I got it bad for you, girl,
But I don't need a cure.
I'll just stay a addicted
and hope I can endure!

- Hooked on a Feeling, B.J. Thomas

How many times have you stood before a slot machine, bought a lottery ticket, even tried to pick up someone, thinking, “I have a good feeling about this?” Played basketball, heaving the ball for no reason at all about 8 ft. behind the 3-point line? Held a dauber suspended over a particular number on the bingo card?

‘I have a bad feeling about this…’

-      About two dozen characters in Star Wars

Far too many times than we’d care to remember, when it comes to sports, and particularly games of chance, there is always a moment when we simply throw caution to the wind (ignoring the fact that wind can turn in our face with a slap, in an instant), go “I’ve got a feeling,” and play slot machines or poker games that they are not familiar enough with.

If you play poker, sooner or later you’ll discover that there will be plenty of instances where you will think, “I have a really great feeling about this hand!” The fact that you may hold Ace-rags or trap hands probably won’t dampen you’re enthusiasm, though it should. But a small voice will try to nudge you, “ah, what’s the worst that could happen…?”

A frequent occurrence at poker tables: someone makes a ridiculous call to suck out for a big pot, proclaiming, "I had a feeling." Yeah, right.

Many times in poker, you’ll be holding nothing, and it's blatantly obvious that the other player has a big hand. It is now a huge mistake to put any more money into this pot, but you manage to convince yourself that "Maybe they had a flush draw too, so he'd have to fold if I put out a big bet here."

This is, like, totally, not a read; you have no reason to believe that this is true. In fact, you have many reasons to believe it's completely untrue. When you play on a hope, inflated perhaps by a series of bad beats or a notion that “I’ve lost such-and-such in a row, it’s gotta be my time now” you're almost certainly giving your money away. On the other hand, you could be riding a winning streak where you think, “ah, I got this one lock, stock and barrel.” The only barrel you’ll need is to bury yourself in when your full house gets beat by four of a kind. It’s the inflated hope or euphoria that distracts you from small tells, playing close attention to the game as you normally would.

“There’s no crying in baseball…!”

-      Tom Hanks, A League of Their Own

You can make a dozen great reads in poker and have it all thrown out the window by acting on one “feeling.” To be a successful long-term poker player, you need to remove hope out of the equation. When you reach the river with quad aces, you can hope your opponent doesn’t have a royal flush (highly unlikely); but the fact is you shouldn’t play your way to river on hope.

The only way to fully remove all hopes is to truly not care whether you win or lose the current pot. Of course you care if you win or lose – who doesn’t – but in order to not let your emotions get the better of you (in the poker vernacular, ‘going on tilt’) you must act as if you don’t care.

There is a legend that the great baseball player Babe Ruth once predicted that he was going to hit a home run. Sure enough, he did. It may or may not be true, but the tale itself has resonated for decades. On the other hand, how many times would you jab a finger at the pot and proclaim, ‘the next card will make me invincible?’

So remember…

“Feelings?”

That belongs in kitschy romantic films and things that include flowers, chocolates and phrases like, “you make me feel so…” “I think I need a tissue…” or “This is just overwhelming” etc. etc.
Feelings in games?

When you win.

A TALL ‘TELL’:

When playing poker, everyone around the player is looking for ‘tells’ the other player is disclosing, whether he/she likes it or not. It could be a tick, facial expression, involuntary cough, a wide-eyed stare, wordless mumble that may be a silent prayer but might be an attempt to hex another player – there’s almost always some kind of tell that gives up the fact whether a particular player has a good or bad hand. And that is, of course, crucial information, no matter what hand you have.

So, what kind of ‘tells’ can you tell at the poker table…?

‘Somebody turn down the sun a bit!’

Ever wonder why so many players are wearing sunglasses at the table…? After all, there isn’t exactly a scorching sun hanging over the felt, with camels dealing the cards and serving drinks.

Many players, when they get a particularly good starting hand can’t help but stare a little longer, or their eyes grow wider just a little.  Players may also glance quickly at the players to their left, to catch their reaction and who is more likely to fold.

‘How'd you know I was bluffing? I didn't do any of my tells. I didn't shuffle my cards, I didn't pull my hair, I didn't even flick my teeth.’

-          Maverick (1990)

May pros and players in general try to disguise their good (or not so good) by wearing a cap and staring down.  Poker pros especially will ‘stare down’ your face, trying to catch signs of nervousness. A sour demeanor may give up the fact that you have a weak hand. Act too jovial, and it’s completely obvious you’re holding a good hand.

‘Is that a top pair in your pocket or are you just trying to bluff me?’

Like when a product you find costs lower than you expect and you temper down your reaction by 10-15 degrees, a player will deliberate purposefully when he gets a monster hand, or pretend to look troubled. Sayings like “Oh, it’s my turn to play?” or “I guess I’ll play these cards anyway” should sound the alarm if you’re the opponent.

Look out also for the “Opera” player: the one who raises the pot and his voice, working his facial muscles hard to look intimidating. There’s a very good chance that player’s bluffing.

“You have to ask yourself…do you feel lucky?”

Confrontation in poker can bring out even slight anxiety tells, such as barely noticeable (to you, but not the pro) muscle twitches, eye pupil dilation, sweaty hands or dry throat. When talking, a player may find his voice magically become higher than usual. Don’t be surprised to find poker pros staring particularly at their opponents’ forehead – they are looking for blood-pressure changes, and those are tells as well.

‘Perhaps a bottle or two of good whiskey will help…?’

Nervous, shaking hands may very well represent a big hand (of course, this doesn’t apply for online poker).  

Chip and tell

Players won’t usually glance repeatedly at their chip stack unless they plan to attack, particularly if they connected with the board post-flop.

“Do you need a massage or something?”

Some players will instinctively change their sitting position based on the strength of their hand. A player lacking confidence or holding a weak hand may let his shoulders slump; on the other hand, a very attentive attitude shows that player is most likely not holding 2-7. If a player leans forward enough to see the hair in his nostril, there’s a good chance he’s bluffing.

“I’d hate to see how your apartment looks”

Although it might seem trivial, it could be instructive to see how players stack their chips when you sit down at the table. Generally, loose/aggressive players will have their chips in a sloppy, unorganized heap while tight/conservative players like their chips neatly in order.

Finally, some of the most revealing poker tells take time and long periods of play to discover, as they are based on how a player routinely bets in particular situations. For example, a player may always check when he holds the nuts, or may regularly fold after being re-raised. These are the kinds of tells you pick up through playing.

Look around you: everywhere we look, we’re surrounded by gaming. Whether it’s brick-and-mortar (gotta love that term – as if it’s some Dickensian factory) or online. And now, with the meteoric rise of smartphones and tablets, you can play, literally, from wherever you want, play with friends or make new ones. It’s all about social fun – as a Dragonplay player, you’re certainly familiar with this concept!

However, even the most staunch gamer needs a break every now and then. So, here are some signs that you should take a short break…

-          When you’re waiting for the bus, you say, ‘come on, seven!’

-          You spill a bowl of potato chips and deal them to guests

-          When your child says his/her school test came easy, you ask if it was a 4,6,,8 or 10

-          You walk into a shoe store and ask what type of card decks they have

-          Someone asks a ride to the city and you say, ‘Slot City?’

-          At a nuptial, you remark that the newlywed looks just like in Creepy Wedding  

-          You walk into a bakery first thing in the morning to hit the ‘hot rolls.’

-          Out in the country, you ask a local if they have a ‘farm slot’

-          You greet every guest with ‘welcome to the fabulous…’

-          When he/she is over 18, you promote your kid to ‘floor manager’

-          You ask your spouse to refer to you as the ‘pit boss’

-          Seeing a rat makes you think of ‘baccarat’

-          When a waiter gives you the bill, you say, ‘Split!’

-          Someone says you have a call and you say, ‘I raise.’

-          Your wife asks you to stir the pot and you automatically look for the poker table

-          You can’t understand how suddenly everyone has a drop box

-          Locked outside your house, you say ‘house wins.’

-          You can’t complete a conversation without mentioning at least one Vegas story

-          Asked to rake the leaves, you say it’s a waste of time since they don’t pay anyway

-          Needing to buy a suit, you end up with a new deck of cards

-          You quote numbers in bingo slang

-          You meet Wayne Newton and ask him about his theory of gravity

-          At a McDonalds, you ask what’s the minimum buy-in

It’s sitting there. Conspicuous, but not showy; quite visible, but not shouting “hey, y’all – look at me!” a black-tie surrounded by casuals.
It’s not even there (primarily) for playing purposes. A $1,000 a-pull slot machine is usually reserved for the more posh, reserved and secretive high-roller rooms, the ones that are usually barricaded by a velvet rope.

So what is a fully operational one-grand slot machine doing with the rest of machines of “lesser stature?” One word: psychology.

Imagine you walk into a store to buy a suit. Your eyes hit a suit with a price tag of $5,000.
“No way in heck am I paying that kind of cash for that,” says you - and rightly so. But then you look around and suddenly se suits of $100, $200, $300. Now you’re thinking, “Ok, these are a steal compared for one suit at 5K!” right?

On a smaller scale, when you go to a restaurant, open a menu and see items that make you say, “…..! I’m not paying $50 for that! Ah, now this is more reasonable…”

You’ve heard the term “opposites attract?” well, it doesn’t apply only for relationships…apparently, according to research, we humans tend to make judgments based on contrasts (critics said it’s the movie/show is bad? Let’s see it), which can also influence our perception of price.  So if you go, say into a BMW dealership (or Mercedes, let’s not give preference to anyone) with only $80,000 cars lounging around, suddenly cars in the $30,000 look like a bargain.  This effect presents itself (although, like magic dust, you won’t be conscious of it) in your buying decisions.
Same thing with casinos: the 1K machine, although fully playable, isn’t placed in the center of the hubbub for that purpose. It’s there to sneak the fact into people’s mind that there’s plenty of perfectly good $5, $10, $20 machines, to which you should certainly “upgrade” from your current $0.50-$1.00 machines. After all, what’s $5 compared to $1,000…?
On the other side of the coin (did you see what I did there…?) There’s Slot City right on your cell phone. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to worry about subtle number games? All you need to do is kick back and enjoy! 

Things not to do in Las Vegas

“Oh, you’re going to Vegas? You must see this…you have to see that; don’t forget to stop by…and try the new….” It makes you wonder sometimes whether it’s better to tell people you’ve been to Vegas after the fact – that way you don’t have the pressure to see sites/shows/games other people may have found “life-changing” (Same is true, by the way, for vacation travel in general).

One of the great things about taking your favorite Vegas-style games with you on your mobile (whether Android or iPhone), is that its confinement to a small, portable device gives you plenty of options and flexibility, yet at the same time prevents you from doing incredibly silly stuff.

Remember the adage “What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas?” well, some things are not even meant to happen in Vegas – or anywhere else, for that matter:

For example, Vegas hotels are decorated by elaborated displays. The moat of Treasure Island, for instance: It looks mighty tempting to jump in there for a nightly swim (especially when after you’ve had a little too much to drink). Going for a swim in there or any other casino waterway is a sure way of landing in the nearest police station.

Know how to ‘speak’ the Vegas language: Did you know that asking for ‘the finest champagne’ can get you an escort service…? So if you’re in Vegas and order bubbly – make sure you stress the point.

Playing the three-card Monte: even among well-known scams this one has a place of honor. Played on the streets, it’s impossible to win at this game.  Don’t be fooled by the people actually ‘winning’ the game – they’re most likely in on the scam…and since it’s considered an illegal activity, you could get arrested right along with the operators – so maybe you will have better luck playing in the cell, right…?

Card counting: while technically legal, whatever you do, don’t bring any electronic devices to ‘assist you.’ You will most certainly get banned and blacklisted from not only the casino you were playing at, but pretty much the whole lot of them.

‘Yo-ho-ho-and a bottle of rum! But not before a massage…’

Just that: There’s nothing like a long, good, relaxing massage, but if you are, shall we say, ‘intoxicated’ prior to the treatment, the massage will most likely end up with you throwing up.

Partying all night before a morning/noon flight: Hangover + crowded airport + packed flight = ‘don’t say I didn’t warn you…’ showing up ‘loaded’ at the airport (insert pilot joke here) may possibly ban you from the flight altogether.

Assumption­ – suspend that world from your Vegas lexicon. Never assume in Vegas anything! Especially when it comes to drinks included (or not) in your dinners.  

“STOP! In the name of…not getting fine of nearly $400 for running a ‘stop’ sign. Gamble in the casinos, not on the road…

Bring your own money beforehand – Local ATMs have a healthy surcharge appetite. It’s not your job to feed them.

Like the first mate of the Titanic may have said to his Captain, this is the tip of the iceberg…don’t let your vacation sink. Be prepared. However, until your next trip, isn’t it nice to know that with Dragonplay you’ve got all the Vegas-style excitement right in the palm of your hand?

Ba-da-bing..ba-da-bingo

Cool facts about your favorite daubing game…

An average game of bingo takes between four and four and a half minutes. Insert male/female zinger here.

The average time to check a winning card is about 30 seconds. What is the average time to get over ‘just missing’ a bingo? Unknown.

There is a "caller of the year competition" in which bingo callers compete for a two week holiday. I feel bad for the 2^nd place finisher.

The French were the first to play with Bingo playing cards, tokens and reading those numbers out loud! On the other hand, they also popularized the white flag…

Bingo spread quickly throughout Europe. On the other hand, so did the plague, so I guess that isn’t saying much.

In 1929 America, when the game was first introduced to the US, they could only dream of playing it on a portable device: bingo accessories in those days consisted of a rubber stamp, a cardboard sheet and dried beans. Even for the days of depression it seemed depressing.

By the late 1940s, Bingo games sprung up all over the country like mobsters after Capone’s money, with thousands of games being played every week

Carl Leiffer, the professor who originally developed the bingo cards, reportedly went insane after working on thousands of combinations for the game.  

The average age of bingo players is 45

The majority of bingo players have 1-3 children under the age of 15

Many bingo players also play slot machines or video slots. Not at the same time, of course.

According to a survey, winning is only reason #5 for playing bingo. Enjoyment was ranked as #1. What’s your #1 reason for playing Wild Bingo?

In North Carolina, USA, it’s illegal for a bingo game to last for more than 5 hours. Forget illegal – There really is nothing else in NC to do that one could find themselves playing bingo for that long…?

The world’s largest bingo included 70,000 players and took place in Bogota, Columbia. Who was the caller in this one? I hope he had a strong voice.

Regular bingo players tend to get a bit upset if a false bingo is called up.  Gee, I wonder why that is…?

According to a study, the majority of regular bingo players also love cats. So if I play bingo and I love dogs, that would make me…what?

Over $80 million is spent in the US alone on bingo every week. What does bingo do with all that money…?

There are over five hundred fifty-two septillion possible arrangements of the numbers on a Bingo card. Septillion is a really big number – 1 followed by 24 zeroes, so you can imagine…

“That’s not raindrops – that’s beer”

Slotzilla - The world’s largest slot machine

Why play a slot machine when you can fly from it?

Some people dream of climbing the Everest. Others fantasize about crossing the Rocky Mountains. However, if you’re one of those people whose unlikely lifelong ambition was to climb up a gigantic slot machine – good news! In Las Vegas, you’ll be able to make it happen…

Human imagination, or lack thereof, has no limit, it seems. Apparently playing for hours on end, dining, lavish shows, high-stakes game rooms, fashionable clubs, classy shopping malls and excursions to the Hoover Dam or the Grand Canyon simply doesn’t cut anymore for Vegas in 2013.

‘Will all passengers kindly fasten their harnesses and assume a superhero position…’

Over 100 feet high (equal to about 11 stories) the Slotzilla will literally zip thrill-seeking folk 1,700 ft. along the famous Freemont Street, at a cool 35 mph. For those less inclined for such heights, a second, lower tier will be available at ‘only’ 70 feet.

Have no fear: the towering Slotzilla platform itself will include a moving slot arm; the reels will indeed spin, and when it hits the jackpot…well, I’m not going to spoil any surprises, eh? All in all, you get the feeling this is a horror movie in the making… 

Ideas such as this make you wonder how Bugsy Siegel would react: Would he approve – or simply ‘shoot it down’…?

You know you should be taking a long break from the poker table when…

-          “I think there’s a bear behind me. Is there? Is there…?”

When you first start to play poker, your sessions most likely won’t be long. However, to become a good and winning player, it is inevitable that you spend long sessions at the felt, whether live or online. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that after 9 or 10 hours at the table you’ll be imagining strange sounds coming your way. If you mistake that cocktail waitress behind you for a bear, or if you start cackling like an animal – well, maybe poker shouldn’t be your main concern.

‘Hey, I’m sure I had six of a kind on this hand!’

If you start seeing things that usually shouldn’t be part of poker, live or virtual, it’s time to leave the table and hail a cab to your bed: You reach for a drink that isn’t there. You confuse $5 chips with $20 chips. And, worst of all, you misread your hand. Misreading a hand in poker is not the same as misreading a newspaper quote – the consequences can be devastating to your bankroll. When fatigue overtakes your poker senses, it’s time to pack it in for the night.

Very extreme makeover: poker edition.  When you find yourself spending more time adjusting your sitting arrangement instead of your poker strategy, it’s very likely that you need a bed more than a chair

Snooze Hold’em

This one is quite familiar to former high school and college students everywhere: The sudden lapse in concentration, tuning off while you lean on your arm or simply just ‘out of it’ for a few seconds.   This occurs when your body and mind are sleep deprived, and cause a brief and temporary pause (a few seconds, or sometimes even a few minutes) in your conscious awareness. And the thing is, you most likely are unaware when this happens. Don't be surprised if half your stack is suddenly missing - especially if you are playing online and you've been auto-folded.

Multiplayer Dreamin’ If your idea for optimal multi-tabling conditions consists of being under the blankets and resting your head against a soft-feathered pillow, you won’t be don’t multi-tabling for very long. If you want to play on your laptop, if should be on your desk and connected to a relatively large LCD screen.

‘You look familiar. Where have I seen your face before…?’ When you find yourself seeing players who have left, gotten on with their day, fulfilled their human sleep requirements, and returned to the same table that you still sit at, that’s a surefire sign that you’ve been playing too long. Not only that, they might recognize you as ‘the guy who’s been playing way too long’ and try to capitalize on your fatigue.

Finally…

When your boss calls and threatens to fire you if you don’t show up ASAP. ‘Nuff said.

‘I’M MELTING, I’M MELTING…!’

‘Temper's the one thing you can't get rid of, by losing it.’

-       Jack Nicholson, Anger Management 

Just imagine for a moment: you’ve landed a spot in a prestigious poker tournament. Amazingly, you’re ahead of the pack, and you can see the Promised Land: You’re in the final table, and 11 players are standing between you and over $8 million. But there’s one, weasel player that gets under your skin; you lose your cool, make a reckless play or two and –viola! You suddenly find yourself in 11^th place. You still win a respectable prize, but it’s a far cry from the millions and 1^st place trophy that went to somebody else instead.

Poker is an intense game – your probably know that by now. Especially when the stakes are high and the TV cameras are rolling. Sometimes a player can be so wound up  a small spark such as a careless word from a fellow player or a lucky runner river card by a ‘donk’ can cause a player to ‘lose it’ – either on the table itself, by suddenly throwing chips into obviously hopelessly situations, or worse – verbally or physically. In one memorable scenario at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, one player literally attempted to strangely a fellow player for daring to win the pot with a lucky river card. With a single blunder, such as eve misreading your own cards, you can trigger a meltdown that can wipe out in an instant the earnings of a long poker session.

Meltdown in online poker games

Online poker meltdowns can be worse. In live poker, the most you can maybe lose is one buy-in. However, in online poker, with no witnesses or other factors to restrain your actions, you can lose you your entire bankroll. You may be easily tempted, spurred on by sudden, horrendous losses, to move to higher stakes games after you suffer a meltdown. About the worst thing you can do after a meltdown at your regular game is to step up to a higher-stakes table. It’s also one of the easiest things to do.

TAKE A HIKE...OR JUST A WALK AROUND THE BLOCK

Poker is a game. It’s not an episode of Mission: Impossible. There is no requirement for anything to self-destruct – on the contrary, once you start feeling the ‘smoke coming out of your ears,’ if some other player gets under your skin or a particularly bad beat sits right there on the table seemingly mocking you, maybe it’s time to take a break.

Preventing the Meltdown

Just as is real life, when something, or someone, as more likely the case in live poker, gets you on ‘tilt,’ the easiest thing is to get up and walk away from the game. It’s even easier online, when you can simply shut off the computer and get out of the house for some much-needed fresh air.Once you’ve polished your poker skills and learned to manage your bankroll, you will eventually climb up the stakes and even win at occasionally.

So while we may find watching poker pros ‘lose it’ at the table entertaining, remember there’s nothing funny about it when you lose hundreds of thousands in a blink of an eye – and remember, it could easily happen to you…

How to react when another player is on a ‘poker tantrum’

Easy: ignore. It just makes them even more upset, they’ll play more badly, and you’ll calmly scoop more of the pot.

Got rid of your ‘melt’? Time to get back to the felt!

Imagine you’re playing your favorite slot machine somewhere – Vegas, Atlantic City, Macau, London, Monte Carlo…

Suddenly, the lights on the slot you’re playing go crazy! You’ve won the progressive jackpot! Here comes the casino manager with a huge cartwheel of…chewing gum…!?!?

***

Spinning the reels on Slot City of Farm Casino on your Android, iPhone or Mobile, it’s so easy to forget the humble beginnings of your favorite Dragonplay game – slot machines, aka the ‘one-armed bandit’, ‘fruit machine’ (England) or ‘pokies’ (Australia).

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a car mechanic by the name of Charles Fey invented a game called Liberty Bell. This contraption, recognized as the world’s first fully-functioning slot machine, had three reels, with diamond, spade and heart symbols painted on each reel, as well as the image of the famous cracked liberty bell. Charles Frey developed additional slot machines, including the Draw Power, Three Spinde and the Klondike. He even invented the first draw poker machine in in 1901.

Early game machines gave out chewing gum as prizes. These chewing gums had images of the flavors similar to the symbols on the reels.  In the early days, ‘cashing out’ in food was a common technique to avoid anti-gambling laws in several states, and therefore gumball and other vending machines were regarded with suspicion by the courts. Those were the days…

If someone would ask Mr. Frey, circa 1900, what the future of slot machines held in store, it would be difficult to imagine that he would prophesize that his invention would become so widespread, popular and profitable – to the operators.

In 1934, the first electronically-operated machine came along. It was called Paces Races and it featured a mechanical horse race. A mere 30 years later the first fully electronic gambling machine was assembled.  Other electronic gambling games quickly followed including ones for dice, roulette, horse racing, and poker (Dale Electronics' Poker-Matic was very popular). 

In 1975, the first electronic slot machine was built, yet the mechanical “one-armed bandit” ruled far and wide…until recently, when computerized machines slowly began invading casinos; buttons began replacing the levers and credits and club cards began replacing “hard” cash. Like the cowboy of old, the one-armed bandit is watching helplessly as his once seemingly endless territory is shrinking rapidly than a high roller’s bankroll.

As you can see, the slot machine has a long and illustrious career, filled with ups and downs – mostly belonging to the players, who, having not been paid kindly by the slots, paid back in kind by swearing, punching, even urinating on the poor machine.

So where does our tried-and-true bandit go from here…?

Amazingly, almost without notice, the world of slot machines has already been evolving rapidly:

RISE OF THE MACHINES…

The computer revolution (thankfully non-violent) has brought interactive play to new levels. TV and Movie-themed slots were introduced several years ago, allowing players to spin their way to riches while taking part of an immersive interactive story.

Video slots have invaded gaming halls everywhere, disarming the one-arm bandits from their…well, arm, as well as the standard mechanical reels which have been a stable in casinos since their invention, long, long ago. Have no fear, though: those bandits are still putting up a fight, and you’ll find them easily.

Video slots brings with them brigades of interactive features such as extra bonus games. Unlike the standard, ‘pull-the-lever’ slots, video slots allow the user to play multiple lines, so rather than simply taking the middle of the three symbols displayed on each reel, a line could go from top left to bottom right, or any of the other patterns specified by the manufacturer. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage to a player: while playing more lines gives a higher chance to win –you are usually betting more on the spin.

The popularity of slot machines became such that a wide variety of games in all shapes and sizes became available on home computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Slot City and Farm Casino are just a click away on your Android, iPhone or iPad.

With computer chips now installed in most gaming machines, it allows manufacturers to assign different probabilities to the symbols on every reel. To the player it might give the illusion that he ‘just missed’ lining up all winning symbols…

YOU HAVE BEEN SERVED…

One of the newest type of slot machines, and one which players are not too enthused about, is called the “server based slots.” These slots can be programmed by remote server in a number of ways, including downloading new games or restructuring payouts. And this is something players do not like: For years a myth existed among players that casinos could change the payback of a machine with the flip of a switch. They worried that the casino could tighten the machines during busy times such as weekends and then loosen them up to pay more during the week. With the new server based system this myth could actually become a reality as they can change the payback of the machines through the server.

ALL TOGETHER NOW…

The direction slot gaming is headed seems to point to something called community slots, another result of the “slot machine lab experimentation phase.”

Community slots consist of a set of machines each containing the same game. Each player is playing on their own machine but at random times there will be a bonus event in which all players take part. If one player reaches a bonus level, then the other players will enjoy the bonus as well. Other community-type slots might feature a sort of race, in which the first player to achieve a certain level wins the jackpot for himself.

So what will the future holds for slot machine players…?

The world of slot machines continues to evolve. The two key elements in the industry are social interaction, and – video games. With one eye on the social media and another on the successful video game industry, there is a good chance the future slot will combine elements of both. Well, if you and your friends have Slot City on Farm Casino on your Android or iPhone, you’re probably ahead of the game!

But why stop there? There’s lots of potential for slots games…

How about games such as Psychic Spinning, where don’t see the machine and have to guess where the reels land? Or Reverse Slots, where you can win or lose thousands of dollars on a spin? Or how about Fahrenheit 451 Slot, where not only you must play in scotching temperatures, but if you do win – you get a dose of flames under your seat. It would make a great experiment in how one can jump for joy and swear at the same moment. Then there’s fool’s slot – a slot that pays out in chocolate coins (amusing for stand-byers…but would you like to win 10K that can melt in an instant?). And of course, there’s the Jackpot Error slot, which demands the machine be unplugged just as you’re about to win that big progressive.

Until such games arrive, however (if such games arrive), you can continue to enjoy all the Vegas excitement at Dragonplay!