One Arm Bandit!

It is really interesting to note the high volume of casinos and gambling establishment that set up shop in SL with each passing week. Some are probably company owned, with vast setup and elaborate decorations, while some others seems to be small time player, with specific focus on a narrow range of games.

I came across this one at a location that was sent to me by a SL friend in world. A small casino this is, probably over a land plot of 1024sqm. Despite its small size, and limited space for setting up gambling stations, the vast number of avatar present seems to imply a good traffic hit stat with respect to the land size.

I had a series run with the wall-mounted jackpots as was shown in the picture. Ahhh... no, I am not that rich, so I had to content myself with testing out the cheapest, and 2nd cheapest, machines (that is, the one at the bottom right corner and the bottom 2nd from the left corner). After a series of tries, I began to see a pattern forming... yes, a predictable series of patterns in the "random" results of that these virtual machines had conjured up.

Let me elaborate on the patterns that I picked up... take for instance the machine located at the bottom, 2nd from the left corner. The machine accepts L$20 dollars from the player with each push of the button.

With the first push of the button, the machine returns a result of L$20+$10, which means the player earns back the L$20 and gets an additional L$10. The 2nd push of the button will increase the winning streak further, and gives a result of L$20+L$20. Interesting... L$30 at the oush of 2 buttons!... the player should be completely psy-ed up at this stage for more. The 3rd push of the button starts chapter 1 of the real story... the result shows a L$0+L$10. The player effectively loses $10. The 4th push will show a L$0+L$0, the user loses his 20... the 5th and the 6th push will produce somewhat the same series of results, with the player losing L$10, L$5, respectively. There seems to be a slowdown in the lost of stake. The 7th and 8th round will start the winning streak again, effectively letting the player win back his losses right up till the point where the money in the inventory shows a "amount before you hit the button for the first time" - L$10. The next 10, 20, or even 100 times of button pressed will not bring any winning or losing, with the result always showing either a L$20+L$0, or L$10+L$10, or a L$0+L$20. Thus letting the player earn back the L$20 he/she pays into the machine for the press of the button each time.

Thus, the machine effectively wins a L$10 from the player.

I am able to replicate this same amount of pattern from the machine at the bottom left corner. I see the brillance in the creator of these jackpot machines, in that the creator is able to draw a L$10 from each player who happen to chance upon this jackpot station, and takes up the challenge with each of these machines. Say an average player were to try 3 of the machines, and given the sheer volume of unsuspecting avatars prowling around the casino floor everyday, I have this strange nudging feeling that the creator is obscenely rich by now.

So no matter if you are in RL or SL, the one arm bandit remains as it is... the one arm bandit.