It’s a good question and one I may have run into just a few days ago. My example was a little hard to tell (the chair was up, but no card or money in the machine), but I’ll give my thoughts.
If I see a chair up and it seems the machine might be occupied—a person ran out of money and is getting more at the ATM, a person is going to the bathroom, etc.—and there is no play showing on the screen, I am moving on. I am not going to try to quickly flip through the bets to look for a play that may not even be there.
Let’s say it’s the same situation and I see a marginal play. I’m likely doing the same. It’s not worth the headache of investing money and having someone frantically running to the machine as I’m mid-spin and potentially stuck a good amount on the play. That’s kind of a worst-case scenario.
But if it’s a really good play? I am going to stick around right next to the machine. If another slot hustler walks by, I am going to make it clear that’s my machine, but I am not going to start hammering away right off the bat. I’ll wait five or 10 minutes; whatever feels right in the moment. Then I’ll sit in the seat, fiddle around on my phone for another couple of minutes, and probably change the bet on the screen. Maybe I’ll slow-spin a few bets on min bet to give off the appearance of a slot novice as best I can. That seems like an appropriate amount of time for anyone to come back. If they come back after I’ve started—which luckily hasn’t happened to me yet—it would depend on how much I’ve invested. I could say, hey, sorry, I’m stuck $200 already (whatever it may be).
Now, it also depends on the casino. In my latest example, I was in Aruba at some random casino where I didn’t even have a players card. It was a 24 on a $4 Magic Treasures (well above average). I moved a little quicker, as I didn’t really care if the casino booted me if everything went sideways (exceedingly rare). Had this been at my hometown casino, where drawing attention is more of a problem, I’d have waited longer.
I don’t think I’d go to a slot attendant in most situations. It might work out in your favor, but they might also tell you the machine is occupied. “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” That would be my take in this situation, though there would certainly be some nuance to it.
One other thing: I would cash out the ticket, assuming there are a few cents left in the machine or whatever, if I intended to play. Cash out the ticket and put it clearly on the machine next to yours. You don’t want to be miscategorized as a ticket stealer.
It’s a bit of a hairy situation with whatever you do, but if we’re talking about a monster play on a nice-sized bet, it’s going to be hard not to at least wait it out and decide from there.
Ben Rosenthal
