Are we just that unlucky?

Anyone else here who has gone to Vegas 20+ times and never, ever gotten a handpay?

We've never even hit a jackpot for higher than $300 (and our $300 win wasn't even with my money, it was my moms money she gave me to play for her) in all these years.

I read about all these big jackpots and handpays - sometimes even on low bets and from low rollers like us.

What the heck are we doing wrong? Are we just THAT unlucky?

I always think...it's going to be this time, we are due! Nope, hasn't happened yet.

 

yes, you are. nobody can calculate the actual odds, but I can guess that you should have hit something by now.

 

It's not just you. My husband is always complaining about this. I try to rationalize that it's all just chance, but it irks me too. We've been going at least 4 times a year for long weekends for a good decade now. Granted, for the first many years, we gambled just a few hundred dollars and even now, for the past several years, it's just a couple thousand each weekend all on penny slots and rarely at max bet, which I know is basically the reason, but it seems like everyone else in the world can walk into the High Limit slot room and put in a $20 and come out with a few grand or put $10 on 10 numbers on roulette and hit something. We've tried both a few times and always get a big nothing! HA! Of course, we keep playing, hoping, wishing...

 

I've gone 8 times now and have only gotten 1 hand pay (and that was on a $5 machine for $1500). I typically play max bet on pennies and nickels..... max on $1 or $5 reel slots. I have hit for more than $300 on machines though... It must be people like us playing slots that keep all the bright lights on in vegas.

 

You're not alone... I've lived in Nevada for a long, long time... rarely gamble except for Vegas trips, which I do monthly for business. I only gamble (slots and VP) for a couple hours in the evenings after meetings and the best I've EVER done was $800 on a VP machine and $267 on a slot machine... both @ $1 level. I used to play blackjack and felt good after a couple hours if I was close to even and had drinks and fun. I love the town, but sure haven't been "lucky".

 

Regarding the lack of handpays, at what denomination are you playing?

 

I have only had one hand pay and it was on a quarter machine that only took two coins i believe to max bet (may have been 3) and it was for $1200. The penny machines are brutal as far as the "max bet" which can be quite expensive, but...they are fun. I play them but never bet max so I'm quite certain i'll never get a handpay on one

 

A little bit of everything but nothing $5 and above....can't afford that in the long run. I know, to win big you have to bet big so I like to vary my play between max and lower bets (on video slots, penny and nickel). On $.25 and $1 machines I always play max (we're talking reel slots here, not video) with a bankroll of about $2k-$3k over a 3 night/4day visit with the 2 of us playing at the same time.

I'd even be happy with something in the $500+ range....just once would be nice.

 

I've been to Vegas 11 times and have never had a hand pay. I usually play pennies sometimes quarters. I've only had one hand pay in my 25 years of gambling. It was in Atlantic City back in 1997. It was a dollar machine and I hit for $2000. I think you really need to play dollars or higher for hand pays.

 

I understand your point, you just need a win!! 24 trips is a long stretch w/o anything. I'm not a slot player. Maybe you should try changing your luck by changing games. VP perhaps?

 

We've been going to Vegas since 1997 and I've never had a hand-pay. The most I've ever won on one slot machine was $1,000 - it was on Top Dollar. I also won $900 on a 5x dollar slot machine on that same trip (last June).

I definitely think you're due for something over your $300 mark. LOL! I'm sure you will keep trying - just like the rest of us!

 

I'd agree, that sounds very out of the normal averages or as you put it, unlucky. Seems like when we bumped up to $1 machines ($5/bet when you play max bet) that's when we started hitting more. I never won big all the years I played table games but that was because I didn't have the nuts to bet big or maybe I had the sense not to? That's why we now play mostly VP and a very few other slots now. I think a person has to find the game you like at the denomination you're comfortable with that provides a shot at a decent win. For me it's $1 and $2 VP ($5 & $10 bets).

 

It's really about the level you play at. On a dollar three reel machine, max bet of $3, you need to hit a win that's 400x your bet for a handpay. On a quarter machine you need to hit something 1600x your bet, which is obviously much much rarer (also keep in mind the overall payback is better the higher the denom so that factors in as well). While it may seem like there are lots of wins here, remember most people are more likely to post a big winning trip than a losing one.

The fact of the matter is you have to take into account lots of factors, including bet size, time played, how quickly you play, what types of machines you play, etc. The biggest IMO being how much you bet. If you look at all the handpays on here, it's EXTREMELY rare to see a handpay on any slot or VP that the total bet is less than $2.00.

 

Stackinchips has really hit the nail on the head. I just returned from a trip last week where I hit three handpays on one machine within thirty-five minutes. Total take was $7600.00. I was playing a a $5.00 tripe-double sevens at the Mirage right of the left side of the aisleway going back toward the elevators about 40 feet from the elevators. I did start out with a buy-in of $500.00 and hit my first $1800.00 hand-pay after about 40 credits, collected my money and continued to play and hit again about 10 minutes later for another $1800.00, colleceted again. then ran low and bought in for another $500.00, and after about 20 minutes, hit for $3600.00, cashed out about $300.00 in credits and called it a night because friends were returning from the show and we headed for a very late dinner. "On me of course". I usually hit for at least one to two hand-pays per trip, always playing $5.00 or better machine, and most always at Bellagio. This was my first big hit at Mirage in quite a while. I think that I have only hit one hand-play on dollars or less in my past twenty years of visiting Vegas.

 

When we played the $100 promo at Cosmo, we tried with a $5 machine. Hit nothing, nada, zilch. Then with the $100 Cosmo gave us back we played a Davinci Diamonds at max bet and won our $100 back and a little more. Guess we just need a bigger bankroll!

 

I am not a hard-core slot player. I take stabs at slot machines. With that said, for about the past 15 years, when I did play slots, they were all 50 cents and less...mostly quarters. In those 15 years...nothing. last year, I walked past a $10 quick hit machine and decided to pop a $20 in there for obe spin. BAM! Hit the "offset quick hit" jackpot for just over 10k. Over the next few months I hit several very nice hand pays from $25 and $100 machines. A perfect combination of high denom slots and a fortune cookie fortune bringing good fortune brought me the best gambling year I have ever had. How's this year going? Lol...I think we all know the law of gravity.

 

I feel your frustration - I have had over 30 trips and never had even close to a break-even trip.

Slots - I play max bet (pennies and sometimes quarters) and have a couple of $200 hits.

Pai Gow Poker - only walked away from 2 sessions (out of 40+) with (slightly) more than I started with

Poker - N/L - Okay - here is where I have made some money (only to dump back into Pai Gow and slots)

Average trip about 4 days -

Pai Gow - about 4 hours / day around $75 per hand
Slots - about $2000 bank roll

Always hear about the big wins - still never had one myself in about 10 years.

 

Still no hand pay here.
Played the $5 Top Dollar machine ($15 per spin) and still nothing.
I keep thinking that one day it will happen and will hit it BIG.

 

Its with people like us that they build those huge resort

Never had a handpay biggest hit is 889.35$ on a max bet (6$) spin sex and the city machine, got a couple in the 200$ range on same game.

I wanted one so bad last time that i played the sex and in city High Roller machine in ceasars 10 spins at 50$ a pop, still no hand pay

 

Ok you've made me feel a little better....I always got with the attitude that it will be a good trip. Very few times have we come home with absolutely nothing. Even breaking even feels great, although I'd still love to see how it feels to see that word "Jackpot" across the screen.

As we speak, my husband is downtown Vegas listening to an Elvis impersonator (which he is rather enjoying) because the DT casinos ate his lunch tonite. He still has $ in the room but we'll just add this one to the non-profit trip list. Maybe I can make up for it next trip. I tend to stop while I'm ahead and I don't continue to stay at the same machine after a good hit. I try real hard not to give it all back. By good hit I mean at least $40 above my initial buy in. It seems to last longer that way. Maybe I'm just fooling myself!