Slot Machine Strategies Penny Slots
Everyone wants to win money when they’re playing slot machines. After all, that’s the entire point, right?
But when you’re playing a game where the results are determined entirely at random, can you find strategies that work?
I was surprised to learn that some slot machine strategies really DO work, but others don’t.
- Slot machines strategy What really brings together all the games of chance is that there’s no definite strategy to learn, slots games are not exception. You just have to follow some simple rules, if you do, you’ll get a nice opportunity to win and have fun during your playing slots.
- Jan 31, 2018 five $20 bills slot machine cashout strategy choi coin doa buffalo gold and more! Slot machine cashout strategy 5 x $20 total meltdown bullion factory and more!! Brian christopher slots.
Nov 19, 2019 In terms of a penny slot strategy, your best bet is to have a thorough understanding of the rules. Forget the myths – they are simply there to create an atmosphere. Going with a set budget, divide your penny slots gaming sessions up into manageable units of time, and always quit when you're ahead.
Even the slots strategies that do work aren’t a foolproof way to win money. In fact, if you play slot machines long enough, you’re guaranteed to lose money. That’s just how the math behind the game works.
You’ll find more information about how to win at slot machines that’s nonsense. I’ll dispel those myths first, and I’ll follow that up with 7 slot machine strategies that really do work.
7 Slot Machine Strategies that Don’t Work
These are some of the worst slot machine strategies that I’ve seen suggested. These don’t work, even though they can sometimes be an entertaining way to play.
1- Trying to Find the Loose Slots (at land based casinos)
Some slot machine games have higher payback percentages than others. That’s not the only thing that determines winnings and winners at these games, though. Volatility and hit ratios also matter.
Some slot machine games have higher payback percentages than others. That’s not the only thing that determines winnings and winners at these games, though. Volatility and hit ratios also matter.
It’s possible to have a slot machine with a higher hit ratio and a lower payback percentage than the one next to it.
It’s also impossible to tell the loose slots from the tight slots. The so-called clues that the so-called experts advise you to look for are all bogus. At land based casinos at least.
This includes playing the machines at the ends of the rows. Someone claimed in a book a long time ago that this is where the casino managers put the loose machines to attract customers.
Any modern casino manager will tell you that this is no longer the case and probably never was.
In online casinos the situation is different as due to some regulations many online slots providers are forced to publish official RTP data. That’s one of the biggest advantages of playing real money slots online vs brick and mortar casinos and it’s insane not to use it. Just check our list of Loosest online slots to find out more.
2- Always Bet Max Coin
In some cases, the maximum jackpot can only be won if you play for the maximum number of coins. This isn’t always the case, even though some slot machine “guru’s” advise you to always bet max coins.
On games where the jackpot doesn’t change based on the number of coins you bet, betting max just means you’ll lose money faster.
One exception to this is video poker. On all video poker games, if you bet fewer than 5 coins, the top payout is reduced significantly.
3- Play Higher Denomination Games
Yes, in general, higher denomination games have a higher payback percentage. This doesn’t mean your probability of winning is better.
Usually, it just means you’ll lose more money faster.
Here’s an example:
You have a dollar slot machine with a 96% payback percentage. To calculate your expected loss per hour, you multiply the dollar times the number of spins per hour by the house edge (4%, which is 100 minus 96%).
An average slot machine player will make 600 spins per hour at $1 per spin, or $600 per hour. 4% of that is $24 per hour in average losses.
Switch to a quarter machine with a payback percentage of 92%, which is a significant difference in payback.
Now you’re looking at 600 spins at a quarter per spin, or $150 per hour in action. You’ll lose an average of 8% of that over time, which is $12 per hour.
Even though the payback percentage on the higher denomination machine is much higher, you’ll still lose more per hour playing the higher denomination game.
4- Setting a Win Goal and a Loss Limit
Setting a win goal and a loss limit isn’t a bad idea, but it doesn’t improve your probability of walking away a winner. I first read about this strategy in a book called John Patrick’s Slots.
The idea is that you start with a session bankroll — $100, for example. You set a goal to win a percentage of that bankroll. 20% might be an appropriate goal, so your win goal might be $20.
You might also set a loss limit of 20%, which is also $20.
You’d sit down at the slot machine game and play until you were down to $80 or up to $120 then quit.
You could move on to another machine or just call it a night.
The problem is that having these arbitrary starting and stopping points does nothing to change your odds of winning and/or losing.
You should think of your time on slot machines as being just a slice of one much longer session that lasts over your entire career of playing on these games.
5- The Zig Zag Method
The zig zag method involves finding slot machine games where the symbols are stopped where a winning combination is ALMOST lined up, but not quite. Since you can view the symbols on the reels above and below the main payline across the center of the machine, it’s easy to see how a near miss would form a kind of zig zag pattern on the machine.
This was never indicative that a game was about to pay out, even when the machines were mechanical in nature.
Now that they’re all powered by computer programs called random number generators, this is even truer.
6- Cheating at Slot Machines
Some people think that cheating at slot machines is an effective strategy for winning.
It’s not.
It’s an effective strategy for going to prison, though. Cheating at gambling is a felony in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sure, you can read entertaining stories about clever slots cheaters, but most of them end with the main character serving time.
That’s not winning.
7- Keeping Your Slots Club Card Out of the Machine
The players’ club at the casino tracks your play with a card that you insert in the machine before starting to play. This has nothing to do with whether the game pays out or not.
ALL slot machine games are programmed to have an edge over the player.
That edge is ALWAYS much higher than the 0.3% or whatever that the casino is paying back in rebates and comps.
The casino wants to incentivize you to play more. That’s why they offer these freebies.
They have nothing to do with whether you win or lose, because in the long run, you’re guaranteed to lose anyway.
Anyway, enough about slot machine strategies that don’t work – let’s talk about some slot machine strategies that DO work.
7 Slot Machine Strategies that Do Work
The painful truth is that slot machines are mathematically designed in such a way that a player can’t beat them. The math behind the games just works that way.
Think about it this way. Suppose a slot machine has 1000 possible outcomes on a spin.
Now suppose that if you bet a unit on each spin and got every possible outcome, you’d win 920 units.
That game would have a payback percentage of 92%.
You could win in the short run because of variance, but in the long run, you’ll eventually lose.
Still, here are some strategies for winning that might work for some people some of the time:
1- Treat Slot Machines as You Would the Lottery
Most people who play the lottery don’t buy 600 lottery tickets per hour – even if they’re playing the scratch and win tickets.
If you treated slot machines the way you do the lottery, you’d make far fewer spins and lose far less money in the long run.
If and when I play slot machines, which isn’t often, I put $5 or $20 into the highest denomination machine I can find. I’ve even put a $100 bill into a $100 machine once.
I then get a spin, 4 spins, or 5 spins – some really low number.
Win or lose, I walk away quickly.
Since you’re playing higher denomination machines and making a minimal number of spins, you’re putting variance to work for you. If you win big and walk away right then, you at least have the possibility of being a lifetime winner.
Of course, to stay a winner, you have to resolve to never play again.
Otherwise, the house edge will eat away at your bankroll.
You’ve probably heard someone say that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.
Think of the house edge in casino games as being like compound interest on steroids.
2- Switch to Video Poker
Video poker looks like a slot machine game, but it has some distinct advantages.
The first of these is that the odds of getting specific combinations are a known quantity. You have no way of knowing the probability of getting 3 cherries on a payline, but you do know (or can find out) that you have a roughly 1 in 40,000 chance of getting a royal flush on a Jacks or Better video poker game.
Since we know the odds of getting specific hands and the payouts for those hands, we can actually play a game where we know what the house edge is. It’s impossible to estimate the house edge for slot machines, because we can never know with any degree of accuracy the probability of getting certain combinations.
And the best thing about video poker machines is this:
With the right games and the right pay tables (or situations) you can face a game where you have the edge instead of the house.
That’s an entire blog post itself, though.
3- Don’t Play Slot Machines at All
I’m a big fan of a Star Trek movie from 1982, The Wrath of Khan. In it, we learn about a training scenario called the Kobayashi Maru, which is a no-win scenario. It’s a test of character to see how a command trainee deals with failure.
Kirk, of course, doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario, so he re-programs the simulation to make it possible to win.
I’ve already recommended that you don’t cheat on slot machines. That would include hacking their random number generator program.
The only way to beat a no-win scenario, in my book, is to not play at all. Download poker texas boyaa to android.
Go find other games where you can win. Poker is a good choice. Video poker is, too. Blackjack might eve be the game that’s the most fun to beat. Counting cards is easier than you might think.
4- Find “Banking” Slot Machines
Some slot machine games bank a certain percentage of the action that goes through them. Some combinations release the amount that’s banked.
Some players will leave money “in the bank” on such machines.
If you can spot those, you can often find yourself in a positive expectation situation and win some money.
The problem is that such games are increasingly hard to find.
5- Always Use Your Player’s Club Card
Using your player’s club card won’t make you a winner, but you will get a percentage of your action back in the form of rebates and comps.
The only disadvantage to using a player’s club card is that the casino will advertise to you in the mail.
They also organize your rewards into tiers – you get bigger rewards the more you gamble. It can be tempting to gamble more to get to the next level, even though you’re not getting enough in rewards to make such a move profitable.
6- Find Progressive Jackpots that Are Way Higher than Their Usual Average Jackpot when Hit
The size of the payouts is one of the factors that determines a slot machine game’s payback percentage. The higher the payouts, the better the payback percentage.
With slot machines with progressive jackpot, there’s no upper limit, so you could (theoretically) wind up in a situation where the expectation for the game is positive.
The probability of hitting the jackpot doesn’t change.
But the expected value is based on the probability of hitting the jackpot multiplied by the size of that jackpot.
7- Just Have Fun and Stay within Your Budget
The one strategy for winning at slot machines is the easiest one – play whichever game you want, for whatever you want to spend on it, have fun, and don’t worry too much about winning or losing.
As long as you understand that – in the long run – you’re trading money for entertainment, you’ll be a winner without any “slot machine strategies” at all.
In the not-too-distant past, slot-machine players were the second-class citizens of casino customers. Jackpots were small, payout percentages were horrendous, and slot players just weren't eligible for the kind of complimentary bonuses -- free rooms, shows, meals -- commonly given to table players. But in the last few decades the face of the casino industry has changed. Nowadays more than 70 percent of casino revenues comes from slot machines, and in many jurisdictions, that figure tops 80 percent.
About 80 percent of first-time visitors to casinos head for the slots. It's easy -- just drop coins into the slot and push the button or pull the handle. Newcomers can find the personal interaction with dealers or other players at the tables intimidating -- slot players avoid that. And besides, the biggest, most lifestyle-changing jackpots in the casino are offered on the slots.
Advertisement
The following article will tell you everything you need to know about slots, from the basics to various strategies. We'll start at square one, with a primer on how playing slot machines works.
How to Play
The most popular slots are penny and nickel video games along with quarter and dollar reel-spinning games, though there are video games in 2-cent, 10-cent, quarter, and dollar denominations and reel spinners up to $100. Most reel spinners take up to two or three coins at a time while video slots can take 45, 90, and even 500 credits at a time.
Nearly all slot machines are fitted with currency acceptors -- slide a bill into the slot, and the equivalent amount of credits is displayed on a meter. On reel-spinning slots, push a button marked 'play one credit' until you've reached the number of coins you wish to play. Then hit the 'spin reels' button, or pull the handle on those few slots that still have handles, or hit a button marked 'play max credits,' which will play the maximum coins allowed on that machine.
On video slots, push one button for the number of paylines you want to activate, and a second button for the number of credits wagered per line. One common configuration has nine paylines on which you can bet 1 to 5 credits. Video slots are also available with 5, 15, 20, 25, even 50 paylines, accepting up to 25 coins per line.
Many reel-spinning machines have a single payout line painted across the center of the glass in front of the reels. Others have three payout lines, even five payout lines, each corresponding to a coin played. The symbols that stop on a payout line determine whether a player wins. A common set of symbols might be cherries, bars, double bars (two bars stacked atop one another), triple bars, and sevens.
A single cherry on the payout line, for example, might pay back two coins; the player might get 10 coins for three of any bars (a mixture of bars, double bars, and triple bars), 30 for three single bars, 60 for three double bars, 120 for three triple bars, and the jackpot for three sevens. However, many of the stops on each reel will be blanks, and a combination that includes blanks pays nothing. Likewise, a seven is not any bar, so a combination such as bar-seven-double bar pays nothing.
Video slots typically have representations of five reels spinning on a video screen. Paylines not only run straight across the reels but also run in V's, upside down V's, and zigs and zags across the screen. Nearly all have at least five paylines, and most have more -- up to 50 lines by the mid-2000s.
In addition, video slots usually feature bonus rounds and 'scatter pays.' Designated symbols trigger a scatter pay if two, three, or more of them appear on the screen, even if they're not on the same payline.
Similarly, special symbols will trigger a bonus event. The bonus may take the form of a number of free spins, or the player may be presented with a 'second screen' bonus. An example of a second screen bonus comes in the long-popular WMS Gaming Slot 'Jackpot Party.' If three Party noisemakers appear on the video reels, the reels are replaced on the screen with a grid of packages in gift wrapping. The player touches the screen to open a package and collects a bonus payout. He or she may keep touching packages for more bonuses until one package finally reveals a 'pooper,' which ends the round. The popularity of such bonus rounds is why video slots have become the fastest growing casino game of the last decade.
When you hit a winning combination, winnings will be added to the credit meter. If you wish to collect the coins showing on the meter, hit the button marked 'Cash Out,' and on most machines, a bar-coded ticket will be printed out that can be redeemed for cash. In a few older machines, coins still drop into a tray.
Play Free Casino Slots Hundred Slots Machine
Etiquette
Many slot players pump money into two or more adjacent machines at a time, but if the casino is crowded and others are having difficulty finding places to play, limit yourself to one machine. As a practical matter, even in a light crowd, it's wise not to play more machines than you can watch over easily. Play too many and you could find yourself in the situation faced by the woman who was working up and down a row of six slots. She was dropping coins into machine number six while number one, on the aisle, was paying a jackpot. There was nothing she could do as a passerby scooped a handful of coins out of the first tray.
Sometimes players taking a break for the rest room will tip a chair against the machine, leave a coat on the chair, or leave some other sign that they'll be back. Take heed of these signs. A nasty confrontation could follow if you play a machine that has already been thus staked out.
Payouts
Payout percentages have risen since the casinos figured out it's more profitable to hold 5 percent of a dollar than 8 percent of a quarter or 10 percent of a nickel. In most of the country, slot players can figure on about a 93 percent payout percentage, though payouts in Nevada run higher. Las Vegas casinos usually offer the highest average payouts of all -- better than 95 percent. Keep in mind that these are long-term averages that will hold up over a sample of 100,000 to 300,000 pulls.
In the short term, anything can happen. It's not unusual to go 20 or 50 or more pulls without a single payout on a reel-spinning slot, though payouts are more frequent on video slots. Nor is it unusual for a machine to pay back 150 percent or more for several dozen pulls. But in the long run, the programmed percentages will hold up.
The change in slots has come in the computer age, with the development of the microprocessor. Earlier slot machines were mechanical, and if you knew the number of stops -- symbols or blank spaces that could stop on the payout line--on each reel, you could calculate the odds on hitting the top jackpot. If a machine had three reels, each with ten stops, and one symbol on each reel was for the jackpot, then three jackpot symbols would line up, on the average, once every 10310310 pulls, or 1,000 pulls.
On those machines, the big payoffs were $50 or $100--nothing like the big numbers slot players expect today. On systems that electronically link machines in several casinos, progressive jackpots reach millions of dollars.
The microprocessors driving today's machines are programmed with random-number generators that govern winning combinations. It no longer matters how many stops are on each reel. If we fitted that old three-reel, ten-stop machine with a microprocessor, we could put ten jackpot symbols on the first reel, ten on the second, and nine on the third, and still program the random-number generator so that three jackpot symbols lined up only once every 1,000 times, or 10,000 times. And on video slots, reel strips can be programmed to be as long as needed to make the odds of the game hit at a desired percentage. They are not constrained by a physical reel.
Each possible combination is assigned a number, or numbers. When the random-number generator receives a signal -- anything from a coin being dropped in to the handle being pulled -- it sets a number, and the reels stop on the corresponding combination.
Between signals, the random-number generator operates continuously, running through dozens of numbers per second. This has two practical effects for slot players. First, if you leave a machine, then see someone else hit a jackpot shortly thereafter, don't fret. To hit the same jackpot, you would have needed the same split-second timing as the winner. The odds are overwhelming that if you had stayed at the machine, you would not have hit the same combination.
Second, because the combinations are random, or as close to random as is possible to set the program, the odds of hitting any particular combination are the same on every pull. If a machine is programmed to pay out its top jackpot, on the average, once every 10,000 pulls, your chances of hitting it are one in 10,000 on any given pull. If you've been standing there for days and have played 10,000 times, the odds on the next pull will still be one in 10,000. Those odds are long-term averages. In the short term, the machine could go 100,000 pulls without letting loose of the big one, or it could pay it out twice in a row.
Casino Slot Machine Playing
So, is there a way to ensure that you hit it big on a slot machine? Not really, but despite the overriding elements of chance, there are some strategies you can employ. We'll cover these in the next section.