Slot Machine Hogs.

by Guide Bill Burton

Even if you only visit the casino occasionally, sooner or later you willrun into a Slot Hog. For those of you who have not had the experience letme explain. A Slot Hog is a player who monopolizes several machines at atime when the casino is crowded. They will usually play the machines on bothsides of the machine they are sitting at. Sometimes they only play an occasionalcoin every few minutes. If you try to sit down at one of the machines theywill yell at you telling you it is their machine and they are playing it.While not so common in Las Vegas where there are many casinos to choose from,this happens a lot in locations where there are only a few casinos and alimited number of machines.

Many casinos I have visited in locations such as Connecticut or AtlanticCity have signs posted advising One machine per person when casino is busy.Unfortunately this policy is not always enforced. This can lead to someuncomfortable situations for players who are out for a little enjoyment atthe casino. Some Slot Hogs can get downright nasty if you try to enter theirspace.

There is another situation that occurs which is just as aggravating. Thisis when a friend of the person playing is sitting next to them at an adjacentmachine. They are not playing but refuse to move to allow you to play themachine. They will sometimes drop a token coin into the machine to make itlook like they are playing.

When you come across this situation in the casino you may not have a lotof options as to how to handle the problem. Here are a few suggestions.

The first thing you can do is to ask the person nicely if they would shareone of their machines with you. Sometimes it works best to smile and saysomething like; Gee it's really busy here today. I haven't been able tofind a machine. Would you mind sharing one of your machines until it getsa little less crowded in here? If they refuse you have two courses of action.

You can simply walk away in search of finding a vacant machine or you canlook for a slot attendant and ask them to explain the one machine per personpolicy to the Slot Hog. Sometimes a simple word from an authority figurewill do the trick. However you have to be prepared to expect that sometimesafter the slot attendant leaves the player may get a little testy. You mayfind yourself getting verbally abused or have smoke blown in your face orsome such other form of retribution.

On the brighter side you may find a player willing to share once you askthem. Each situation will be different depending on the type of person thatyou encounter. The main thing to remember is that you are at the casino foryour enjoyment. You will not have a good time if you end up in a fight witha Slot Hog.

The other advice I can give you is to avoid the casino during the busiesttimes. If you are planning a day trip you can plan to visit the casino earlierin the day. If you are going for a weekend avoid playing on Saturday night.I always plan non-gambling activities such as shows, dinner or site seeingwhen I take a gambling holiday. I do these on Saturday night when I knowthe casinos are crowded.

There is a discussion taking place on the Casino Gambling forum about howto handle Slot Hogs. Have you had any encounters with them? How do you handlethe situation when it happens to you? I have a set up a special pollto see which method people use in dealing with this situation. Jointhe discussion and vote in the poll.

Discuss it in the Forum.
or
Vote in the Poll.

Until next time, remember:
Luck comes and goes...Knowledge stays forever.

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