Understanding Slot Machine Math Basics

– By Sheryl L. Ashley

Understanding slot machine math can be daunting for even the most seasoned individual. You do not have to be an accountant, analyst, or even a statistician to understand the fundamentals of slot math. The take-away is to know why this math is so important in monitoring performance and compliance at your property.

Slot machine math will assist in determining:
• Whether a machine is performing as the vendor intended.
• The customers’ preferences for a machine on the floor.
• How much is reinvested in a customer with players club rewards.

To determine whether an individual slot machine is performing as the vendor intended we first need to know the benchmark. This benchmarking information can be obtained from the probability accounting report or “PAR worksheet.” Typically, this worksheet is provided by the vendor at the purchase date and is based on the game software purchased. Often, when game software is purchased, the vendor provides many different choices of game themes that can be turned-on for the customer to select from. In the following example, a machine with only one active game theme will be utilized. Although PAR worksheets can span from just a few pages to hundreds of pages, typically, only four pieces of information are focused upon:

 

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