You have all sorts of personalities coming to casinos, but just about everybody pays a visit to the slot machine. As soon as you walk into a casino, you see almost nothing but row after row of them. This is for many reasons – for some it’s the bright lights and the symphony of delightful phrases and sound bytes beckoning people.
However, people love slots most often simply because they’re simple. Anybody can play them, all you have to due is pull the lever and presto, you have the same chance of winning as anybody else. There is no skill involved. Any dullard can do it. You bet however much you want, whether it’s peanuts or serious cash. For that reason, these machines take in the lion’s share of bets in casinos, and possibly win millions in a jackpot.
How does one improve one’s odds though in spinning those reels? What false perceptions to people hold of these conspicuous machines?
How Slot Machines Work
With random number generators, outcomes are calculated and simulated instantly according to input randomization. The wheels are window dressing.
On top of that, in light of the scams that existed in the 1990s online, when people were defrauded by criminals faking a fair game, using malicious RNGs, there now exists a principle called provably fair gaming. What is gaining prominence is generating random seeds that when combined equate to a particular number, which is either a winning or a losing number.
Because slot machines don’t have many variables, it’s very easy to apply this principle to slots as well as crash games. By contrast, table games have much more variables at play, so when you’re at a table with a live dealer, you don’t have the same guarantee of fairness in poker and blackjack that you do when playing slots online.
Payout Percentages
Every slot is programmed with a particular RTP, or return to player. This is the ratio of the money that casinos, such as Odds 96, pay back to players in the long run. An RTP of 96% means that for every 100 dollars gambled on that slot, the entire collective of people who ever plays it will average getting $96 back. Some slots have higher RTPs than others, so a person can choose for themselves if they want a little more volatility in favor of the possibility of a bigger win.
The latter for better or for worse goes hand in hand with the former. Some people want to just win, while others aren’t so concerned with winning, only wishing to win big in the off-chance that they do win.
Physical Slots Are Fairer
Believe it or not, software is not really capable of truly producing random numbers. When computers are asked to produce a random number, some of the time there exists an issue where the slot continues to produce the same “random” numbers. The practice in the industry that’s currently mainstream is actually the involvement of some sort of physical input, which enables a truly random outcome. Regardless, nowadays software is close enough to being random, that most gamblers are happy.
Common Myths about Winning at Slots
There is a lot of superstition and folklore out there that people perpetuate about slots that make no sense. We’re going to clear up some of those right now.
Timing the Spinning Reels
This is perhaps the biggest myth. The spin is actually predetermined in advance
I’m Due for a Big Win
A lot of people, caught up in raw emotion, find themselves unable to quit while they’re ahead. This is because a lot of the time they are dreaming of that big win and they think it’s meant to be. They lose all connection with logic, and if somebody just lost a few hundred, they think that the law of average will work itself out and that they have a bunch of big wins about to happen that will make up for those losses, like a pendulum coming right back to equilibrium.
This is false, and it can easily lead to unhealthy addiction. Don’t think of it as a means to a profit – just fun, that’s all. Should you feel yourself going off the rails, know that you can self-exclude from casinos and tell them your limits that they’re legally obligated to hold you to. Or just tell them a stop loss limit.
Casinos Manipulating RTP When Traffic Comes
In jurisdictions with regulations in place, slot settings readjustments cannot be changed on the fly. The casino would have to shut those machines down, alter the settings or chip, and go through a compliance process.
Hot and Cold Machines
This is a big superstition. Once somebody wins on a certain machine, they naturally credit the machine, and they simply assume that that machine is just more generous while the other machines are mean.
Slot Tips
Now a word from the wise.
- When you get to the casino, decide what your limit is and don’t go rambo. If it’s 700 dollars, then be strict with yourself and maintain self control.
- Take advantage of bonuses and free spins: Casinos sweeten the deals in order to attract people to their casinos instead of them gambling somewhere else, so why not take advantage of that. Always use a free spin the first time at a new casino and try to get them to match your initial deposit. Just make sure to read the terms and conditions, since there will be a minimum that you’ll have to bet.
- Decide which machine suits your personality: some machines offer big jackpots. Most such games actually publsh their RTP level too. If you see a machine with a big jackpot, a low RTP is the price you’re likely going to have to pay. If you don’t care about the jackpot but are calculating for more of “sure” win, keep an eye on the RTP and play a slot as high-RTP as you can find.
- Avoid side bets and mini games: it can be very tantalizing to play side bets, since they’re entertaining and people like to check all the boxes, especially the whale gamblers. The truth though is that these have quite a low RTP and don’t offer much upside at all. A lot of what they offer are just collectibles. The biggest spenders can’t resist though. Just make sure you can afford that luxury if you want to take it.