Bonus Symbols on Slots

By John Grochowski on Monday August 22, 2011

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Not long ago, I watched from a couple of seats away while a woman played a bonus round on a Super Jackpot Party slot machine. If you play video slots, chances are you know the Jackpot Party format. The screen shows a grid of gift boxes while party music plays. You touch gift boxes to reveal bonus credits, and you get to keep picking until you pick a “Pooper” — perhaps a policeman or an irate neighbor putting a stop to the party noise.

Super Jackpot Party has an added feature. After you pick the Pooper, you see five more party icons on the screen, such as hats and noisemakers. You get to pick one. If it shows a credit amount, that’s added to your bonus. But if it shows a “Party Saver,” you get to return to the party and continue picking boxes until the next Pooper.

On this day, the woman I was watching during the bonus round ended the party early with a quick “Pooper” pick. But she then the hat she touched revealed a Party Saver and the bonus party was back on. She did pretty well after the save, collecting several hundred credits.

The man next to her told her, “Whatever you do, next time up, don’t pick the hat. That Saver rotates around.”

Where was the Saver the next time? Under the hat.

As it happens, locations of the Party Savers or big bonuses or any other awards in pick-em type video slots aren’t on any rotation. They’re determined by a random number generator, and can just as easily as not be in the same space on your next turn. That’s normal among video slots. Don’t expect to find any pattern of where the good stuff is or isn’t when you start choosing icons.