Lobstermania Slot Game

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Lobstermania Slot Machine Review. Lobstermania slot is a hugely popular title from IGT. This is one of the most popular titles offered by IGT since it has excellent graphics, a fun theme, and some interesting game mechanics and extra rounds. The gameplay is in-depth, and you even have a choice of bonus rounds to choose from.

  1. Lobstermania slot game from Openbet: is a 5-reel video slot with 25 paylines for your bets to be placed. A value for the game since you can select exact lines instead of being offered blocks of lines.
  2. Features of Lobstermania Slots. The animations and graphics in the Lobstermania slot game are outstanding owing to IGT's creative use of LCD. The different variations of the game are all the more fascinating due to the effort put in by the game developers.
  • Appendices
  • Slots Analysis
  • Miscellaneous

Introduction

In my continued effort to lift the veil of secrecy behind slot machines, I present the following analysis of the IGT game Lucky Larry's Lobstermania. The information regarding the design of this game is taken from the academic paper PAR Sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play: Implications for problem and non-problem gambling by Kevin A. Harrigan and Mike Dixon, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The authors of the paper obtained par sheets for the game through the Canadian Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. I applaud the government of Canada for this release. The purpose of this page is to further the analysis of Lobstermania beyond what was presented in the Harrigan and Dixon paper.

It should be noted there are other versions of Lobstermania besides this one. As far as I can tell they differ by small changes to the pay table and details of the bonus round. 120 free spins win real money.

Reel Strips

Harrigan and Dixon give the symbol distribution for two Lobstermania par sheets, one for 85.0% and the other for 96.2%. Both are presented below. Notice how the 96.2% version has more high-paying symbols and that any given symbol is distributed more uniformly across the 5 reels. To illustrate that the distribution is more choppy in the 85.0% version, notice that the number of clams per reel on the 85.0% version is 10,8,3,4,7. On the 96.2%, the distribution is 6-6-5-6-6. However, the number of key symbols (wild, scatter and bonus) are the same in both games.

Lobstermania Symbol Distribution — 85.0%

SymbolReel 1Reel 2Reel 3Reel 4Reel 5
Wild22142
Logo43334
Buoy34385
Boat43434
Light House34637
Tuna43666
Clam108347
Sea Gull394105
Star Fish1031078
Bonus25600
Scatter22222
Total4746485050

Lobstermania Symbol Distribution — 96.2%

SymbolReel 1Reel 2Reel 3Reel 4Reel 5
Wild22142
Logo44344
Buoy44545
Boat64444
Light House54667
Tuna64567
Clam66566
Sea Gull56566
Star Fish55687
Bonus25600
Scatter22222
Total4746485050

Harrigan and Dixon do not indicate the exact reel stripping. However, as long as the scatter symbols are not so close on the same reel that they can appear at the same time, the symbol order does not matter for this game, as well as for most video slots. The following reel stripping is hypothetical, based on the 85.0% version.

Lobstermania Symbol Distribution — 85.0% Reel Strips

SymbolReel 1Reel 2Reel 3Reel 4Reel 5
1TunaClamBoatSea GullClam
2Star FishBuoyStar FishTunaWild
3ClamLight HouseClamBuoyBoat
4Light HouseClamBonusSea GullLogo
5ScatterBuoyLight HouseScatterBuoy
6ClamLight HouseBoatBuoyStar Fish
7Star FishBonusLogoStar FishLight House
8BonusSea GullStar FishSea GullTuna
9LogoClamBonusTunaStar Fish
10ScatterBoatLight HouseWildLight House
11BuoySea GullStar FishBuoySea Gull
12ClamTunaBonusTunaWild
13Star FishBoatTunaStar FishTuna
14BuoyBonusStar FishLogoBuoy
15ClamStar FishClamSea GullBoat
16Star FishSea GullSea GullTunaClam
17LogoWildStar FishWildTuna
18Light HouseBonusWildLogoBuoy
19ClamSea GullBonusLight HouseStar Fish
20WildLight HouseLight HouseBuoyClam
21Sea GullLogoSea GullSea GullScatter
22Star FishWildStar FishBoatBuoy
23WildBuoyTunaClamStar Fish
24BonusClamClamStar FishTuna
25ClamBonusBoatLight HouseClam
26BoatSea GullTunaSea GullBuoy
27Star FishClamStar FishBoatBoat
28TunaScatterBonusClamLight House
29ClamLogoTunaBuoyTuna
30Star FishTunaLight HouseSea GullLogo
31TunaSea GullStar FishBoatLight House
32LogoScatterScatterLight HouseSea Gull
33ClamStar FishLight HouseStar FishClam
34Star FishClamLogoTunaLogo
35BoatBoatSea GullSea GullStar Fish
36Light HouseLogoStar FishBuoyBoat
37ClamSea GullScatterStar FishLight House
38Star FishClamBuoyClamTuna
39BoatBonusTunaBuoySea Gull
40TunaStar FishLogoSea GullStar Fish
41BuoySea GullBonusStar FishLight House
42Sea GullBuoyStar FishClamClam
43LogoLight HouseLight HouseLogoLogo
44ClamClamSea GullWildSea Gull
45Star FishTunaBuoyBuoyStar Fish
46BoatSea GullBoatSea GullClam
47Sea GullTunaStar FishSea Gull
48BuoyScatterLight House
49TunaScatter
50WildStar Fish

The way the game would work would be to choose 5 random numbers, one for each reel, and map each random number to a position on the corresponding reel. For example, for reel 1 the game would draw a number from 1 to 47. For example, suppose this number were mapped to the symbol in the top row. If the random number for reel 1 were 37, then the symbols shown on reel 1 would be a Clam on top row, a Star Fish in the middle row, and a Boat on bottom row.

Pay Table

The next table shows the Lobstermania pay table. All wins must be left aligned. The wild symbol can substitute for any line-pay symbol.

Lobstermania Pay Table

Symbol5 in a row4 in a row3 in a row2 in a row
Wild100005001005
Logo1000200402
Buoy50010025
Boat50010025
Light House5005010
Tuna2505010
Clam200305
Sea Gull200305
Star Fish150305

Line Pay Math

There are 47 × 46 × 48 × 50 × 50 = 259,440,000 possible outcomes in Lobstermania. The following table shows how many of these combinations result in each possible win. These figures are the result of a program with five nested loops that tallied the total for each win for each possible combination.

Lobstermania Line Pay Combinations

Symbol5 in a row4 in a row3 in a row2 in a rowTotal
Wild327047,300212,000220,036
Logo5,00836,256249,4002,860,0003,150,664
Buoy9,96859,856220,400290,224
Boat6,20444,968313,900365,072
Light House13,08659,122442,900515,108
Tuna16,67286,520412,000515,192
Clam34,416156,128974,4001,164,944
Sea Gull26,838163,142459,000648,980
Star Fish72,440288,6401,201,2001,562,280
Total184,664895,3364,280,5003,072,0008,432,500

The next table shows the probability of each possible win. This is the number of winning combinations for that win, shown in the table above, divided by the total number of combinations of 259,440,000. The total in the lower right cell reflects a hit frequency per line (probability of winning anything) of 3.25%.

Lobstermania Line Pay Probabilities

Symbol5 in a row4 in a row3 in a row2 in a rowTotal
Wild0.000000120.000002710.000028140.000817140.00084812
Logo0.000019300.000139750.000961300.011023740.01214409
Buoy0.000038420.000230710.000849520.00111866
Boat0.000023910.000173330.001209910.00140715
Light House0.000050440.000227880.001707140.00198546
Tuna0.000064260.000333490.001588040.00198578
Clam0.000132650.000601790.003755780.00449023
Sea Gull0.000103450.000628820.001769200.00250146
Star Fish0.000279220.001112550.004629970.00602174
Total0.000711780.003451030.016499000.011840890.03250270

The next table shows the contribution to the return for each possible win. Each cell is the product of the probability, from the table above, and the pay table. The right cell shows a total return from line pays of 55.28%.

Lobstermania Line Pay Probabilities

Symbol5 in a row4 in a row3 in a row2 in a rowTotal
Wild0.001233430.001356770.002813750.004085720.00948967
Logo0.019303110.027949430.038452050.022047490.10775208
Buoy0.019210610.023071230.021238050.06351989
Boat0.011956520.017332720.030247840.05953708
Light House0.025219700.011394160.017071380.05368525
Tuna0.016065370.016674380.015880360.04862010
Clam0.026530990.018053650.018778910.06336355
Sea Gull0.020689180.018864710.008845980.04839986
Star Fish0.041882520.033376500.023149860.09840888
Total0.182091430.168073540.176478180.026133210.55277636

Scatter Pay

The player gets credit for a 'scatter pay' symbol if it appears anywhere on the screen. Scatter pay wins are based on the total amount bet. The following table shows the number of scatters per reel, total symbols per reel, and the probability of a scatter on that reel, which is 3×(column 2)/(column 3). The reason for multiplying by 3 is there are three visible positions on each reel.

Lobstermania Scatters per Reel

ReelScattersTotal Symbols
on Reel
Scatter
Probability
12470.127660
22460.130435
32480.125000
42500.120000
52500.120000

The next table shows the probability and contribution to the return for 0 to 5 total scatter symbols. The lower right cell shows that the scatter pay feature returns 10.65% to the return of the game.

Lobstermania Scatter Pay Probabilities and Returns

ScattersPaysProbabilityReturn
52000.0000300.005994
4250.0010540.026351
350.0148210.074106
200.1041680.000000
100.3659290.000000
000.5139980.000000
Total1.0000000.106451

Bonus

The player earns the bonus if he gets the bonus symbol on reels 1, 2 and 3 on any active pay line. The following table shows the probability of getting the bonus symbol on each of the first three reels. The lower right cell shows the probability of activating the bonus on any active pay line is 0.06%, or 1 in 1,730. If the player plays the maximum 15 pay lines, then the bonus probability per spin is 0.87%, or 1 in 115.

Lobstermania Slot Game

Lobstermania Bonus Symbols per Reel

ReelBonus
Symbols
Total Symbols
on Reel
Bonus
Probability
12470.042553
25460.108696
36480.125000
Product0.000578

Cops and robbers game free play. There are three parts to the bonus game, as follows:

  • Number of lobster traps.
  • Number of lobsters per trap.
  • Size/win of each lobster.

Black hawk slots. There are three possibilities for the number of lobster traps, 2, 3 and 4, each with equal probability. Thus, the expected number of traps is 3.

There are two possibilities for the number of lobsters per trap, 2 or 3, each with equal probability. Thus, the expected number of lobsters per trap is 2.5.

The prize per lobster can be anywhere from 5 to 250. Each prize has an associated weighting, as shown in the table below. The way the game might work is it would pick an integer from 1 to 322 and map it to a weight according to this table. The bottom right cell shows an average win of 44.02 per lobster.

Lobstermania Bonus — Lobster Wins

PaysWeightProbabilityReturn
550.0155280.077640
650.0155280.093168
750.0155280.108696
850.0155280.124224
10200.0621120.621118
12100.0310560.372671
15100.0310560.465839
20200.0621121.242236
22200.0621121.366460
25200.0621121.552795
27200.0621121.677019
30190.0590061.770186
35220.0683232.391304
45240.0745343.354037
50190.0590062.950311
55150.0465842.562112
60150.0465842.795031
65150.0465843.027950
70150.0465843.260870
75150.0465843.493789
100100.0310563.105590
15080.0248453.726708
25050.0155283.881988
Total3221.00000044.021739

The average win per bonus is (average traps)×(average lobsters per trap)×(average win per lobster) = 3 × 2.5 × 44.021739 = 330.163043.

The expected return for the bonus feature is (bonus probability) × (average win per bonus) = 0.000578168 × 44.021739 = 0.190890.

Summary

The following table summarizes the three ways to win in the game. The bottom right cell shows an expected return of 85.012%. In other words, for every dollar the player bets he can expect to get back 85¢.

Lobstermania Summary

ItemReturn
Line Pays55.278%
Scatter10.645%
Bonus19.089%
Total85.012%

The Harrigan and Dixon paper mentioned they were given par sheets for seven versions of Lobstermania. The available returns were 85.0%, 87.5%, 90.0%, 92.5%, 94.0%, 95.0%, and 96.2%.

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Lucky Larry's Lobstermania Download


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Free Lobstermania Slot Games

Written by: Michael Shackleford



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