New slot machine players are going to find a lot of advice for beating the slots. Have a healthy skepticism when a slots expert tells you they know how to beat the slot machines. Among the games in a casino, video slots (in general) have a high house edge. Besides finding gaming machines with high jackpots and a low house edge, no skill or strategy is required to play slots. That means you can’t expect to increase your odds of winning in most situations.
Of playing slot machines. Virtually, anyone who visits a casino is familiar with a slot machine and how it operates, even a novice. You insert a coin, pull the handle or press a button and wait a few seconds to see if you win. It’s basic simplicity accounts for much of the success of slot machines in today’s casinos. Walk into just about any casino and you will hear the ringing of slot machines. Gambling halls feature slots in a variety of denominations and game types, with jackpots ranging from a few hundred dollars to millions of dollars. There is no way to 'beat' the slots, but you can use some strategies to reduce the house edge against you.
Read through the advice below to optimize your chances of winning at slots. None of the advice assures winning sessions. Instead, it helps you stretch your bankroll, so you enjoy playing the slots longer. Also, the longer your bankroll lasts, the more chances you’ll have of hitting the big jackpot every slots player wants.
Use a Slots Card
Upon entering a live casino, sign up for a slots card. This provides comps and cashback, which automatically lowers the house edge by a bit. Never play a spin without using your slots card. In an online casino, accept the highest slots bonus and play according to the terms and conditions until you meet the wagering requirement. Once again, this lowers the house edge on online slots.
Make Max Bets
Look at the payout chart on a slot machine to determine how jackpots are paid. On many slot machines, the 5-coin bet pays out a higher percentage on the top fixed jackpot. For instance, a 1-coin bet might pay $200, a 2-coin bet might pay $400, a 3-coin bet might pay $600, and a 4-coin bet might pay $800. You might expect the 5-coin bet to pay $1000, but many slot machines pay out $1200 or $1500 in that case, trying to convince bettors to make the max bet.
If the jackpot increases a bigger percentage with a maximum coin wager, then it makes sense to make the max bet on a slot machine. If the bet size is too high for your tastes, then lower the coin denomination and make a max bet at that level. Of course, if there is no additional jump between the 4-coin and 5-coin bet, then you can wager a single coin and max out the coin denomination to the bet size you like.
Read the RTP Information
If an online casino or land-based casino publishes its return-to-player information, read through the RTP percentages to find the video slots with the best RTPs. Return-to-player or expected return is the percentage of a theoretical $100 you expect to see returned to you. It is a theoretical percentage based on probability, so an RTP of 95% does not assure you’ll be paid $95 for every $100 you put in the machine. You might lose $50 or you might win $150, or you might win a progressive jackpot and go home rich.
The point of the RTP percentage is to give a player an idea of their expected return. If two slot machines sit next to one another and one has an RTP of 93% and the other an RTP of 95% (and both have similar jackpots), then it pays to play the game with the higher percentage. Over time, this leads to you maintaining a higher percentage of your bankroll.
Money Management Techniques
Read about bankroll management techniques. “Money management” or “bankroll management” is a series of steps you take to lock on winnings when good luck happens and limit your losses when a bad streak occurs. These do not assure that you’ll win, but it optimizes your bankroll.
Players should know three core bankroll management methods: percentage betting, win goals, and loss limits. Learn to calculate your bankroll and divide this into percentages. Then bet between 1% and 5% of your bankroll on any given hand, depending on your capacity for risk. This limits the amount of your stake you lose on any given session, keeping you playing for longer throughout your vacation. It is a given that people go to the ATM machine or credit card when they lose their whole bankroll — which means you spend more than you intended. The point of percentage betting is to assure your bankroll last through your whole trip, so you never have to replenish.
What Is a Bankroll?
“Bankroll” is not defined as your entire bank account. It isn’t defined as your discretionary spending budget or the money you have earmarked for entertainment expenses. Instead, it is a part of your discretionary spending cash and entertainment budget which is set aside specifically for gambling. In this case, a bankroll is less than your entertainment budget.
Once you have your bankroll figured, divide this into easy to understand percentage. If you have a bankroll of $1000, then divide this into percentages. These are simple calculations, but you should have an understanding of 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and 20% of your bankroll. In the earlier example, 1% would be $10, while 2% would be $20. 5% would be $50, 10% would be $100, and 20% would be $200.
Now that you have these, decide whether to bet 1% to 5% of your bankroll. Most experts suggest betting no more than 1% to 2% in order to maintain your bankroll throughout your casino trip or online slots session.
How To Beat A Slot Machine
Setting a Win Goal
Next, set your win goal. This is the amount of winnings you set as your goal for any given slots session. If you have a win goal of 10%, then your win goal would be $100 for any given slot machine sessions. As soon as you hit that goal, you walk away from the slot machine — no matter what. A win goal is a hard-and-fast rule, because it locks in winnings. One of the biggest mistakes players make is losing back their winnings, because they think they’re on a hot streak.
Setting a Loss Limit
Even more dangerous is trying to win back cash you just loss. To protect against this tendency, set a loss limit. Once again, make this your hard-and-fast rule. Typical loss limits can be 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% — though 20% means you could lose the entire bankroll in 5 slots session. 10% to 15% is a good middle ground. Once you’ve lost that amount, walk away from the slot machine under all circumstances. The slots game is not “due” to pay out, so step away from the machine and clear your mind.
Win goals and loss limits guard against gambler’s fallacy. Gambler’s fallacy is the idea that the law of averages assures or weight the odds in your favor. Slots use random number generators and every spin is entirely separate from the previous spin. Losing the last spin does not make it more likely you’ll win the next spin. The odds stay the same, no matter how many wins or losses in a row you’ve had.
Avoid Progressive Betting
For that reason, avoid progressive betting systems like the Martingale system, D’Alembert system, Fibonacci system, and so on. Betting experts have used computer simulations to track the progressive betting methods against flat betting (same bet each spin). Flat betting beats all of the progressive betting schemes over 1 billion spins.
App To Beat Slot Machines
Progressive betting seems like it’s working, because it leads to a lot of small winning sessions. The problem is that it also has a handful of huge losing sessions which wipe out all the wins — and then some. You can’t beat the house edge with the Martingale system, however it might look to the naked eye. The Fibonacci numbers are incredible, but they are not a magical way to beat the casino.
The reason progressive bets are bad is they increase the size of your bets (in some systems exponentially). If you start with $5 or $10 bets, a streak of bad luck has you betting hundreds of dollars on one spin. That’s busts your bankroll and leads to a “risk of ruin” — meaning you’ll lose your whole bankroll if you hit a bad luck streak. No matter what you read online, flat bets are better.
Take Breaks for Rest and Refreshments
Play when you are at your best physically and mentally. Don’t play when you’re tired or sleepy. Don’t play when you’re hungry or thirsty. Take frequent rest and restroom breaks. If you get bored, take a break and walk the casino. Play another game to change up the betting pattern.
When you are rested and engaged, you won’t have distractions that might lead to bad decisions. The idea is to have fun, so if anything is causing you to lose focus on the entertainment aspect of the game, walk away and save your bankroll.
Don’t Go on Tilt
Tilt is a concept in poker where a player makes decisions based on emotional responses instead of solid strategy. It can cost a player a lot of money if they make bets based on anything but rational decisions. While going on tilt is not a concept in slot machine gambling, every game of chance has a personal component.
In short, don’t play when you’re agitated. Take stock of your inner thoughts. If your ego or anger is causing you to make irrational decisions, take a deep breath and calm down. If that doesn’t work, walk away and clear your head. It stinks to lose a series of bets, but what stinks more is to lose a series of bigger bets when you’re trying to make up for lost bankroll.
Let me guess –
You want to win more money playing slots. You’d like to beat the house senseless.
Well, I got some news for you.
You can’t.
Let’s get something straight –
There is no way to beat a slot machine. There is no element of skill. And the house edge can be as high as 30 percent.
Now… you might get lucky and win a ton of money. Maybe even a jackpot. It’s possible you don’t end up a lifetime loser (playing slots).
But guess what?
Most people will.
Anyway, the point of this page isn’t to make fun of you for trying or to nag you. In fact, I truly do want to help you have a good time playing slots. Maybe even make more money.
Here’s how you do it.
1. Join a casino with comps
Both brick and mortar and online casinos have loyalty programs or comp programs. These pay you in different ways. It can be in cashback or with perks like free shows, games, hotel rooms, food and more.
Online casinos usually track how much you spend and give you points. Then you can use those points to exchange for money or to increase your VIP status so you can get things like more points, reload bonuses and the ability to earn points faster.
The Wizard of Odds says that a $1 slot player will likely get comped better than the $100 blackjack player. So a comps program isn’t something you want to skimp on.
2. Take the deposit bonus
This comes with a caveat, which I’ll explain in just a second.
Anyway, I suggest taking the deposit bonus because it’s money you wouldn’t have otherwise to play with. You can keep all the money you win, assuming you fulfill the requirements.
The caveat is if you know you’d like to cash out sometime in the near future. Play through requirements can be brutal, often requiring you to wager thousands of dollars beforehand. If you’re not willing to wait then you’ll want to pass on the deposit bonus.
3. Find a casino with a high payback percentage
All things being equal, a casino that pays out 95% on their slots is going to put more money in your pocket than the casino that pays out 90%. It’s simple math.
4. Skip the jackpot
I suggest avoiding the max bets (for the progressive jackpot) unless you can truly afford it. Why? Because chances are you won’t win it.
What? I’m just being honest.
But skipping the jackpot means you’ll have more money to play with. I like that approach more than trying to win a long-shot jackpot.
5. Don’t fall for scams or courses
There is no way to beat a slot machine. So don’t waste your money buying products from gurus that say otherwise. Unless you’re reading them for entertainment, they’re a rip-off.
6. Delay the bonus round
In some games, like The Dark Knight, you’ll win bonus rounds. In one of the bonus rounds you go head-to-head with the other person (Batman or The Joker) in a race. You can race right away and have a 1x multiplier at the end. Or you can save these and for each bonus round you save, you earn another multiplier. The longer you save your bonus rounds the more money you’ll earn at the end of the race.
And that’s only one example – there are lots more like it.
7. Stick to simpler games
The simpler the game, the better your odds – according to the Wizard of Odds. The way to think about it is this – someone has to pay for the fancier slot machines with the big signs and video screens. Guess who that is?
You.
That said, these games are more fun to play. So you do have to decide if you want to sacrifice fun to maybe keep more money in your pocket.
8. Play higher denomination games
The higher the stakes you play the better your odds. For example, it is better to play a one coin per line on a 5-cent machine than to play 5 coins on a 1-cent game.
9. Play slowly
This is my best advice. I used to be the type of person who would win at slots, and then I would hit the spin button so the payout would hit my balance faster instead of waiting for the slot machine to pay me. I just wanted to spin, spin, spin, as fast I could.
Not anymore. That’s the fastest way to burn through your bankroll.
Now I take my time. I wait for the machine to pay me. And, trust me; it takes patience to wait for $5 or $10 to hit your account 1-cent at a time. But your bankroll will last longer.
I take my time during bonus rounds and during cut scenes and animations too.
10. Avoid slots in areas with a captive audience
You don’t want to play slots in places like an airport or restaurant. Those are notorious for having tighter machines than, say, the Las Vegas Strip.
11. Choose machines with smaller jackpots
If you’re going to play a progressive jackpot, choose one with a smaller payout since it is more likely to pay out compared to a larger one. You have better odds of walking away a winner.
12. Choose mechanical slots over video slots
The reason why you want to stick to mechanical slots is because there’s less time between spins. Compare that to a video slot machine that has tons of animation and wait time between spins.
Because of that the casino tightens up their video slot machines to make up for it.
13. Play off the strip
If you’re going to play slots in Las Vegas you’re going to have better odds playing off The Strip rather than on it. The difference is small, but since you can’t beat slots you might as well take any advantage you can.
14. When you win, walk away
Easier said than done, I know.
I try to do this after I win a jackpot or large sum of money. Especially if it puts me up for the session, the day or trip. You get to walk away feeling like a winner.
And that’s a hard feeling to get when you’re playing a game like slots.