Tips for Playing Slots

Everyone wants to enjoy their time playing their favorite slots games, but they also want to be making money at the same time. There is no fun in constantly losing when you play slots.

There are many different ways in which you can improve your chances of making a profit when playing slots. This could be through better management of your money or by choosing certain casinos or slot titles. You should be well-versed in all of the important slots lingo.

By stacking the odds more in your favor, you will be setting yourself up for a better chance of long term success.

Here are some key tips for you when playing slots;

Select your casino wisely

Casinos come in many different shapes and sizes. Some will focus more on their table games offerings, while others will almost exclusively focus on slots. Certain casinos will mainly have lower stake games while others will have a bit of everything.

If a casino prefers a certain type of player in terms of the stakes they play, there will often be better odds in this given bracket. For example, if you are a small-coin player, the casino that likes these players will give better odds for the smaller-coin slots.

Before committing to a given casino, you will want to see what the win percentages are for the given slots offering. Casinos in certain geographic regions will have to have a minimum win percentage in place on their slot machines.

Naturally, casinos will have a preference for players that like to play at higher stakes as this generates higher revenue for the house.

All of these factors are why you should take time selecting a casino before going to play. Of course, you may not have much choice in your given geographic region, which curtails you in this regard.

Don’t play these slots

A lot of people throw strategy out of the window when they are playing slots. Generally, places that are not dedicated to offering slots are to be avoided. This includes the likes of restaurants, bars and gas stations where slot machines may be on offer. These will generally have significantly lower payout percentages than those machines in a casino.

You will also have to be picky when you are in a casino to decide which slots are best for your needs. Generally, the machines that are in more obscure areas, such as near the restroom or by the buffet will not have great payouts. This is because they are only really used when people are waiting for a short time to go to the bathroom for example.

Generally, the best paying out slots will be in highly visible areas of the casino in order to get as many people as possible playing on them.

What if you have never been to a certain casino before?

If it is your first time being at a given casino, it is never a bad idea to speak with a regular to try and get a lay of the land. They will usually be able to point you in the right direction. You can even just observe players see what slots they are playing and which are being avoided.

Figuring in denominations

Slots come in many different shapes and sizes. There will usually be different denominations for various slots in a given casino. Some slots will only allow you to bet up to five coins, whereas others can have bets of over 100 coins. Normally, it will be the machines with higher denominations that will have the greatest payout ratios. As always, you want to pick a denomination size that fits into your bankroll management. You should only be gambling with money that you can afford to lose.

It is important that you do not go up to a greater denomination just because a given slot has a greater denomination. You should choose a denomination that fits into your bankroll management plan. Do note that it is usually better to bet the max allowed on a given slot, once you are playing on a suitably denominated machine.

Choosing your bet size

As mentioned in the previous section, it is a good idea to max out your stake with the slot machine you are playing.

One of the reasons for this is due to the proportional payouts you will be getting. Never forget that if you are betting $1 and the max allowable coins is 5, your total bet is going to be $5. There is also the fact that for progressive jackpots, you have a chance of winning potentially life-changing sums when you play using max coins.

Certain slots will not be proportional, which is something you need to watch out for. This means that winning after betting with a single coin will net you 400 and betting with two coins could see you earning 900.

Using non-penalizing machines

There are certain slot machines that will not be penalizing you if you do not max out your bets. This means that the payouts are proportional and you are not going to be able to relatively win more per spin. For these types of machines, it makes it easier for you to move up the stakes. However, you should never make too big of a jump in one go. For example, if you normally play with $0.25 per round, you should not then skip up to $5 per round.

Hot and cold

All slot machines have been pre-programmed to have certain odds and all spins are going to be randomly generated. A past spin has no association with your next spin, so there are no trends you can read into in this regard. Probabilities of a slot machine cannot be changed by a given player.

There is the case of when a slot machine has not paid out in a while that it is a cold machine. Normally, it will be best if you start playing on one of the other machines or take a break from slots. While this will not do anything to improve your probabilities, it will stop you from racking up losses and from losing your temper.

When people lose money, they will usually be unhappy and this is definitely not an emotion you want to have when gambling as this can lead to you spiraling out of control and trying to chase losses.

If you are playing on a slot machine that is hot, then you should stick with it. Take the machines for everything it is worth. Eventually, when the hot streak runs out you may want to stop playing or go and play at a different slot.

This is why it can be a good strategy to watch other slots players and see what luck they are having. If you are having mediocre luck and you see someone winning from time to time and they leave the machine, you should go to this machine and start playing. Usually, the hot slots are going to be your best option at that given moment in time.

Massive progressive jackpots

There are certain slot machines that have massive progressive jackpots. There are a few different factors to consider when you are thinking about using these machines. These jackpots come in different forms.

A lot of slots players will be looking for massive wins and go for the progressive jackpots that promise the highest potential payout. The best option is going to be the progressive jackpots with the best payout rates. This may mean sacrificing a massive single payment for a higher number of decently sized jackpots.

Generally, when you play progressive jackpots that have massive potential prizes, the return rates are going to be a lot lower than those which have more conservative prizes.

This is the trade-off that you are going to have to make when choosing between progressive slot jackpots. It is worth your time checking the various options in a given casino. You may find identical machines having different sized jackpots than others.

When playing these machines, you will need to be betting the max amount of credits in order to be in with a chance of winning the mega jackpot.

Looking for the best odds

Not every slot machine in a casino is going to have the same return rate as others. The manufacturer works with the casino in order to set the payout ratio for given machines. This is why the same slot machine may have a higher payout rate at one casino over another.

However, it can be hard to figure out these payout ratios as the casino and the manufacturers want to generate the highest amount of profit as possible. Generally, a casino will have some slots that payout more or more frequently than others in order to attract those types of players that will spend hours at a given machine.

The odds are still set in a way that means these machines will still be generating a profit. Oftentimes one of these machines will be placed between slots that are more average or even tighter in terms of payout as people will see the person regularly winning on the looser machine and want to get in on the action.

The loose machines generally are going to be in well-trafficked and visible areas of the casino floor. These will be comfortable areas where players won’t mind sitting for hours at a time and will regularly attract new players to the machines.

If a slot machine is by an open aisle, they will usually be tighter as people don’t want to be playing for hours at a slot with people constantly walking by them. These are more targeted for those people who are passing by and may only play for a few minutes.

Generally, the slot machines that are facing the table games at a casino will also have lower payout rates as it is harder for the table game players to be enticed to play a slot if they hear joyful screams of a regular winner.

Usually, observation will be your friend and you can even ask one of the slot attendants what they think are the best machines, as they spend many hours every day on the casino floor observing the behavior of players. Make sure you leave them a nice tip for giving you this information.

Hot machines are not contagious

Usually, the casinos will not place two loose machines beside one another. This is because a lot of people tend to play these machines in groups or else people get attracted to slots beside players that are regularly winning.

If a group is playing and one person is winning regularly, this lifts the mood of the group, with the other people believing they will be hitting a hot streak next. Casinos like to lift the mood of the floor and they will not be losing much of their edge in order to achieve this. Your seating selection is definitely an important factor as a result.

This is also why you should avoid playing two slots at the same time. This can also put further strain on your bankroll in a short amount of time.