Slot Machine Strategies. Wins On Slot Machines. The key to understanding slots is to know there is no winning strategy or system – every win is completely random. With every hit of the spin button is the hope the Random Number Generator will land on a combination of numbers that correspond to winning symbols. Every spin on a slot machine is totally random. Every time the machine is played, the computer program picks a random symbol on the first, the second, then the third reel. The payback or return of the machine is then based on the probability of lining up the winning combinations.

Best Time To Play Slots

Although every slot machine game guide in the world tells you there is no way to guarantee you’ll win at slot machine games, there is one method that always works. Kind of.

I’ll leave that for my last talking point but I’ll be honest: it won’t make you rich.

Slot machine games have come a long way from the mechanical monstrosities that ate people’s money. My grandfather served in the army and he said he used to sneak into a store in San Francisco that had slot machines in a back room. They were mechanical slots.

He won a $5 jackpot on a 10-cent bet one time but he told me that most of the time everyone lost on those machines. People only played them because they weren’t supposed to be there. Off-duty soldiers always had something going on the side.

Casinos won’t ever stock a game where the player always wins. They’re not in the business of giving money away. So when people claim to have slot machine game secrets they usually follow up with silly suggestions everyone always knows.

After doing some research I found there are several ways people really do win on slot machines. If these are real winning strategies then there must be a catch. Otherwise, everyone would use them and the casinos would get rid of the slot machine games.

So, yes, there’s always a catch. But the great thing about these strategies is you can use them in other types of gambling games.

Decide What It Means to “Win” the Game

This isn’t some vague “make your life better” strategy. This is where winning begins. Set a cash-out, time to walk away from the game goal.

The obvious goal is to set a fixed amount of credits or money you must be ahead when you stop playing the game. If you buy 100 credits, your goal should be to stop playing after you win 100, 200, or 300 credits.

If you don’t set a number than you have no goal. It should be a number you’re well willing to live with. It should also be reasonable.

Some people set the goal of playing until they win a jackpot. That’s cheating on this strategy. You’re not a winner if you win a $5,000 jackpot if you spent $6,000 to get it.

A less obvious goal is to experience something specific in the game. This is usually a bonus round. If you’ve seen someone else play a bonus round that you would like to play, getting to the bonus round is a reasonable goal.

You’re not guaranteeing yourself a profit. You’re paying for an experience. If it’s money you want then set a reasonable goal and quit playing when you get there.

Otherwise, decide why else you want to play that game and what you want to get from it.

Make the Highest Wagers You Can Afford

If you study slot gaming tips, you’ll often find the recommendation to choose higher coin denomination versions of a slot machine game.

The first time I heard this advice my reaction was, “How do they know that?”

Well, as it turns out, it doesn’t matter how anyone knows anything. What matters is the math. That article also lists the average payback percentages for slot machine games by denomination and location in Nevada.

The data was provided by the Nevada Gaming Control Board so consider it reliable. The percentages may change over time but in that article the Boulder Strip was paying the highest percentages back to players on everything above 1-cent slot machines.

The best average percentages were 96.13% for 25-cent and $1 slot machines on the Boulder Strip. You might conclude it would be safer to play the 25-cent machines but look more closely.

If you set a goal of winning $200 before leaving a slot machine, you’re more likely to reach that goal in fewer spins on a higher denomination machine.

No matter how much you pay back to the machine between average wins, the percentage must be the same for both machines. Therefore you’ll have a better chance of reaching your goal with fewer spins on the higher denomination machine.

You could still win a jackpot on the lower denomination machine that pushes you past your goal, but that’s not something you should count on.

Set a Reasonable Minimum Spins Budget

You should be willing to lose your entire bankroll but obviously no one wants to do that. A disciplined approach to gambling balances risk against potential reward.

In theory if you’re playing a machine with a 85% return to player then you should expect to have about 85% of your money after 100 spins. It doesn’t always work out that way. You could lose most of your money or win a lot of money.

A minimum spins budget is based on how much you can afford to lose and how much you’re willing to play the game before reaching your goal. If you have a $500 goal and you’re making $5 bets, decide if you’re willing to make 50 spins, 100 spins, or whatever.

Pick a number and stick to it. Don’t give yourself “one more chance” to win back your money if you hit the last spin and you still haven’t made your goal.

The longer you play a game the more likely the casino keeps all your money. Some gambling tutorials suggest setting a maximum spins budget, but I think the minimum spins budget works better. The deal is that if the casino can’t take all your money in those spins you get to keep whatever you have left over.

Even if you don’t reach your goal, if you have more money than you began with you’ve won the game.

How to Always Win Playing the Slot Machines

Please don’t shoot the messenger: get someone else to pay you to play slot machine games.

There are a few jobs where you can play slot machine games all day long (or for several hours) and you use someone else’s money. Well, there is no money involved except what you’re paid.

You can apply for a “slot machine game tester” job. Casinos and game designers hire people to play the games. They follow scripts and all the winning tickets say “test” so they cannot be cashed in.

How To Beat A Slot Machine

There are other ways people have been paid to play slot games but I don’t know of any legal jobs besides the slot game testers. There is a famous story about an eastern European gang that sent people into casinos around the world to play the slots. They used a supercomputer to decode the random numbers and win a lot of jackpots.

That’s not how I want to win at slots. Several people were arrested when the scheme was detected.

There are also slot game tournaments. If you really want to see how high you can run up a score on a slot machine, enter a tournament. The winners receive prizes but the players get to see amazing results on their assigned games.

Conclusion

How To Beat The Slots Every Time

Every industry insider who works on slot machine games says no one should play these games. They are designed to take your money.

If you’re only interested in being entertained and you enjoy the graphics, sound effects, and the experience of sitting in a casino then by all means play the game.

How To Play Slot Machines

If you’re willing to pay $100 for a nice dinner or a concert ticket and you feel satisfied, then there is no reason why that isn’t sufficient justification for playing the slots. As long as you get what you want you’re a winner.

It’s your money and you can spend it any way you wish. Gambling is fun because of the element of risk. In the right social atmosphere it’s also a great way to share time with other people. Why we play the game is as important as how we determine what winning means for us.

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This is the first part in a new series we are running on how you can get the most from your online slots play.

It is true to say that the odds are set against you when you play a slot machine, but at the same time, you can improve your chance of winning. This allows you to get more fun from your money and a bigger chance of hitting a jackpot.

When you play in a land-based casino, the big question is how to choose a machine and also, whether to max bet or not. With online slots, the bonus offers are a big factor. We discuss both of those below:

How To Win On Slots Every Time

Decide Whether to Max Bet or Not

Some slot machines pay out better when you play max bet. For example, on some 3-reel games, if you hit a line of the top-paying symbols you might win (for example) 1,000 credits if you play 1 credit per line.

But, if you had been playing max credits per line (for example, 3 credits), then the top win might rise to 10,000.

In this type of example, you should play max bet, because if you hit that top winning line, you stand to win a lot more than you would otherwise

With other games, it makes no difference whether you max bet. For example, most video slots pay out the same, no matter how many credits per line you play.

One exception with video slots, is when there is a progressive jackpot. If you play a game like Wizard of Oz, which has a big progressive, you can only win if you play max bet. The max bet is usually $3 or $4 per spin, so you need quite a lot of money to play, but you get much better odds when you max bet.

If you don't have enough to max bet, then I would say it is better to choose a slot with a lower domination that does not have a progressive.

So, if you like penny slots, search for a jackpot you can win without max bet

Decide if a Bonus is Good for You (or not)

How To Win At Penny Slots

With online casinos, you will nearly always be offered the chance to take up one of their 'free cash' bonuses.

Best Time To Play Slot Machines

With a free cash bonus, the casino will match you initial deposit. for example, if you deposit $100, they will give you an extra $100, so you will start your play with a total of $200 (this is a 100% bonus)

Take a look at the latest list of Bonus Offers for Online Slots

Other casinos go further than that - some will offer 200%, 300% or even 400% bonuses. With a 400% bonus, if you deposit $100, you will get $400 extra, meaning that you get to play with $500 in total.

Terms and Conditions

Of course, all casino bonuses come with terms and conditions. If you take a 'free cash' bonus, the casino will expect you to actually play with the money. If they didn't enforce a minimum play rule, then people would just take the cash and run!

So, with a bonus, you must play through the bonus a certain number of times. Usually, this means you have to play 25x the total (of deposit + bonus) before they will allow you to cash out the winnings.

These bonuses are fantastic to play jackpot games, because you get so much more chance to hit the big jackpot. To win at slots with jackpots, bonuses are a perfect tool to give you the best odds.

However, bonuses might not be so good for the type of player that just wants to hit a $200 win playing slots and cash out straight away, because of the need to complete a play-through.

So, you need to decide yourself what type of player you are and then decide whether you will take your bonus offer or not. That will help give you the best chance of winning, depending on what type of win you are going for.