Shamus--

You are probably right, but I've always been suspicious of how some machines can be hot at one time, but very cold at others. I am aware of the concept of "payout over the lifetime of the machine" equating to payout percentage. But, if you look at the payout percentages for each of the casinos in Casino Player magazine, they are up constantly up and down for each of the casinos. I might be wrong, but if a casino is undergoing large expenditures for construction/renovations, or for allowing free parking, a way to re-coup the money is to adjust the slot machines so the payout percentages are not as good to the players.

I'm probably wrong, and endorsing a conspiracy theory, but I'll probably always be suspicious.

Ricky