Is there any point to relevant but reciprocal links of the same PR or is it just a waste of outgoing link?
What also plays a role here is:
How many reciprocal links are there? A small number with sites that rank well in the SERPS are most certainly useful IMO.
How old are they? If both sites have weathered the times, and the links have done so too, there is a good chance the links are honest recommendations.
Is the content of the sites complimentary? I think more so than slots linking to slots, a site that concentrates completely on slots can exchange links with a site that concentrates on BJ.
The bottom line is: Is the link actually useful and what you would really recommend to your visitors? The real reason for google’s scrutiny of links is the answer to this question. I have found that you never go wrong actually just doing what google would like to see in it’s serps, rather than outguessing the current algos.
Also, in that direction of thought, have you ever considered that google likes outgoing links to good sites that are not reciprocated at all? People always think about incoming links. If you look at major sites you will find many link out to sites they consider useful to their visitors without any type of reciprocation. Many blogs do extremely well for instance and do exactly that, just link to relevant items.
Google doesn’t reward people who outsmart the algos, that is always short lived success. IMO google rewards people who actually do what it wants them to do, and do it well.