Lack of information is one of the biggest problems with slot machines in land-based casinos. You have no idea what return to player (RTP) or volatility you’re dealing with.
But University of Waterloo professors Kevin Harrigan and Dan Brown are seeking to change this with a new idea they have called slots calorie labels.
What are Slot Machine Calorie Labels?
You’ve likely see calorie labels on different food products. These labels show how many calories and nutrients a food contains. The idea is to present you with all of the information so that you can make healthy choices.
Slot machine calorie labels are a similar concept. These show various information about a slot, including its payback, volatility, and odds of getting a bonus round.
The payback is really important, because it shows your chance of winning. If a slot machine offers 94% payback, for example, then you’ll theoretically win back $94 for every $100 gambled.
Volatility refers to how likely your short-term results are to equal long-term payback.
A highly volatile game features big payouts and low payout frequency. A low volatility slot, meanwhile, offers smaller prizes and high payout frequency.
How are Slot Machine Calorie Labels Going to Change the Game?
The main advantage to calorie labels is that they’ll fill players in on their chances of winning. As it is right now, land-based slots players have no idea on their odds.
Harrigan and Brown are working with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp to make calorie labels more widespread.
“OLG said that seemed like a reasonable idea and if we could find out what the most important information we could provide to the player was,” said Harrigan.
“Then we could experiment and see what the players did with this extra information.”
Time will tell how far these labels spread. But they’re certainly a good idea.