vegas Vic, you get five-stars for the best post of the new year! That's funny... and a valid question. How do you know you aren't moving to a machine that is having its own cold cycle?

I know that machines are not supposed to have hot cycles or cold cycles... but we've all gone through hot cycles and cold cycles. Admit it.

But I believe that a cold cycle means a big win is coming to end it. And this belief of mine (call it a fantasy if you like) goes back to the days when I played slots like Wheel of Fortune. If I were at a "Wheel" machine that wasn't getting any "spins" then when I did get a spin it would usually be for a large amount. Hot machines had a lot of spins that paid $20 or $30, but after a long cold cycle, the spin would be $500 or $800 or $1,000. The last time I played Wheel of Fortune slots I say a machine that took $100 without a spin. Then the cold cycle broke with a spin and I got the top $1,000 prize. That put me on a "hot cycle" but the next half dozen spins were all small with $20 or $40.

Call it selective memory and I can't argue with you.

But getting back to Vic's question, when you go to a machine, how do you know where it is in its cold cycle or hot cycle?