The Absolutely, Positively Official Slot Pull Rules and Results Thread

[DataStar]

Sure it's official. I hereby designate it as such.

Absolutely!

Positively!

 

We've participated in Slot Pulls on several of our trips and always enjoyed them.

 

For those who havent, the rules vary somewhat, but here's the general idea.

 

• The Slot Pull is generally announced on the message board for the departure, to see who wants to participate.
  
• Everyone who is participating kicks in a fixed amount -- maybe $9.00 -- which is collected at the Meet & Mingle, with an entry ticket given in return.
  
• The organizer, who discusses this with the slots manager in the casino, sets a time for the pull (most often right after the M&M on a sea day.) Sometimes the manager provides some keychains or tee shirts as gifts for the group. (We usually give those to the people who generate the most winnings for the group!)
  
• One machine -- a dollar slot with a $3 maximum coin-in -- is selected. That way, we can qualify for the maximum payouts and maximum jackpots!
  
• The organizer puts in cash equalling everyone's total contribution. Let's say that 20 people join in at $9 each. The organizer puts $180 into the machine (usually large bills to save time.)
  
• The entrants are then called to the machine, and each pushes the "BET MAX" button three times. The rest of the group provides encouragement (and various comments on the results.)
  
• After everyone has played, the group decides whether to split the money (which can be big if a jackpot is hit) or play on (usually one BET MAX per person) until you either hit it big, or hit zero on the money meter.
  
• The organizer pays out the money -- if any -- and any prizes provided by the Casino. (hence the tickets -- if you win, everyone suddenly remembers that they participated)
  

In this thread, I'd like you to post whether you had a slot pull, what the rules you used were, and most importantly, whether your group were winners who walked away with a profit.

 

And good luck to all.

 

Alan

[Tucker in Texas]

We've participated and organized a few. Basically the same as you described except we had $21 per person, seven $3 pulls each.

 

Rather than "tickets," we just had people sign up when they paid (we did the sign up at the meet and mingle primarily but took money any time someone could find us) and kept a list. We had several people that wanted to participate but would not be able to be there for the pull due to conflicts.

 

No one was allowed to enter after the first person made the first pull.

 

When we have organized it, we have always announced it "over" when the last pull was done with the original stake rather than give a choice to continue on. On those pulls that have offered this option, invariably there were several that didn't want to continue on but were outnumbered by those that did and didn't want to be a "wet blanket" so they let it go. When all the stake was lost, those that had wanted to quit were not happy campers. I'm sure they would have been very happy campers if we had hit a big jackpot; however, we decided to take the path of least resistance.

 

While we have never won any money, we have never lost more than $5 pp and that is good entertainment value in my book. If the money left doesn't divide up evenly, then husband and two or three others would go down later and play it off on the quarter machine.

 

Once we were down a bunch and had $2 left to play. A stranger who had been watching came up and gave us a buck to bet $3. We hit a bonus spin and won $100 which bought our losses up to only $1.50 a person.

 

RCI was most uncooperative when we approached them on the NOS to have a slot pull. No freebees. No giving us a special section so we could use several machines in that area to keep the group together and not bother other gamblers with our enthusiasm. To have them handle the payout (i.e. give us the correct amount of money due to each participant at the end) we had to put the $21 entry on individual S&S cards which would entail a 3% surcharge plus a PIA for all of us to line up at the cashier's window to do it plus how to handle those who wanted in and wouldn't be there in person. The fellow who organized it said he had done many of them and this was the worse casino management he had ever dealt with. On other ships, they have welcomed him with open arms.

 

Being a stockholder and having around $2K to gamble at a time the casino was not busy (1:00 p.m. on a sea day), this irritated me that they would blow off a potential $2K. We ended up dividing into groups of 20 and finding machines on our own close together. There were five "groups." Four went broke, the other one came out ahead but I never heard how much but they weren't buying drinks for everyone (lol).

 

Tucker in Texas

[dixieva]

We have at least one slot pull on every cruise with our friends. We set a time for anyone interested to meet in the casino. We pick out a dollar machine $3 max bet. Each person puts in $20. I don't think it's necessary for the $9 or $21 investment. It never works out even anyway what with winning one dollar here-$2 or $3 or $5 there-so we just do $20 each. We usually decide before we start that if we double our money we will cash out and split it. Then anyone who wants to go on will put their money back into the machine and we continue. If we don't at least double it we just play until it's gone. We take turns spinning the wheel. The last person to spin sometimes doesn't have max bet left but no big deal.

 

It's loads of fun!

[Motorman23]

I have been in several slot pulls and ran a few myself. Some have been almost militant with the rules but thats they way it was. When I ran the last one, we collected $15 pp and gave everyone 5 pulls. We split all the winnings evenly in dollars by rounding down to the nearest dollar and then gave all the coin left over to the person who got the highest pull as a special prize.

 

So.... for example if we had 20 people and the winnings were say $53 we divided that by 20 which is 2.65 pp. Since we don't like to mess with coins, we then gave everyone $2 and took the 65 cents from each of the 20 people and gave the person with the biggest single pull $13 (0.65 x 20).

 

We stopped the slot pull after everyone had pulled five times each. No arguments, everyone new upfront what we were doing. We collected the money at the time of the pull. We even had some others from the casino who wanted in and took their money also.

 

After it was all done, some decided to put their $2 in winnings together and continue on. That was done by that group.

 

No complaints, very laid back and no hassles because we split the money evenly into dollar bills given to us by the casino.

[dixieva]

That still sounds complicated to me. It's so much simpler to let everyone who wants to play feed in $20, take turns pulling the handle or pushing the button until the money is either gone or if it's doubled cash out and split the pot.

 

But to each his own! If that's what the group decides to do then great but for me I don't want the hassle of dividing what amounts to $2 and change for each person. Hey I guess that means I'm a true gambler-double or nothing!

Edited October 17, 2010 by dixieva

[bingies]

This looks like a fun activity!!!

[Kellie Poodle]

I have participated in a couple and I think it depends upon the ship and the casino manager. A fellow cruiser who has organized many slot pulls told me that often the casino managers will see the groups and get on the computer and tighten the odds on the machines.

 

I can believe this as on one cruise, the dollar slot machine didn't even cough up as much as a single cherry throughout an entire slot pull with 9 participants @ $20 each.

[memawree]

On our last slot pull, each person signed up and got a number. When it was their turn they put $15.00 in the machine, which was a $1.00 x 3 max. All winnings were left in the machine until the last player was done. The money was equally divided when we were done with the extra dollars reinvested in the same machine until we lost it all. I like the idea of giving the extra $$ to the biggest winner. Another thing, I agree about the mgr.fixing the machine if they know when you are going to show up. Another thing, bring crisp bills to put into the machine or get tokens before the pull.

Marie:)

[budster]

I like your suggestion. I also like the part of giving the person with the biggest win the odd amount left over. I don't think we should play until it is zero, just play out each person's money. Since I am in charge of our slot pull this thread was helpful.:) I did find that interesting that they can change the odds on the machines. They always say they have no control over them.:confused: I find that hard to believe. I always said they start out okay and each day tighten up more.

[zuggie]

A word about a casino being able to change the odds on a slot machine.

 

On a mechanical machine (where the reels are mechanical and not a video display), the odds cannot be changed. Slots are manufactured to a specific odds - depending on how many positions are on a single reel - 27, 28, 29, etc. A casino purchases a machine that gives the odds the casino desires. It cannot be changed later on. I believe the Voyager has a lot of these mechanical machines.

 

On a video machine (where the reels are displayed electronically), my guess would be that it is possible for the casino to change the odds. Probably just a matter of loading new software into it.

 

But the bottom line is - odds for the player in a cruise ship casino are going to be pretty lousy. Why? They have no competition. You can't exactly walk over to the casino next door if you're doing poorly.

 

Having said all this and having read the previous posts about the slot pull - we're in! Let's just do it on a mechanical machine.

 

Dave

[bjcruiser]

giving this thread a bump. Just signed up to spear head our Slot Pull. Any suggestions would be awesome.

[MilwBrewers]

Alternative format slot pull rules:

Slot Pull / $10 Card Draw

$10 per card, cards are used as payment receipt and to determine order of slot pull. (Organizer Name Here) is selling the Slot Pull entrance cards.

Cards can be purchased now or at the casino.

 

Meet at the noisiest entrance to the casino later today at _______ PM

Casino slot pull rules:

Slot pull starts 10 minutes after the meeting time, must be present to win, 1 card per player, all winnings split evenly*

Slot pull order of play: 2 of Hearts goes first followed by 3 of Hearts, 4 of Hearts through Ace of Hearts; 2 through Ace of Diamonds; 2 through Ace of Clubs; 2 through Ace of Spades. (2→Ace of Hearts♥, Diamonds♦, Clubs♣, Spades♠). $9 per player will be entered into the slot machine and $1++ towards the roulette table.

Beginning slot pull: 2 of Hearts bets max bet on the $1 chosen slot machine three times. ($3 max bet *3 pulls), next highest Heart goes next...

If there are more than 26 players 1 round will be played,

if less than 26 players there will be 2 rounds of 3 pulls each.

At the end of the 1 or 2 rounds the slot winnings per card holder will be determined by dividing the balance on the slot machine by the number of players and paid out in full dollars only. ++Any remaining money, along with $1 per player, will be bet at least one time on the most drawn color among the cards from slot pull — if the color wins the first time, a second bet will be placed. (If roulette table is not operating a suitable alternative will be chosen.) Winnings will be paid to participants in whole dollars with any left over money going to whomever drew the Ace of Hearts or the highest Heart. All winnings will be distributed after roulette play has finished. Guaranteed to be fun!

Highest Heart:_________________ # RED________ # BLACK________

[Karen la Keek]

My Mom and I participated in a Slot Pull, our first, on RC NOS last year and it was a lot of fun! We all just met up in the casino at a designated time and the organizer picked a machine. When it was your turn (no predetermined order, just formed a line) you wrote your name on “the list”, inserted $10 into the machine and pulled once. Results were written after your name. After everyone had gone we had broken even! RC had provided drink coupons and several t-shirts as prizes. Prizes were given out to the high payout pulls. We didn’t have a drink package so we were a little ahead in the end with our drink coupons!

[Biker19]

[starrcards]

We are participating in a slot pull on our Oasis cruise next month. Am I to assume from the comments on this thread that winning money is not an option.

[sellwingri]

We are participating in a slot pull on our Oasis cruise next month. Am I to assume from the comments on this thread that winning money is not an option.

 

I’ve been in probably 10 slot tournaments and have both won and lost, but small amounts. The most I’ve won was probably $3 and the most I’ve lost was probably $2.

 

It can be a lot of fun. There were approx 50 of us participating on Explorer in Sept. We would cheer when a good spin was made and developed great comeraderie with fellow passengers. I always participate when there’s a tournament.

[Karen la Keek]

We are participating in a slot pull on our Oasis cruise next month. Am I to assume from the comments on this thread that winning money is not an option.

 

Some of the people in our Slot Pull had previously won decent amounts. As sellwingri mentioned, it’s great fun cheering for the other participants. Worth the initial $10 for the fun (and we broke even).

[Mikkimac]

I don't see much mention of using someone's players card. Seems like it would be easiest to use the organizers card since they are dealing with the hassles. It would give them a little bonus for trouble. Thoughts? Perhaps if the organizer provided a nicer prize to #1 like a guaranteed win amount or something for #1?

[sellwingri]

I organized and ran a tournament on our transatlantic cruise on Jewel in November and we had 75 participants.  I did have help, since it can be overwhelming.  We had everyone put $15 in the machine when it was their turn.  Many of the participants asked me to run one again later in the cruise because it was so much fun.  I think we each got back $13 with the change going to the highest scorers.  Everyone agreed to let me use my card. Although it sounds like it would be a lot of points, it really wasn’t.  I think I earned 160.  The Casino Host and Manager gave us T-shirt’s to award to the highest spinners.  They were really helpful and supportive.

 

One word of advice for anyone who wants to run one......make sure to list everyone’s name on an excel spreadsheet.  You’ll need to keep track of individual spins and this is the easiest way.  It’s also next to impossible for one person to do it all so ask for help.

[Mikkimac]

Thanks! The one I entered only haf about 25. I can't imagine 75. It must have taken a long time. 

[oddly excitered]

On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 3:18 PM, Biker19 said:

Good one Biker!

[Ree5676]

On 1/28/2019 at 9:33 AM, sellwingri said:

I organized and ran a tournament on our transatlantic cruise on Jewel in November and we had 75 participants.  I did have help, since it can be overwhelming.  We had everyone put $15 in the machine when it was their turn.  Many of the participants asked me to run one again later in the cruise because it was so much fun.  I think we each got back $13 with the change going to the highest scorers.  Everyone agreed to let me use my card. Although it sounds like it would be a lot of points, it really wasn’t.  I think I earned 160.  The Casino Host and Manager gave us T-shirt’s to award to the highest spinners.  They were really helpful and supportive.

 

One word of advice for anyone who wants to run one......make sure to list everyone’s name on an excel spreadsheet.  You’ll need to keep track of individual spins and this is the easiest way.  It’s also next to impossible for one person to do it all so ask for help.

Do you have a sample copy of a spreadsheet for a slot pull? Thanks in advance!

[sellwingri]

20 hours ago, Ree5676 said:

Do you have a sample copy of a spreadsheet for a slot pull? Thanks in advance!

I do but I’m currently on a cruise (on Jewel again) and it’s on my home PC.  I’ll try to remember to post again when I’m home.

[cloggedDrain]

How long does a typical Slot Pull last?

[maston54]

We (Greg and May )hosted a slot pull on our last cruise December 7th on Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. The Casino host was very welcoming and gave a bottle of Champagne to the person that brought in the most money.  We all won our original investment of $25 back plus $6, so everyone was happy. We collect $25 from each person and asked after 3 rounds , did everyone want to continue playing ? We played 2 more rounds and then decided to split the money up. It's fun to play an hour and come back with the money you started with plus a little more. The comradery is great and it didn't cost anyone anything.

I'll be hosting a slot pull on the January 11, 2024 transatlantic. The date will be January 13, 2024 at 11 am. Meet at the casino bar at 10:45 to participate. So much fun !