Wednesday, May 03, 2006
How to Play Slots According to John Patrick
During this lull in my playing of slot systems, I decided to check in with the Old Master recently.
I mean, I'm pretty sure John Patrick's Slots was written back in the seventies. So I figured he had accrued many years of gambling knowledge since his book was published. There had to be whole new horizons of slots knowledge.
Interestingly, there seems to be no more horizons.
John Patrick was telling his players about money management and loss controls. I would say that was the theme of his book on slots, so that hasn't changed over the years.
I imagine he's seen no reason to evolve his strategies over the years. As evidence, let me cite that he mentioned how he once wrote a great book on slots. (Yes, a Great book. That's good stuff, there.)
It was noteworthy that John Patrick neither condemns nor condones playing slot machines. I would have assumed he would condone the practice, having made a living all these years telling people how to win at slots.
All the same, I'm glad John Patrick isn't judgemental about those kinds of things. It shows a certain open-mindedness that's both rare and admirable in people of his generation.
Of course, the big progressive jackpot was invented since John Patrick's Slots first went into print. So I payed particular attention to his thoughts on a subject so pervasive in today's slot machine industry.
Actually, John Patrick is against playing to win the progressives. The chances of winning are so low, it is better to focus on grinding out small wins.
If you are on a cold streak, it is better to bet one coin than the maximum, which is usually required to win the progressive jackpot. John Patrick calls that his Up The Steps method, though in his book he had all kinds of other names for it, like The Ladder and The Progression.
So that's changed, I guess.
Patrick says he has as good of a chance of becoming Mr. America as anyone winning a huge jackpot. I have to say; I question that statement.
First of all, is there such a thing as Mr. America? Maybe it's some body builder thing.
If there is a Mr. America, let's look at the situation. There are somewhere around 150,000,000 men in America, which is probably the minimum requirement to become Mr. America.
The standard odds of becoming Mr. America would probably be around 1 in 150,000,000. Since John Patrick is probably 75 years old, I would say his odds of winning that title are greatly lowered.
Assume we use a conservative estimate, and people who are 70 years and older have only 1/10th the chance of becoming Mr. America. John Patrick's odds of becoming Mr. America would therefore be somewhere around 1 in 1.5 billion.
Most progressive jackpot odds are 1 in a few million spins. So I would say players do have a better chance of winning a slot machine progressive jackpot than John Patrick has of becoming Mr. America.
A minor point, but one that has to be refuted. I mean, we're in a mathematical field, so we have to be able to calculate odds. Calculating the odds of becoming Mr. America is how we get an edge in the gambling game.
I mean, I'm pretty sure John Patrick's Slots was written back in the seventies. So I figured he had accrued many years of gambling knowledge since his book was published. There had to be whole new horizons of slots knowledge.
Interestingly, there seems to be no more horizons.
John Patrick was telling his players about money management and loss controls. I would say that was the theme of his book on slots, so that hasn't changed over the years.
I imagine he's seen no reason to evolve his strategies over the years. As evidence, let me cite that he mentioned how he once wrote a great book on slots. (Yes, a Great book. That's good stuff, there.)
It was noteworthy that John Patrick neither condemns nor condones playing slot machines. I would have assumed he would condone the practice, having made a living all these years telling people how to win at slots.
All the same, I'm glad John Patrick isn't judgemental about those kinds of things. It shows a certain open-mindedness that's both rare and admirable in people of his generation.
Of course, the big progressive jackpot was invented since John Patrick's Slots first went into print. So I payed particular attention to his thoughts on a subject so pervasive in today's slot machine industry.
Actually, John Patrick is against playing to win the progressives. The chances of winning are so low, it is better to focus on grinding out small wins.
If you are on a cold streak, it is better to bet one coin than the maximum, which is usually required to win the progressive jackpot. John Patrick calls that his Up The Steps method, though in his book he had all kinds of other names for it, like The Ladder and The Progression.
So that's changed, I guess.
Patrick says he has as good of a chance of becoming Mr. America as anyone winning a huge jackpot. I have to say; I question that statement.
First of all, is there such a thing as Mr. America? Maybe it's some body builder thing.
If there is a Mr. America, let's look at the situation. There are somewhere around 150,000,000 men in America, which is probably the minimum requirement to become Mr. America.
The standard odds of becoming Mr. America would probably be around 1 in 150,000,000. Since John Patrick is probably 75 years old, I would say his odds of winning that title are greatly lowered.
Assume we use a conservative estimate, and people who are 70 years and older have only 1/10th the chance of becoming Mr. America. John Patrick's odds of becoming Mr. America would therefore be somewhere around 1 in 1.5 billion.
Most progressive jackpot odds are 1 in a few million spins. So I would say players do have a better chance of winning a slot machine progressive jackpot than John Patrick has of becoming Mr. America.
A minor point, but one that has to be refuted. I mean, we're in a mathematical field, so we have to be able to calculate odds. Calculating the odds of becoming Mr. America is how we get an edge in the gambling game.
