No “Dumb” Questions

[Ben RosenthalKeymaster]

This is probably obvious, but I don’t want anyone to feel embarrassed about asking something that might seem obvious. This is a judgement-free zone!

[Daniel HastyParticipant]

I’ve got a question for Ben and everyone. What would you consider to be your top 10 machines? The ones you always go to.

[Ben RosenthalKeymaster]

Good, tough question.

For me, it depends on the competition. For instance, games such as Regal Riches and Prosperity Pearl are blue-chip advantage games. If you find primo numbers, you’ll do well most of the time. But those are some of the most checked games in the casino, so if you’re at a place with plenty of competition (Vegas, let’s say), it’ll be rare to walk up on a solid board. But let’s say I were at some random island; the Bahamas comes to mind since someone just asked about Atlantis. Now, Regal Riches is a great game to check, as there are tons of tourists and not much competition (generally).

Also, some games are uncommon. For instance, Cash Up Jackpots is probably my favorite game of all time, but it’s so rare to come across. Blazing X would be another that I’m quite fond of, among countless others, that you won’t see much. Nuttin’ To It…I’ve seen that like once in the past few years. All would be in my top 10, but how useful would that list be?

Then it depends on what you’re looking for. Personally, I tend to value low-risk games over volatile ones with high ceilings and low floors. So while some folks might enjoy the swings of Phoenix Link and games like that, I don’t.

All that said, here’s a top 20 of sorts where I’ll exclude rare games and will assume you’re at a medium-level competitive casino:

• Angel Blade Kingdom of Ice and Sword of Destiny Fire Warrior
• Buffalo Ascension
• Cashman Bingo
• Dancing Drums Golden Drums
• Golden Egypt
• Hexbreak3r
• Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania 4 Link and Super Sally’s Shrimpmania 4 Link
• Lucky Pick BumbleBee and Lucky Pick Leprechaun
• Magic of the Nile
• Ocean Magic
• Power Push
• Regal Riches and Prosperity Pearl
• Rich Little Piggies
• Rocket Rumble
• Scarab
• Stack Up Pays and Ascending Fortunes
• Star Goddess and Wu Dragon
• Wheel of Fortune High Roller
• Wild Pirates and Guardians of Egypt
• Wolf Peak, Cat Peak, Fu Ren Wu
• Zodiac Lion and Zodiac Dragon

Ultimately, though, I wouldn’t rule out any game if I thought I had an edge.

And like with all games, there’s some small sample sizes at work too. I hit a Rich Little Piggies play for like $18,000 once. I tend to run hotter on that game in general than the numbers say I should. If you ask someone else, they may not be a big fan of the game.

[Ben RosenthalKeymaster]

Here’s another thread where this came up: Favorite Games

[FutzParticipant]

Any suggestions for someone who’s new to slots in general how to get the most out of your website? I had never played slots at all before picking up this subscription to supplement my other AP plays.

So far what I’ve done is scouted my local casinos and wrote down all the slots they have, cross referenced with your list to see which are AP, and memorized the play conditions for all of those. When I have the time I go through your games list and just start trying to hammer the appearances and names of more games that aren’t local into my mind.

I do travel often and go to new casinos. So currently in my mental arsenal I have about 10 games I can recognize and know the play condition, and about an additional 10 games I can recognize and know to look up. I’m sure I’m missing out on some opportunities though because I just don’t know what I don’t know. Is it a matter of memorizing more and more games?

[Ben RosenthalKeymaster]

Someone asked about ranking games by popularity once, so I made this quick blog post that may be useful for you:

Ranking AP Games By Popularity

It may be helpful to check over. There’s still a lot of games there, but I didn’t include some of the more obscure ones.

Besides that, although it may not seem this way quite yet, once you’re a bit more immersed in this, an advantage game will become quite obvious.

Yes, a lot of the newer games in particular have the “perceived persistence” trademarks—meters that mean nothing, pots seemingly overflowing with gold, etc.—but I have posts on that, and if it’s not included in my write-ups, chances are it’s not AP.

That said, if you come across a game that has the hallmarks of an AP game and isn’t included on the site, ask about it. I don’t have every single advantage game listed, so there’s a chance I missed it or haven’t gotten around to adding it yet.

[Ben RosenthalKeymaster]

This may be useful too:

False Flag Slots (Fake Advantage Games)

If you have time, some of the other blog posts hopefully can provide a little nuance to all this beyond the mostly black-and-white numbers.

A “master” AP slotter can only get so good in my opinion. It’s not like poker, where there are endless levels to it. But I do think it’s often a combination of myriad small things throughout a day that can create a gap for some folks.

Of course, nothing beats good old-fashioned volume.

• This reply was modified 2 days, 22 hours ago by Ben Rosenthal.

[Short Coin CharlieParticipant]

On Ben Rosenthal said

It’s not like poker, where there are endless levels to it. But I do think it’s often a combination of myriad small things throughout a day that can create a gap for some folks.

One crossover to poker came to mind after reading this. I had to google it to get the exact quote:

Painted on the side of Puggy Pearson’s RV (tour bus?) was “I’ll play any man from any land any game he can name for any amount he can count.” Then underneath (and in smaller letters), “Provided I like it.”

I try to live these words as much as possible. By that I mean, if the best play going (or that I can find) is for 60c a spin, then I will hold my nose and get to work. And if the best play is for $50 a rip, then I’m going clench my cheeks and play that one too.

Unlike Puggy, I do have my limits. Everyone has different bankrolls and so of course there are ranges at which we should and should not be playing. But a willingness to “work for cheap” as well as having the tolerance to play at or near the limits of your bankroll are a couple ways to “create the gap” in AP slots.

I am not quite able to come up with something as catchy as what Puggy said. “I’ll play any slot that you’ve got / If it’s +EV, then it’s for me…”

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