Estimating the Ability of Gamblers to Detect Differences in the Payback Percentages of Reel Slot Machines: A Closer Look at the Slot Player Experience

The results of play on 60 different computer simulated reel slots challenge the widely held theory that frequent slot players are able to detect changes in a slot machine\u27s house advantage as slight as 1 to 2%. These findings affect the formulation of critical and capital-intensive customer retention strategies and brand positioning campaigns within the gaming industry. An overwhelming majority of 10,000 virtual players were not able to reject the hypothesis of equal payback percentages after playing both a 3% game and a 12% game (i.e., a 400% increase in the house advantage). This result held across three levels of pay table variance and five levels of trials or spins. The differences in house advantages examined herein ranged from 33% to 400%, across the various 2-game comparisons. The results also fail to support those who argue or fear that frequent slot players are able to detect changes in the house advantage over time. Profits from slot operations are critical to the success of most casino resorts, making this research into the slot player experience a valuable contribution to both the literature and casino management

Characterization of Lr46, a gene conferring partial resistance to wheat leaf rust

Components of resistance conferred by the Lr46 gene, reported as causing "slow rusting" resistance to leaf rust in wheat, were studied and compared with the effects of Lr34 and genes for quantitative resistance in cv. Akabozu. Lr34 is a gene that confers non-hypersensitive type of resistance. The effect of Lr46 resembles that of Lr34 and other wheats reported with partial resistance. At macroscopic level, Lr46 produced a longer latency period than observed on the susceptible recurrent parent Lalbahadur, and a reduction of the infection frequency not associated with hypersensitivity. Microscopically, Lr46 increased the percentage of early aborted infection units not associated with host cell necrosis and decreased the colony size. The effect of Lr46 is comparable to that of Lr34 in adult plant stage, but in seedling stage its effect is weaker than that of Lr34

Transport coefficients for the shear dynamo problem at small Reynolds numbers

We build on the formulation developed in Sridhar & Singh (JFM, 664, 265, 2010), and present a theory of the \emph{shear dynamo problem} for small magnetic and fluid Reynolds numbers, but for arbitrary values of the shear parameter. Specializing to the case of a mean magnetic field that is slowly varying in time, explicit expressions for the transport coefficients, $\alpha_{il}$ and $\eta_{iml}$, are derived. We prove that, when the velocity field is non helical, the transport coefficient $\alpha_{il}$ vanishes. We then consider forced, stochastic dynamics for the incompressible velocity field at low Reynolds number. An exact, explicit solution for the velocity field is derived, and the velocity spectrum tensor is calculated in terms of the Galilean--invariant forcing statistics. We consider forcing statistics that is non helical, isotropic and delta-correlated-in-time, and specialize to the case when the mean-field is a function only of the spatial coordinate $X_3$ and time $\tau\,$; this reduction is necessary for comparison with the numerical experiments of Brandenburg, R{\"a}dler, Rheinhardt & K\"apyl\"a (ApJ, 676, 740, 2008). Explicit expressions are derived for all four components of the magnetic diffusivity tensor, $\eta_{ij}(\tau)\,$. These are used to prove that the shear-current effect cannot be responsible for dynamo action at small \re and \rem, but for all values of the shear parameter.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, Published in Physical Review

Estimating the Indirect Effect of Sports Books on Other In-House Gaming Volumes

Using data from a repeater market hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, the relationship between sports book and slot machine revenues is examined. Daily sports book write and daily slot handle are compared over a 250 day period. Though many industry leaders theorize that sports book gamblers also wager in slot banks, the results of this Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) analysis fail to demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between sports book write and slot coin-in at the 0.05 alpha cutoff. This study advances literature currently available by establishing the lack of such a relationship and disputing the generally accepted assumption that sports books produce a substantial indirect contribution to slot revenues. While the sports book does generate a fairly constant direct profit for the casino, the absolute value of that profit is minimal and the results of the study show there is no indirect profit contribution from sports books to slot machines. Given these results, casino management may want to consider that a sports book is not an optimal use of casino floor space

Simulating the Effect of Pay Table Standard Deviation on Pulls Per Losing Player at the Single-visit Level

While holding par constant, changes in the standard deviation of the pay table produced an inverse effect on pulls per losing player (PPLP), across six different virtual slot machines. This result establishes the standard deviation of a game as a crucial determinant of a slot player\u27s experience. Three different single-trip scenarios were examined via computer simulation, with 50,000 players engaging each game. For example, virtual players began with 100 units, terminating play at bankruptcy or 200 units. As players focus on the outcome of single visits, understanding the determinants of PPLP (or time on device) will help management engineer desirable customer experiences at the trip level. In part, this can be achieved by altering the product mix to better match the expectations of the clientele. Given the remarkable bankruptcy rate of the trip simulations, proxies for value such as PPLP serve as crucial evaluation standards in the satisfaction process