Remember the movie National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, when gambling fever consumes Chevy Chase’s character, Clark W. Griswold? He goes on a losing streak to beat all losing streaks while his son, Rusty, wins four cars by playing the slot machines. Maybe Clark would have done better if he had read Probability For Dummies! In this article, you discover the basic ideas behind slot machines and how they work, so that you can get past the myths and develop a strategy based on sound probability.

• $100 Slot Machine Jackpot Videos
• Slot Machine With A Fix Jackpot Amount Without
• Slot Machine With A Fix Jackpot Amount Money

Understanding average payout

When casinos advertise that their slot machines pay out an average of 90 percent, the fine print they don’t want you to read says that you lose 10 cents from each dollar you put into the machines in the long term. (In probability terms, this advertisement means that your expected winnings are minus 10 cents on every dollar you spend every time the money goes through the machines.)

With video slots, the common malfunction is that the machine shows a bunch of credits won, even when the player didn't line up the jackpot symbols. With electro-mechanical (physical-reel) slots it's the opposite: the jackpot symbols line up, but the machine says the player won nothing, or just a small amount. A non-progressive jackpot is simply a jackpot that is fixed at a specific amount. For example, many slot machines use the traditional slot symbols like ‘ cherries ‘ ‘ bars ‘ and the ‘ big 7 ‘. A jackpot on this type of machine might be 5,000 coins for three 7’s (7-7-7). If a jackpot offered on this machine pays on 7 7 7 and only one 7 symbol is on each reel, then the probability of hitting this jackpot is 1/20 x 1/20 x 1/20 or one in 8,000. If two 7 symbols are on one reel, then our calculation is 2/20 x 1/20 x 1/20 for a probability of 1/4,000 of hitting the jackpot.

Suppose you start with $100 and bet a dollar at a time, for example. After inserting all $100 into the slot, 100 pulls later you’ll end up on average with $90, because you lose 10 percent of your money. If you run the $90 back through the machine, you’ll end up with 90 percent of it back, which is 0.90 x 90 = $81. If you run that amount through in 81 pulls, you’ll have $72.90 afterward (0.90 x 81 = 72.90). If you keep going for 44 rounds, on average, the money will be gone, unless you have the luck of Rusty Griswold!

How many pulls on the machine does your $100 give you at this rate? Each time you have less money to run through the machine, so you have fewer pulls left. If you insert $1 at a time, you can expect 972 total pulls in the long term with these average payouts (that’s the total pulls in 44 rounds). But keep in mind that casinos are designing slot machines to go faster and faster between spins. Some are even doing away with the handles and tokens by using digital readouts on gaming cards that you put into the machines. The faster machines can play up to 25 spins per hour, and 972 spins divided by 25 spins per minute is 38.88 minutes. You don’t have a very long time to enjoy your $100 before it’s gone!

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The worst part? Casinos often advertise that their “average payouts” are even as high as 95 percent. But beware: That number applies only to certain machines, and the casinos don’t rush to tell you which ones. You really need to read or ask about the fine print before playing. You can also try to check the information on the machine to see if it lists its payouts. (Don’t expect this information to be front and center.)

Implementing a simple strategy for slots

Advice varies regarding whether you should play nickel, quarter, or dollar slot machines and whether you should max out the number of coins you bet or not (you usually get to choose between one and five coins to bet on a standard slot machine). In this section, you’ll find a few tips for getting the most bang for your buck (or nickel) when playing slot machines.

Basically, when it comes to slot machines, strategy boils down to this: Know the rules, your probability of winning, and the expected payouts; dispel any myths; and quit while you’re ahead. If you win $100, cash out $50 and play with the rest, for example. After you lose a certain amount (determined by you in advance), don’t hesitate to quit. Go to the all-you-can-eat buffet and try your luck with the casino food; odds are it’s pretty good!

Choosing among nickel, quarter, and dollar machines

The machines that have the higher denominations usually give the best payouts. So, between the nickel and quarter slots, for example, the quarter slots generally give better payouts. However, you run the risk of getting in way over your head in a hurry, so don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. The bottom line: Always choose a level that you have fun playing at and that allows you to play for your full set time limit.

Deciding how many coins to play at a time

When deciding on the number of coins you should play per spin, keep in mind that more is sometimes better. If the slot machine gives you more than two times the payout when you put in two times the number of coins, for example, you should max it out instead of playing single coins because you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot, and the expected value is higher. If the machine just gives you k times the payout for k coins, it doesn’t matter if you use the maximum number of coins. You may as well play one at a time until you can make some money and leave so your money lasts a little longer.

For example, say a quarter machine pays 10 credits for the outcome 777 when you play only a single quarter, but if you play two quarters, it gives you 25 credits for the same outcome. And if you play the maximum number of quarters (say, four), a 777 results in 1,000 credits. You can see that playing four quarters at a time gives you a better chance of winning a bigger pot in the long run (if you win, that is) compared to playing a single quarter at a time for four consecutive tries.

The latest slot machine sweeping the nation is the so-called “penny slot machine.” Although it professes to require only a penny for a spin, you get this rate only if you want to bet one penny at a time. The machines entice you to bet way more than one penny at a time; in fact, on some machines, you can bet more than 1,000 coins (called lines) on each spin — $10 a shot here, folks. Because these machines take any denomination of paper bill, as well as credit cards, your money can go faster on penny machines than on dollar machines because you can quickly lose track of your spendings. Pinching pennies may not be worth it after all!

Slot machines don’t seem to involve much strategy. All you do is push the spin button over and over and let the reels do the rest.

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But there are some things you can do to greatly improve your chances of beating slot machines. And what’s nice is that anybody can quickly use these slots hacks to win more.

The 7 hacks that I’m going to discuss in this post can be used right now. Others can be used within a few minutes after doing simple research on your smartphone.

Keep reading as I cover 7 ways in which you can hack into more slots winnings.

1 – Look up Online Slot Machine Providers to Find Best Payback

You need to play online slots if your main focus is winning the most money. The reason why is because internet slots offer higher payback on average than land-based games.

A bonus is that you don’t have to bet as much to earn this high payback. Instead, you’ll only have to risk a penny per line to achieve top pay back on many online slots.

Of course, you must know which slots pay the most first. The best way to do this is by googling online slots providers to find their highest-paying games.

Online slots makers offer their games across a broad range of internet casinos. And the return to player (RTP) is the same at each casino site.

This is why you search for slots payback by game designers, rather than individual casinos. Here’s an example of how I find the highest-paying slots from Rival Gaming:

• I google “Rival Gaming slots RTP.”
• This brings up different websites with info on Rival’s RTP.
• I can see that the following slots offer high payback:
• Cosmic Quest: Mystery Planets = 98.95% RTP
• Doo-Wop Daddy-O = 97.89%
• Gold Rush = 97.46%
• Bust A Vault = 97.45%
• As the Reels Turn: The Gamble = 97.0%

You can use this method to find RTP for many online slot machines. Another way to accomplish this goal is by looking at a game’s help screen.

Some slots list their payback on the help screen. Thunderkick and Quickspin are two companies that feature RTP on their games’ help screens.

Unfortunately, there are providers that don’t list RTP on the help screen or publish it online. Therefore, you’re left in the dark regarding how much these games pay back.

But most online slot machines offer this information somewhere. And you won’t have to look more than 5 minutes to find them in many cases.

2 – Look at State Gaming Reports to Find Best Land Based Slots Payback

Finding RTP for land-based slot machines is a more-difficult matter. The main reason why is because each casino can order different payback for the same slot machine.

MGM Grand might order a game with 90% payback, while Circus Circus may want it with 89% RTP.

This is nice for casinos because they can customize slots RTP to their liking. But this makes it tougher for players to figure out what kind of payback they can look forward to.

The best way to find RTP for slot machines in brick-and-mortar casinos is by looking at state gaming reports.

Each state with casino gambling has an agency that governs the industry. These organizations provide regular reports that list slots payback.

The only catch is that these reports only offer generic numbers on games within the specific coin denominations. Here’s an example from the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s 2017 report:

• Penny slot machines = 90.17% payback
• Nickel slot machines = 94.54% payback
• Quarter slot machines = 93.06% payback
• Dollar slot machines = 93.94% payback
• $5 slot machines = 94.16% payback
• $25 slot machines = 95.03% payback
• $100 slot machines = 93.21% payback

You can see that most Nevada slot machines offer between 93.06% and 95.03% payback. The outlier is penny slot machines, which only offer 90.17% RTP on average.

Here’s another example froma 2017 report on Connecticut’s Foxwoods Casino:

• Penny slot machines = 89.88% payback
• Nickel slot machines = 90.58% payback
• Quarter slot machines = 91.95% payback
• Dollar slot machines = 93.45% payback
• $5 slot machines = 94.08% payback
• $25 slot machines = 96.16% payback
• $100 slot machines = 96.76% payback

This report shows that payback increases as you move up coin denominations. And this is more reflective of what you see acrossthe brick-and-mortar casino industry.

The UNLV Center for Gaming Research offers all the state casino gaming reports in one convenient place.

Your best chance to achieve better payback in a land-based casino is by playing games with higher coin denominations. This is different from online casinos, where you can often achieve the same payback no matter what coin size you’re playing.

The downside to playing large coin denomination slots is that your theoretical losses will be higher. Here’s a comparison between playing Foxwoods’ $0.25 and $1 denomination slots:

• You perform 1,000 spins on a quarter slot machine ($250 total).
• Quarter slots offer 91.55% RTP on average (8.45% house edge).
• 250 x 0.0845 = $21.13 in theoretical losses
• You perform 1,000 spins on a dollar slot machine ($1,000 total).
• $1 slots offer 93.45% RTP on average (6.55% house edge).
• 1,000 x 0.0655 = $65.50 in theoretical losses

Even thoughquarter slot machines offer lower payback, your theoretical losses will be smaller. But if you like betting more per spin anyways, then you should take advantage of higher payback with larger coin denominations.

3 – Use Hit Frequency to Find Hot Slot Machines

One of the the biggest slots myths is that you can find “hot” slot machines by going around and playing different games. The logic behind this is that you’ll eventually find a machine that’s paying immediately.

The reason why this is a myth is that slots results are determined by random number generators (RNG), which cycle through countless number combinations. These number combos are determined so fast that results are completely unpredictable.

Therefore, anybody who’s going around to different slot machines to find the hot games is wasting their time. But this isn’t to say that you can’t use certain means to figure out which slots will pay frequently.

Hit frequency refers to how often a slot machine pays per line. Here’s an example of how this works:

• Game A is a 50-line slot machine that offers 4 payouts per line on average.
• Game B is a 50-line slot that offers 3 payouts per line on average.
• Game A has higher hit frequency.

The only problem with hit frequency is that games don’t list this information. The closest I’ve seen is Pragmatic Play online slots, which offer a volatility rating based on lightning bolts.

But the average slot machine forces you to figure out hit frequency based on pay table info. And the key factors that you want to look at include jackpot size, number of large payouts, and the number of small prizes.

You can use common sense from here to figure out which games will pay more frequently than others.

A slot machine with a huge progressive jackpot and few small payouts won’t deliver prizes as often. But a game with a small jackpot and more small payouts should have higher hit frequency.

Playing games in the latter category gives you a better chance to win on each spin. This means that you’ll earn money on a more consistent basis and have a better chance of sustaining your bankroll.

These are essentially the hot slot machines because they offer more prizes. If winning frequently is important to you, then it should look for slots with small jackpots and a larger number of small payouts.

4 – Use Certain Variables to Manage Your Slots Bankroll

Bankroll management doesn’t theoretically improve your chances of winning. But it does help you better manage your risk and play slots longer.

The only problem is that slots are one of the toughest games in terms of bankroll management. It’s hard to calculate how many bets (a.k.a. units) the average player loses.

This can be affected based on how quickly you’re spinning the reels and how fast the slot machine moves. A game with multiple bonus features and animations moves slower than a game without the same features.

But generally, the average slots player loses anywhere between 250 and 350 units per hour. You can use these variables to begin calculating your bankroll management

Here’s an example:

• You have a $200 bankroll.
• Your average bet is $0.25 per spin (25 lines at $0.01).
• You lose 250 units per hour.
• 300 x 0.25 = $62.50
• 200 x 62.50 = 3.2
• Your bankroll will theoretically last for 3.2 hours.

The keyword with all this is theoretical, because you can never perfectly predict your short-term losses or winnings.

Slot machines are the most-volatile game in the casino. This means that your short-term results will vary wildly in comparison to the statistical average (payback in this case).

You can lower the volatility, though, by playing games with high hit frequency. Games with smaller payouts deliver more prizes in the short run, which leads to lower volatility.

5 – Don’t Fall for Slot Machine Psychology Tricks

Many players are unaware of the psychology at play with slot machines. Game makers use everything from enticing graphics to triumphant soundeffects to keep people playing longer.

A study from the University of British Columbia (UBC) found that many players fall into a “slot machine zone,” where they become completely immersed in the game and ignore everything else around them.

This study featured small white circles on each side of a slot machine’s screen. Players were asked to push a button when these circles turned red.

The study concluded that problem gamblers had more difficulty spotting the red circles on the sides because they were so involved in the game.

2011 research from Ontario’s University of Waterloo examined the effect that losses disguised as wins (LDWs) have on players. LDWs are payouts where players only win back a portion of their original bet.

Here’s an example:

• You play a 100-line slot machine.
• You bet $0.05 per line ($5 total).
• You win a $1 payout.
• Your net loss is $4.

Anybody can see that this is an overall loss.But slot machines use encouraging sound effects and flashing lights to make it feel like you’re a winner in these cases.

University of Waterloo researchers measured skin conductance response (SCR) amplitudes and heart-rate changes to measure how players felt after LDWs. They then compared these results to how players reacted after true wins and complete losses.

The researchers discovered that LDWs offered a significantly higher pleasure rate than complete losses. In fact, players’ arousal rates were on the same level for LDWs as they were for actual wins.

Being aware of these factors will better help you avoid becoming completely immersed in games and spending more money than you plan for.

6 – Look the Best Slots Comps (*Hint* Online Deposits Bonuses Are the Best)

Casinos offer slots players comps to retain their loyalty. This can also encourage more play because some gamblers wrongly assume that comps are more valuable than they are.

Land-based and online casinos typically comp players at around a 0.1% rate. This means that you’re going to earn $1 in rewards for every $1,000 you wager.

This doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up when considering how fast people play slots. Here’s an example:

• You perform 600 spins per hour on a dollar slot machine.
• You play 3 hours per day.
• 600 x 3 = $1,800
• You play 5 days during the month.
• 1,800 x 5 = $9,000
• $9,000 x 0.001 = $9 in slots comps.

Online casinos almost always stick to the 0.1% rate. They do this by awarding one comp point for every $10 wagered.

Players can then exchange 100 points for $1 cash back. This means that you’re betting $1,000 (100 points) to get $1 in rewards.

Some land-based casinos offer a 0.2% comp rate for slots players. This doubles your rewards with the same amount of betting.

The catch, though, it’s that it’s hard to find land-based casinos that offer higher slots comps. Unlike online casinos, which freely offer their points-for-exchange rate on their loyalty program page, land-based casinos aren’t great at explaining their VIP programs.

You can still find information on some brick-and-mortar casinos by visiting their websites. Another good practice is to research casinos that have a reputation for offering good slots comps.

Examples of Las Vegas casinos that are known for offering good slots rewards include The Palms, The Cosmopolitan, and The Venetian. Playing at these casinos gives you a better opportunity to earn higher loyalty rewards than at online casinos.

But the absolute-best slots rewards, are deposit bonuses that you receive when depositing at internet casinos.

These bonuses are expressed in a match percentage based on how much you deposit. Here’s an example:

• A bonus is worth a 100% match up to $500.
• You deposit $200.
• This means that you’re eligible for a $200 bonus.

Players obviously can’t just cash out bonuses right away, because the casino would lose a fortune. Therefore, you need to meet wagering requirements before the money is officially yours.

Standard wagering requirements for an online slots deposit bonus is 40 times the reward. Here’s an example of how this plays out:

• The bonus offer is a 100% match up to $200.
• You deposit $50.
• This makes you eligible for a $50 bonus.
• 40 x 50 = $2,000.
• You must wager $2k to unlock your deposit reward.

$2,000 may seem like a lot of money to earn a $50 bonus. But this is a much-better rate than you’ll receive through either a land-based or online casino comp program.

Here’s the math on why:

• You wager $2,000 at a casino with a 0.1% comp rate.
• This earns you $2 in rewards.
• You wager $2,000 to get the $50 bonus mentioned above.
• You get $50 in rewards.

Keep in mind that you can get a better comp rate by moving up in an internet or land-based casino loyalty program. But low rollers will find that deposit bonuses offer the best chance to earn free cash.

7 – Get More Expected Value from Progressive Jackpots That Have Increased

Expected value (EV) is a common gambling term used to describe how much money you can expect to win back from your bets.

Slot Machine With A Fix Jackpot Amount Without

Looking at the house edge is a good way to determine your EV because this shows how much you’ll win back in the long term. For example, a slot machine with 96% payback is offering -4% EV since you’re losing 4% on each wager.

Most casino games offer negative expected value (-EV), and slots are no exception. But you can improve your EV by playing progressive slots when the jackpot has increased by a significant amount.

Casino seed progressive jackpots with a certain amount of money.

Microgaming’s Mega Moolah slot is seeded with $1 million.

Players contribute the rest of the money into a progressive jackpot. Each bet that players make contributes a small amount to make the jackpot grow.

The standard contribution amount is 2% of every wager. This means that a $1 bet would contribute $0.02 to the jackpot.

A single player isn’t going to make a progressive jackpot grow very quickly. But these prizes increase rapidly when thousands of players are making bets.

You can use the starting jackpot amount compared to growth to estimate your EV. Given that Mega Moolah is seeded with $1 million, you know that your EV is much higher when the jackpot reaches $10 million.

Again, this is all theoretical and based on the idea that you can actually win the jackpot. Chances are that you’ll never win a huge payout like this in your lifetime.

But the goal is to continue playing progressive slots that offer more EV based on the growing jackpot. A more practical method of doing this is by playing smaller mystery jackpots, which must pay a specific value.

Arrow’s Edge offers a mystery jackpot that pays at exactly $10,000. You may be getting positive expected value (+EV) by jumping in when the jackpot is worth $9k.

What’s more is that you at least have a shot at winning this payout, versus the giant jackpot in Mega Moolah.

I’m not advocating that you dump your entire bankroll into progressive slots. After all, the base payback on most of these games isn’t as good as a normal slot.

If you’re going to play these games, figure out where a starting jackpot begins and compare it to the value that now. This will improve your EV and give you a higher theoretical chance of winning money.

Slot Machine With A Fix Jackpot Amount Money

Conclusion

Casinos have the edge in slot machines. But you can at least reduce this edge, or even gain one (progressive slots) by following the hacks in this post.

The biggest thing that you want to do is to find payback for the slot machines you play. This is easier in online casinos, where you can search by game provider or look at the help screen to find RTP.

Land-based casinos make it more difficult to figure out how much you win back. But you can use the coin denominations to make a rough estimation.

Hit frequency is another important hack to remember, especially if you’re dealing with a small bankroll. The more payouts you can win back in the short term, the better chance you have of maintaining your bankroll.

You also want to avoid falling for the psychological tricks that surround slot machines. This means realizing that LDWs are actually losses, and the graphics, theme, and music are designed to keep you playing longer.

Other important hacks you can use include getting the best rewards possible, maximizing your EV on growing progressive jackpots, and properly managing your bankroll.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll win profits by following these tips. But it’s definitely worth doing so if you enjoy slots because these hacks will give you a greater chance to win.