**********
Edit 2:
My friend who has the Contraband Slot Machine, discovered a second just gathering dust on an alt so from now on i can pump out twice as many samples in the same time. I'll still keep the sample size at 250 tokens for continuity reasons.
Also no Cartel Market Certificate drop since sample 35. Over 5200 spins done so far.
Total math will have to wait, but added all data for all samples up to and including sample 52 in the 2nd post with all the sample data.
Edit1:
Well something totally unexpected happened today as i tried to get more certificates with samples 19-24.
The FA-3 Recon Walker dropped in the 24th sample. Still no sign of more certificates tho. I also read rumors of both mounts being faction specific drops (so the imperial walker can't drop for a republic char and vice-versa) and until i know for sure (read: have proof) if this is the case or just another RNG-fable, i'll have to put the gambling on hold. That or switch to my imp crafting alt i seldomly use, which would be a waste of a perfectly good walker mount if it ever drops.
I still have to do the recalculations of the first batch with the new batch data included, which i will do somewhere this weekend once all the irl social obligations are fulfilled.
Have a great weekend everyone!
-Xarf
*********
Hello everyone!
I've decided to get myself some Cartel Market Certificates via the Contraband Slot Machine because i can't afford old packs in hopes of getting lucky with the certificates. And since i only started playing a few months ago i missed out on many easier alternatives now gone, so this is the only 'reliable' way to get these for new players.
But i don't want it to be just another grind, so i've decided to science it up and keep notes on everything so i can share my findings with you, the community!
As you'll soon find out this is a rather expensive and especially time consuming journey.
So feel free to support the long road by donating anything you want to spare (creds, Slot machine tokens, SH decorations) or by clicking my referral link below, as a little thank you for all the hard work.
More samples will follow soon, but the xp/cxp bonus event has my priority for now.
Greetings and have a nice day!,
Xarf
p.s.
If anyone on The Progenitor server has a Stronghold with 2 or more Contraband Slot Machines i can use for more intensive testing please let me know!
--------------------
Total of all samples (samples 1-18):
6558 Total Spins (Total tokens bought + total refunds = 100%)
5250 Tokens bought ( - [3937.5]k)
1309 Refunds ([19.960]% / about 1 in [5])
1131 Holovids ([17.246]% / about 1 in [6]) (@ 0500 creds vendor each = + [565.5]k)
0829 Medical Supplies ([12.641]% / about 1 in [8]) (@ 1000 creds vendor each = + [829.0]k)
0298 Artwork ([04.544]% / about 1 in [22]) (@ 2500 creds vendor each = + [745.0]k)
0010 Scavenged Scrap ([0.152]% / about 1 in [656])
0012 Droid Parts ([0.182]% / about 1 in [547])
0005 Jawa Junk ([0.0762]% / about 1 in [1311])
0004 Cartel Market Certificates ([0.0609]% / about 1 in [1640])
Win rate: [54.862]% (item reward rate: [34.902]% + refund rate: [19.960]%)
Loss rate: [45.137]%
Total rate: [99.999]% (error margin of [0.001]%)
Investment cost: - [3937.5]K (100%)
Vendor return cost: + [2139.5]k ([54.336]% of investment cost)
Actual Credit cost: - [1798.0]k ([45.664]% of investment cost)
(In theory you could earn more by buying the most expensive materials with the Scrap/Droid parts/Jawa Junk and selling them on the GTN, but for the purpose of these calculations they're considered worthless)
Conclusion: You recieve over half your investment back from vendoring the reputation tokens you win.
Total time spend spinning: 10 hours, 30 minutes (each sample of 250 tokens, including the refunds it gives, takes 30 minutes on average)
Average cost per Cartel Market Certificate: [449.5]k + [2] hours and [37.5] minutes time spend.
As a comparison, you can earn 500k/hour from Slicing in the right places (however this is more intensive as you'll have to constantly move from spawn to spawn; you can safely watch a movie while gambling).
So if you want to sell the items you can buy with these certificates, you'll have to ask [1762]k per certificate for it to be equally profitable (+8% or [1903k] if you are selling the items bought with the certificates on the GTN)
**********
This entire batch of samples has been done on a single Contraband Slot machine.
If you are able to place 3 slot machines in close proximity to each other and play all 3 at once, you can reduce the required time to about 1 Cartel Market Certificate every [87.5] minutes on average.
This also means that with more slot machines your profit per certificate will significantly increase (or you could lower your price per certificate so they sell faster, making your profit more reliable).
**********
I will post all samples in a separate post below.

Xarf/Xarfa/Graknak, The Progenitor server, Republic side
Blorf/Deadlake, The Progenitor server, Imperial side
'Cartel Contraband Slot Machine: Rags or Riches?'
*Referral Link*

I had 4300 Contraband Cartel Chips sitting in an alts storage from awhile ago. I always see them there taking up space....so I finally decided to use them.
I got to say I feel like it was a waste of time. I don't remember what I paid for them back then but I feel like it is now truly a waste of credits.
I hoped to get the mount to drop but this is what I got instead:
843 Banned Holovids
681 Prohibited Medical Supplies
249 Confiscated Artwork
The above would be ok if I needed more reputation, but I don't.
Also received:
9 Scrap Scavenged Scrap
2 Scrap Assorted Droid Parts
8 Scrap Jawa Junk
2 Cartel Market Certificates
That's it. Now I know I shouldn't have gotten as much as the good old days before the nerf, but at these drop rates is anyone still doing this? What is the point? Only good if you need that Contraband Resale Corporation reputation, I suppose.
I wonder if anyone has gotten the rare mount and how long it really took them to get it.