How Do Casinos Pick Slot Machines
How to pick the right slot machine at a live casino (or online).
Take a trip to any physical casino and you’ll find hundreds if not thousands of slot machines lining the gaudy carpet. Getting the right amount of entertainment for your buck is the real goal. All responsible gamblers know this. But that doesn’t mean you have to hide the fact that you really want to win a jackpot!
To learn how to beat slot machines, you need to first know how they work. Slots are amongst the most popular casino games throughout the world, both in land-based and online casinos.
You’ve probably heard a lot of superstitions over the years. Bring a good luck charm, like a rabbit’s foot or some special jewelry. Feel the machines; the hot ones are ready to spew forth their wealth! Wait for an old lady to leave a machine and take it; local seniors know the best slots! None of these are reliable ways to choose a good game. Winning slot machines really is more of a science, thankfully.
How to Pick the Right Slot Machine
For the most part, I’m going to focus on live casino slots; those located in a real, physical casino. I’ll also touch on the digital (online) variety before I’m done, so keep reading for more info on that.
There are three factors to consider when choosing what machines to play. The cost, the position, and the jackpot size.
Cost to Play
Most casinos offer slot banks in a scaling range of coin denominations. You have your penny slots, nickel slots, quarter slots, and dollar slots. Which one do you think is more likely to pay out a jackpot? If you said the $1 slots, you’re right. The higher the cost to play, the higher the payout percentage (amount machines pay-out compared to take-in, over years of play).
The scary part is that casinos know how people’s minds work. Most players think $1 is a lot to play per spin, so they drop down to the $0.25 machines. It’s not so damaging on your bankroll, but still expensive enough to pay far better than the cheap-o games, right? This is where the casinos get you! Those quarter slots are actually the worst of all!
The average payout percentage for slot machines on the Las Vegas Strip, by coin size, is:
Penny Slots = 90.82% RTP
Nickel Slots = 91.88% RTP
Quarter Slots = 89.98% RTP
Dollar Slots = 92.63% RTP
Position of Slot Machines
Location, location, location! That statement doesn’t just apply to real estate. The positioning of a slot machine can have a huge impact on its payout percentage. Picture this… A slot machine is located in a far shadowy corner of the casino. Someone wins a jackpot on it. The bells chime, the lights flash. How many people in the casino are going to notice? Just those in the vicinity of that corner, right?
If that machine were centrally located, perhaps near the table games area, a lot more people would know about it. Some table games players might even switch to slots for a while hoping to mimic that win. Casino managers thought of this long before I did. The highest paying slots will be centrally located among the masses.
Jackpot Size Matters
There are two basic types of jackpots – static jackpots and progressive jackpots. A static jackpot pays a specific amount for triggering a specific feature or symbol combination in the game. A progressive jackpot is won in the same way, but the prize slowly grows larger and larger until it’s won, similar to a lottery drawing. https://ninshopper.netlify.app/free-coins-doubledown-classic-slots.html.
As much as you want to win that larger, ever-growing prize, you’re better off steering clear of progressives. Their payout percentages tend to be much lower; often paying 85-86% at live casinos.
Winning Slot Machines Online
As promised, I’ll take a moment to touch on the topic of online slot machines, too. These games are different in some ways, so it’s not the same as picking the right slot machine at a live casino. The big difference is that internet casinos don’t have massive bills to pay each month. They can afford to give up more in payouts, and they do.
Online slots have an average payout percentage of 96.2%. That’s far higher than any of the games in Vegas. Changing your coin size rarely effects the payouts, either. Most games you can play for a penny, or a dollar, and get the same payout ratio. Progressives are the exception. The more you spend on those, the higher your odds of winning the jackpot. But like land-based casinos, the payback percentage on progressives are worse. Unless you’ve got plenty of cash to spare, don’t bother with them.
#1 Canadian-Friendly Casino for 2020
Royal Vegas is our editorial pick for safe Canadian gaming. Currently offering a good range of Canadian deposit options, everything from prepaid gift cards, to eCheck, instadebit and visa/mastercard. That, and a world-class gaming experience, with countless table games, strong variety, and even live dealers. The brand has been in the business for a decade long.
Visit http://RoyalVegas.com
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.
Dozen Bet: It features a group of 12 numbers and can be placed on the ” 1st 12” box (1 to 12), the ” 2nd 12” box (13 to 24), or the ” 3rd 12” box (25 to 36). https://golrs.netlify.app/casino-online-european-roulette.html.
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
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.
How Do Casinos Pick Slot Machines Jackpot
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.
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.
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.
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.