7 Steps To Slot Machine Success
Slot machine games are designed to delight players, and they do so with aplomb. To the uninitiated, a slot machine may appear to be nothing more than a combination of spinning reels, rows and pay-lines. Casinos routinely deem these games of chance, but is there more to slot machine games than meets the eye?
- 7 Steps To Slot Machine Success
- 7 Free Online Slot Machines
- 7 Steps To Slot Machine Success
- Seven Steps To Slot Machine Success
True to form, there isn’t anything a player can do to influence the outcome of the game once the reels have started spinning. However, all the skill, strategy, and slots selection that can result in winning outcomes takes place before the spin button is depressed. This begs the question: Is there a skill element to slot machines?
The largest slot jackpot in history, $39.7 million, came on a $3 bet on a $1 denomination International Game Technology Megabucks machine at the Excalibur casino in Las Vegas in 2003. Such large jackpots are extraordinarily rare events, but any dedicated slot player occasionally collects winnings of hundreds of times the size of the bet. Allowing other players to build up the pot is a good slots strategy. Statistically, a player should win three out of four games. Thus, if after four consecutive plays you have accumulated four consecutive loses on an online slot machine, stop, and go to a different machine. Someone else can increase the pot and you can always go back later.
The answer is not clear-cut, but there are certainly many things that slots players can do to improve their chances of success when playing these spinning reel wonders. We’re going to take you on a fantastic Vegas-style journey through the world of slots and introduce you to 7 steps that you can take to improve your chances of success with these fun-filled casino games.
#1 – Choose Your Slots Game Wisely
Is there a way to choose one slot game over another, thereby increasing your chances of success? Indubitably! Slot games are games of chance, but not every game of chance has the same house edge or return to player percentage. If possible, you will want to do your homework and research RTPs of slot machine games. For example, a slot game with a 98% RTP is preferable to a slot game with an 88% RTP. The lower the house edge, the better your chances of breaking even, or winning.
#2 – Classic Slots, Video Slots, or Progressive Jackpot Slots?
Careful selection of your chosen slot game is equally important when you’re choosing slots categories. Classic slots or pub fruity slots typically feature 3 spinning reels, and a limited number of paylines. They do not usually have any animation, bonus rounds, expanding wilds, scatters, or other elements. While classic slots are lower paying slot machine games than the progressive jackpot slots, the rate at which they pay out is not too shabby.
Video slots and progressive jackpot slots fall into similar categories. These technological wunderkinds usually have at least 5 spinning reels and several dozen paylines. If you going to be playing video slots, try to pick a video slot game with a theme that you enjoy, and an RTP that is favourable to you. Progressive jackpot slots by contrast are incredibly popular, but they also sport the largest number of players across multiple casinos. This means that the huge player base must be factored into the equation when you’re thinking about your chances of winning. The size of progressive jackpots is the reason so many people flock to these games.
#3 – Set a Slots Budget and Don’t Detract from It
Nobody wants to be told to set a budget when they’re having fun, but with gambling-style games you simply have to. Whether you’re spending $20 on slots, or $200 on slots, set an allocation and stick to it. A budget allows you to manage your slots gaming sessions more effectively. If you simply go in with a blank check, or a credit card, you’ll soon find yourself borrowing more money than you feel comfortable with. A budget serves many purposes in gambling, including allocation of funds to set gaming sessions. For example, if you have $200 and you want to play slots over 4 sessions, allocate $50 per session and stick to it. Win or lose, that’s your slots budget.
#4 – Practice Slots in a Demo play Mode before You Play for Real
Once you have examined all the different types of slots games and categories that are available, you’ll want to try out a couple of slots before you deposit your money at the casino. Fortunately, many online casinos like WinkSlots offer players demo-play mode. This is a fantastic way to determine whether you like the slot game before you put money into the machine. Besides, demo play gives you an opportunity to study up on the pay table, winning combinations, features and bonus rounds. If you like what you’re seeing in demo mode, you can easily register at the casino and play slots for real money.
#5 – Never Chase Your Losses
You’ve probably heard the expression never chase your losses in the casino. It’s true. If you’re on a losing streak, and you’re about to exceed your budget, walk away and live to play another day. The jackpots may or may not be yours for the taking. The whole point of playing slot games is to have fun. Winning is a bonus. Learn when to walk away and do so knowing that you had fun playing slots.
#6 – Be Sure to Claim Your Generous Welcome Bonus Package
7 Steps To Slot Machine Success
If you are visiting a Las Vegas casino, you won’t get a matching deposit bonus like you would at an online casino, but you may get various perks such as a $20 voucher to play slots, etc. At an online casino, you’re in the pound seats because all registered players are entitled to a promotional offer. Use this free cash to play online slot games with. Once you’ve met the wagering terms and conditions (typically 30 X the bonus), you’re free to cash out your winnings.
#7 – Play Slots at a Regulated Online Casino
When it comes to credibility, nothing compares to fully licensed and regulated online casinos. Offshore operators that are providing their services to players without the requisite licensing and regulation should be avoided. For starters, your money may not be safe, and there is no way to independently verify that the RNGs are accurate. When you play at a regulated online casino, you can enjoy peace of mind.
And there you have it folks! 7 ways to help you enhance your slot machine success.
Once you’ve nailed your slot machine game and are having great success, in the form of $$, it’s important to make the most of your new wealth. See our ultimate bucket list of 20 things every guy should try at least once in his life.
Slot machines are the most popular game in a casino today. About 85% of a casino’s revenue is generated by gambling machines.
Unfortunately, slots are games which can’t be beaten no matter how smart you are or how much strategy you use. The best you can do is hope to get lucky once in a while. But you can also use some smarts and strategies during game selection to lose money more slowly and increase your chances of winning.
This post is written with the first-time slot machine player in mind. There’s nothing advanced in this explanation of slots games and how they work. It’s just a basic step by step guide to playing slot machines for the first time.
1. Get Ready to Play by Having a Plan
It sounds silly, but getting ready is one of the first steps you should take. Going into a casino without a plan is a good way to lose a lot of money fast. Having a plan is step 1.
Your bankroll is the first thing you should consider. A bankroll is an amount of money that you’ve set aside to gamble with. It’s separate from all your other funds. It’s important that you don’t gamble with money you need for other purposes (like rent).
I like to have an overall bankroll for my trip, but I divide that into smaller bankrolls per day and per gambling session. For example, if I’m going to Las Vegas for a 3-day weekend, I might take $1500 to gamble with. I’ll plan on gambling with $500 per day, and I’ll plan on 2 sessions a day with a $250 bankroll for each session.
Once I lose my bankroll for a session, I have to stop playing. No going to the ATM, no dipping into the bankroll for my next session, and no dipping into my budget for dining out or show tickets.
I also make up my mind beforehand that I’m not going to drink while I play. You might or might not make the same decision. But my experience leads me to think that I’ll make poor decisions and forget all about any plans I have if I’m drinking alcohol.
I also try to choose my companions wisely. I don’t want to be stuck with someone who refuses to leave when my bankroll runs out. But I also am willing to leave when THEIR bankroll runs out.
2. Learn a Little Bit About How Slot Machines Work
You can do this step right now. Here’s how slot machines work:
Slots are just gambling games which have spinning reels with symbols on them. You input money to pay for each spin that you get. When you get certain combinations of symbols, you’re paid off with winnings.
Early slot machines were mechanical affairs with gears, springs, and levers. Modern slots are powered by a tiny computer program called a random number generator. This RNG is what determines the results on the spinning reels.
The games are programmed to pay off at less than the true odds of winning. (This is true of all casino games, in fact.) For example, if you have a 1 in 1000 chance of getting 3 cherries in a row, the payoff for that bet might only be 500 to 1.
This gives the game a house edge, just like any other casino game, but when talking about slot machines, everyone talks about payback percentage. (It’s also called payout percentage or return to player.)
This is just a word that describes how much of each bet the casino returns to the player over a long period of time. The best slot machines in the world usually have a payback percentage of maybe 96% or 97%, but most of the time, you’re facing a payback percentage of 95% or less.
This isn’t a literal result that you’ll see in a given gambling session or even over several gambling sessions. It’s a long term expectation based on tens of thousands of spins. In the short term, anything can happen. That’s why people sometimes walk away winners.
In fact, this is by design. If a slot machine literally gave you a 95 cent win every single time you bet a dollar, you’d never play. It would become obvious quickly that the game favored the house. But since you’re going to win or lose on a random basis, you get to feel like you can beat the odds.
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And you can beat the odds—sometimes.
Modern slot machine games also have lots of bonus features, like bonus games, progressive jackpots, and wild symbols. Almost all of these aspects of gameplay happen automatically without any decision-making or strategy necessary on the part of the player.
3. Have Some Manners
Playing slots isn’t really a social activity, but you are playing these games in a public place. Other people are around and will be affected by your behavior. And there are certain rules of etiquette to keep in mind.
If you’re playing a game and need to take a break and go to the restroom, you can leave some kind of personal item (like your jacket) on the seat in front of the game to reserve it for when you return. I wouldn’t recommend leaving anything too valuable, though, because it is possible that someone will steal it. At the same time, if someone has left something to reserve their spot, don’t be rude and move it so that you can take over their machine.
Keep up with your players card. This is the card that you insert into the machine so that the casino can track your play and give you your rebates and comps. If you wander off with the card still inserted, you have to bother the customer service people to get a new card. Or you might have to bother someone who’s taken over the machine to get your card back. If you find someone else’s card still in the machine, remove it and put it on top of the machine.
If you win a huge jackpot, it used to be customary to tip the person who took care of your payouts. In modern casinos, though, everything is handled electronically via a ticket in/ticket out system, so this doesn’t come up. But you should still tip your cocktail waitress, even if she’s only bringing you a Coke.
If you’re a non-smoker, don’t complain about someone smoking at their machine. Just find a non-smoking casino instead. There are plenty of places where you can gamble without being subjected to tobacco smoke, but if you choose to play in a smoking casino, then let the smokers do what they do without harassing them.
Some slots players like to play more than one machine at a time. That’s fine, but if a casino is crowded, you should stick with one machine in order to let others play.
None of these etiquette tips will help you win more money, by the way. But it’s good practice to try to fit into normal society.
4. Choose Your Slot Machine Wisely
You cannot control the whims of lady luck, but you can try to choose slot machines which offer better odds. Pay no attention to the advice you see about how the loose machines are placed on the edge of the rows. That advice is outdated and useless.
Here are some modern, accurate tips about which slot machines have higher payouts:
Slot machines in major casinos pay out better than slot machines in other areas. You’ll find machines which pay out better at a casino on the Las Vegas Strip than you will at the airport, for example. Bars are also notorious for having slot machine games with low payback percentages.
The more complicated the game is, the lower the payback percentage is. All those extra bells and whistles like bonus games, fancy animation, and multiple paylines cost money to implement. And you pay for it in the form of a lower payback percentage and a higher house edge. If you can find a 3-reel, single line slot machine, you’ll have the best chance of walking away a winner.
Progressive slot machines have an ever-expanding jackpot, but you pay for that via a lower payback percentage, too. Every bet you make helps to fuel that jackpot. They take a tiny percentage from each bet and divert it directly to the jackpot. Your odds of winning that jackpot are long enough to be practically 0, so that money fueling the jackpot is just gone forever. It shouldn’t even count toward the calculation of the theoretical payout percentage.
Finally, consider trying video poker games. These aren’t true slot machines at all, but they offer a higher return to player even if you’re not familiar with how to play. They also offer you the opportunity to think and make decisions while you play. You might enjoy the mental stimulation of a video poker game.
5. Put Your Money In
There are still machines where you can input coins, but in today’s casino market, you’ll probably just be putting cash in the machine. They have a reader which looks similar to a change machine. When you feed cash into it, the credits appear on the machine so that you can start to play.
Since most gambling machines at most casinos use a ticket in/ticket out system, they also accept tickets in the reader. In the old days, you’d have to deal with lots of coins and cups to carry those coins around, but the tickets are a lot easier for both the player and the casino.
Before you put your money in, be sure to look at the front of the machine so you’ll know what denomination you’re playing for. If you insert a $100 bill into a dollar machine, you’ll have 100 credits. Insert that same bill into a $5 machine, and you’ll only have 20 credits.
You should also make yourself aware of how many coins you’re wagering per spin and per line. Most modern slots have multiple pay lines, and you have to pay to activate each one. This can add up fast even if you’re playing a low-denomination machine. For example, if you’re playing a penny slot machine which allows you to bet 5 units per line on 25 lines, you’re wagering $1.25 per spin if you place the max bet.
7 Steps To Slot Machine Success
6. Always Play With Your Players Club Card Inserted
Almost all modern casinos have a players club you can join. You should join the players club and play with the card inserted into the machine. The casino tracks how much money you put into action over time and provides you with comps and rebates based on how much you are wagering.
You get these comps and rebates even if you walk away a winner.
That’s because the casino wants to reward you for playing. The more you play, the more you’ll lose in the long run. The casino doesn’t care about what happens in the short term, because they’re dealing with thousands of players on thousands of machines playing for thousands of hours a year. The long run happens for a casino much more quickly than it does for a player.
You might have legitimate reasons for not using the players club card, though. If you hate getting advertising in the mail, you might not want to join. If you have a philosophical problem with the casino tracking your playing tendencies, that might be a legitimate reason, too.
But if you want to minimize the house edge, use your players club card. It’s worth between 0.1% and 0.3% in rebates, and that might as well be real money. Over time it adds up, too.
Conclusion
Slot machines are available in a bewildering array of sizes, shapes, and sounds. Most of them are straightforward enough, though—you input your money, spin the reels, and hope for the best. If you get confused about what’s happening, you can always ask a friendly nearby gambler who looks like she knows what she’s doing. The casino staff are usually eager to help, too.
There’s no such thing as a professional slot machine player, but if you use a little bit of good sense, you can have a lot of fun for your money when you’re playing. Just stick with the games I recommended in this post to maximize your probability of winning.