I have always heard that cruise slots are much tighter than land based. I will say in my limited slot experience I have done much better on the ships though. The really big benefit for playing on cruises is the comped cruises if you enjoy cruising. I am doing six free cruises this year including a two week cruise to Hawaii for my honeymoon this fall all curtesy of fairly moderate play in the casino.

I have been on more than 40 cruises. I ALWAYS get more jackpots and free spins etc the first and second day! Convince me that the odds don’t change. I gamble every day it’s open

Cowboy Slots you're the greatest. You had the perfect questions all the ones that I was thinking about in my mind. Thank you so much for doing the homework for us.

I think that last bit of advice is the best anyone can give. Have fun and don't take it too seriously. Part of the fun is trying to beat the odds but don't take trying to beat the odds too seriously. If playing is not fun it's time to walk away and find something else to keep you entertained.

I won 5k on a quick hits slot on royal caribbean, going on another cruise in a couple months and hoping to win again!

We've noticed that the slot machines really pay out on the first night to get people hooked. Then, the machines get tighter and tighter as the days go by.

Love all of your educational videos. I owe my first hand pay to following your tip.

We have had some great luck in cruises Casinos. Going on one in June. Watching this video was getting me excited thinking about the cruise! Love ur videos!!’

Excellent timing. Leaving on a few cruises in the next 2 months. I will follow the advice given!

well thank you sooo much both of you dears ! I just completed my first Cruise ever and had heard that the casinos are not as lucky on ships as on land so I didnt feel the need. But I am relieved agter hearing your video and will definately give it a try in fun the next cruise I take very soon i hope !! many thanks

Anxiously waiting on the tribal casino video. Great content and info thank you so much!!

Great interview. Except for naming payout percentages, I found the interview answered my questions about where cruise slot payouts are set.

Great questions, Cowboy! Thanks for the info. I’m going on a cruise in October…can’t wait to try your method💕❤️

Subscribed - I'm a slot tech here in the UK, interesting to see how machines operate in the USA. Great videos 👍👍

I will say so far, I've definitely had much better luck on cruise ship slots than anywhere else. I typically play between $1 to $5 per spin. Thus far I've had 7 handpays, all were on cruise ships. This includes 3 handpays with bets of only $1 to $1.76 per spin. That's right I've never gotten a single handpay playing normal bet size in Vegas or indian casinos. I typically play the same games too. Folks thought Cruise might have the worst payouts because the lack of government regulations, but over the last 7 years of playing slots in all these locations, I definitely had the most luck on cruise ships (I mainly sail Royal Caribbean)

I'm very skeptical about cruise slots being more loose than terrestrial casinos, especially commercial casinos. Of all the tribal affiliated casinos in America, only the two in Connecticut actually disclose the payout percentage. That makes me very weary of them.

Wow, I would have ranked ship casinos with the tribes. I know Vegas isn't giving it away but they are regulated. Now I wouldn't think twice to play on a cruise, Thank you

I cruised the Celebration in May 2023 and two of my friends hit 10,000.00 Grands. I didnt do that great, but some of my friends also got a few hand pays. After that cruise, we have been receiving numerous discount and 100.00 cruise offers

In my experience, slots on cruise ships pay much worse than than on land. In terms of tribal land casinos, my worst experience was slots at Mohegan Sun in CT. Out of all the slots I played there, I got NOTHING back, not even a few pennies.

🤣🤣 first thing I do when I sit down is turn the volume off, some of those machines are loud and then add a big win and the spinner goes nuts. I use to take ear plugs 🤣🤣🤣

Dean. Has a great choice in slot machines as well 👌

I totally agree with your interviewee, tribal does not pay out as well as other casinos and I have won Jackpots at both Tribal and a cruise ship casino.

As a long time cruiser and gambler I could swear the machines are looser the first night and the last night. Many wins by people in those days. And as far as a switch they do as they turn in and off disabled while in ports.

Lol I don't believe cruise ships have looser slots than land base casinos. You're stuck on that ship, and they have no competition. Ive been on 20 cruises and by far they have the tightest slots than any land based casino I've been at. And the lowest payouts as well

Given the HORRIBLE odds on video poker on cruise ships, I find it unlikely that slot machines on cruise ships would be looser than on land.

Interesting about the casino closing outside of International waters, but it does make sense from a business model. I know that cruises from New York have a similar process for the sale of Alcohol and they cannot sell it until a certain time of day (normally when they leave port and reach International Waters). Such as the Embarkation Day where the bars don't open until a certain time (normally evening) while the ship is docked. Compared to other states where you can hit the bar as soon as you board. That also applies to cruises from other Countries, the legal drinking age in the UK is 18 (not 21 as the US) therefore younger people can purchase alcohol if cruising to and from those UK based destinations.

Sorry to dispute how difficult it is to reprogram the payout percentage. Legally it requires a lot of documentation and record keeping, but the actual process is simply power off the machine, remove the motherboard and swap the percentage chip and re-installing the motherboard. Most casinos just find it easier to sell a non profitable machine on the used market and purchase a new machine with a more profitable payout.

Geez! I’ve always read that Cruise ships percentages & odds are far worse than land-based casinos. We knew e.g., Vegas slots run in the high 90% payouts (higher OFF the Strip). And the belief at least is, Cruise ships can run in the 80% payouts. What do the payouts run on Cruise ships 🛳?

Thanks for the great info. You asked all the right questions to answer my questions

Thanks for the info on cruise casinos. Will be sailing in March, so this info plus all your other videos I've watched will surely help.

Your channel shot up to 10k super fast, i think i sub’d a few weeks ago and it was at 550. Congrats, keep up the good work. Great quality content

Great info and ecorrecting many myths about casinos on board ships.

Going on a cruise this October can't wait to try my luck out . The wife normally hits 10x more then me and I do low bets while. She does the higher bets . So I guess it's time to change up how I play

From watching other Cowboy Slots Videos I guess my only concern with playing slots on a Cruise Ship is that the "payout or RTP %" or where you find a machine that's trying rebalance its RTP % could be affected by hw much a specific machine is played, Yes???

Great information! My take play for fun. More interviews please.

I was going to ask you about this, and sure enough you beat me to it! Loving the vids.

A great interview. However the big question not asked was what are the return to player percentage set by the manufacturer on a certain game. Take dancing drums. Is the RTP able to be changed at the manufacturer if the cruise lines asked for different odds. That would make the game different on cruise ships compared to land based. What is the percentage on that game? 80, 85, 90 , 95.

A cruise company that I cruise on frequently has information posted stating that they use Nevada rules.

Gosh, PLEASE people stop turning up the volume thinking it increases anything. It just makes the rest of us crazy 🥴😫🤯

What about when they can change a regular machine into a “slots tournament “ machine with the flick of a switch ? The entire game is different for that format and then goes back to being its regular branded machine … I always wondered .

Definitely some things I did not know. I shared your video on Cruise Critic

Thanks for addressing this topic!

That was informative and important info . Thanks for posting it!

I have gambled through all my adult life… we must of course accept that players will rarely win in the long term. However, one thing bothers me… that’s when a cruise company GUARANTEES that a progressive jackpot will be hit during the last evening of a cruise. Nobody on any staff of my cruises has ever been able to explain to me how the company can guarantee it. Surely this shows that the games are in fact not random? 🤔

Great! We're leaving on a cruise in 39 days!

Good info on this channel . No doubt it will quickly grow subs.

If the ships are in International Waters, why do the winners have to pay taxes any way?

Enjoying your videos! Good information, keep it up!

I am convinced the slots are looser on the first day the casino is opened and then they tighten them up until the last day.

This was a great interview!! Thanks for this

I got a handpay on NCL a month ago. They do issue a W2-G.

super interesting video! Thanks both of you!

Favorite video yet… thank you.

I’ve always heard that casinos on cruise ships had the tightest machines of type of casino. I’m going on a cruise in a week, so I’ll try the higher denomination machines to test this out

Good job, nicely done with great information. Thanks for the heads up.

I really think that they do from my experience

Awesome interview!!

Oh yeah I can’t wait on the tribal casino video either.

My wife won 6000 on a slot machine while we were in international waters and she was not given a tax form.

They can't be using panama laws because panama takes 10 percent of all winnings jackpot or not, which is why I dont play in panama anymore.

I have ALWAYS read and been told that Casino’s on cruise ships have the worst odds.. Same with Indian casino’s they supposedly don’t have the same regulations as like Vegas or Atlantic City etc. With that being said though I personally have won more at Indian casino’s versus Vegas lol.

I have a question.. If ..like on cruise ships...the slots are all turned off until they reach I think ..9 miles off?? Do they tend to be a bit harder to get a jackpot until they warm up awhile so to say? Reason I ask is that while in Vegas I talked to a tech that was working on a machine and he said to wait awhile after the slot was online and several people chucked some coin in without any luck...

Interesting that cruises got a bad rap for being tight. I do know of one place where it's an uphill battle... Harry Reid Airport in Las Vegas. I remember a while back I saw the top two jackpots shown on the glass of a Red, White & Blue slot was 8.000/4,000 coins when in every other casino it's a 10,000/5,000 coin payout. 🤣

Thank you Dean

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

I just got off of a royal Caribbean ship the first two days I won pretty good then I saw them in the cabinet, changing out some metal pieces and nobody won hardly anything the last three days of the cruise

I have to disagree on encouraging people to play higher denominations because the payback is better. That isn’t going to be true if you live in a state that doesn’t let you deduct your casino losses. I live in Illinois and I have to pay a 4.9% tax on every W2-G that I receive. If I play a $1 denomination and win a 10000 credit jackpot, I will have to pay Illinois $490 with no chance of getting that money back. If I was playing 1 cent denomination and won a 10000 credit jackpot, I’d keep 100% of that win. You are far more likely to hit jackpots that generate W2-G’s if you’re playing higher denominations. The 4.9% that I have to pay on every hit over $1200 is going to be worse than the extra 1 or 2% payback of the higher denomination machines. Also for federal taxes, if you claim the standard deduction and can’t itemize, then you have to pay taxes on every hit over $1200 and you can’t deduct your casino losses from your federal income tax. Staying away from high denomination hits that generate W2-G’s will most likely be the better “payback”in the long run. Love the videos! Keep it up!

Nice video. Thanks guys!

Great topic. Thank you

Great info that all players want to know.

If a cruise ship is server based and not regulated by US and/or Tribe regulations and controlled by International waters, why can’t they change percentages to what they want and when the casino is closed for early in the day change the percentages/payout remotely?

Is playing $1 PER spin better on one machine versus the other? Like playing $1 spins on a dollar machine vs a penny machine vs a quarter machine???

Wow, 7k membership. Right on! I’m subscriber-221

Great interview. So does anyone have a ranking on which cruises are best odds or looser?

Great info man. Thank you!

Thank you so much for this video

Thanks for sharing

Thank you for this information!!

Hey cowboy, i have a wonder.... Im hopin u can either make a video or answer it for me..... Lets say i sit at a machine that is on the take. ( I dont know this yet because i havent started playing ) i load the machine with a 1000$. Will that 1000$ that i just loaded in effect the balancing of the accounting b4 i start playing? ( I hope i worded this correctly )

Thanks for this video

Im wondering whats the best slot for a slot pull on a cruise ship? Low volatile? Or high?

This does not make sense that slot machines on cruise slots cannot be remotely accessed or changed. Then how are the machines getting turned off and not playable when the ship is docked? I doubt there is a tech walking around turning off all the machines.

I always tell people let me know when we are in "International Waters"

I am a slot tech here in Ontario. I am going cruising next winter. There is a tiny part of me wanting to bring a reset key to access a menu...but then I don't want to be tossed off the ship!!!!!!

I wish someone would get a developer on one of these interviews... but they won't talk honestly due to fear of lawsuit. The NDAs that are signed at employment are scary. There are so many things slot techs never get to know 😢

Let's talk player loyalty cards. Every over 10k jackpot I have ever won has been with loyalty card not in the machine and more recently card out and not sitting facing the machine (no machine facial recognition). Nearly impossible to play this way on a cruise as they don't give tito tickets. Thus, you need to have your card in. Anyway, after 7 over 10k wins without loyalty card and no over 10k with a loyalty card I'm really trying to understand. That can't be just coincidence, yet when I try to discuss this, people get mad at me for saying it... 😂 makes no sense. I just want to know what is happening with this.

Does video poker and keno machines rely on the random number generator or are they truly a skill game?

Awesome videos! Are you going to make informative videos about online slots too?

Awesome information!!!! I always wanted a slot machine for personal use at my house. Are used or retired slot machines ever sold to the public?

ive heard that cruise ships are the tightest on slots . way worst than Vegas

Great info…

My husband and I have watched all of your videos and have faith in what you are teaching. QUESTION When playing a multi line machine, should you always play maximum lines or does it really matter? I've also been told to bet higher denominations, but to bet minimum amount. What are your thoughts?

Are the payback percentages changed on slots used during a slot tournament? And if so, are they changed back to a tighter payout when back in service for regular slot play?

Someone , hit jackpot but didn’t play the max bet /qualifying bet to get the jackpot .. would they have hit it still if they bet the max bet .. or is machine program to tease the players ? And entice them to bet more

Wish he would have shared the payout percentages.

Do video poker machines work the same way? Say on a multi game machine would the same cards be on the different games?

How about River boat casinos like BIg M Casino or Suncruise casinos ...they go out to international waters for 3 hrs ...do they have the capability to tighten the slots

Can someone explain what oversight the DEA would have on gambling?

When you say no penny machines does that mean not even a5 cents denom ON a penny’s machine?

What does higher denomination machines mean? He says don’t pay penny machines but you can put in a lot per spin than a penny. Please explain, is he saying only play $1+ machines?