Introduction to Choosing Slot Machines
Once a specific casino has been determined to currently be the best of any available, choosing slot machines becomes the next step towards making a profit at slots.
Remember, statistics supplied to state gaming commissions show that the odds of winning are, on average, somewhere around 90%. By assessing all available casinos, then selecting the best possible, you’ve already improved your odds of winning – perhaps by several percentage points.
Whatever your gambling goals are, we’ll talk about those in the next step Identifying Gambling Goals. For now, we need to consider choosing slot machines that will most likely improve our overall odds even more.
So, we’ve walked into our best casino to choose slot machines with the highest odds of winning we can find. How do we select a good slot machine? Most people don’t – they dive right in without much of a plan. Well, we have a plan.
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How to pick a winning slot machine could be the oldest question regarding online casinos, and is one that really has no perfect answer. The simple fact of the matter is that online slots in South Africa are essentially a game of chance, meaning that there really is no guarantee or certainty that you will always win when playing online slots.
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Why? Because everybody says it’s all about luck. If you pick wrong, “Well,” they say, “better luck next time.” Remember, casino employees are trained to say things like that. If you’d won a jackpot instead, you can believe they would have said, “You’re lucky! I’ll see you later when you win another jackpot!”
Slot attendants have a job to do, and it most certainly isn’t to get you to leave when you should. And, it’s difficult to not to influenced by such comments. But, try not to be.
In the following sections, I’ll briefly explain the following aspects of choosing slot machines:
- How odds are set within a slot machine
- Choosing denomination and maximum credits based on bankroll
- Basics of reading a slot machine’s paytable
- A simple way to use paytables to pick the best machines, and avoid the worst
Two Separate Odds of Winning
The odds of winning for a slot machine is a limited number of settings from the manufacturer. Besides understanding limited settings are available, it may help to understand that slot machines have two odds of winning to determine:
- If a player will or will not win anything
- How much that win will be, i.e., the jackpot amount
Why is understanding these two types of odds significant when choosing slot machines? Because winning slot machines come in all jackpot sizes. You’re still winning if you’re getting enough small jackpots that your bankroll isn’t shrinking. Even if it is slowly depleting, the bankroll can last quite a bit longer, so that’s also a winning slot machine.
Winning many jackpots this way is bankroll cycling. It may not seem very satisfactory, but whether it does or not depends entirely on what your gambling goals are. One type of gambling goal, earning maximum complimentary gifts, is most often achieved via bankroll cycling.
Another point about setting slot machine odds is, how often they change? Of course, it depends on the age of the casino, as discussed in the previous step Assessing Casinos for Success, or if it’s been renovated lately.
In my experience, older-style casinos change their slot machine odds every 7-10 days. Newer-style casinos can change their slot machine odds whenever the machine has been idle for 15 minutes or more, without a players club card inserted or the machine temporarily locked by a slot attendant.
Matching Bankrolls to Denomination/Credits
Only you can decide how much bankroll you want to risk gambling. I highly recommend bringing only as much money you can safely afford to lose comfortably.
Bankrolls quite literally determine which slot machines you can play. But, there’s more to it than understanding a $100 bankroll lets you play a 1-credit, $100-denomination exactly once, with very, very little chance of winning.
Whatever bankroll you have limits which slot machines can be played and how much it can be played. Slot machines have denominations ($0.01, $0.25, $1, $5, $10, etc.) and the maximum credits that can be placed in a single bet.
Slot machines typically must run for a while before wins become more likely. Yes, wins can occur at the first press of a button. They can also happen within the first few bets, where casinos offer a taste. But, usually, they need to run for a while.
About 100-120 bets is the right amount to be prepared to play to determine if you’re sitting at a winning (or breakeven) slot machine. Yes, be careful initially, perhaps making as few as 20 bets, to determine if it happens to be a “bad” machine. Trust your instincts!
If it is a poorly performing machine, a “tight” slot machine, it won’t pay out anything at all. Quick decisions are necessary here, so limited betting gives a clue to its performance, yet still leaves enough to gamble with on another machine if it isn’t – assuming you stop playing it as soon as you notice it’s not performing well enough.
So, again, you determine how much bankroll you can afford to spend. Now, take that number and divide it by 120 bets. If your bankroll is $60, then that’s 50 cents per bet. In such a way, the right choice is a 2-credit, quarter-denomination slot machine. Or, a 50-credit, penny-denomination slot machine.
Always remember to play maximum credits for the highest odds of winning. Meaning, your casino may not have a 2-maximum-credit quarter or 50-maximum-credit penny machines. But, perhaps they have a 1-maximum-credit quarter or less-than-50-maximum-credits penny machines. Such slot machines would provide more than 120 bets of play, which is going in the right direction!
Reading a Slot Machine’s Paytable
When choosing a slot machine to play, a crucial aspect of winning is to review its paytable before playing. Frankly, the casino industry gains an advantage over players that don’t read slot machine paytables.
Located somewhere on a slot machine is one or more tables showing the number of credits won if specific combinations of reel symbols appear in the pay line after the player makes a bet. Below is a relatively generic example of a paytable.
The figure shows reel combinations along with their jackpot depending on the number of credits bet. Paytables don’t typically explain how much credits
Not every reel combination and its associated jackpot are usually shown in a paytable. Other reel combinations not shown in the top rows are also presented in the paytable area. Slot machines with WILD symbols can represent it with a myriad of other possible reel symbols.
A final element of paytable example provided is specific information on winning reel combinations, which can include an indication of how the slot machine operates during play. The bottom row of symbol explains that that slot machine has reel symbols which will move after the reels stop momentarily.
Such additional features may not activate until the maximum credits are bet. It can sometimes be difficult, or impossible, to determine this. Most slot machines with bonus rounds will provide at least some information about it within its paytable.
Developing a habit of reviewing and studying a slot machine’s paytable can help improve your ability to judge the financial risks involved with playing that slot machine.
How to Avoid the Worst Slot Machines
The best way to improve the odds of winning via slot machine gambling is to stop making “sucker bets”. In less colorful language, avoid playing slot machines with terrible odds of winning.
First and foremost, understand when choosing slot machines that there are indeed terrible slot machines at a casino. By merely avoiding them whenever possible, on average, your long-term gambling return will improve. Each time we raise our odds like this, we’re pushing closer to achieving our gambling goals. So, let’s make sure we do that, shall we?
Calculate this “Goodness Ratio” as follows:
- When choosing slot machines, as discussed above, find the paytable with the denomination and maximum credits that best matches your available bankroll.
- Take a close look at the paytable. What is the maximum possible jackpot when maximum credits are bet?
- If the top jackpot is displayed in currency, divide it by both the denomination of the machine and the maximum credits
- If the top jackpot is displayed in credits, divide it by only the maximum credits
This “Goodness Ratio” tells us how worthwhile a specific slot machine is to play relative to others. By using this approach, any slot machine can be compared to any other slot machine.
Example: In the paytable above, the maximum jackpot is 2,400 credits with three maximum credits. Therefore, its Goodness Ratio is 2,400 / 3 = 800.
Repeat this calculation for slot machines of interest. While this Goodness Ratio will be similar for many slot machines, it can be startling to find “sucker bet” slot machines that might not otherwise be avoided.
Summary for Choosing Slot Machines
After a casino has been chosen, it’s time to select candidate slot machines most likely to result in a relatively high-value win. The size of your available bankroll, whatever it is, is an essential factor in this selection process. The bankroll size needs to be matched to the slot machine’s denomination and the number of maximum credits.
Here, we’ve also discussed how slot machines calculated odds twice: once to determine if you’ve won, and again to determine how much you’ve won. Another critical aspect discussed to improve a player’s performance was the basics of reading a slot machine’s paytable.
Finally, we talked about the “goodness” ratio to help select candidate slot machines and, perhaps critically important when improving our odds of winning, knowing precisely which slot machines must be avoided.
Next Steps
The next step on your journey to improving slots performance is Identifying Gambling Goals. Enjoy!
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Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl LLC
No gambler alive that can accurately predict the precise moment a slot machine is going to payout. Anyone telling you different is either sorely misguided or a flat-out liar.
Imagine if you could clearly pick out the exact moment a slot machine is due to pay. The casinos would have the machines loaded up on trailers and headed for a warehouse before you could snap your fingers.
An Objective View for How to Pick a Slot Machine Game
The casino industry is a fine-tuned example of capitalism. Its primary objective is to entertain the masses while relieving them of their hard-earned money.
Don’t slam the door on slot machines, though. You shouldn’t write off slot machines simply because they don’t exist to print money for hungry gamblers.
How to pick a real money slot machine is one of the most valuable casino lessons you could possibly learn.
But I see a constant stream of casino gamblers milling about the casino floor without any idea what machine to settle on.
Knowing Is Half the Battle
Secrets To Slot Machine Winning
Slot machine odds are, as you likely know, centered on mathematical probability. Therefore, understanding how these odds work will enable you to use them to your advantage. You might even get lucky and turn a profit.
If you have the correct strategy at hand and at least know the basic return to player for a specific slot, you have a higher probability of winning at slots.
I’ve spent months scouring pages of slot machine best practices trying to learn the optimal strategy for how to pick a slot machine. I now feel like I’m well-equipped to offer you the most complete plan for hedging your bets while going for slot machine profits.
Get to Know the Payouts
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s more than surface-level banter. Every casino gambler is all too familiar with what the house edge is. If you’re scratching your head or just need a refresher, let me explain.
The house edge is a mathematical advantage the casinos have over the players. Over a long enough stretch of time, this manifests itself in a guaranteed percentage back to the casino. The casino will always, 100% of the time, beat the player in the long run. After all, the mega-casinos we see today weren’t built by tourists who left as winners.
Don’t give up just yet, though.
There’s still hope.
Despite the odds being against you, you may still find yourself leaving the casino with “house money.”
Meet the return to player (RTP).
The RTP is based on a theoretical rate of statistical payout to the player.
For most Las Vegas or online slot machines, you can expect an RTP of 90 to 96%. However, there are outliers — both high and low. Some RTPs are as low as 75%, while on the high end, you can find RTP of 98%.
Clearly, you want to opt for machines at or over 96%.
You may think 2% can’t really have much difference, and, in a short sample, it probably does not. When you extend that same 2% bonus over several thousand spins, you’ll see a significant difference.
Do some research before you start slinging coins into the one arm bandit. If you’re playing online slots, most software companies will have published RTP available.
Your Entertainment Bang for Your Buck
Volatility can be another factor in choosing a slot machine. Commonly referred to as variance, volatility is used to calculate how well you may expect to do during your session. Think of it as a guide for what you should be winning or losing per hour.
Slot machines with a higher variance typically offer long dry spells with the sporadic substantial win. On these machines, you may quickly find yourself chasing these huge wins. You need to keep an eye on that bankroll, though, because you’ll be receiving a few of those intermittent wins that normally keep it supplied with the coins.
Of course, when the stars (or cherries) align, you’re in for a giant influx of cash. These colossal wins can be worth the extended drought if you have the bankroll to survive them.
Juxtaposed with the high variance slots are the low volatility games. Payouts on these machines come much more frequently but in smaller sizes. Rest assured, massive wins are still a possibility with these machines. They are merely less frequent and not of the giant proportions of the high volatility machines.
Whether you’re interested in the incremental small wins or want to hit pay dirt with one crashing jackpot is an individual preference. If you’re going to leave the casino with bags full of the casino’s money, you should risk it on the high volatility games. If you’re content to just plug away for hours on end, taking small wins, the low variance games suit your needs.
As you might have guessed, the casinos aren’t handing out pamphlets with the particular volatility of their games. So, you may need to search for reviews from other players or, if you have the funds, do your own research.
Explore the Bonuses Available Online
If you‘re gambling in online casinos, you have a built-in advantage. The casino bonus can be a tremendous tool in the war on the house’s edge. Without exception, the top online casinos offer some form of free cash to incentivize new players.
These offers can help extend your bankroll long enough for the odds to turn in your favor.
Unfortunately, they will eventually dry up. When that time comes, it may be wise to start shopping around again. Be cautious to carefully read all terms and conditions of the bonuses before you settle on one.
When Can Be As Important to Your Success
Now that you have a reliable roadmap for how to pick a slot machine. Let’s talk about another vital factor in your winning.
When you decide to leap can play a role in hitting a huge jackpot or missing the boat entirely.
Because we now know about variance, we can use that to our advantage. Imagine you are on a long session and have been watching the time on a high volatility machine. No jackpots have been hit when suddenly the game erupts in lights and sounds. It takes a minute before you realize that you’ve just hit a huge win.
How To Select A Winning Slot Machine
Shy away from games that are unpopular with fellow players. Games that get constant attention will more often have stretches of higher payouts. If you are wasting your time on a stale machine, you will quickly burn through your bankroll.
Remember, the objective here is to get maximum entertainment for your gambling dollar. If you see an empty section of slots, it’s typically because the games aren’t providing much in the form of entertainment. Usually, they won’t have the exciting features packed into popular games.
You should do as much to find out the RTP of these machines as possible. I have heard stories from friends in the casino industry about the lone slots player hitting it big.
One story comes from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There was a specific slot machine that had been released with little to no fanfare. While other casino patrons scurried past regularly, none dropping more than a few dollars in, one lady chose to challenge convention.
Perhaps she just preferred to avoid the crowds in other areas. Regardless, she reportedly played the same seemingly mundane slot for 3 consecutive days. For hours she would play morning, noon, and night. After 3 days, she was considerably down but had enjoyed hours of entertainment from the game, the cocktail server, and an occasional passer-by.
On day 4 there she was at 8 am like clockwork.
Lady Luck had shifted, and by noon, she was up over $5,000.
By that night, she had a 5 figure profit.
How To Choose A Winning Slot Machine
Shortly after she began winning, she had a bevy of new friends and a lot of company.
Conclusion
If you’re on the hunt for a massive jackpot, you have your work cut out for you. You simply can’t control when a slot machine pays out. You can control how much fun you’re having.
So, focus on that instead.
How To Pick A Winning Slot Machine
Keep in mind that the gambler’s fallacy is just that. Avoid being sucked into thinking you’re somehow due for a giant winning streak. You need to be willing to accept the losses as much as the wins. Then you are ready to pick a slot machine and enjoy its maximum potential.