Reply To: Identifying potential advantage machines

[Short Coin CharlieParticipant]

There’s no quick glance that’s 100% sure to give you a yes/no answer, but here are a couple tips that might help with scouting new games.

1. If the game has an animation that changes, for example a pot that starts out empty, and then has coins added, and then more coins, and then still more coins (or an animal that starts out small and gets bigger), etc., read the rules of the game by hitting the Information button (sometimes an “I” or “Help” button). If at some point you read language that says something like “the number of coins in the pot has no effect on game play” then that almost always means that the game is not beatable. (But you also have to make sure that there isn’t something other than the animation that could make the game a play. See the description of Treasure Blast in the Games section. In Treasure Blast, we ignore the animation and look for something else…)
2. Take note of the manufacturer of the games you end up playing most often. IGT and Aristocrat are the manufacturers of a number of games with strategies published here (although there are others). If a new game on the floor is made by the manufacturer of the games where you find the most plays, then I suggest giving it a careful examination.