Python 2.7 Slot Machine if statement issue

Question

import random
numbers = []
wheel1 = 0
wheel2 = 0
wheel3 = 0
winnings = int(0)
balance = int(50)

def generator(balance):

    number1 = random.random()
    number2 = random.random()
    number3 = random.random()

    if number1 < 0.05:
        wheel1 = "Cherry"
    elif number1 < 0.15:
        wheel1 = "Diamond"
    elif number1 < 0.30:
        wheel1 = "Hearts"    
    elif number1 < 0.65:
        wheel1 = "Spade"    
    elif number1 < 1:
        wheel1 = "Monkey"  

    if number2 < 0.05:
        wheel2 = "Cherry"
    elif number2 < 0.15:
        wheel2 = "Diamond"
    elif number2 < 0.30:
        wheel2 = "Hearts"    
    elif number2 < 0.65:
        wheel2 = "Spade"    
    elif number2 < 1:
        wheel2 = "Monkey"

    if number3 < 0.05:
        wheel3 = "Cherry"
    elif number3 < 0.15:
        wheel3 = "Diamond"
    elif number3 < 0.30:
        wheel3 = "Hearts"    
    elif number3 < 0.65:
        wheel3 = "Spade"    
    elif number3 < 1:
        wheel3 = "Monkey"

    return wheel1
    return wheel2
    return wheel3

def win(generator,balance):

    generator(balance)

    if wheel1 =="Monkey"and wheel2 == "Monkey"and wheel3 == "Monkey":
        print "JACKPOT!"
        winnings = int(50)
        balance + winnings
        print 'JACKPOT!'

    else:
        print 'noice'
        winnings = int(10)
        balance + winnings
        print 'noice'

    return balance


print "Welcome to the International Slot Machine"
print ""
print "Balance: $",balance
print ''
spinyn = (raw_input("Would you like to spin? $5 per spin. Enter y or n:\n"))
while True:
    if spinyn == "y":
        break
    elif spinyn == "n":
        print "Final Balance: $",balance
        print "Thank you for using the International Slot Machine"
        raise SystemExit
    else:
        spinyn = raw_input('\033[31mPlease enter only y or n.\033[0m\n')    
spin = (raw_input("Press enter to spin for $5:\n"))
while True:
    if spin == '':
        balance = balance - 5
        if balance <= 0:
            print ""
            print "Final Balance: $",balance
            print "You have run out of money, the game has now ended."
            raise SystemExit
        print ""
        print "\033[34mResult:\033[0m"
        print "\033[34m-------\033[0m"
        balance = generator(balance)
        print ""
        print win(generator,balance)
        print "New balance:$",balance
        print ""
        spinagain = (raw_input("Would you like to spin again? Press enter to spin again, type anything to exit.\n"))
        while True:
            if spinagain == "":
                break
            else:
                print "Final Balance: $",balance
                print "Thank you for using the International Slot Machine"
                raise SystemExit
    else:
        spin = (raw_input("Please press enter to spin.\n"))

I appreciate any suggestions about the method of selecting a random symbol, but please withhold as there is only one question I have. My question is: In the win function, how do I make it recognise the 3 wheel outputs. I've done what I thought would work however it does not, even when I land on 3 monkeys.

Any other suggestions are welcome. But please keep in mind that is the most important.

Thank you very much in advance.

Answer 1

The problem that you have here is that your concept of scope needs a little help.

This answer is a really good start.

To make a short example of your code, let's just do this:

def generator(balance):
    wheel_1 = 'Monkey'
    wheel_2 = 'Diamond'
    wheel_3 = 'Heart'

    return wheel_1, wheel_2, wheel_3


def win(generator):
    print wheel_1, wheel_2, wheel_3

win(generator)

What you'll get here is a NameError, because wheel_1 (and 2 & 3) don't actually exist within the win function. They only exist within the generator function. So what you need to do is get the values from the generator function, and put them somewhere that 'win' can see. You can actually do this pretty easily, since we're already returning the values from the generator function:

# Note: generator was removed as a parameter.
# We don't need it here, because if Python
# can't find the name `generator` it will look
# in the enclosing scope and find the function
# `generator` there.
def win():
    # What we want to do is *call* `generator` and 
    # assign the results to some variables that *are*
    # in `win`'s scope
    wheel_1, wheel_2, wheel_3 = generator()
    print wheel_1, wheel_2, wheel_3

---

As you mentioned, you can definitely improve some things in your current code. You've noticed inside your generator function there's code that looks almost exactly the same. When you look at code and you get that feeling, that's what's called a "code smell". That's what happens when your (sub)conscious mind sees some code that it knows could be improved. In this particular case there's a principle called DRY - Don't Repeat Yourself.

You can replace your existing code with the following:

def spin_one():
    number = random.random()

    if number < 0.05:
        result = 'Cherry'
    elif number < 0.15:
        result = 'Diamond'
    elif number < 0.30:
        result = 'Hearts'
    elif number < 0.65:
        result = 'Spade'    
    else:
        result = 'Monkey'

    return result

def generator():
    return spin_one(), spin_one(), spin_one()

And what I might even do is remove the generator call altogether and simply do this:

if all((spin_one() == 'Monkey' for _ in xrange(3))):

You can read the docs on all.

Though, if you want to have more than just win a lot and win a little, then you'd need to keep the values:

wheels = [spin_one() for _ in xrange(3)]

Then you can do:

if all(wheel == 'Monkey' for wheel in wheels):
    # Alternatively, wheels.count('Monkey') == 3
    print 'Jackpot'
elif wheels.count('Hearts') == 2:
    print 'Win'
elif all(wheel == 'Lemon' for wheel in wheels):
    print 'You lose'

And any other kind of winning you might want to add.

Prompt

I don't think this is either better or worse than your current prompt approach, but I used to use it all the time in my C++ course.

def prompt():
    choice = raw_input('(Y)es or (N)o: ').lower()
    if choice == 'y':
        return True
    elif choice == 'n':
        return False
    else:
        print '**ERROR** Please input "y" or "n"'
        return prompt()

It's a nice, simple way to get a handle on recursion :)