Slot machines have given a lot of fun to many players over the years, but what if you’re serious about looking to win some money on them?
Are you able to use any tricks to boost your chances of coming out ahead?
Slots Offer a Game of Chance
The first thing to bear in mind is that slot machines are all about chance. If anyone tells you to look for loose slots or hot slots, this is something that you might think gives you exactly what you need. Yet, the truth is that hot or loose slots simply don’t exist.
This is a theory that harks back to the days of manually-operated slot machines. When you play an electronic slot machine in a physical casino or a slot in an online casino, you have no way of controlling the outcome.
This isn’t roulette, where you choose the number. Or blackjack, where you get to make decisions on things like whether to hit or stand, double down or split. With slots, you just have to hit the spin button and wait to see what happens.
A Random Outcome Every Time
While these are games of chance as we’ve just seen, how can you be sure that there’s no way of taking advantage of winning streaks or other factors. Well, the way that modern slots work is with a random number generator that controls the outcome.
This is what means that each and every spin is unpredictable. That also ensures that what happens on any spin isn’t related to what happened on previous games. You might get a winning line and then get exactly the same win again. Or you might lose a few times in a row.
This means that you can’t simply decide to play on a slot that’s on a losing streak. The losses that have gone before have no bearing on what happens next. It’ll still be controlled by the overall return to player (RTP) rate, which shows us how much it will pay out over a massive number of spins.
But we have no way of knowing how those wins will be spread out over your games and the games played by other people who try it.
So How Should You Choose a Slot?
Everything we’ve seen so far suggests that there’s nothing you can do to increase your chances of winning on slot machines. So is it just a question of buckling up and enjoying the ride? In some ways, yes. But there are a few factors that might make you feel as though you’re more in control when choosing a slot to play.
First of all, look at the prizes it offers. If it has a progressive jackpot, then this is typically a sign that it’s a high volatility game where you could win a huge amount or you might lose a few games in a row.
The same applies when you look at the paytable for winning combinations. If the top wins are fairly modest, this is probably a low volatility game where smaller wins are paid out quite often. If you can see huge prizes in there, this will make you think that it’s a high volatility game where you might need to be patient to get a win.
A quick Google search on the slot you’re thinking of playing will probably confirm the volatility level and also the RTP. With these details, you can see whether the game fits your strategy. Since it’s a game of chance, a slots strategy really just comes down to how you manage your bankroll.
The higher the volatility, the bigger the bankroll you probably need to feel confident about winning. That’s because you otherwise run the risk of running out of cash before getting a big win. With lower volatility slots, you’re probably going to get smaller wins to keep your funds topped up as you play.
The RTP is slightly less useful to know, as it’s based on so many spins that you can’t work out how it affects your own chances of winning more than you lose. If you plan to play a whole lot of spins, you probably need to pay a bit more attention to the RTP, as you should get closer to this figure over time.
However, it’s more important that you find a slot that really appeals to you. If you find a slot with a theme you love, like finding treasure in pyramids or going fishing, and a lot of interesting features, then this should make it easy to decide to play it. A small amount of RTP difference probably isn’t enough of a reason to play something else instead.
Take some time to look at the slots in the lobby of an online casino that you trust. You’re sure to see a few that catch your eye and they each offer a completely random way of playing that gives you fun and the chance to grab a win too.