When they patch your favourite game

[letteredhub]

@alani123
Your post is about gambling discussion, but you posted it under service board which I think is a mistake. It will be good if the topic is moved to gambling discussion board.

I do not really play slots, but if a slot game is patched, maybe it is the vulnerability that makes people win more that is patched and the slot game providers fixed it to make winning harder. This is very possible.

Well when they patch it I don't like it very much, they may say it is a vulnerability patched yet for me maybe something else. There is a famous guy which I forgot the name now in Vegas in 2009 who beat the algorithm of video poker and started winning in different casinos and even teamed up with another guy winning 1 million dollars. The security of the casinos noticed through camera that he won with the same hand always and started sueing him. Nothing happened as  the accusation dropped with the defense saying he didn't break or hacked into the machine.

With this story I want to say that I don't trust patches and when they take your money they don't cry but when you take theirs they start crying.

Most reason for patching by casinos is mostly to tightened loose ends in games that are making them lose money more often than they expect. Patches usually affects the RTP of games and that's why whenever a casino comes up with the story about an update of any game probably to enhance it features, I'll just conclude that certain patches have being made to the machine especially for slot games.

It's nothing to be surprised at because it's obviously believed that they're supposed to be enjoying the edge as the house, so when a gambler it's winning often it becomes something abnormal for them, so they just try everything to stop or reduce it.

[viljy]

I don’t like it when the bonus wagering is only taken into account in certain gambling games. And, of course, it’s usually slots (which I’ve never liked). It’s clear that it’s in the casino’s interest for these to be high‑variance slots. Wagering under such conditions is very difficult. But if there are no restrictions on gambling games (and betting) for wagering, then wagering turns from a heavy burden into an easy walk. It was precisely at such a loyal casino that yesterday I cashed in my wagered bonus for a little more than a dollar and placed a multibet (on 4 matches). Of course, I lost in the very first match, as is usually the case. And in some other casino, I wouldn’t even be able to wager the bonus on slots (so that I could lose it later)

[Smartprofit]

To be honest, I haven't encountered a similar situation in practice. However, it doesn't surprise me at all. 🙋

I remember reading on a specialized website that all casinos, aggregators, and providers essentially form a single player tracking system. It's a feedback system. That is, upon detecting a potential threat to the casino's and provider's revenue, it takes appropriate measures to neutralize it.

It goes without saying that constantly wagering bonuses in games that are most suitable for this isn't very profitable for either the casino or the provider. It prevents them from maximizing their revenue.

As far as I understand, this tracking system treats casino users as a source of digital traces. This digital trace is recorded by the online casino and transmitted to the gaming provider during each gaming session. Then artificial intelligence systems, big data analytics, and so on come into play.

This global system doesn't target each player individually. But it does change the overall rules of the game.  You're not the only one using bonuses to bet on low-volatility games, are you? When the system detects this, updates are released to increase the volatility of the game.

I, again, haven't encountered this in practice, perhaps because I play at different online casinos. 💁

[sotelorene]

To be honest, I have no experience playing slots and I don't participate in slot games. I only participate in sports betting and I feel the most entertainment in sports betting. Since I participate in gambling with small amounts of money, I am not very interested in playing such games of chance. If I had played slot games and had different experiences there and if I had faced any problems, then maybe I could have described it better here.

I am not a fan of slots games either but I have tried aviator game before and trust me the experience was very crazy, after I made some profit from it the next day I think it was going to be the same but i lost more than the profit I made the previous day and  the crazy part was that this money was lost in few minutes so I stopped this kind of game I can see the outcome so quick and then focus on sports betting  and I think sports betting is more preferable than slots games but it depends on individual though.

[Alex077]

But I've been noticing games I used to utilise for more efficient bonus rollovers have been getting patched to have higher volatility. This spreads the wins to fewer players so obviously it affects bonus play more adversely. The game might have a 4% house edge but rolling over 100$ it ends up being realistic even losing your whole balance etc.
...

I think, having the same RTP doesn’t mean you have the same risk of losing your entire balance before completing the wagering requirements.
If the wins are now distributed through less frequent but bigger payouts, you need a much larger bankroll to survive long stretches with almost no wins. So I would also prefer a slot with low or medium volatility, even if the potential maximum wins are much smaller.
Sometimes a slot counts 100%, but because of its high volatility, in practice it can be much less suitable for wagering a bonus than it might seem at first.

[danherbias07]

Yes. I played a lot of slots back then, and many of the games I played (listed in my favorites) were patched or updated. Most of the time, you can notice it by the changes in the images. I don't like it when they change things because there's definitely some tweaking that happened not just in the images but also in how the game works. The house edge or the RTP.

In my case, I actually stopped playing them after they were patched. It's like everything was a reset, including the wagered amount. A total reset of everything, and getting high multipliers became very rare. Obviously, they may have seen in the statistics that some gamblers were winning, so they must have edited it. Thankfully, I rarely play slots nowadays.

[mak013]

I never took bonus wagering requirements all that seriously. But I did get freerolls for sports betting a few times. The problem was that I wasn't planning to play slots at those casinos, and they felt unfamiliar to me. As a result, I had to deposit money into my slots balance just to withdraw the few pennies I'd won. And of course, I ended up losing everything I put into slots there.

[Royal Cap]

I never took bonus wagering requirements all that seriously. But I did get freerolls for sports betting a few times. The problem was that I wasn't planning to play slots at those casinos, and they felt unfamiliar to me. As a result, I had to deposit money into my slots balance just to withdraw the few pennies I'd won. And of course, I ended up losing everything I put into slots there.

Exactly when there is a wagering requirement with a bonus, it is no longer a bonus, it is their marketing policy. And for this reason if I try a casino, I try not to take their deposit bonus, Because if I take a deposit bonus I have to bet on their preferred games and at the end of the day, I lose my deposited money. So it is better for me to make a deposit and play any game I want.

[Bryan jessy]

I never took bonus wagering requirements all that seriously. But I did get freerolls for sports betting a few times. The problem was that I wasn't planning to play slots at those casinos, and they felt unfamiliar to me. As a result, I had to deposit money into my slots balance just to withdraw the few pennies I'd won. And of course, I ended up losing everything I put into slots there.

Exactly when there is a wagering requirement with a bonus, it is no longer a bonus, it is their marketing policy. And for this reason if I try a casino, I try not to take their deposit bonus, Because if I take a deposit bonus I have to bet on their preferred games and at the end of the day, I lose my deposited money. So it is better for me to make a deposit and play any game I want.

At first I thought any casino with wagering requirements makes it mandatory for every gamblers to start with before placing normal bet directly because this casinos makes their own little profit from this wager they added to the game which is also another business strategy that they are running indirectly, honestly I avoid games with such bonus and do my normal stuff without pressure and ready to accept any outcome at the end, somehow when a gambler plays the game due to the bonus and when they lost, there is usually this feeling of disappointment because it was only the bonus that attracted them to the game at first.

[Smack That Ace]

Recently a slot I really liked was patched and it has affected my play style very adversely.
For instance, most casinos with a bonus will ask for a certain amount of rollovers. I found that they only fully count only high house edge slots towards your rollover goal. But the issue with these slots is that they almost all the time also gave some very hugh volatility. So when you find a slot with low to medium volatility, if it also satisfies a few other criteria it can be a better option for rolling over your bonus with lower risk of ruin.

Casinos and game developer have become incredibly savvy.
They are well aware that we typically choose slot with low to medium volatility and decent RTP to meet bonus rollover requirement . So that we can gradually complete the rollover while maintaining our balance.

If you look at casinos T&C, you will notice that wagering on Table Game or Live Casino counts for only 5-10% toward rollover requirement because these games have lower house edge.
On the other hand even though slots count 100% toward wagering requirement, most casino selectively designate low volatility slot as Banned Games.
As for the ones that remain open, they increase volatility through stealth patch or provider updates.

Consequently even with 4% house edge on $100 stake, high volatility mean your bankroll could be wiped out before you hit any major bonus round.

[Rabata]

I don’t like it when the bonus wagering is only taken into account in certain gambling games. And, of course, it’s usually slots (which I’ve never liked). It’s clear that it’s in the casino’s interest for these to be high‑variance slots. Wagering under such conditions is very difficult. But if there are no restrictions on gambling games (and betting) for wagering, then wagering turns from a heavy burden into an easy walk. It was precisely at such a loyal casino that yesterday I cashed in my wagered bonus for a little more than a dollar and placed a multibet (on 4 matches). Of course, I lost in the very first match, as is usually the case. And in some other casino, I wouldn’t even be able to wager the bonus on slots (so that I could lose it later)

If the wagering requirement is flexible for using casino bonus than the gambler will get good advantage. But when casinos set strict wagering requirements for it, I find it boring and I think they are really trying not to give the gamblers the benefit of that bonus. I like slots for the wagering requirement, but of course if it is more than 1X , it seems difficult to me. Moreover, if there are any strict conditions, I do not even try to wager that bonus. One of my biggest weaknesses is that I have won using the bonus but many times I have lost that winning money while completing the wagering requirement. If casinos allow the use of bonuses in all games, gamblers will definitely appreciate it.

[Hatchy]

If you feel your edge on the slot game changed after they patched it, avoid playing on that and move to a new games. Most slot games are running and changing with time with new players coming everyday so developers need to change stuff to keep them relevant to the current crowd.

I don't really pay much attention to these things, but from time to time, I notice changes in some of the games I normally enjoy playing. They become more volatile, and you start getting little to no wins. That's how I know they have probably changed something. I don't waste much time on such games anymore. I simply move on and find something else that suits my playing style. No one wants to keep losing because of a patch when it's obvious that so many changes have been made to the original game.I'm sure the casino won't make these changes obvious because they know customers might stop playing those games and move to something else.

[Filicius]

If you feel your edge on the slot game changed after they patched it, avoid playing on that and move to a new games. Most slot games are running and changing with time with new players coming everyday so developers need to change stuff to keep them relevant to the current crowd.

I don't really pay much attention to these things, but from time to time, I notice changes in some of the games I normally enjoy playing. They become more volatile, and you start getting little to no wins. That's how I know they have probably changed something. I don't waste much time on such games anymore. I simply move on and find something else that suits my playing style. No one wants to keep losing because of a patch when it's obvious that so many changes have been made to the original game.I'm sure the casino won't make these changes obvious because they know customers might stop playing those games and move to something else.

Obvious or not, perhaps they know that from the moment they make the change until players realise it and make the decision to change games it takes long enough for the abandonment not to be so drastic, and in the meantime new players who did not know the pre-patch version will try it anyway.

I agree that, when that happens, the right decision is to try new slots, but we all struggle after we found one that fits our tastes.

[Rashlyowl]

Recently a slot I really liked was patched and it has affected my play style very adversely.
For instance, most casinos with a bonus will ask for a certain amount of rollovers. I found that they only fully count only high house edge slots towards your rollover goal. But the issue with these slots is that they almost all the time also gave some very hugh volatility. So when you find a slot with low to medium volatility, if it also satisfies a few other criteria it can be a better option for rolling over your bonus with lower risk of ruin.

But I've been noticing games I used to utilise for more efficient bonus rollovers have been getting patched to have higher volatility. This spreads the wins to fewer players so obviously it affects bonus play more adversely. The game might have a 4% house edge but rolling over 100$ it ends up being realistic even losing your whole balance etc.

Has it happened to you that some of your regular slots got patched in a way that affected your play style adversely?

It’s not my playing style that’s changed, but the results I usually get bros. Anyone who plays games from PG Soft will be familiar with Mahjong Ways. It is PG Soft's most mainstream game in Southeast Asia. This game has recently undergone updates, from the UI to the RTP. It feels difficult to win following these updates & the results often fail to meet expectations.

[Alvin_talk]

For instance, most casinos with a bonus will ask for a certain amount of rollovers. I found that they only fully count only high house edge slots towards your rollover goal.

Well, I've come to a conclusion that chasing Casino bonuses always succeeds to dry up my bankroll, because I end up playing more games than I wanted, just to ensure I unlock my bonuses. This impacts my overall game negatively, so I just avoid it instead. I only play with my initial deposit and stick to the budget I planned from the onset. So I can't relate.

[YOSHIE]

Has it happened to you that some of your regular slots got patched in a way that affected your play style adversely?

In my experience of gambling in slot games, there have been no strange things, let alone any patch panels that have been changed.
Yes, in general patches function as software regulators and updates, fixing bugs, adding new features, such updates often occur in slot games, Roulette, dice and so on, changes often occur in online casino devices.

In general, changes in patches will have a positive impact on the game/updates such as slots, but if the OP says it's problematic, maybe that hasn't happened to me.

[atookz]

Yeah, this has definitely happened to me. I used to have 1-2 slots I could rely on that were still "tame" in terms of volatility, but all of a sudden, after an update, the RTP stayed the same while the hit frequency dropped drastically. As a result, the dry spells got longer, and my balance ran out before I could finish the rollover.

I think that providers intentionally screw with variance to make it more difficult to determine which players are "efficient" at playing with bonuses. The slots that go viral/popular for rollovers are the ones that are more likely to be the first ones to be hit, as casinos/providers will definitely notice if there's a pattern that they are losing money on.

What I do now: don't rely on just one slot — always keep 2-3 alternatives from different providers, and check the demo mode before using it for a serious rollover (you never know if a slot has been patched but it just hasn't been widely noticed yet).

[Achalugo BTC]

I am not a fan of slots games either but I have tried aviator game before and trust me the experience was very crazy, after I made some profit from it the next day I think it was going to be the same but i lost more than the profit I made the previous day and  the crazy part was that this money was lost in few minutes so I stopped this kind of game I can see the outcome so quick and then focus on sports betting  and I think sports betting is more preferable than slots games but it depends on individual though.

I understand this experience, because Aviator and slot games are very fast. One can win today and lose tomorrow, which I have also experienced. And one encounters more losses than wins because they don't give one enough time to think and that makes it more dangerous. However, it depends on what individuals want, after all, it's all gambling. So, some may prefer slot games to sports betting but the important thing is that they should not forget to gamble responsibly, so that something meant to be fun won't turn into a disaster.

[Ruttoshi]

Well, I've come to a conclusion that chasing Casino bonuses always succeeds to dry up my bankroll, because I end up playing more games than I wanted, just to ensure I unlock my bonuses. This impacts my overall game negatively, so I just avoid it instead. I only play with my initial deposit and stick to the budget I planned from the onset. So I can't relate.

Those bonuses are ways to get you hooked up with playing more than what you intended to, because you have to spend more time and money in order for you to unlock the bonus. I do ignore such bonus because, I don't get enticed by it since, I know what is involved and I'm not ready to gamble beyond my gambling budget because the more you gamble the more losses you incur.

Back to the OP, if you favorite game gets patched to disfavor you, stop playing it and move to a different game instead, of still playing it and feel cheated.

[M47AK16]

Maybe this is part of a strategy, at first you play, find the games that suit you, you might even win, clear the bonuses, and get used to that game. But not all players pay attention to updates, and then after an update, its RTP or odds can change significantly, and the game is no longer as suitable for you as it was before. You start losing, and the casino wins again.

The reverse also must be true? I mean, you play a game and you keep on losing and then the casino updates it and the same games get you profits more often. Is that ever happened to you or any gambler? I am just asking whether the updates are business oriented or just only profit oriented. I can understand that every software gets update and then a game as well but that should be only for the reason of fetching profits to the casino but also should be working for getting gamblers a better experience. Otherwise, why not we call such update as rigged?

A gambling software should be designed only for getting profits to the casino but also should allow the gamblers to win time to time so that they will keep the feeling good experiences and would come back to play again and again. But unfortunately, easier and favourite games are slowing being converted to hard ones which is the reason I always look for newer games to entertain myself.