Some players might consider themselves high rollers, but for the majority of gamblers you’re going to want to look for a lower minimum bet. Because most only slots make you play all of the lines, you will most likely have to wager at least a $0.25.

If you’re going to play slot machine games you might as well have fun doing so. I look at playing the slots as being like paying to see a movie. A really expensive movie in a crowded theater 100 miles from home.

When it comes to playing slots at a live casino, you can trust your fellow slot players and look at how people play. Use the information available on casino blogs and casino sites to your advantage. All casino games, including slots, are disadvantageous for a player. Their RTP is lower than 100% and they favor the casino. That means that you need luck to win, which is exactly why higher volatility is generally better for you. Upon entering a casino you will usually notice that there are two types of slot machines: reel slots and video slots. Reel slots have physical reels that spin and are found in land-based casinos. They are sometimes referred to as fruit machines as the symbols represented resemble pieces of fruit like cherries or oranges.

Slot gaming may be the most popular form of casino gambling but it’s less likely to produce the kinds of results people hope for. I’ve won some jackpots over the years but none to write home about.

Popular tips for playing the slots include ideas like play machines in open areas because they might be more loose and stop playing when you’ve lost half your money. These strategies cater to your fears.

People are afraid they’ll play the wrong slot machine or that they’ll play too long.

But how long is too long if you’re winning?

You only play too long if you keep losing. And since you can’t legally force the game to make you a winner you always have the option of changing games or not playing any longer. Research shows that slot gamers are more likely to become addicted if they lose themselves in the game experience.

What that means is that maintaining situational awareness is key to successful slot gaming. And by “successful” I only mean you play the games on your terms, not the casino’s.

They want you to keep playing. You want to keep playing only if you win. The best we can hope for is a compromise between an enjoyable evening that doesn’t cost much and keeping the casino in business.

With that goal in mind, here are the best strategies I’ve found for playing slot machine games.

1 – Only Play as Much as You’re Willing to Lose

One bit of advice I’ve read – and shared – across the years is to stop playing the game when you’ve lost half your money.

But why should we budget $100 for a game if we only intend to play it for $50?

The idea behind this stop-loss strategy is to treat the wins and losses on the slot games like price fluctuations in the stock market. That is exactly how someone explained the idea to me the first time I heard it.

If you buy a share stock at $100 you want to set a stop-loss sell order at, say, $80 to protect most of your capital. Instead of riding the storm out you dump the stock, letting some other investor eat the continuing losing value, and then get back in when the stock turns around.

But we can’t play slot machine games that way. You’ll never know when you can get back into the game because every new spin is a whole new game.

On the other hand, if you’re willing to lose $50 before you abandon a slot machine game then just put $50 in the machine. Don’t deposit your entire bankroll. You’ll have to cash out your tickets a few times during the night but you’ll never lose more than $50 a game if you don’t want to.

2 – Only Play A Game That Pays You on the Next Spin

Some people drop a max bet into a slot machine game and move on if it takes their money. The idea behind this tactic is that a game is more likely to keep paying you if it pays on the first spi.

Admittedly that is completely illogical. Every game is a new game. The random number generator that controls the results could be right on the cusp of a long losing streak for players when you push Spin the first time. You’ll win a nice prize and then the machine takes your money.

So treat every spin as the first spin.

What’s the difference between putting $5 in one machine and $5 in the machine next to it?

The idea in this strategy is to only play a machine as long as it keeps paying you. Abandon the game as soon as it takes your bet.

This is a fast-paced, haphazard strategy that works best for people who are bored, almost ready to leave, or who need to kill some time.

There is no way to guarantee that you’ll win the next spin.

3 – Use the Buddy System

Instead of playing the same slot machines side by side, play 1 machine with a partner.

I’ve used this system with my wife a few times. She picks the slot machine and I check on her every hour. She takes a break while I keep the machine “warm”.

When she comes back I’ll cash in her tickets and adjust her gambling fund. If we’re winning, of course.

This is a hard system to follow because everyone wants to be in the game at some point in the evening. And if you’re in a crowded casino on a Friday or Saturday night you may not have a place to sit beside your partner.

The buddy systems well because it helps both players stay alert. You check each other’s progress frequently and you’re only managing one bankroll. This is a good strategy for a date night but friends will most likely want to play their own games.

4 – Only Play Max Bets

Some people are afraid to push that Max Bet button. Now if you’re down to your last $15 you may think you want to keep playing but in reality you have almost as little chance of winning a decent prize in fifteen $1 spins as in three $5 spins.

The mathematical difference between 15 and 5 spins on a machine that may only pay a big win is less than 1%. Most prizes that slot machines pay are pretty small with respect to their largest possible prizes.

What the Max Bet button gets you a larger multiple. The prize you win could be 2X your bet, 5X, 25X, 100X, or more. If you only bet a dollar then you’ll win anywhere from $2 to $200 in a typical game.

That same spin can pay you anywhere from $30 to $1500 on five-dollar bet.

The variation between prize amounts is directly proportionate to how much you wager. This is common knowledge but it’s easy to stop feeling the power of the multiplier when you’re almost out of money.

The biggest prize goes to the boldest player. You shouldn’t be playing slots hoping for a lot of small wins. These games are designed to slowly or rapidly siphon away players’ money over time.

5 – Write a Game Off If It Takes Your Money

Budgeting is the number 1 piece of advice for gamblers who play slot machine games. From watch how much you lose per hour to cut your losses short, slot strategy articles focus on the money.

Metaphorically playing the slots is a lot like surfing a giant wave. You’ll never have the skill you need to always catch the big waves and ride them as far as you can go. You’re just lucky to get a good ride every now and then.

Your strategic judgment tells you when to stop winning or losing money. If you’ve divided your bankroll into tickets that total how much you’re willing to lose on a slot game resist the urge to put another ticket into the machine.

The game doesn’t owe you anything. You’re falling for the classic sunk cost gambling fallacy, thinking you’ve lost too much money to stop playing now.

If all you’ve done on a game is lose then walk away. There are hundreds of other machines you can try.

Conclusion

The best way to play the slots is to keep your eye on the real prize: having fun. The bonus games are fun, the ambient sounds are fun, and the graphics are fun. Enjoy what you’re paying for and don’t think about how much of your monthly budget you can pay out of your winnings.

If it were that easy to win slot machine games the casinos wouldn’t stock hundreds or thousands of them. They’d find some other way to keep players entertained and losing money.

Your time in the casino should be relaxing, not stressful. The games you play should be amusing, interesting, or somehow entertaining. It helps to have someone to talk to and share those occasional wins with.

If you’re looking for the best strategy to use for playing real money slots, no one has found anything better. At least, nothing legal comes to mind.

The phrase “slot machine strategy” causes the eyes of some
players to light up with visions of untold riches. For others,
it makes about as much sense as “skydiving without a parachute
strategy.”

This polarizing topic has long been the subject of debate
among gamblers. Some insist that employing various strategies
can give the player a long-term advantage, while others dismiss
the notion as nonsense.

No matter which side of the fence you’re on, we hope this
article is able to shed more light on the subject. We’ll be
examining a number of slots strategies, as well as explaining
how modern games work and dispelling some of the more popular
myths.

How a Slot Machine Works

Before you can even begin to think about applying a strategy,
it helps to know how a slot machine works. In this section,
we’ll offer a basic rundown on the inner workings of the games
once known as “one-armed bandits.”

The main element of any modern slot machine is the random
number generator. If we want to be entirely accurate, the random
number generator is actually the function, while the chip
installed in every slot is known as an EPROM (or “erasable
programmable read-only memory”). For the sake of simplicity,
however, most refer to the EPROM as the random number generator,
which is what we’ll be doing for the remainder of this article.

What Is a Random Number Generator?

The RNG is constantly selecting a series of numbers, and the
result can range from miniscule up to several billion. This
function takes place whether or not the machine is being played,
which means every unattended slot machine on the casino floor is
generating a flurry of numbers every millisecond.

What To Look For When Playing Slots

It should also be noted that the generated numbers are in no
way determined by the size of a potential jackpot, the number of
credits deposited, or whether or not a slots club card is used.
No matter the circumstances, the computer spits out its numbers
with pure impartiality.

Once a number has been generated, it’s divided up using a
formula that’s been programmed into the heart of the slot
machine. The resulting number corresponds to a “stop” on the
reel of the machine.

What’s a Stop?

As the name would imply, a stop is a stopping point on the
reel. This could be a cherry symbol, a blank space, or the face
of some popular movie character on a licensed game.

Older slots had a smaller number of stop, often around 10 per
reel. That’s changed significantly in the last several decades,
and now anywhere from 25 to 50 stops is commonplace. The reason
for this is because old-school slots had fixed images on their
reels, while video slots can produce virtual icons as needed.

When a game is created at the factory, some symbols are
programmed to show up more often than others. This process is
known as “weighing,” and it’s the main reason why slots aren’t
paying out massive sums of money every few spins. Let’s say, for
example, that you need three “Jackpot” symbols to get a big
payday, but each of these icons only appears (on average) every
100 spins. While the odds of getting one aren’t great, the odds
of getting all three would be one in one-million.

How Do Slots Work?

The actual gameplay of a slot occurs differently than what
most players would imagine. Since the game is constantly
generating numbers, pressing the spin button simply selects the
most recent string of numbers to be randomly produced. Once this
has occurred, the reels spin and eventually stop to display the
icons that correspond with those numbers.

The real outcome of a spin takes place the moment the
customer presses the button, as a randomly generated number is
selected. These numbers correspond to various stops on the
reels, and some icons are weighted to show up more often than
others.

Common Myths (When Slots Strategies Go Wrong)

myth /a widely held but false idea or belief.

While most associate the word myth with tales of ancient gods
and epic heroes, you’d better believe that the world of gambling
has its fair share of myths and legends.

In this section, we’ll be looking at some of the most popular
and/or persistent slots myths. To make your life easier, we’ll
also verify or debunk their credibility, although anyone hoping
for the former is likely to come away disappointed.

Myth #1

At land-based casinos, loose slots are always placed
by the doors and heavy traffic areas to attract more customers.

This is inaccurate. A number of third-party studies have been
conducted about the placement of slot machines, and no evidence
has been found to suggest that casinos engage in this sort of
practice. People are already coming to the casino to gamble, so
resorting to such tricks would just be a waste of time.

Myth #2

You’re more likely to win on a slot machine by
pulling the lever instead of pressing the spin button.

Also inaccurate. Most slots no longer have a lever on the
side. Those that do, however, offer no advantage to the player
who chooses it over the spin button. All the winning
combinations are being generated internally by the RNG, so it
doesn’t matter which method you decide to use.

Myth #3

The looseness or tightness of a slot machine varies
by the hour of the day and the day of the week.

Not true! In order to ensure repeat business, casinos must
find a balance between making money and paying out a certain
amount to players. If they were to somehow tighten up their
slots during the busy times of the day or week, they would
likely notice a significant drop-off in their business. In
addition, somehow magically adjusting all the machines on the
casino floor would be a major pain in the rear.

Myth #4

In a land-based casino, employees have the inside
scoop on the loose slots.

False. The average cocktail waitress has no clue about the
payout percentage of the slots. We’ve heard of some customers
offering employees a cut of their winnings if they direct them
to the loose machines, but we would certainly advise against
this. Not only do they not have the answers you’re looking for,
but some might still play along in the hopes that you’ll win and
give them a cut of the profits.

Myth #5

Using a player card reduces the potential payout of
a slot.

Don’t let this garbage trick you into skipping the slots
club. The only purpose of the player card is to keep track of
player spending for the purpose of awarding complimentary items
such as meals and show tickets. If slots actually tightened up
when club cards were used, the casinos would render these items
useless and send comp hunters to the competition.

Myth #6

If a slot machine hasn’t paid out a big win in a
while, then it’s due to hit. Conversely, a slot that just
delivered a winner is going to be cold for a while.

A slot machine’s random number generator ensures that each
spin is independent of the last one. While the odds are stacked
against getting multiple top jackpots on the same machine within
a short span of time, there’s no special internal program
designed to prevent such a thing. Ultimately, blame it on the
math.

Myth #7

The casino can remotely alter the payout percentage
of a slot.

This myth is dangerous because it is based on fact. There are
certain slots that now allow their payout percentage to be
altered remotely, but these are in the vast minority. In most
states, they don’t exist at all. But even in a market like Las
Vegas where such devices are being tested on a limited basis,
the state laws regarding a minimum payout percentage still
apply.

Myth #8

Warm coins increase your chance of winning.

False. There’s an old belief that rubbing your fingers
against a coin makes it more likely to produce a winner. This is
one of the more ridiculous slot machine myths out there,
especially since most players no longer even use coins. If you
buy into this one, you’ll just wind up looking like an imbecile.

Myth #9

Slot payoffs are produced on a predictable cycle.

False. While each slot is programmed to pay back a certain
percentage of money over the long haul, this takes place during
millions of spins. There’s also no pattern to predict, as the
RNG ensures that each spin is completely self-contained and
unrelated to what’s come before.

Myth #10

If you use a player card at a land-based casino, it
enables the establishment to report your winnings to the
Internal Revenue Service.

The casino monitors your winnings when you go to the window
to cash out. If your payout is larger than a certain amount
($1,200 in Las Vegas on slots and bingo), then the casino fills
out a W-2G form and sends it along to the IRS, along with the
size of your winnings and personal information. There’s no
escaping the tax man.

There are a significant number of myths surrounding slot
machines. Falling prey to these false beliefs can result in
everything from players looking foolish to losing money. Your
best bet is to pick a machine that looks like fun, insert your
money, and ignore the superstitious ramblings of fellow
gamblers.

Simple Slots Strategies that Work

The outcome of a slot machine is impossible to predict. In
addition, a number of the suggested ways to win are nothing more
than ridiculous myths. When these facts are combined, it might
seem as though no successful strategy can be applied to slots.
Luckily, that’s only half true.

There’s no magical way to “beat” a slot machine. Casinos and
game developers have spent a considerable amount of time and
money making sure that these games can’t be overcome on a
consistent basis. There are, however, steps that can be taken to
give yourself the best possible chance of winning.

If you prefer real-world practicality to pipe dreams, we
suggest committing the following slots strategies to memory and
utilizing them each time you set foot in the casino or log into
a virtual establishment. Even though your win/loss ratio may not
increase immediately, you’re bound to be better off in the long
term.

Watch for High Advertised Payback Percentages

In an effort to attract business, some casinos may advertise
slots with a specific payback percentage such as 98% or 97.5%.
These are always a wise decision, as the casino has just
revealed the long-term expected payout (such information is
usually closely guarded). Always watch for deceptive practices,
though, as “up to 99% return” is not the same as a guaranteed
99% return.

Manage Your Bankroll

Before you start playing at a casino, take careful stock of
your finances and determine how much money you can afford to
lose. If you can’t afford to lose any, then you shouldn’t be
playing in the first place. If you have a certain amount of
disposable income, set a number and never play beyond that
figure. This can mean the difference between a losing session
and a session that forces you to borrow money or miss a car
payment.

Always Take the Game’s Advice

Playing Slots Free

An increasing number of slots are beginning to include skill
features, and it’s commonplace for these machines to offer some
basic advice on how to succeed at such in-game elements. Unless
you designed the game and know some special trick, it’s always a
good idea to follow such advice.

Play a Table Game Instead

While slots can be a lot of fun, they’re also one of the
biggest bankroll killers in the casino. They rely almost
exclusively on the element of chance, and a machine can
sometimes go years without delivering its top jackpot.
Meanwhile, table games offer better odds and interaction with
other players.

Remember Your Ticket

After you’ve hit a jackpot, the machine prints a ticket that
can be redeemed at the cashout window. While it’s natural to get
excited after a big win, don’t walk away and forget to grab your
ticket. If you do, then someone else may wind up snatching the
ticket and walking out of the casino with your winnings.

Get a Player Card and Use It

Player cards are used by the casino to keep track of how much
you’re betting at their establishment. If you’re a frequent
player, you can expect to be rewarded for your patronage in the
form of comps, which often include free meals, rooms, or tickets
to a show. Since you’re not paying for these items, comps can
turn an otherwise losing session at the casino into a profitable
gaming excursion.

Play Physical Reels

Games with actual reels are quickly becoming a thing of the
past. If you can find one, though, you’d be smart to play it.
That’s because these games almost always offer a higher payout
percentage than their virtual counterparts. That’s because fancy
video slots take longer to play, which means the casino has to
make up for this lost time by siphoning off more of your money.

Watching People Playing Slot Machines

Slow and Steady

By adopting a slow rate of play, you can satisfy your craving
for gambling while also limiting the amount of your losses. This
might not seem like much of a strategy, but we’ve seen people
blow their whole bankroll at a slot within five minutes of
sitting down. Don’t be that person.

Simple Games Have Better Odds

While massive games with spinning wheels and impressive video
displays are popular, they’re often not the most profitable
machines. That’s because casinos know that these games are going
to attract customers regardless, so they can get away with
setting the payback percentage lower. The more basic machines,
meanwhile, offer better odds to make up for their more
straightforward presentation.

Avoid Statewide Progressives

Sure, it would be nice to hit the Megabucks statewide
progressive in Nevada and become a multi-millionaire. The odds
are against it, however, and you’re likely to receive far fewer
payout while fishing for that top jackpot. That’s because
twenty-one cents of every dollar wagered goes toward either the
jackpot or the casino’s profits. That doesn’t leave a lot of
money to return to the player on smaller wins.

Higher Denominations Have Better Odds

Since a game with a higher denomination is ultimately making
more money from players, it can afford to offer higher payouts.
Use this to your advantage by sticking to games with a larger
minimum bet. For example, playing one coin per line on a nickel
game offers you better odds than playing five coins per line on
a penny slot (even though you’re spending the same amount of
money on both).

Summary

Videos Of People Playing Slots

Anyone seeking a foolproof way to beat slot machines is going
to be disappointed, as these games are consistently the biggest
revenue generators for any casino. However, by utilizing tactics
such as playing slowly and signing up for a free player card,
you can increase your chances of winning. Considering how much
the odds are stacked against you, this is about the best you can
hope for over the life of your gaming career.