Decide on a bankroll and choose a slot machine that fits it. If you're only willing to risk $100 or less, stick to quarter, nickel and penny slots. The penny slots give you more time to have fun playing the slots without risking much money. On the other hand, if you have a higher bankroll, go for the dollar machines. How to Win at Slots. Knowing which slot is best to play will come time. You firstly need to experiment with demo machine games. This is the risk-free way to know which slots are best to play and which ones are to be avoided before gambling for real money. Learn to lose and learn to beat the house edge, How to Pick a Winning Slot Machine 1.
In the not-too-distant past, slot-machine players were the second-class citizens of casino customers. Jackpots were small, payout percentages were horrendous, and slot players just weren't eligible for the kind of complimentary bonuses -- free rooms, shows, meals -- commonly given to table players. But in the last few decades the face of the casino industry has changed. Nowadays more than 70 percent of casino revenues comes from slot machines, and in many jurisdictions, that figure tops 80 percent.
About 80 percent of first-time visitors to casinos head for the slots. It's easy -- just drop coins into the slot and push the button or pull the handle. Newcomers can find the personal interaction with dealers or other players at the tables intimidating -- slot players avoid that. And besides, the biggest, most lifestyle-changing jackpots in the casino are offered on the slots.
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The following article will tell you everything you need to know about slots, from the basics to various strategies. We'll start at square one, with a primer on how playing slot machines works.
How to Play
The most popular slots are penny and nickel video games along with quarter and dollar reel-spinning games, though there are video games in 2-cent, 10-cent, quarter, and dollar denominations and reel spinners up to $100. Most reel spinners take up to two or three coins at a time while video slots can take 45, 90, and even 500 credits at a time.
Nearly all slot machines are fitted with currency acceptors -- slide a bill into the slot, and the equivalent amount of credits is displayed on a meter. On reel-spinning slots, push a button marked 'play one credit' until you've reached the number of coins you wish to play. Then hit the 'spin reels' button, or pull the handle on those few slots that still have handles, or hit a button marked 'play max credits,' which will play the maximum coins allowed on that machine.
On video slots, push one button for the number of paylines you want to activate, and a second button for the number of credits wagered per line. One common configuration has nine paylines on which you can bet 1 to 5 credits. Video slots are also available with 5, 15, 20, 25, even 50 paylines, accepting up to 25 coins per line.
Many reel-spinning machines have a single payout line painted across the center of the glass in front of the reels. Others have three payout lines, even five payout lines, each corresponding to a coin played. The symbols that stop on a payout line determine whether a player wins. A common set of symbols might be cherries, bars, double bars (two bars stacked atop one another), triple bars, and sevens.
A single cherry on the payout line, for example, might pay back two coins; the player might get 10 coins for three of any bars (a mixture of bars, double bars, and triple bars), 30 for three single bars, 60 for three double bars, 120 for three triple bars, and the jackpot for three sevens. However, many of the stops on each reel will be blanks, and a combination that includes blanks pays nothing. Likewise, a seven is not any bar, so a combination such as bar-seven-double bar pays nothing.
Video slots typically have representations of five reels spinning on a video screen. Paylines not only run straight across the reels but also run in V's, upside down V's, and zigs and zags across the screen. Nearly all have at least five paylines, and most have more -- up to 50 lines by the mid-2000s.
In addition, video slots usually feature bonus rounds and 'scatter pays.' Designated symbols trigger a scatter pay if two, three, or more of them appear on the screen, even if they're not on the same payline.
Similarly, special symbols will trigger a bonus event. The bonus may take the form of a number of free spins, or the player may be presented with a 'second screen' bonus. An example of a second screen bonus comes in the long-popular WMS Gaming Slot 'Jackpot Party.' If three Party noisemakers appear on the video reels, the reels are replaced on the screen with a grid of packages in gift wrapping. The player touches the screen to open a package and collects a bonus payout. He or she may keep touching packages for more bonuses until one package finally reveals a 'pooper,' which ends the round. The popularity of such bonus rounds is why video slots have become the fastest growing casino game of the last decade.
When you hit a winning combination, winnings will be added to the credit meter. If you wish to collect the coins showing on the meter, hit the button marked 'Cash Out,' and on most machines, a bar-coded ticket will be printed out that can be redeemed for cash. In a few older machines, coins still drop into a tray.
Etiquette
Many slot players pump money into two or more adjacent machines at a time, but if the casino is crowded and others are having difficulty finding places to play, limit yourself to one machine. As a practical matter, even in a light crowd, it's wise not to play more machines than you can watch over easily. Play too many and you could find yourself in the situation faced by the woman who was working up and down a row of six slots. She was dropping coins into machine number six while number one, on the aisle, was paying a jackpot. There was nothing she could do as a passerby scooped a handful of coins out of the first tray.
Sometimes players taking a break for the rest room will tip a chair against the machine, leave a coat on the chair, or leave some other sign that they'll be back. Take heed of these signs. A nasty confrontation could follow if you play a machine that has already been thus staked out.
Payouts
Payout percentages have risen since the casinos figured out it's more profitable to hold 5 percent of a dollar than 8 percent of a quarter or 10 percent of a nickel. In most of the country, slot players can figure on about a 93 percent payout percentage, though payouts in Nevada run higher. Las Vegas casinos usually offer the highest average payouts of all -- better than 95 percent. Keep in mind that these are long-term averages that will hold up over a sample of 100,000 to 300,000 pulls.
In the short term, anything can happen. It's not unusual to go 20 or 50 or more pulls without a single payout on a reel-spinning slot, though payouts are more frequent on video slots. Nor is it unusual for a machine to pay back 150 percent or more for several dozen pulls. But in the long run, the programmed percentages will hold up.
The change in slots has come in the computer age, with the development of the microprocessor. Earlier slot machines were mechanical, and if you knew the number of stops -- symbols or blank spaces that could stop on the payout line--on each reel, you could calculate the odds on hitting the top jackpot. If a machine had three reels, each with ten stops, and one symbol on each reel was for the jackpot, then three jackpot symbols would line up, on the average, once every 10310310 pulls, or 1,000 pulls.
On those machines, the big payoffs were $50 or $100--nothing like the big numbers slot players expect today. On systems that electronically link machines in several casinos, progressive jackpots reach millions of dollars.
The microprocessors driving today's machines are programmed with random-number generators that govern winning combinations. It no longer matters how many stops are on each reel. If we fitted that old three-reel, ten-stop machine with a microprocessor, we could put ten jackpot symbols on the first reel, ten on the second, and nine on the third, and still program the random-number generator so that three jackpot symbols lined up only once every 1,000 times, or 10,000 times. And on video slots, reel strips can be programmed to be as long as needed to make the odds of the game hit at a desired percentage. They are not constrained by a physical reel.
Each possible combination is assigned a number, or numbers. When the random-number generator receives a signal -- anything from a coin being dropped in to the handle being pulled -- it sets a number, and the reels stop on the corresponding combination.
Between signals, the random-number generator operates continuously, running through dozens of numbers per second. This has two practical effects for slot players. First, if you leave a machine, then see someone else hit a jackpot shortly thereafter, don't fret. To hit the same jackpot, you would have needed the same split-second timing as the winner. The odds are overwhelming that if you had stayed at the machine, you would not have hit the same combination.
Second, because the combinations are random, or as close to random as is possible to set the program, the odds of hitting any particular combination are the same on every pull. If a machine is programmed to pay out its top jackpot, on the average, once every 10,000 pulls, your chances of hitting it are one in 10,000 on any given pull. If you've been standing there for days and have played 10,000 times, the odds on the next pull will still be one in 10,000. Those odds are long-term averages. In the short term, the machine could go 100,000 pulls without letting loose of the big one, or it could pay it out twice in a row.
So, is there a way to ensure that you hit it big on a slot machine? Not really, but despite the overriding elements of chance, there are some strategies you can employ. We'll cover these in the next section.
Ever since its first introduction in 1894 in the U.S., the slot machine has gained popularity all over the world. Hands down people play slot machines more than any other game in both land based casinos and casinos online. It’s just one of those things people love to play and will continue playing. Maybe it’s because it’s a simple game to play, I mean, generally all you have to do is drop a coin inside the machine and spin. No doubt, there’s more to it than that. You have the entire paytable to learn so that you understand the paylines, what each symbol is worth, how to trigger all the features, figuring out how much you should bet, finding the right slot machine, etc.
For people new to the casino, it’s a great game to start with. One thing is you don’t have to deal with the dealer and you don’t need any other players in order to start playing. You can just sit down and spin away like there’s no tomorrow. There’s also a wide variety of themes behind the game, with the sounds, characters, features, bonus types and you even have slot machines you can play as low as 1 cent per spin, called Penny Slots.
Slot Machines Tips and Strategies
How To Win At Slot Machines In Vegas
True there are no strategies out there that will guarantee your win, but there are strategies you should know about that can help you improve your game play and help you enjoy playing more. Whether it’s being smart with your money, spreading your luck, setting a limit for your wins or losses, knowing when to stop, placing the right bet amounts, finding the right benefits, playing at a regulated casino, taking your time, knowing when to stop and simply how to have a good time when you’re winning or losing.
How to Win Big at Slots: Why Money Management is Key
A common question people ask when playing at a casino is how to win at slots. As mentioned before, there’s no tips out there that will ever guarantee you win, which is why money management is key. One thing you should definitely do before placing foot inside a casino or playing online is to set a limit. Now this limit doesn’t have to be necessarily for how much you’re willing to lose, but goes the same for how much you are willing to win. Knowing when to stop playing after you have lost could save you a lot of money. Knowing when to stop after you have reached your target win could also save you a great amount of money and guilt as so many times people end up losing only because they don’t stop once they won a good deal of money.
Once you have set a limit to your wins or loses, and you know when it’s time to stop, it’s also a good idea to split up your playing sessions to two hours per session. After these two hour sessions, it’s time to take a break from the casino floor to clear your head, prevent yourself from becoming exhausted and from making any emotional decisions you could regret later. I know it can be very difficult to stop playing once you have been sucked in, especially when you’re losing and say to yourself you’re not going to stop until you start winning again. Of course, the casino makes the environment there very difficult for you to leave, especially when they don’t have clocks or windows around. In that case, set yourself an alarm to help remind you.
Win Big at Slot Machines: How to Take Advantage of Bonuses
As you probably already know, many of the land based casinos as well as the casinos online give their players comps for being a loyal to their casino or games. These perks can range from discounts or free rooms at their casinos, shows, free slot play, cash back, dinners, airfares, paid vacations, etc. These are all great incentives when trying to decide which casino to play at. Win or lose, you will still be rewarded for your loyalty and this is a great way for casinos to take care of their players by giving back. It’s a good idea to understand these reward programs fully so you can take advantage of all the benefits and special promotions. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win big at slot machines, but rather how to take advantage of bonuses.
Gambling Strategy For Penny Machines
Slot Machine Strategies
As far as slot machine strategies go, these also don’t guarantee any wins, but will hopefully improve your gaming experience at physical casinos and online ones. Aside from setting goals on knowing when to stop playing, taking breaks and taking advantage of all the bonuses casinos have to offer, there are still some other strategies that could help you in your gaming. One thing is to make sure you’re playing at a fully regulated casino as there are a lot of scam ones out there, especially online. Another thing to look out for when heading to a casino or playing online is that sometimes you are playing with other players. It may not look like that as everyone is playing their own slot machine, but if there’s a progressive jackpot available, everyone contributes to the prize each time you place a bet and spin. There could be more than one jackpot in which the higher you bet, the bigger the jackpot you win, but in any case, even if you bet low, you still have a chance to win one of the lower jackpots, which could be a $1,000,000 jackpot.
Hopefully some of these strategies can come in handy the next time you go to a casino or play online. Speaking of online, Caesars Casino online is a reputable casino that offers a wide variety of video and classic slot machines and a lot of social benefits you can take advantage of when playing. Wherever you decide to play, make sure you’re having fun and consider some of these tips when playing.