Although slot machines are a terrible bet in general, the fact that the result you see is predetermined by a machine, even before you press the button, isn't what makes them a bad bet. It shouldn't be too surprising to people that the results are no longer determined mechanically, and that spinning reels just give entertainment value and prolong the event. Random number generators are used because they are highly accurate, not subject to tampering (like the old "hold" reels could be) and can be modified easily.
What makes slot machines a bad bet is not this fact. Whether the reels, or some algorithm, determine if you win or lose is immaterial. It's the payout rate which affects whether a slot machine is poor, bad, or terrible.
The article says the machines "cheat" because they predetermine the result before you press the button. You're not guaranteed to lose, they just predetermine what's going to happen. While the US slot machines I've seen analyses of calculate this after the user presses the button (see
http://www.wizardofodds.com/games/slots/ for a decent explanation), it really makes no difference when this determination is made - whether it was 10 years before you pressed the button, right before you press the button, or right after you press the button. What makes a difference is what % of the time you win.
If you must play slot machines, educate yourself on what the payout rates of the slot machines are. Some off-strip casinos in Vegas have 94%+ payout machines. Some video poker machines approach 100% and in rare situations, with perfect strategy, can be slightly player-positive. South Dakota's slot machines, on the other hand, had an atrocious 64% payout. South Carolina's are around 71%. Louisiana around 90%. And bear in mind that unless you hit the jackpot, your "short term" expectation on slots is always significantly lower than the "advertised" payout rate. (For instance, if there was a slot that had a 1 in 100 billion chance of paying out 110 billion dollars, otherwise it paid nothing, that machine would have a "110% payout" -- but unless you play hundreds of millions of times, you're almost guaranteed of getting a 0% payout.)
Further reading:
http://www.augustachronicle.com/stories/01...et_videopoker.shtmlhttp://www.state.la.us/doa/gaming_revenuerev3.pdfhttp://www.onlineathens.com/stories/022803/opi_20030228049.shtmlhttp://www.wvgazette.com/static/series/video/gambling4.htmlhttp://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/26/1032734277788.html
