88 Fortunes at the pub feels like a dead machine most nights
Good question, and the short answer is that venue machines like 88 Fortunes from Light & Wonder don't have one published RTP. Each venue sets it within the state minimum, so the same cabinet can play tight at your local pub and noticeably looser at a club down the road. It also depends on the volatility: most nights the base game will chew through your A$ without much happening, and the session only turns when the Free Games hit or one of the progressives (the grand or the major) shows up. So yes, you're probably copping genuinely worse settings at that venue, not just bad luck.
Volatility > vibes.
Grinder's right, every venue sets it their own way. My local's 88 Fortunes plays like a dead machine most arvos, but the one at the bigger club down the road gave me the free games twice in one night. Shop around 😉
That actually explains a lot, thought I was just cursed on it 😅 Is there any way to find out what RTP a venue set before wasting a session, or do you just have to trial and error it? Still learning this stuff, cheers 🙏
Asking dumb bonus questions — that's the job.
Darwin, no venue will tell you the RTP they've set, so it's trial and error. My rule: dead machine for a couple of visits, stop giving it money.
Cashout screenshot or it didn't happen.
The trial and error part is where I'd add a caveat: two dead sessions at one venue might just be variance on a high volatility cabinet, since most of the return sits in the free games and the grand or major jackpots. On a small spin sample you can't tell a tight setting from a cold streak, so I'd give it maybe a few more visits before writing that machine off, and keep notes on which venues actually hit the feature for you, because that pattern is the closest thing to a real answer you'll get.
Do the EV, then spin.
Maybe I'm being dumb here but if the jackpots eat most of the return, doesn't that mean most nights on 88 Fortunes are meant to feel dead anyway? 😅 Like I've had a few slaps at my local where nothing hit and everyone goes "tight venue", but how would we even tell tight apart from just waiting on the grand or major? Seems like trial and error could cost a fortune before you learn anything 🙃
Asking dumb bonus questions — that's the job.
Maybe I'm being dumb here but if the jackpots eat most of the return, doesn't that mean most nights on 88 Fortunes are meant to feel dead anyway? 😅 Like I've had a few slaps at my local where nothing hit and everyone goe…
@MaxBetLifeMode you're not being dumb, you're the only one here telling the truth 😂 everyone else swears their local's "tight" the second the fu bats don't turn up, like the pokie owes them a jackpot for showing up. Most nights on 88 Fortunes feeling dead IS the design, the big money lives in the features and jackpots that mostly never land. Just asking though, anyone here actually up on it long term, or is that another win on paper? 🤡💸
A paper win won't feed you.
@MaxBetLifeMode you're not being dumb, you're the only one here telling the truth 😂 everyone else swears their local's "tight" the second the fu bats don't turn up, like the pokie owes them a jackpot for showing up. Most…
@BigWin_Mania382 spot on mate 😂 every bloke at my local swears the 88 Fortunes is rigged against him personally right up until the fu bats land, then suddenly he's a genius. Funny how nobody ever posts the Tuesday arvo they dropped A$60 for nothing 🤡 The house always wins long run.
The house always wins.
MaxBetLifeMode basically nails it, most of the return sits in the Free Games and the grand/major, so a featureless session on a small spin sample can look dead when the machine's playing exactly as designed. 📊
RTP is a long-run number.
ChrisFortune has it right. A featureless night on 88 Fortunes can just be the cabinet doing its thing, since most of the return lives in the Free Games and the grand or major. That said, the venue sets the RTP within the state minimum, so two dead clubs on the same street can genuinely play differently. Long-run you're still minus either way, so cap the session and walk if the feature won't show.
Cashout screenshot or it didn't happen.
MaxBetLifeMode basically nails it, most of the return sits in the Free Games and the grand/major, so a featureless session on a small spin sample can look dead when the machine's playing exactly as designed. 📊
@Brizzie_Mate "cabinet doing its thing" is a nice way of saying it chewed your arvo and spat out nothing 🤡 The pub's 88 Fortunes has had my A$50 more times than I can count and the fu bats just sit there like furniture. A win on paper, right, one day the major drops, I'll be sure to tell everyone and skip the other twenty nights 💸😏
The house always wins.
@MaxBetLifeMode you're not being dumb, you're the only one here telling the truth 😂 everyone else swears their local's "tight" the second the fu bats don't turn up, like the pokie owes them a jackpot for showing up. Most…
@BankrollKing 😂 mate that's every fu bat night ever, but when they DO turn up it's huge. Got the free games on 88 Fortunes last Friday and walked out A$280 up, this slot pays 🔥🎰
One slot, one love 🎰
@BankrollKing 😂 mate that's every fu bat night ever, but when they DO turn up it's huge. Got the free games on 88 Fortunes last Friday and walked out A$280 up, this slot pays 🔥🎰
@Cronulla_True A$280 is a monster hit mate, well played 🔥 I've had the fu bats tease me for weeks at my local, hit big last night on my third session in a row and finally the free games actually landed... walked away up small but felt like a mil ah well, wish I'd been on it last Friday too 😂
One slot, one love 🎰
@Cronulla_True A$280 is a monster hit mate, well played 🔥 I've had the fu bats tease me for weeks at my local, hit big last night on my third session in a row and finally the free games actually landed... walked away up …
Up small after weeks of fu bats teasing you is still a win in my book mate 😏 Funny thing, word round my way is some pubs run their 88 Fortunes noticeably tighter certain weeks. Could be nothing, could be something. A contact of mine just smiles when I bring it up 🤫
Those who know, know.
Up small after weeks of fu bats teasing you is still a win in my book mate 😏 Funny thing, word round my way is some pubs run their 88 Fortunes noticeably tighter certain weeks. Could be nothing, could be something. A con…
@Kev_Esky2010 a mate with a mysterious smile is solid pub gossip mate 😂 every pokie in every venue runs on the same maths anyway, your "tight weeks" are just 88 Fortunes being 88 Fortunes. House always wins.
A paper win won't feed you.
Up small after weeks of fu bats teasing you is still a win in my book mate 😏 Funny thing, word round my way is some pubs run their 88 Fortunes noticeably tighter certain weeks. Could be nothing, could be something. A con…
@Kev_Esky2010 I believe it mate, my local's 88 Fortunes goes ice cold for a stretch then coughs up a mini out of nowhere 😅 grabbed A$120 off it one Friday after weeks of fu bats doing nothing. Could just be variance but the tight-week theory feels right to me 🎰🔥
Backing my slot to the last spin.
@Kev_Esky2010 I believe it mate, my local's 88 Fortunes goes ice cold for a stretch then coughs up a mini out of nowhere 😅 grabbed A$120 off it one Friday after weeks of fu bats doing nothing. Could just be variance but …
@Lee_Brekkie nice hit, A$120 off a dead-looking machine is decent 😅 I'm still new to 88 Fortunes so maybe this is a dumb question, but how would a pub even change how tight the pokie runs? Thought the maths was set by the game. Genuine ask, go easy on me 🙏
Four of yous all typing the same "it's variance" essay like it's breaking news 😂 Every punter I know who swears 88 Fortunes ran hot is the same bloke who never mentions the twenty nights it flogged him for a carton. So where's the profit? Yeah nah, the machine's fine - my bank account's the dead one. 💸
Show me the withdrawal first 😏
88 Fortunes at my local is the same story, dead for weeks then one Friday it spits a decent hit. I set a hard A$40 session cap at the pub version and if the free games haven't landed by spin 50 I'm gone. ChrisGold is right though, nobody posts the losing arvos, and there's plenty of them 😭
88 Fortunes at my local is the same story, dead for weeks then one Friday it spits a decent hit. I set a hard A$40 session cap at the pub version and if the free games haven't landed by spin 50 I'm gone. ChrisGold is rig…
@Wollongong_True that spin 50 rule is solid discipline, I run something similar on the 88 Fortunes cabinet at my local. A$40 cap, and if the fu bats haven't so much as flickered by spin 40 I'm off to the tab to build a multi instead.
For what it's worth I did have one arvo where the free games landed around spin 30 and paid enough to cover the whole week's punting budget, so I banked it and walked. Cashing out in time is everything with this one, it'll happily eat your winnings back at 88 cents a spin if you let it. Would yours have hit at spin 50 or were you gone before the good part? 😭🔥
88 Fortunes at my local is the same story, dead for weeks then one Friday it spits a decent hit. I set a hard A$40 session cap at the pub version and if the free games haven't landed by spin 50 I'm gone. ChrisGold is rig…
@Wollongong_True the spin 50 rule is actually smart, might steal it 😅 I'm still at the stage where I keep feeding 88 Fortunes "one more" and regretting it. Does a hard cap feel easy to stick to once you've done it a few times?
Asking dumb bonus questions, that's the job.
The cap works if you treat it like a rule, not a suggestion. My problem with pub 88 Fortunes is you never know if the venue's running the low RTP setup or the proper one, so the "it's due" feeling is mostly wishful thinking. Stick to the A$40, and post a photo next time the free games actually pay, otherwise I'm reading it as another teases-and-nothing story.
Licence first, deposit after.
That theory about the machines getting tighter certain weeks is confusing because you'd think the odds for 88 Fortunes are fixed. It’s wild that some people believe a local pub can actually influence how the pokie runs. Do these types of places ever say anything about the variation or even the jackpot limits to punters? 😅🙏
New here, soaking it up.