What Does Hj Mean On The Flipper Slot Machine

Apr 12, 2017 Every Japanese city has amusement parlors featuring the vertical pinball machines called pachinko. These parlors also feature distinctive slot machines called pachislo. They differ form Vegas-style machines in that the player is able to stop each reel by pushing a button, creating the illusion of being able to win.

What Does Hj Mean On The Flipper Slot Machine Machines

Knowledge makes you bet more effectively

by John Robison

Even though there are hundreds of different slot machines made by a variety of different manufacturers, all slot machines basically fall under one of six categories. The different types of machines have their own unique playing characteristics, and understanding these differences is important. For starters, knowing the type of machine you’re playing will help you to determine the number of coins you should play per spin.

Let’s look at the different types of machines you’ll find on the slot floor, how to recognize them, and some tips for betting smart.

Multiplier
This is the most common type of slot machine. Wild Cherry, Wild & Loose, Double Diamond, Triple Diamond, and Five Times Pay are all Multipliers. The paytable on a Multiplier is a table with one row for each winning combination and one column for each coin you can play. The worst payout you can get from a Multiplier is a push—that is, a return of the exact amount of money you bet on the spin.

Hit frequencies on Multipliers range from low to high, but they’re usually not as high as Multi-Line and Australian-style slot machines (we’ll get to these types of machines later).

“Multiplier” is the general category name. A machine is either a Straight Multiplier or a Bonus Multiplier.

Straight Multiplier machines pay you the same amount of money for each winning combination, for each coin you play. Each column in the paytable on a Straight Multiplier is the payout for one coin multiplied by the number of coins played. Two-coin Double Diamond machines, for example, are usually Straight Multipliers. You get 800 coins for three Double Diamond symbols when you play one coin at a time, and you get 1,600 coins, which is exactly 2 times 800, for three Double Diamond symbols when you play two coins at a time. Every other payout in the Coin #2 column is exactly twice that in the Coin #1 column.

Playing more than one coin per spin on a Straight Multiplier is a waste of your bankroll. You don’t activate any new winning combinations, so you don’t get an increase in hit frequency. You don’t get an increase in the per coin payout on any winning combination, so you don’t get an increase in long-term payback. Play one coin per spin on Straight Multipliers.

Bonus Multiplier machines pay you a bonus for playing full coin. The amount paid for the top jackpot, and sometimes the amounts paid for other winning combinations, are more than just a straight multiple of the number of coins played times the amount paid when playing one coin.

Three-coin Double Diamond machines are usually Bonus Multipliers. The jackpot you receive for lining up three Double Diamond symbols when playing full coin is 2,500 coins. That’s 100 coins more than the 2,400-coin jackpot this machine would pay if it were a Straight Multiplier.

Sometimes the bonus is quite large. A Red, White, and Blue machine, for example, pays 2,400 coins for hitting red, white, and blue sevens when playing one coin, and 4,800 coins when playing two coins. When playing three coins, however, the jackpot jumps to 10,000 coins. That’s a bonus of 2,800 coins for playing full coin.

It’s true that you have a higher long-term payback when you play full coin on a Bonus Multiplier. It’s also true that the combinations that pay a bonus hit so infrequently that even large bonuses lead to very small increases in long-term payback. Play one coin per spin on Bonus Multipliers. If the thought of missing out on a huge payout is too much for you to take, you’re better off playing a different game.

Buy-A-Pay
When you play Buy-A-Pay machines (sometimes called Buy-Your-Pay or Option-Buy machines), you must deposit full coin to activate all of the winning combinations. This feature takes many players by surprise, which is why Buy-a-Pay machines, such as the two-coin Sizzling 7s, have a bad reputation. Players who don’t read the paytable carefully often don’t understand why they didn’t get a payout for what they think is a winning combination. And quick-fingered players sometimes accidentally play less than full coin because they hit the Spin button without realizing that one of the coins they dropped, or one of their presses of the Bet One button, didn’t register.

The paytable on a Buy-A-Pay is divided into separate boxes, one for each coin you can play. The box labeled Coin #1 tells you the winning combinations and how much they’re worth when playing one coin. The box labeled Coin #2 tells you the additional winning combinations you buy when you play two coins at a time, and so forth.

What Does Hj Mean On The Flipper Slot Machine

The worst payout on a Buy-A-Pay can be less than a push. A winning combination can pay one coin and require two coins to be activated. Because a Buy-A-Pay can pay less than a push, it can have a higher hit frequency than a Multiplier. I’ve seen Buy-A-Pay machines on which the last coin paid over 100%, so I recommend always playing full coin on this type of machine.

There are very few pure Buy-a-Pays on slot floors today. Most of the games that have Buy-a-Pay aspects are what I call Hybrids.

Hybrids
These games are part Multiplier, part Buy-a-Pay. These machines usually take three coins, occasionally more, but never less. Sometimes the second coin multiplies the payouts from the first coin and the third coin buys new winning combinations. Sometimes the second coin buys the new winning combinations, and the third coin multiplies the payouts on the combinations bought with the second coin.

Blazing 7s is a Hybrid game. The first coin buys the Bar combinations. The second coin buys the 7 and Blazing 7 combinations. The third coin multiplies the payouts on the 7 and Blazing 7 combinations bought with the second coin.

Other Hybrid games are not as obvious. On some games, you can play a bonus game only when you bet full coin. On the old Silicon Gaming machine Banana-Rama, for instance, you’re eligible for the bonus game only when you play full coin. The third coin buys you the opportunity to play the bonus game. Similarly, you can spin the wheel on Wheel of Fortune only when you play full coin.

As with the pure Buy-a-Pay, the worst payout on a Hybrid can be less than a push. Hybrids can also have higher hit frequencies than Multipliers. And just as on the pure Buy-A-Pay, I’ve seen Hybrid machines with individual coins that paid over 100%, so I recommend playing as many coins as needed to activate all the winning combinations and make you eligible for all the bonus opportunities.

Next time, we’ll finish our look at the rest of the machine types you’ll find on the slot floor—and explain the smart ways to play them.

UNDERSTANDING SLOTS.

Introduction to Why Slot Machines Say Bar

Why do slot machines say bar on their reels? Well, to understand why this tradition came to be, we’ll have to delve into slot machine history. First of all, these gambling devices weren’t always called slot machines. Slot machines were originally referred to as a one-armed bandit, then later in Great Britain as a fruit machine.

A slot machine gambling device is activated by pulling a handle or pushing a button. This can only be done after coins, tokens, cash, or casino credits has been entered. Consequently, reels with symbols begin to spin. When done spinning, the symbols shown lined up along pay lines are used to determine the payout, if any.

Reel symbols are often traditional, including stars, bars, numbers, and various pictured fruits. Fruits can include cherries, plums, oranges, lemons, and watermelons. The number seven is also very popular. And, finally, then there are bar reel symbols.

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Bar Reel Symbols

Fruit reel symbols were first used in slot machine by the Industry Novelty Company in 1909. This was quickly followed the next year by Mills Novelty Company of Chicago, recently inherited by Herbert Stephen Mills. But, with a slight addition.

Mills added the photograph of a chewing gum pack along with the fruit reel symbols. Soon after, these photographs of a chewing gum pack were replaced with a stylized bar symbol.

Slot machines have a very rich history. Within gaming device circles of the time, it was well known that Charles Augustus Fey of San Francisco refused to sell or lease the design of his first coin-operated slot machine, the Liberty Bell, which he invented around 1887.

So, how did Mills get the design from Fey? There are two theories. First, that Fey cooperated with Mills to spread the use of slot machines. After all, Fey is known as the “Father of Slots” both for his invention of the coin-operated device as well as popularizing its use.

The second theory is Mills somehow “obtained” a Liberty Bell as a result of a San Francisco saloon robbery in 1905. Less than a year later, Mills produced a new version of the Liberty Bell called either the Mills Liberty Bell or Operator Bell.

During my review of the history of early slot machines, there are also suggestions the bar symbol may have another origin story. It is generally accepted that the bar symbol is a stylized image of a chewing gum pack, as well as a company logo.

According to some historical sources, however, the company having that logo may have been the Bell-Gum Fruit company.

A Bit More History

As mentioned, slot machines have a very rich history, especially in their early days. Besides Why Do Slot Machines Say Bar, there are a few other interesting historical items of interest.

In 1916, another historic slot machine innovation created by the Mills Novelty Company was the jackpot. When a specific combination of reel symbols resulted from a bet, the slot machine would empty its coin hopper of all coins as a prize.

The Mills Novelty would later go on to produce slot machines with wooden cabinets, rather than the original cast iron construction materials.

Photos of early slot machines are online at Cyprus Casino Consultant, Casino Observer, the International Arcade Museum, and elsewhere. I especially enjoy photos of antique slot machines in my copy of Slot Machines: A Pictorial History of the First 100 Years by Marshall Fey, grandson of “the Father of Slot Machines” Charles Fey.

What does hj mean on the flipper slot machine game

The Cyprus Casino Consultant website shows 4 slot machines on a waist-high counter top. They appear to have wood cabinets and are each perhaps 30 inches high by 18 inches wide. In metric, that’s about 76 centimeters by 46 centimeters.

Each slot machine is of the one-armed bandit variety, meaning they appear to are activated by first inserting a coin and then pulling a large lever on the right side of the machine. Each of these models appears to accept coins at the top, as well as dispense coins for winners at the bottom.

The Casino Observer website also shows 4 slot machines. Two of these machines are some of the first slot machines, from about 1890, while two others are more modern, ~1940s. The two older slot machines receive coins, but only the poker machine appears to not be able to dispense coins. This poker machine has typical card suits as reel symbols and a cast metal-type cabinet.

It appears to be missing its one-armed bandit lever, perhaps due to damage, or it never had a lever. One older slot machine with coin dispenser capability is clearly identified as a “Liberty Bell”. It rests on cast feet located on each corner. The reel symbols show three Liberty Bells, but its “pay table” shows card suits – not fruit or bars.

The International Arcade Museum website shows a single slot machine. It’s a very old slot machine showing the symbol of the Liberty Bell on its front next to three reels showing Liberty Bell, bar, and fruit reel symbols.

This is probably a “Liberty Bell” by Charles Fey, but must be a slightly later version due to it having obvious fruit and bar reel symbols. It also has a cast metal-type cabinet and the distinctive “feet” of a Liberty Bell. It also has a small tray for coins, suggesting it has automatic payouts.

Charles Fey manufactured about 100 Liberty Bell slot machines for distribution in and around San Francisco. However, there are few of them remaining in existence. The scarcity of Fey’s Liberty Bell is a direct result of a natural disaster occurring shortly after their manufacture: the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

Summary of Why Slot Machines Say Bar

Starting in 1907, Bell Fruit Gum slot machines were manufactured by Industry Novelty Co. They were followed by the Mills Novelty Company in 1910.

The reels on these slot machines included cherry, melon, orange, apple, and bar symbols with non-cash payouts in the form of fruit-flavored gum, allowing machine owners to avoid prosecution under the anti-gambling laws of that time.

The cherry and bar symbols became traditional to slot machines, and are still commonly used today. The bar symbol was a company logo, originally a photo of a chewing gum pack before being stylized as a bar.

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