Does Stopping the Slot Reels Early Change Your Result?

Mar

It’s a pretty common feature on modern video slots that once you push the button to start the reels spinning, you can push it again to stop them. You don’t have to wait for them to stop by themselves.

That prompted a question from a reader who usually plays table games.

“I dabble in slots, usually when my wife and I play together,” he wrote. “Does stopping the reels yourself also stop the random number generator?”

I told him that it really makes no difference. Nearly all games remain random when you stop the reels yourself. The random numbers that determine your outcome for that spin have already been set before you stop the reels. Game designers call it “illusion of skill.” You feel like you havecontrol of the game. Your timing in stopping the reels doesn’t really make any difference.

There are a couple ofgames that involve actual skill in IGT’s Reel Edge series, including Blood Life and Triple Red White and Blue. In those, you touch each reel to stop it individually, and you can affect the outcome. In theory, a player who was really, really good at making the reels stop on the right symbols could get an edge. In practice, the reels spin extremely fast and the symbols are mostly a blur.

In a Blood Life test, I decided the green 7s stood out enough that I might be able to pick them off. And I did make all three 7s stop in the slot window — but not on the same payline. I have my doubts that anyone could play well enough to get a edge.

On other video slots, but you’re going to get whatever the random number generator says you’re going to get, with or without an early stop.

Does Stopping the Slot Reels Early Change Your Result? - Tunica (2024)