I played the 25 cent machines with an original handful of quarters for two days and supplied the kids with all the quarters they needed for the arcade room.
Maybe the cheapo machines pay off better to encourage you to go for the larger money ones.
That’s the way a drug dealer does it. Give free samples of the softer stuff to get them hooked on the harder stuff.
Actually, I did the same thing. I have only been to casinos four or five times. The first few times I did it I played the quarter machines and actually came out a couple hundred dollars ahead. The next time I went I brought a hundred dollars of mad money and lost it all on a $10 machine in fifteen minutes. That was my last visit to a casino.
You are correct. There are some “full pay” VP machines that you can show a profit over the long run, but every hand has to be played perfectly, and you won’t find the FP VP machines on anything but quarter machines where the max you can bet on one hand is $1.25. The higher stakes machines have a lower payout percentage, although much higher than the the 70% someone posted. The machines that Paddock played paid out at about 97% with perfect play. Basically he was being charged a 3% fee to have his money laundered. Plus he got lots of comps.
I played the 25 cent video poker machines at an off strip casino for about an hour and won $75. Went to lunch on my winnings and then went back and lost the rest before supper. :-)