I am a professional scientist and statistician, with a hobby of casino gambling. I recently returned from a Princess Cruises trip to the Mexican Riviera on the STAR PRINCESS. Suspecting exceptionally low slot machine payoffs in the Grand Casino, I began an intensive investigation.
All land-based gambling casinos in the USA are carefully regulated. Slot machine average return payoffs vary from casino to casino, and from machine to machine within casinos, but the lower limit payoffs are established by individual State Gaming Associations, and must be followed. Generally, land-based casino slot machines must return to patrons from 83-97% of the money played.
On cruise ships at sea, however, THERE IS NO REGULATION OF SLOT MACHINE average payoffs. Cruise ship lines claim to adhere to policies established by the ICCL (International Council of Cruise Lines), but this organization (http://www.princess.com/onboard/casinos/pdf/iccl_gaming_rules. Pdf) is funded by the cruise ship lines, and has no penalty for violating suggested guidelines. Thus, cruise ships can buy slot machines programmed for average return payoffs that are as much as 50% lower than those purchased for land-based casinos. The reason why cruise ships always close their casinos when docked in US ports is that they may significantly violate minimum average return payoffs for that state.
Many cruise ship guests enjoy the fun and excitement of slot machine gambling, but do not realize that their chances of winning in cruise ships casinos are very small. When traveling on cruise ships, it is suggested that you exercise extreme care when gambling in casinos, playing organized bingo, buying shipboard jewelry, and attending shipboard art auctions.
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