# The Simpsons: Tapped Out **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231 "2012-12-06T21:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 103
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2044 "2013-12-16T20:33:20Z")
> [@Yorikke](#): > > So what exactly is the story with the floating Squidport tiles? I’m not to the point of building it yet, but I always click on them when I visit other towns - they give a ton of XP. > > And **labtrash** , your Squidport is impressive. Aw, shucks - Thank you ! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2045 "2013-12-16T21:08:43Z")
I read this today and am going to try it soon. > [@](#): > > I discovered you can actually change the item your fortune wheel starts on. If you hold down on the wheel and slowly turn it you can move it without spinning. If you set the wheel about 6 or 7 slots behind the prize you want,make a tiny spin and it goes much slower and it only goes about 6 slots, increasing the chance of getting that prize. Anyone try it yet? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2046 "2013-12-16T21:12:01Z")
Also, I have a question regarding the Plow King and Mr. Plow. My first spin on the wheel got me Plow King. Instantly, I had the Mr. Plow outfit for Homer as well. Is this normal or did it glitch in my favor? ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2047 "2013-12-16T21:45:51Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I posted three times in a row, because each post is a different topic, and. I didn’t want my questions to get lost in one post. > > For the dog track, would anyone care to share their betting/winning history? > > I have only won once, and it was for the 19-1 dog, not the 99-1. I have placed most of my bets on the long shot, even though I know the odds of winning are probably next to zero for me. I know people have won the 99-1 long shot, but i’ve had very little luck with this game. My scratchy lottery tickets have been a joke, where I probably get the $350 prize 3 out of every 4 tickets (with the fourth ticket almost always being the $500 prize). Whoopie. (Hey, I know it’s better than nothing, but I hate wasting my time “scratching” that ticket for $100 net bucks.) > > So, for the track, do you play once, twice or more times per day? > Does anyone ever bet on anything other than the 99-1 long shot? > Has most everyone won at least one $200,000 jackpot? > > I was going to compile a stat sheet of the dogs and their finishes, to see if I could get some idea of how the track operates, but they switch the dog’s odds on each race, so it seems pretty random. 2-1 dog is mathematically best, long shotters seem pretty happy though. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2048 "2013-12-16T21:52:52Z")
I have been playing the 99-1 dog the last 100 days or so and won 4 times. That is $800,000 and I’ve only spent, at most, $200,000. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2049 "2013-12-16T22:04:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I read this today and am going to try it soon. > > Anyone try it yet? This is regarding moving the spinning wheel. And yes, you can move it. I found out by accident a few days ago when I tried to give it a good spin and for some reason it only moved a couple of spots, and landed on the Mr Plow jacket! I was happy! (But alas, it didn’t count), but it apparently needs to go around at least once (or at least further than I spun it), similar to the **Price is Right** showcase wheel. Since then, I’ve moved it every day and have had no issues, but I can’t control the spin speed. I’m not even sure that is possible. I’m sure someone has figured out how many spots the wheel has to spin before it gets registered as a legal spin, but i haven’t been able to figure that out. You can easily go in and move the wheel slowly to start on whatever you want. > [@Taber](#): > > 2-1 dog is mathematically best, long shotters seem pretty happy though. You didn’t actually think you needed to tell me that 2-1 is the best odds mathematically, did you? :dubious: :smack: jeez, i must sound really stupid in this thread! 😃 I think **Taber** has given me a good reason to re-evaluate my continued play on this game… How embarrassing. :o Let’s take an informal poll. What’s the worst prize you’ve received in the 5 day “mystery box”? I think I will win this. Today i received 1 tree. 1 fuckin’ tree. I would have been mildly less irritated if it gave me say 5 trees or so… But 1? It didn’t even give me a pine or fir tree… I just got a deciduous tree that looks like a bunch of sticks coming out of the ground. And NO CHRISTMAS LIGHTS either! What a crappy Mystery box “surprise”. :dubious: It’s a good thing I don’t care, or that would have really pissed me off! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2050 "2013-12-16T22:09:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I have been playing the 99-1 dog the last 100 days or so and won 4 times. That is $800,000 and I’ve only spent, at most, $200,000. You lucky bastage. If you’ve made a $600k profit in about 3 months, that is pretty damn good. I could really use that kind of cash to make my town more presentable. I need to expand my town, and a big influx of cash like that would make it so much easier to do. Not that I actually _ **care** _, or anything. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2051 "2013-12-16T22:27:10Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > You didn’t actually think you needed to tell me that 2-1 is the best odds mathematically, did you? :dubious: :smack: jeez, i must sound really stupid in this thread! 😃 > > I think **Taber** has given me a good reason to re-evaluate my continued play on this game… How embarrassing. :o I meant if you did the EV calculations, the 2-1 paid out the best (you gain $1000 a spin, 99-1 dog pays $20 a spin). I didn’t think you needed to be told the 2-1 was more likely than the 99-1. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2052 "2013-12-16T22:57:26Z")
> [@Taber](#): > > I meant if you did the EV calculations, the 2-1 paid out the best (you gain $1000 a spin, 99-1 dog pays $20 a spin). I didn’t think you needed to be told the 2-1 was more likely than the 99-1. I don’t think you did that correctly. Assuming the odds are accurate, the 2-1 gives you a 1/3 chance of winning 6000, so the expected value is 2000. The 99-1 gives you a 1/100 chance of winning 200000, so the expected value is… 2000. Of course it cost you 2000 to bet on a race, so in the end, you’re really breaking even. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2053 "2013-12-16T23:09:17Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I don’t think you did that correctly. Assuming the odds are accurate, the 2-1 gives you a 1/3 chance of winning 6000, so the expected value is 2000. The 99-1 gives you a 1/100 chance of winning 200000, so the expected value is… 2000. Of course it cost you 2000 to bet on a race, so in the end, you’re really breaking even. 2-1 odd means you win once every two races, and 99-1 odds means you win once every 99 races (plus variance of course). [Page not found](http://tstotopix.me/2013/11/13/a-day-at-the-races-springfield-downs/) suggests that the longer odds races has better than published odds, and I haven’t done the math for those. Doing a few, if those odd are correct, the EV is +1000 for every dog. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2054 "2013-12-16T23:25:31Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > As for the floating tile on other Springfields… snip Thanks, I think I’ve got it! Still not time for the Squidport yet, though… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2055 "2013-12-16T23:37:12Z")
> [@Taber](#): > > 2-1 odd means you win once every two races, and 99-1 odds means you win once every 99 races (plus variance of course). You’re confusing odds and probability. Odds are losses vs. wins (or vice versa). 2-1 odds means for every two losses you’ll have one win. The probability of winning is 1 in 3. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2056 "2013-12-16T23:53:33Z")
You’re right, I’ve been looking at them wrong. It looks like the 2-1 is describing the payout rather than the odds of winning, and they are fair payouts for a win 1/3 of the time, with the same being true for the 1-99 race. All the tapped out resources I’ve seen say that the odds of winning are different and better than the shown 2-1, 5-1, etc. (which makes sense, since the 2-1, 5-1, etc don’t add up to 100%.) It works out that each dog pays roughly an extra $1000 every time you bet. [http://tstotips.com/archives/9708](http://tstotips.com/archives/9708) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2057 "2013-12-16T23:57:44Z")
> [@Taber](#): > > You’re right, I’ve been looking at them wrong. It looks like the 2-1 is describing the payout rather than the odds of winning, and they are fair payouts for a win 1/3 of the time, with the same being true for the 1-99 race. > > All the tapped out resources I’ve seen say that the odds of winning are different and better than the shown 2-1, 5-1, etc. (which makes sense, since the 2-1, 5-1, etc don’t add up to 100%.) It works out that each dog pays roughly an extra $1000 every time you bet. [http://tstotips.com/archives/9708](http://tstotips.com/archives/9708) Yeah, it’s all a moot point since the odds listed only add up to 67%. So really, it all comes down to your personal preference. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2058 "2013-12-17T00:18:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Also, I have a question regarding the Plow King and Mr. Plow. > > My first spin on the wheel got me Plow King. Instantly, I had the Mr. Plow outfit for Homer as well. Is this normal or did it glitch in my favor? I think it’s supposed to be that way. That said, I hate you. ;)😃 Just got my third $1000 spin in a fucking row. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2059 "2013-12-17T02:07:27Z")
I just did the calculations for Springfield Downs. If you bet $2,000 a significantly large number of times, your expected rate of return will be $3,030 to $3,040 for each choice. So on the one hand, in the long run, it makes no difference which choice you pick on the track. On the other hand, your technically best odds are with the 99-1, as that nets you $3,040 per race, a $10 improvement over almost all other choices. And being technically correct is the best kind of correct. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2060 "2013-12-17T03:26:49Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > There is a confirm donut spend in the game’s options. Check that and it will prompt you if you really, really want to use the donuts. Thank you for that, **Intergalactic Gladiator**. I wish I’d figured it out myself before I got all the way up to level 37! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2061 "2013-12-17T04:19:24Z")
I really want the Abominable Snowman. All I’ve been getting are snowmen and house lights. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2062 "2013-12-17T04:51:37Z")
I kind of want the abominable snowman as well. Not sure what he does, but I like the looks of him. I could really use a cash multiplier as well, but I like Mr. abominable, Interesting about the Barney “Plow King” jacket giving you Homer’s Mr. Plow. What happens if you don’t have Barney yet and you win his Plow King? I don’t have Barney yet, so I’ll be curious ti see what I get if i ever land on him. I picked up the Bart “Dirt Man” tonight. Looks like what i’d imagine PigPen’s snowman would look like (from Charlie Brown). ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231/2063 "2013-12-17T04:56:28Z")
So, for those of you on level 37 and having seen most of what the game has to offer, what would you recommend someone to spend their donuts on? I have about 50 right now, and I don’t know why I’m saving them, except for the fact that everyone says to keep them. I would like a goal to shoot for, so if anyone has a great thing to save donuts for, let me know what it is. If it is something like a permanent multiplier or something, great. But give me the biggest bang for my donut, (so to speak). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231.md?page=102) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-tapped-out/643231.md?page=104)