Slot machines use a variable ratio because. A) the gambler won't be able to tell when the next payoff is going to occur b) it increases the gambler's resistance to quitting c) the gambler will fear that. One slot feature that tends to get players excited is the potential for winning a progressive jackpot. It seems like more and more slots have them, but not all progressives are equal. One type that advantage players are on the hunt for when scouring the slot floor is a Must Hit By progressive.

• Appendices
• Slots Analysis
• Miscellaneous

Introduction

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When it comes to gambling, the easier a game is to understand the worse the odds usually are. This is certainly the case with slot machines. Playing them is as easy as pressing a button. However, between the high house edge and fast rate of play, there is no quicker way to lose your money in a casino.

Before going further, let me make clear that this page addresses the way slot machines work in most parts of the United States and the world. However, some parts of this page do not apply everywhere. For example, I state that slot machines have a memory-less property, where the odds of every spin are the same. In some places, like the UK, some machines in bars, called 'fruit machines,' have a mechanism that guarantees a certain profit over the short run, which causes the game to go through loose and tight cycles. These games do not have the usual independence property of the major slot makers.

How They Work

Whether you're playing a 3-reel single-line game or a 5-reel 25-line game, the outcome of every bet is ultimately determined by random numbers. The game will choose one random number for each reel, map that number onto a position on the reel, stop the reel in the appointed place, and score whatever the outcome is. In other words, the outcome is predestined the moment you press the button; the rest is just for show. There are no hot and cold cycles; your odds are the same for every spin on a given machine.

A Slot Machine Is An Example Of

Slot machines are just about the only game in the casino where the odds are not quantifiable. In other words, the player doesn't know how the game was designed, so it is difficult to look at an actual game to use as an example. So, to help explain how they work, I created the Atkins Diet slot machine (link). It is a simple, five-reel game with a free spin bonus round, much like IGT's Cleopatra game.

For information on how it works and all the odds, please visit my Atkins Diet par sheet.

For a more complicated example, featuring sticky wilds in the bonus, please try my Vamos a Las Vegas slot machine.

For information on how it works and all the odds, please visit my Vamos a Las Vegas par sheet (PDF).

Odds

The following table shows the casino win for Clark County Nevada (where Las Vegas is) for all slots for calendar year 2012. They define 'slot' as any electronic game, including video poker and video keno. I've found video keno to be about equally as tight as reeled slots, but video poker has a much higher return. So, the return for reeled slots should be higher than these figures.

Clark County Slot Win 2012

Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board, Gaming Revenue Report for December 2012 (PDF, see page 6).

Most players play penny video slots. Based on past research, I find the house edge on those to usually be set from 6% to 15%. In general, the nicer the casino, the tighter the slots.

Advice

While there is no skill to playing slots, there is some skill in selecting which machine to play and ways you can maximize your return. What follows is my advice, if you must play slots at all.

• Always use a player card. Slots may be a lousy bet, but the casinos treat slot players very well. A $1 slot player will probably get comped better than a $100 blackjack player. Of course, don't play for the reason of getting comps. You'll give them a lot more than they'll give you.
• The simpler the game, the better the odds. The fancy games with big signs and video screens tend to not pay as well as the simple games. However, slot players always tell me the fancy games are more fun.
• The higher the denomination, the better the odds. For that reason, it is better to play one coin per line on a 5-cent game than five coins per line on a 1-cent game.
• Don't forget to cash out and take your ticket when you leave. It is easy to forget after hitting a jackpot.
• Try to play slowly and as little as possible to get your fix.
• In some games there is a skill feature, like Top Dollar. In such games, advice is usually offered, which you should take.

Myths and Facts

Just about everything that players believe about slots is untrue. Here are the most common myths and facts. As a reminder, this page is based on slot machines commonly found in the United States. Some machines, like 'fruit machines' found in the United Kingdom work differently.

• Myth: Slot machines are programmed to go through a cycle of payoffs. Although the cycle can span thousands of spins, once it reaches the end the outcomes will repeat themselves in exactly the same order as the last cycle.

  Fact: This is not true at all. Every spin is random and independent of all past spins.

• Myth: Slot machines are programmed to pay off a particular percentage of money bet. Thus, after a jackpot is hit the machine will tighten up to get back in balance. On the other hand, when a jackpot has not been hit for a long time it is overdue and more likely to hit.

  Fact: As just mentioned, each spin is independent of all past spins. That means that for a given machine game, the odds are always the same. It makes no difference when the last jackpot was hit or how much the game paid out in the last hour, day, week, or any period of time.

• Myth: Machines pay more if a player card is not used.

  Fact: The mechanism that determines the outcome of each play does not consider whether a card is used or not. The odds are the same with or without one.

• Myth: Using a player card enables the casino to report my winnings to the IRS.

  Fact: That makes no difference. If you win $1,200 or more they will report it either way. If you have a net losing year, which you probably will, at least the casino will have evidence of it. Such annual win/loss statements may be used as evidence to declare offsetting loses to jackpot wins.

• Myth: The slot department can tighten my game with the press of a button remotely. Thus, you better be nice to the staff and tip them well, or they will use a remote control to have the machine take you down in a hurry.

  Fact: There is now some truth to the myth that the odds of a machine can be changed remotely. Such 'server-based slots' are still experimental and in a minority. Even with server-based slots, there are regulations in place to protect the player from the perceived abuses that could accompany them. For example, in Nevada a machine can not be altered remotely unless it has been idle for at least four minutes. Even then, the game will display a notice that it is being serviced during such changes. (source) Meanwhile, for the vast majority of slots, somebody would physically need to open the machine and change a computer chip, known as an EPROM chip, to make any changes.

• Myth: The machines by the doors and heavy traffic flow areas tend to be loose while those hidden in quiet corners tend to be tight.

  Fact: I've studied the relationship between slot placement and return and found no correlation. Every slot director I've asked about this laughs it off as just another player myth.

• Myth: Slots tend to be looser during slow hours on slow days of the week. However, when the casino is busy they tighten them up.

  Fact: Nobody would take the trouble to do this, even if he could. The fact of the matter is the casinos are trying to find a good balance between winning some money while letting the player leave happy. That is best achieved by slots loose enough to give the player a sufficiently long 'time on device,' as they call it in the industry, with a reasonable chance of winning so he will return to the same casino next time. If the slots are too tight, the players will sense it and be unlikely to return.

  The kind of place you're likely to find tight slots are those with a captive audience, like the Las Vegas airport. So, if the slot manager feels that 92% is the right return for a penny game, for example, he is likely to set every penny game all that way, and keep them that way for years.

Play

Reviews

• Dazzle Me (NetEnt)
• Mr. Vegas (Betsoft)
• Sparks (NetEnt)

Internal Links

• Appendix 1 shows the details and analysis of almost 4000 actual spins on a Reno slot machine.
• Appendix 2 shows an example of the virtual reels behind a hypothetical slot machine and how the average return is calculated.
• Appendix 3A: 2003 Las Vegas slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3B: 2002 Jean/Primm slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3C: 2002 Tunica slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3D: 2002 Henderson/Lake Mead slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3E: 2002 Quarter and dollar returns for Las Vegas slots
• Appendix 4 shows how the return is calculated for my Wizard's Fruit Slot Machine.
• Appendix 5 analysis of the 21 Bell Slot Machine.
• Appendix 6 Analysis of Red, White, & Blue Slot Machine.
• Lock and Roll analysis of the skill-based slot machine found in North Carolina.
• Deconstructing Jackpot Party analysis of the video slot machine.
• Deconstructing Lion's Share analysis of the classic MGM progressive game.
• Deconstructing Cleopatra analysis of the popular IGT game.
• Deconstructing Lionfish analysis of the slot game found on many Game Maker machines.
• Deconstructing Megabucks.
• Deconstructing the Atkins Diet slot machine.
• Deconstructing Lucky Larry's Lobstermania.
• Deconstructing Hexbreaker.
• Deconstructing Blazing Sevens.
• Deconstructing Hot Roll.
• Mystery progressives on Ainsworth slots.
• Mystery progressives on WMS slots.
• Baltimore Sun article, in which I am quoted.
• 100% Rebate on Slot Losses Promotions: When to quit playing when all losses are refunded.

External Links

• For a simplified explanation of slots, please see my companion site Wizard of Vegas
• German translation of this page is available at richtigspielen.com
• Another decent overview of how slots work and some practical advice for playing them is How Slot Machines Work at VegasClick.com.
• PAR Sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play: Implications for problem and non-problem gambling by Kevin A. Harrigan and Mike Dixon, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This is an outstanding academic paper that details how some popular slot machines were designed.
• PAR Sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play: Implications for problem and non-problem gambling - Academic paper based on the par sheets for some modern slot machines

I have purchased numerous slot machine strategies and betting systems promising to reveal the secrets to winning at slots that actually work. I have also developed my own variations of these slot machine strategies, based on hours upon hours of playing both day and night, with notebook in hand.

The result of all this is right here in front of you. After extensive testing of slot machine strategies, I can assure you that some strategies work well, but there are very few that work all the time, and the ones that do require incredible patience. I have learnt that the one most important thing to winning at online slot machines is to choose the best online casino since the payout percentages offered by different Internet casinos can vary between 75% and 98%.

If you want to play slots make sure you choose a casino from our list of top online casinos to be sure that you are choosing an honest casino operator. Anyway, let’s back discussing how to actually win at slots online.

Are Slot Machines Honest?

There is no getting around the fact that slot machines are “random,” so it would be fool-hardy to claim that I have discovered a fool-proof slot machine strategy.

However it also is not correct to say for example, “Because slot machine games are random, there is no such thing as a winning slot machine strategy…” On the contrary, I have repeatedly seen slot machines, both online and offline that keep on paying for a considerable time, and the players who responded accordingly were well rewarded.

I can’t tell you where or when you may find such a game, but the slot machine strategies below are in my experience the best ways to take advantage of a situation when it arises.

Standard Deviation Slot Machine Strategies

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This type is among the most advanced of all the slot machine strategies I have found. They involve the following two components.

Winning The Jackpot At The Slot Machine Is An Example Of A Dependent Variable

First of all, for these slot machine strategies, you play only “equal ratio” slot machine games–that is, those games that offer the same payment ratios for all levels of play. For example, the jackpot for 3 quarters (or 3 dollars) should be exactly 3 times the jackpot for 1 quarter (or 1 dollar) etc.

Secondly, these slot machine strategies involve calculating the “standard deviation” of the number of plays between wins. The player uses a minimum bet until he approaches the standard deviation of the number of plays between wins. Then the player uses a minimum bet until he approaches two standard deviations.

For example, if most wins seem to happen about 10 to 20 plays apart, then the standard deviation would be approximately 15. Thus using the Standard Deviation type of slot machine strategy, the player increases his bet level whenever about 30 plays have gone by without a win.

I do not give the exact formula here for standard deviation–or any of the exact betting sequences–because after extensive testing, I do not agree with using any such formulas. Firstly, I think it is better just to use this general idea to “count the plays between wins,” and then to bet high on winning play counts.

A Slot Machine Is An Example Of Quizlet

Secondly. what matters most is to use a slot machine strategy only so long as you are winning, and then to move on to a different game or to different strategy as soon as this stops working.

Slot Machine Strategies for Online Craps

The idea of taking advantage of the standard deviation for a slot machine strategy can be applied to practically any gambling game. This is especially true for online craps where as with slots, you can play in small increments of 25 cents to a dollar.

For example, you can number every dice roll between every roll of 7, and then bet “Come” or “Don’t Come” depending on the trend for that specific roll. The more often this works, the higher you want to make future bets on that specific roll.

The payout rate for many slot machine games is as low as 75%–whereas the payout rate for the best casinos is around 98%. This is a huge improvement. Therefore by applying slot machine strategies only at the best paying casinos, you actually are creating sort of a super-high-yield slot machine game.

Winning at Online Slots With One Play Strategies

When it comes to winning at online slot machines, this is my own favorite group of strategies. Unlike the Standard Deviation strategies, with the One Play slot machine strategies, you do not focus on “equal ratio” games but instead you focus on games with the largest jackpots, and you play only the maximum bet. You start with only one play per game per day, and then you obey the following rules.

• If any one play wins a payout at 1x-3x (1 to 3 times the amount bet) then you make 1 more play.
• If any one play wins 4x or more, then you make 3 more plays.
• Otherwise you stop playing immediately.
• Take note of those slots where such strategies might seem to work, and those games where they do not work.

Most players I meet, seem to think that One Play slot machine strategies are crazy. These people say, “You can’t possibly expect to win from just one play…” They especially tend to blurt this out with their mouths hanging open just after they have seen me hit a One Play jackpot! Well these slot machine strategies work for me and what I have suggested here is refined from my experience.

A Slot Machine Is An Example Of What Reinforcement

Conclusion

After testing numerous slot machine strategies, I came to the following simple conclusions:

• Sure there are times that a slot machine game does not pay for awhile, and then “pays off” in the end. However there also are times when a slot machine game will just keep on paying. Why not “demand” that you only will play this second type of game?
• Even a jackpot does not last very long if you go around feeding slot machines that do not feed you back.
• If on average you can keep 1x from every 3x win, you will do better than to win the largest jackpot.

Using One Play slot machine strategies, I have sometimes managed to play for hours on end with only $50 input and ended up winning thousands of dollars, even without a jackpot. At other times of course, I have had to stop playing rather quickly.

I have decided that my goal should not be to win every day, but to make a small profit long-term, and thereby keep getting continuous chances to win a huge jackpot. Otherwise, no ordinary slot machine strategies or wins are going to change my life.

If you are interested in reading more about slot machine strategies for there is a fantastic book by Charles W. Lund called Robbing the One-Armed Bandits, which we strongly recommend. If you want to try out any of the strategies described here and really win money playing slots money then visit 888, which is undoubtedly the best place for winning slot players today.