Reply To: An honest conversation about record keeping

On Raymond Snell said

What is your process for tracking results, and what would you recommend I do as someone relatively new to this?

Some of this might help –

For games in the SlotSlayers Green category, I probably wouldn’t record anything other than what I need for tax time, that is, the net score.

Now, for a hypothetical game in the Red category, let’s say “Amradillo Emerald”, with uncapped bonus spin meters 2X/3X/4X, where Ben’s write-up is cautioning us to never try for the 4X, and gives us play numbers for the 3X and the 2X…I have found it helpful to know

• what is the composition of my Wheels? (Armadillo Emerald does not exist, so I happen to know the distribution is exactly 70% 2X, 20% 3X, 10% 4X. But for other games you can collect data)
• what is the average number of spins it takes to spin each wheel / get one of the bonuses (could be something like 125)
• For games in the Red category, you’re probably going to use your card, so use your point changes to count spins. If it takes $3 to earn one point, and you earn 45 points at $2 per spin, then (math, math, something), and you can count your spins when you get home, if you record your point totals at each “interruption” (bonus won)

Once you have a bit of data, you can make an estimate as to whether or not you think you have enough money to chase a 3X that you just found

So let’s see…the 3X meter is huge…

1. 20% of Wheels will be 3X, so on average I should need 5 Wheels to hit it
2. And it’s $2 a spin
3. And I should get a Wheel every 125 spins
4. And so I should expect coin in of 5 x $2 x 125 = $1250 before I hit that 3X, on average

And then you will have to estimate what kind of cushion it might take. It might take you 20 Wheels to land the 3X or you might get it in the first spin. You will probably lose 50% of your coin in on reels-only while waiting for the 3X you’re playing for, or you might do better/worse.

But knowing what I would need to have on hand, if everything goes according to plan/average, helps me estimate if I have enough money to finish what I started in case things deviate from the average.

So those are the kinds of games where I collect data and that’s the kind of data I collect when I bother