Casinos are also generally only turned on international waters, outside the rule of law of minimums set by a state, for instance.īut, it’s helpful to remember there’s still a lower limit on the machines themselves, so they won’t be set to the point of impossibility – the game designers at the various slot manufacturers purposely create a handful of settings they believe the game will be enjoyable and playable at. So you can expect the rest of the floor is probably set lower too.Īs such, the general belief looks to be true cruise ship casinos are casinos with a very captive audience and no competition nearby or available, so they have the ability to get away with a lower payback. slots on cruise lines like Royal Caribbean. Video Poker on cruises is traditionally set with very low payout scenarios compared to land-based casinos, and yet still only earn half the points vs. Kevin Sweet, of Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, posting at Vegas Fanatics Is the $1.00 and $5.00 poker set fairly, if so, I hope the rest of the floor is too.

I basically look at a casino’s video poker paybacks to determine the type of floor the rest of the games are probably set at. Most of you know I’m a gambler myself, so I’m just as in tune with how a floor feels as you guys are. Kevin Sweet, of Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, says on a Vegas Fanatics post there’s a pretty easy way to examine the goals of a casino’s slot floor: Under Game Configuration, you can see “Theoretical RTP (return to player) %” which is the expected long term payback, and it was set to 85.06%, which is a few percentage points lower than most land-based casinos, based on the public reporting.Īnother hint is to look at the Video Poker pay tables.

This was taken on a cruise ship of a penny machine. We can start with the screen included at the top of this post. STATUS: All evidence available points to this.įirst off, let’s remind ourselves that cruise ships tend to buy the same games and machines that other casinos do – manufacturers make a game that can work in a variety of jurisdictions, with the same pay choices, for multiple markets, which keeps development costs down.įrom there, the casinos can decide which payback percentage they wish to use, based on their overall goals for their casino floor, since they do differ a bit from game to game. There are many players who believe that cruise ships have lower paybacks than casinos on land.

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