No matter how you slice it, slots are a random, luck-based casino game that requires basically no skill. Insert your coins or place your bet, and pull the lever or click spin, and away you go. It doesn’tThere are occasions when we here at ReadyBetGo want to bring you interesting facts about the gambling industry When something catches our eye, we will publish it for your enjoyment.
matter if you’re hanging out in a Las Vegas mega casino, at home playing online, or going for a spin on your favorite slot on your mobile device while sitting at the dentist’s office. Either lady luck is with you or not, right?
Experts, however, beg to differ. Sure, slots are a luck-based game, but years of experience playing slots in both brick and mortar casino establishments from Las Vegas, to Atlantic City to Macau and regularly online mean we’ve been able to generate a few slots playing tips that, when deployed properly, can actually increase your chances of winning.
The first and foremost thing you need to know is that it’s important to debunk and/or otherwise clarify common slots myths. We’ve all heard of the proverbial “loose” slot. Rumors have bounced around for decades that casino managers intentionally place “loose” slots at strategic places on the casino floor. The general logic behind the myth says that these machines payout a lot more and a lot more often than other machines, so finding a “loose” slot is like finding the goose that laid the golden egg. Moreover, as common urban casino legends go, these slots, because they pay out more often, are more likely to pay out a jackpot.
As there are two sides to every coin, there are two sides to every myth. The fact of the matter is that in today’s world of video slots, loose slots simply don’t exist. Modern video slots use random number generators (RNGs) to determine the outcome of every spin. This algorithm makes sure that every spin is a unique event, meaning that spins that come before have no influence on the outcome of any spin that comes after. It comes down to one word, math. So, technically and mathematically speaking, a slot machine can never be “loose.”
However, back in the early days of mechanical slots, when the myth originated, it is completely possible that there were loose slots due to a mechanical defect, just as in the old days of the slots Wild West, unscrupulous casino operators could try and rig their mechanical slots machines to pay out less often. We all know that engines break leading to a crash or that they can be supercharged to over perform. This was no less true in the days of mechanical slots.
Now that said, no two slot machines are necessarily created equal. Today’s video slot machines pay out at different rates, depending on a number of factors such as whether the jackpot is fixed or progressive, how many paylines a slot has and how many bonus features. Some slots really do pay out more often, albeit in smaller amounts, than other slots.
This is due to the way the machine is calibrated and its standard payout ratio, not some unseen mechanical or programming defect.
If you decide to play a progressive slot in search of that mega, life changing jackpot, it’s important to keep in mind that these machines take a percentage of each coin played to place toward the overall jackpot. That’s how progressive slots jackpots can reach into the millions of dollars. This tends to mean that, while the ultimate jackpot win could be enormous, depending on the number of people who have played the machine since the RNG last called up a jackpot, the slot is less likely to pay out as often as a fixed jackpot slot.
The reason? The slot itself has to keep a percentage of the winnings for the progressive jackpot, so there is less to go around for smaller, non-jackpot wins, meaning there will be less frequent and often smaller payouts than fixed jackpot machines, simply because there is less to go around.
Think of it like this, each slot machine has two pots of coins. A progressive machine will have one big pot for the mega jackpot and a smaller pot for smaller, non-jackpot wins. A fixed jackpot machine will also have two pots, but the smaller pot is the fixed jackpot, with the larger pot of coins being used to pay out smaller, non-jackpot wins. Obviously, there are more coins in the smaller, fixed jackpot machine to pay out regularly, i.e. that pot is bigger, so the machine can pay out more often.
In a nutshell then, our winning slots tip comes down to your tolerance for risk versus reward. In playing a progressive jackpot slot, your potential rewards are much higher, but the risk, in terms of how long you’ll have to play for smaller rewards is much higher. When it comes to a fixed jackpot slot, your overall potential reward is much lower, but so is the risk you have to take in terms of playtime to get that smaller reward.
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