True odds of winning on a gaming machine video transcript

Watch the Follow the Law campaign—How gaming machines work video to understand more about the true odds of winning when gambling.

[Animation]

Lucky appears in a pokies room. He's wearing a fedora, a t-shirt with a horseshoe on the front and jeans. He's got a grin on his face.

[Narrator]

This is Lucky and he's a big gambler. They call him Lucky because he's always talking about his wins, never his losses. Lucky is all about luck. He's got his lucky shirt, his lucky rabbit's foot, his lucky undies, and he'll be playing his lucky machine. He's feeling particularly lucky and thinks his favourite machine is due to pay out.

[Animation]

The poker machine becomes transparent and we see a leprechaun dancing on a pile of gold inside.

[Narrator]

The reality is that a lucky shirt, lucky rabbit's foot and lucky undies have no bearing on the outcome as each machine has a built-in computer program that randomly generates millions of outcomes. Each spin is random and there's no greater chance of winning than any other spin.

[Animation]

The leprechaun disappears, to be replaced by a computer.

Lucky looks up.

[Lucky]

Hey, I can hear you! Anyway, I'm only playing a one cent machine.

[Narrator]

Yes, but one cent by 25 lines is 25 cents a spin. At 20 spins a minute that's $5 a minute or $300 an hour.

[Lucky] Wow....that kind of takes the shine off.

[Animation]

Lucky looks down, like he's doubting his belief in his 'lucky items'.

Watch the Follow the Law campaign—How gaming machines work video.