Understanding how to play slot machines is more than just knowing how to press the spin button. Like anything in life, slots are more fun if you understand something about how they work. Concepts like payback percentage, payout schedules, and RTP (return to player) are essential to understand if you really want to know what you’re doing in a casino.
Slot Machines – When to Play Max Bet. When it comes to slots, you have to know the machine that you are playing. It’s simple, really, if you know the pay out structure of the machine. If Max Bet gives you a higher pay out other than just the 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. Of the original bet, you bet Max Bet – and if that total bet is too high for your bankroll. The same is true for slot machines at the end of long rows. Pop down from your room, take some cash from a loose machine at the end of the row on the way and you’re off to the buffet or show before anyone even know you won at slots. This is seen as a marketing loss the casino takes seriously.
The Payout Schedule
The phrase “payout schedule” might make you think that a slot machine game is scheduled to pay out certain amounts at certain periods. That’s not what it means, though, and in fact, it’s a common myth that slot machines work in cycles. Every spin of the slot machine is an independent event, and that’s the first “noble truth” of slot machine wisdom. Your chances of winning a jackpot on the spin after you just won the big jackpot are exactly the same as they were on each of the prior spins.
The payout schedule is just another phrase for the pay table. That’s a key to what the payouts are for the various combinations of symbols on the reels. The pay table shows how many lines pay out, which combinations pay out, and what amounts are paid out. That’s a lot of useful information, but it’s not enough to calculate how good a game is. The reason is because you don’t have any means of calculating how likely or unlikely it is to hit any particular combination.
The Payback Percentage
The payback percentage is a theoretical number that describes what percentage of each bet the game is programmed to pay back to the player over the long run. Always remember that in the short term, anything can happen, but in the long run, a negative expectation game will always result in a net win for the house.
Most slots have payback (or payout) percentages of 75% or greater, and in major gambling destinations, payback percentages of 90% and higher or common. This percentage is calculated when the game is designed, but it can vary from machine to machine, even if the machines have the same name and symbols.
For example, if you’re playing dollar slots, and you’re making 100 spins per hour, you’re putting $100 into action each hour. You can expect to see $90 of that come back to you in winnings each hour, but only in the long run. In the short run, you’re unlikely to see the planned payback percentage.
The flip side to a slot machine’s payback percentage is the house edge. That’s the amount of money the house plans to win from each bet. If a game has a 90% payback percentage, then the house edge is 10%. For some reason, house edge is used to describe almost all games except for slots and video poker.
RTP (Return to Player)
This is just a phrase that means the same thing as “payback percentage”. Some jurisdictions do require that such games publicize their RTP on the machine itself—Victoria is one example of such a jurisdiction.
Such jurisdictions are rare, though, so the best players can do is try to find the highest payback percentages via a few simple rules of thumb. These include:
Gamble on machines in casinos, but skip them in other locations. You’ll find bars and airports and even shopping malls with slots games in them, but the payback percentages in those other venues are almost invariably significantly lower than in an actual casino.
Wager on the higher denomination games when you can. The payback percentage goes up on average between 1% and 2% for each increment you go up in betting limits. In other words, penny slots pay out less than nickel slots, and nickel slots pay out less than quarter slots, and so on.
Place the max bet whenever appropriate. On many games, the top jackpot is only available when you play for max coins. This is especially true of progressive jackpots. Being ineligible for the top prize reduces your theoretical return to player significantly.
Always join the slots club. And always play with your player card inserted. Members of the slots club get a small percentage of their play back in the form of rebates and comps. This amount is usually tiny, between 0.1% and 0.3%, but every penny counts. If you’re playing anyway, you should take advantage of this.
What Does the Payback Percentage / Return to Player Actually Mean in Dollars and Sense?
From a practical perspective, you can calculate the amount you can expect to lose over time on a give game. Of course, this expectation only kicks in when you’re nearing a million spins or so, but it’s still useful to play a game with a lower house edge. Here’s why.
Suppose over your gambling lifespan you stick with dollar slots, and let’s suppose that you take one gambling trip per year for 40 years. We’ll also assume that you spend 40 hours of each vacation playing slot machines. Here’s how much you can expect to lose over the course of your life at various payback percentages. (These numbers assume 100 spins per hour.)
- 95% payback percentage = $8000 in expected losses over the course of a lifetime.
- 85% payback percentage = $24.000 in expected losses over the course of a lifetime
- 75% payback percentage = $40,000 in expected losses over the course of a lifetime
Chances are your numbers will vary, and you can never be sure of what the return to player is on a specific machine, but you can get an idea in most major gambling jurisdictions by reading publications like the American Casino Guide or the magazine Strictly Slots.
With their flashing lights and great graphics, slots can be a more enjoyable way to gamble than sitting at a table playing poker. If you are new to slot machines, it is important you know how to read them before you begin spinning. Although slot machines might look the same in casinos, they are all very different and involve different tactics which are vital to know. The most important aspects are revealed below.
They all use the same coins, right?
Although it may seem blatantly obvious, make sure you read what coin the machine accepts in order to play the slots. The wide varieties of slot machines accept different denominations of coins which will obviously affect the amount of spins you are able to make. Read the slot machine as you don’t want to bet more than you intended or wonder why it keeps spitting your coin back into the tray.
Multipliers and Pay-outs
Each slot machine has a different pay-out for specific symbols and the number of coins that are used. A multiplier slot machine increases the pay-out. For example, if the slots you are playing pay 5 coins for 3 bells then it will increase to 10 coins for your second coin and 15 for your third. There are also multiplier bonus games where a bonus is offered when a player uses the maximum number of coins and then hits the jackpot.
Playing on the slots you will also need to look at the multiple pay-lines as some machines have more than one line of play. Each coin you use will activate a specific line on this type of slot machine and be aware that if you win on a line that wasn’t activated by your coin, then you will not receive any pay!
Top Pay-Outs and How to Win
How To Pick A Winning Slot Machine
Another slot machine is the buy-a-pay machine where in order to win the biggest jackpot, you will need to pay the maximum number of coins. Therefore, if you are going to play one coin at a time, avoid these machines as you will not win anything even if you hit the progressive slot jackpot.
A Progressive Slot
This type of slot machine uses a certain percentage of all the money played and adds it to a pool that is used for the top jackpot. This number can be up in the millions and ultimately life changing, with Megabucks slot machines being the most common type of progressive machines. The pay-out on progressive machines for lower wins is generally a lot less than on other slot machines. This is in order for it to create a really large top prize. In general, you should avoid playing progressive slots as even though the $20 million pay-out is enticing, you have more of a chance of winning on the standard slot machines with a 5,000 coin pay-out.
All the slot machines display the information you need, so before you dive into playing make sure you read the slot machine as this will help you decide which machine is best for you. If you don’t understand, ask a staff member and before long you will master the slots.