Slots, like roulette, treats every spin independent of the one before. Or so you’d like to believe. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that this is true, that each spin resets the odds, that you’re never “due” to hit those sevens, and that your chances of winning remain the same (however small) each time you reach for that button. If that’s true, how come we still see people rushing over to a “winning” machine after the winning player clears away his or her money and moves on themselves?

I have a few theories, but my main one rests solely on the irrational selfishness of human nature – amplified by the money-making environment of the casino. What am I talking about? Let me boil it down for you. When a scenario like this presents itself, rational thought is thrown by the wayside in favor of the powerful notion that if there’s the slightest chance you can take advantage of some information, the last thing you want to do is pass it up and risk allowing someone else to experience that good fortune instead.

The closest thing I can compare this to is when you see something (anything) on sale and there’s only a limited quantity available (think Amazon.com’s lightning deals). You’re there, you saw it and there are still some available, your sense of selfishness almost completely takes control of your decision-making process and you “get in on it” while you still can. Doesn’t even matter most of the time if you need or want the product, you find a way to rationalize it to yourself, and the rest is history. So bring that behavior over to the slot machine world and you can see where I’m coming from.

Of course, if you stop to think for even a moment, common sense would tell you those machines that just dumped are less likely to pay out, or at least drop the percentages of hitting a progressive jackpot, because it’s likely the amount of said jackpot has reset to something much lower than it previously was. In that sense, while the odds of winning might not have changed, the risk/return has certainly become less enticing.

And finally, while I’d like to believe this isn’t true, you can safely assume that these machines are configured not to give payout after payout in short periods of time. In fact, if the movie “Casino” is to be believed, someone in a big cowboy hat is supposed to go unplug the machine that just paid off anyway.