sand is brownish with a hint of red. Not very scientific.
The Nevada Gaming Commission is ADAMANT about the gambler getting a fair shake, even going so far as to limit what percentage the house can claim "mathematically" in any given game. For example, if the gamble plays correctly, the house in Vegas makes about .57% on every bet in craps (don't miss the decimal point). But, most cruise lines DON'T allow doubling up on your bet after the come out, and DON'T pay even odds on the back bar, thus they make much more than that purely on the mathematics. Furthermore, most cruise lines DON'T pay 1 1/2 times on blackjack, so they have a higher winning percentage in blackjack (21) than most Vegas casinos. I can assure you with no regulatory body, like the Nevada Gaming Commission, they can do whatever they want when it comes to slots (let the puller beware).... The cruise lines have even developed their own games (Caribbean Poker) to further frustrate those 21 players who have developed a knowledge of traditional Vegas-style games. I love to gamble, but seldom do so on a cruise ship. Please don't misunderstand me, I also love to cruise and if the casinos onboard can generate revenue for the cruise lines so they can keep my cruising costs down, I'M ALL FOR IT ! ! ! !
Cruise on, mates,
Gary, RUFNM4U@aol.com
Furthermore, most cruise lines DON'T pay 1 1/2 times on blackjack. What lines are these ? I have been on 3 lines and different ships within these lines and they have ALWAYS paid 1 1/2 on a BJ.So i am real curious as to what lines you mean and where you got your info ?
I have been very curious about this situation.....Sea Princess 11/00...Those darn 'one armed bandits' did not pay out diddily. Then about the 4th day of the cruise the casino was closed...& I mean closed. You could not even walk thru the casino for about 4 hours. We were on Dolphin Deck, aft and to get to the main staircase, we always walked thru the casino. Closed...Detour signs appeared...Later that evening, we were in the casino. There were more jackpots than you could imagine. I even won 2 jackpots totaling over $800. Now it does not take a genius to figure out that the machines were 'fixed' to pay out. Then the next morning, again the casino was closed for about 2 hours. No more jackpots. Come on now......So always wait for the casino to close for a few hours and then go and 'pull the handles'.........Anyone else ever notice this?????????Ron wrote:
>
> The reason most ship's slots don't pay out is because they
> audience is captive. In Vegas if the slots are bad, you go
> to another casino next door. While in port in San Juan I
> went across the street to a hotel in Old Town (can't remember
> which one) and won $175 in the first $8 I put in in
> quarters. Then I lost it all in the ship's casino later that
> night. Just call me SUCKER!
on VOS thru canal and over 4 days won enough in roulette to pay off $900 of sign and sail charges (including gift shop and $38. a glass champagne!!!) -- who cares about slots!!!!
Hey I've heard that the progressive slots (on cruise lines) are linked up to the major casino's. So if you happen to be lucky you can win the progressive in Tunica, Las Vegas or on the cruise ship. Now, the other slots may be a different story. In the states the Casino's cannot "close down" the machine and fix them. It takes many hours to do this to every machine. They also have to get permission from the gaming authorities. Most of the time, the will get rid of a machine and replace it rather than tinker w/it. But I dont know what authority governs cruise ships!
if the cruise lines were going to "fix" the machines for players to win more, wouldn't logic dictate they do it early in the cruise (on the way "out") to encourage people to play the machines? you know, give players the idea early on that these babies are looooooooose!
if the machines are tight to begin with, most reasonable people are not going to continue playing them.
My mom who thinks she has a "system" for Keno went on a 4 day cruise from San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenada Mexico last November. She was in the Casino on the second night of their trip playing Keno and hit 6 out of 6 for $768.00 then while she was waiting to be paid, turned around to play Video poker and hit a Royal flush for
$1180.00. It was enough to pay for their cruise plus give them spending money for the duty free shopping on the ship. I got some really cool gifts for Christmas!!!
Happy Sailing!
We normally drop about $20 per day into the slots. The way we look at it, that's not much to spend for an evening's entertainment. Sometimes that $20 lasts for hours. Sometimes it disappears much faster than that. Sometimes we even win. That's why it's called gambling. Probably the easiest way to throw away money in the entire casino, though. I prefer craps.
We have a friend who is a casino manager on one of the newer ships. He told us that if we MUST play the slots, to do so the first night the casino is open. No explanation needed.
I was very lucky this past Jan. on the Costa Atlantica cruise ship. The casino was only open maybe 10 min. when I hit a jackpot of 1,080.00. Hit two more jackpots before the cruise was over and won a total of around 3K. Also was lucky in Nassau at the Atlantis and won over a thousand dollars in about a half an hr. Only trouble with Atlantis the blackjack table minimum is 25.00. A little steep!!
The slots were hot on the Costa Atlantica this past Jan. Won 3 jackpots on 2 different slot machines totally over 3K. This was the first time I won on a ship. Have been on 12 cruises.
Why ship's slots are tight
. The cruise lines have even developed their own games (Caribbean Poker) to further frustrate those 21 players who have developed a knowledge of traditional Vegas-style games. I love to gamble, but seldom do so on a cruise ship. Please don't misunderstand me, I also love to cruise and if the casinos onboard can generate revenue for the cruise lines so they can keep my cruising costs down, I'M ALL FOR IT ! ! ! !
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