Myths vs. Reality

Does the Number of Players in a Casino Change Your Chances of Winning?

Mohegan Sun overhead slot floor
Written by Joshua

I previously have written about how the time of day you play in a casino doesn’t impact your chances of winning. A recent commenter disagreed, saying:

This isn’t entirely accurate. Even a truly random outcome is subject to the laws of averages. While you can never guarantee an outcome, you can increase the likelihood of being present when that outcome occurs. Busier times of the day result in a greater number of spins being played on the slots. Conducting more spins increases the overall likelihood of a win. This does not guarantee that wins will occur on the slot you are playing while you are playing it but it does increase the possibility to a certain degree.

Michael, via site comment

The problem with this assertion is the number of spin counts goes up proportionally with the players. If you have 100 players each doing 400 spins per hour, that’s 40,000 spins per hour. 200 players each doing 400 spins an hour is 80,000 spins per hour – numerically double, but it takes double the people to get there.

The number of overall spins in the casino doesn’t matter because the odds don’t change based on how many people are in that casino. And the machine you’re on doesn’t really care what’s going on at any other machine, so sitting down and playing that specific machine will always come down to one player and one set of spins.

Every single other person can be winning, or losing, around you and it won’t impact the overall odds of the game you’re playing or sitting at.

Similar to speed stopping, where you can get through more spins, and therefore see more bonuses and winning or losing spins numerically, while the overall odds of the game will remain the same, more players in the casino playing at a given time means numerically that more people will likely be winning. But as an overall average, you don’t have any better or worse chance in the casino than you do at any other time.

About the author

Joshua

My name is Joshua, and I’m a slot enthusiast who works in tech as a marketer by day, and dabbles in casinos periodically during off-times. Know Your Slots will reflect my interests in understanding the various ways you can play slots, travel, casino promotions and how you can get the most out of your casino visits.

2 Comments

  • What about class 2 (bingo-based) machines? Wouldn’t fewer players in a class 2 casino increase your chances?

    • Hey David! When you think of traditional bingo, there’s a fixed set of prizes and having less people in the room means a better chance of winning bingo. This is not the case with Class II (Bingo) machines. It doesn’t work the same way. The prize pool is not fixed like a traditional bingo session, so there’s not the same benefit by having less people there.

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