We have already put emphasis on the importance of understanding the basics of slot machines and have acquainted you with the most popular myths about them. In the previous articles, we have also provided hints that might be useful during your game session. Now, it is time to discuss another serious topic and help you determine how much time to spend playing a single slot machine and how to determine if it is a “loose” one.
As mentioned earlier, your bankroll is broken down into stakes. Here is an example. Presumably, your bankroll is equal to €200, while your stake amounts to €20. So, before you get started, you have to take out the stake first.
The first thing you need to do when you start to play slot machines is to learn out all of the possible game terms. There are some definitions you need to know to be able to choose the good machine and play according to the rules. Besides, learning terms of the game you also learn the game rules and understand the secrets of playing it.
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As soon as you finish reading, you will be quite familiar with the best slot machine strategies that ensure your utmost gaming experience and most of all, the profitability of your gaming session.
Loose Slot Test Technique
Have you ever heard of the so-called Loose Slot Test technique? If not, you better read the lines below carefully to avoid overspending at a slot machine that will probably not grant you a decent payout.
First of all, you have to think about the number of credits you want to play. This can be estimated by multiplying the number of activated paylines by the multiplier (the number of coins bet per spin on each active line). It is important to note that this is not a random number. On the contrary – the type of slot machine you have chosen plays a great role in determining the number of credits.
The next thing is to select the number of spins you would like to make. In most cases, players choose to play ten spins but this does not mean you cannot opt for another number. However, you have to stick to your chosen number.
The next step you have to take before you start spinning the reels is to set an amount you want to invest in playing your preferred slot game. The best way to determine the right amount is to multiply the number of credits by the number of spins.
Let's see what would happen in the following situation. You have an overall bankroll of 2,000 credits, want to bet 56 credits per round and intend to play 10 spins during a session. You, therefore, would wager 560 credits in total.
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When the ten spins are over, you should have a total of 2,000 credits minus the 560 credits you wagered during the session. In other words, your credits should amount to 1,440 plus those you have won during the ten spins.
In order to determine your profits, you are supposed to calculate the difference between the aforementioned 1,440 credits and those that are in the machine, provided that you have generated some winnings during the ten spins, of course.
The number is divided by 56 and you get the number of spins you can perform.
Stay or Change the Machine?
Then, you have to set the number of spins and repeat the above-mentioned steps. If your credits reach the critical 1,440 or go down, you better cash out and finish your game session at this slot machine.
However, if you win a prize during the second “set” of spins, that means you can continue playing and this time, you are enabled to choose more than 10 rounds per betting session. It all depends on the credits you have earned. Repeat the steps above and cash out whenever the number of your credits reaches the critical level.
Let's give another example. If you have 2,450 credits after the second “set” of spins and you take out 1,440, you are enabled to wager the other 1,010, which makes 18 more spins. If you continue winning, then you must have found a loose slot machine. In this case, applying the Box technique is recommended, so whenever you decide to stop playing, you will be able to take home some winnings.
There is an easier way to determine whether a particular slot machine is worthy of playing, though. You can just play with a small amount of money and you have two options: you will either lose your money or you will start winning. Yet, the first technique is considered more effective by experienced players as it requires them to think of the winning strategy and decide when it is time to stop playing.
Thus, there is a chance to have only a few pennies left and to trigger a bonus game on the last spin. There is something like an unwritten law – always make your final spin with the total amount you have been playing.
Another thing worthy of emphasizing is that the amount you have to set aside to determine which slot machine is loose, depends greatly on the bankroll and most of all, on your stakes. Anyway, the amount of stakes is variable but the technique for playing with a fixed number of spins stays the same.
The easiest thing is to keep investing money into a slot machine that gives back insignificant wins on occasion but this is not going to be too profitable for you. That is why it is critically important to change the machines you are playing until you find a loose one.
It does not matter which one of the aforementioned strategies you use, you do have to move from one slot machine to another until you find the one that meets your requirements.
FAQs
It would be great, of course, to be able to predict if not a whooping jackpot, then a bigger payout or, at worst, arriving of a bonus feature. Perhaps absolutely possible in some dreamlike universe, in our real world is nothing more than just an unfulfilled desire.
Once and again, state-of-the-art RNG (Random Number Generator) is King and the only one to determine the outcome of every single spin.
Well, it is not an easy question, all the more so, a lot depends on your gambling style, preferences, and titles you want to put on test. Slots have higher volatility than the majority of card games or, even, video poker. Plus, gripping one-armed bandits are no stranger to pretty long losing streaks.
Taking into consideration all said above, maybe the best measure for a fruitful evening could be, let’s say, a bankroll that can cover at least your 200 bets. Again, there is no guarantee, you will get expected results.
Often called Play and Run, this special approach is quite popular among the punters. The main idea is to limit the length of sessions played at a certain slot machine. Time frames vary greatly, from a couple of minutes to whatever you can set as a limit to spend on the same seat.
The result? A lot of fuss and bother over nothing much. Plus, a pretty dubious fun.
While all existing betting systems can be roughly divided into two categories: positive and negative progression, none of them is 100% reliable. What’s more, when it comes to modern slots, such techniques is too hard to apply at all.
Generally speaking, the main difference between the positive and negative progression strategies lies in the moment of increasing stakes: after each win in the first case, and after each losing round using the second option respectively.
If we talk about money, negative series calls for a way past hefty bankroll, while a positive sequence requires less funds.
Quite on the contrary, it is one of the easiest methods to implement – all you need to do is double your bet after every losing spin, and stake one pre-decided base unit after every winning strike.
But here comes one downside: as a negative progression, this strategy insists on solid capital – even if you start spinning the reels with just $1, after seven unsuccessful hits you will have to wager $128, while your bankroll is already „lighter“ for $127.
Similarly, if you begin, let’s say, with $10, then after just five fruitless hits you will have to place a pretty impressive bet of $320. You do not have to be a math genius to figure out an obvious failure of this method.
The powers of casino stuff are seriously overestimated by too many punters used to tip slot personnel in order to get secret “instructions”.
Think twice before spending more money than you otherwise would just because you believe that casino staff knows that this particular machine is “due” to hit. If they knew, they would get rich and wouldn’t work there anymore, right?
Broadly speaking, classic titles usually have higher winning potential than their video counterparts.
Theoretically, one has better chances at a decent payout on classic 3-steppers than on video slots, since the latter have more frequent small hits intended to extend the gameplay. Again, in the long run, which means it is not necessary to be right for you.
It is a widespread belief, which is just one more myth in the gambling world, that floor managers place so-called loose slots in such a way these machines can be seen from many directions, by the biggest possible number of players.
No, it is not how casinos try to attract new visitors and keep loyal customers. Quality service, rewarding programs, various bonuses, and fair play – that’s how they do business.
Players that run between the rows struggling with coins and trying to keep track of eventual wins are seen pretty often throughout casino floors. Usually, they cause broad smiles on the faces of other visitors accompanied by a couple of sloppy comments.
If a strategy at all, it is far from being a worthy piece of advice to follow. After all, it is too far from the main idea of playing slots – to have fun!
Slots are the easiest games in the casino to play -- spin the reels and take your chances. Players have no control over what combinations will show up or when a jackpot will hit. There is no way to tell when a machine will be hot or cold. Still, there are some pitfalls. It's important to read the glass and learn what type of machine it is. The three major types of reel-spinning slots are the multiplier, the buy-a-pay, and the progressive.
The multiplier. On a multiplier, payoffs are proportionate for each coin played--except, usually, for the top jackpot. If the machine accepts up to three coins at a time, and if you play one coin, three bars pay back ten. Three bars will pay back 20 for two coins and 30 for three coins. However, three sevens might pay 500 for one coin and 1,000 for two, but jump to 10,000 when all three coins are played. Read the glass to find out if that's the case before playing less than the maximum coins on this type of machine.
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The buy-a-pay. Never play less than the maximum on a buy-a-pay, on which each coin 'buys' a set of symbols or a payout line. The first coin in might allow the player to win only on cherry combination, while the second coin activates the bar payouts, and the third coin activates the sevens. Woe is the player who hits three jackpot symbols on a buy-a-pay with only one coin played--the player gets nothing back. A variation is the machine with multiple payout lines, each activated by a separate coin. All symbols are active with each coin, but if a winning combination lines up on the third-coin payout line with only one or two coins played, the payoff is zero.
The progressive. You also have no reason to play less than maximum coins on a progressive machine. A player who eventually lines up the jackpot symbols gets a percentage of each coin played. The first progressive machines were self-contained--the jackpot was determined by how much that particular machine had been played since the last big hit. Today most progressives are linked electronically to other machines, with all coins played in the linked machines adding to a common jackpot.
These jackpots can be enormous -- the record is $39,710,826.26, a $1 progressive at a Las Vegas casino. The tradeoff is that frequency and size of other payouts are usually smaller. And you can't win the big jackpot without playing maximum coins.
If you must play fewer than maximum coins, look for a multiplier in which the final-coin jump in the top jackpot is fairly small. Better yet, choose a machine that allows you to stay within your budget while playing maximum coins. If your budget won't allow you to play maximum coins on a $1 machine, move to a quarter machine. If you're not comfortable playing three quarters at a time, move to a two-quarter machine. If you can't play two quarters at a time, play a nickel machine.
With so many paylines and the possibility of betting multiple coins per line, video slots are different. Some penny slots with 20 paylines take up to 25 coins per line. That's a $5 maximum bet -- a pretty penny indeed! Most players bet less than the max on video slots but are sure to cover all the paylines, even if betting only one coin per line. You want to be sure to be eligible for the bonus rounds that give video slots most of their fun. Some progressive jackpots require max coins bets, and some don't. If a max-coins bet is required to be eligible for the jackpot and you're not prepared to roll that high, find a different machine.
How To Know What Slot Machine To Play And Win
Money Management
Managing your money wisely is the most important part of playing any casino game, and also the most difficult part of playing the slots. Even on quarter machines, the amount of money involved runs up quickly. A dedicated slot player on a machine that plays off credits can easily get in 600 pulls an hour. At two quarters at a time, that means wagering $300 per hour -- the same amount a $5 blackjack player risks at an average table speed of 60 hands per hour.
Most of that money is recycled from smaller payouts--at a casino returning 93 percent on quarter slots, the expected average loss for $300 in play is $21. Still, you will come out ahead more often if you pocket some of those smaller payouts and don't continually put everything you get back into the machine.
One method for managing money is to divide your slot bankroll for the day into smaller-session bankrolls. If, for example, you've taken $100 on a two-and-a-half-hour riverboat cruise, allot $20 for each half-hour. Select a quarter machine -- dollar machines could devastate a $100 bankroll in minutes -- and play the $20 through once. If you've received more than $20 in payouts, pocket the excess and play with the original $20. At the end of one half-hour, pocket whatever is left and start a new session with the next $20.
If at any point the original $20 for that session is depleted, that session is over. Finish that half-hour with a walk, or a snack, or a drink until it is time for a new session. Do not dip back into money you've already pocketed.
That may seem rigid, but players who do not use a money management technique all too frequently keep pumping money into the machine until they've lost their entire bankroll. The percentages guarantee that the casino will be the winner in the long run, but lock up a portion of the money as you go along, and you'll walk out of the casino with cash on hand more frequently.
That is changing in new server-based slots that have started to appear in casinos. Operators will be able to change payback percentages at the click of a mouse, but they still must have regulatory approval to do so.
There is a lot more to slot machines than meets the eye. But if you learn the ins and outs of playing them, you can use some strategies that just might help you hit the jackpot.
How To Play Slot Machines
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