Royally Flushed

From the “look what I came across searching the Web” file, comes this remarkably detailed report on how slot machines operate from the wide-ranging ”HowStuffWorks” website.  Both the site and the television show of the same name are owned by the Discovery Company — you know, the same people who have the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet (my fav), and a host of other “let’s-make-learning-fun” ventures. (more…)

Could something like this bring you casino luck?

When it comes to good luck charms, I’ve seen a lot of strange things in casinos in Las Vegas, here in Arizona and, really, all across the country.  I remember one “regular” at a casino here in town who, back in the days when actual coins still poured out of the machines, would accumulate buckets of quarters and carry them from machine to machine.  If he was having a good day, you’d see him perched on his seat in front of a slot machine with three, four or even five completely full buckets of change under his chair.  Watching him move from machine to machine with a stack of change cups sort of piled atop each other “Leaning-Tower-of- Pisa-style” was a pretty interesting sight.  When asked why he carried around all those quarters rather than cashing in for some lightweight bills, he said his method of only going to the cashier at the end of his gambling day brought him luck.  (I’m sure he’s not having near as much fun with the paper tickets spit out by the machines today.) (more…)