I recently received these questions in my inbox:
I just came across your site and love reading all your articles about slots! I am also someone who enjoys going to the casino to test my luck…lol. Anyways, I was wondering if you could answer this for me.
1. When a bonus is trigged for example on he newer lock it link slots like Huff N’ Puff, is a bonus already determined how much it will pay out before you hit the play/start bonus button?
2. Then also, while in the bonus, does hitting the button to speed up counting affect the outcome of said bonus?
Say I hit a win that has all 50 lines that hit and instead of waiting for the machine to go through each pay-line, I hit the button to go onto the next spin. It always seems like if I hit the button I stop winning or mess up the timing versus letting it play out.
Ross, via email
Happy to answer your questions! Some of this will seem familiar to those who have read my previous pieces on free spin bonus rounds and the random number generator (RNG), as well as my primer on Vegas-style (Class III) slots. The second question delves into a bit of a new area, though, so good to review and then cover the new aspect.
- Presuming you mean a standard, Vegas-style slot, the bonus on a game like Huff n Puff is not generally determined before you hit play. Each bonus spin calls on the RNG and it generally uses bonus reels (they are marked on the screen as so when this happens). Similar to how math is used to balance out winning and losing spins for the base game, so it would go for the bonus so the bonus, over time and on average, will pay back what they want the game to pay.
- If you hit the button, it would change the timing of the next spin’s selection. But none of us will ever know if we changed to a better, worse or indifferent result because of it. It just means a different number will be active when the next spin is initiated, for better or worse.
Mathematically, neither of the above will matter over the long term. The chances of getting a winning spin or not doesn’t change if you speed things up, so the odds are still the same.
Some people get worried that hitting the button will somehow change their bonus from a winning one to a non-winning one, but we simply don’t have the true insight into that impact, and so it’s best not to worry about that and just enjoy the bonus you’ve won!
I hope that helps! And if you have questions you’d like to see answered, feel free to leave a comment below with your question, or submit your questions via the Contact Us form!
