Slots Hero

Understanding how the Random Number Generator (RNG) of a slots game, be it an online slots game or a slot machine, is very simple yet not the easiest of concepts to understand.

The general explanation is that a slots game is programmed with every possible outcome or combination of symbols. A slots game also has an RNG. The RNG is constantly picking combinations even when the game is not eve being played. When a player sits down and hits Spin the RNG will immediately pull one of those combinations and the reels are set to match that combination.

Sounds simple enough but if you stop and try to think about it, it brings to become less easy to understand.

So let’s this explanation I heard of:

Imagine that every single possible symbol combination is written down along with its payout—be that a $0 payout or the jackpot—on an index card. Now imagine a separate RNG. Someone comes up and presses or clicks Spin. The RNG twitters its way to over to the stack of index cards and randomly pulls one. That randomly chosen index card has the symbol spin result and the payout for that spin. The RNG then takes the index card to the reels and the reels then align themselves to match what the index card says. The payout that is on the index card is then given.

That is the simplest and most picturesque way to explain what the RNG actually does in a slots game. It does not determine which symbols and payout are given. It merely takes one of the predetermined results and ferries it to the reels. That is all it does. It does not even do any real thinking.

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Are you a penny slots player? You know, wagering only pennies on the paylines. I am sure you think you are a penny player but you might just be a quarter slots player not even realize it.

Say you are spinning the reels on a twenty five payline slots game. At one penny per payline, you are wagering a quarter per spin.

What does that matter you might be asking?

Well if you are going to be paying a quarter per spin, be it on a twenty five line slots game at a penny per line or a quarter on a single line classic slot machine, you might want to go with the classic slot machine. That is if you want to run the risk of paying more per hour and going without bonus games and free spins.

Wait a moment, hear me out.

The payout percentages on classic slot machines tend to be higher than video slot machines. They are set to higher denominations when compared to the denomination settings on the video slot machines. This means that the classic single line reel slot machines will pay out more of the total wagers taken in when compared to the video slot machines.

Granted, the classic slot machines do not offer the same degree of entertainment. But choosing which machine to play on depends on what you want: entertainment or a better payout percentage on the chance of winning.

Video slot machines, while capable of paying out, are more entertainment driven. Hence the reason they are the cash cows of the casinos. Classic three reel-ers have more of a chance of paying out in larger amounts.

So if you are going to spend a quarter, ask yourself which you want: entertainment or the shot at a larger payout. If the larger shot is what you want, then own up and be a quarter player. But if you want entertainment then go be the quarter nee penny player.

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To some a jackpot is a jackpot. As long as a large amount of money is coming out of the slot machine or online slots game, who is to argue the point of what kind of jackpot it is, right?

Not entirely. The differences in jackpots are bigger than the amount of money. The labels on a jackpot are indicators to slots players of how that jackpot could possibly be triggered. There are three types of jackpots: fixed, random and progressive.

A fixed jackpot means that the jackpot is a coin-based jackpot and that it can be triggered no matter what you are wagering. This means that if you land the jackpot symbols, you will receive 5,000 coins, for example.

The actual amount of money won is determined by how much a coin is worth based on your wager. If you only wager a penny per payline, a fixed jackpot of 5,000 coins is $50. But for a player who is wagering a quarter per payline, the same fixed jackpot of 5,000 coins is $1,250. The amount of the coins in the jackpot is the same no matter what, but the amount of actual money changes depending upon how much you assign to the coin value, or how much you are wagering per payline.

A random jackpot could either be a fixed coin amount or be a set amount of money, such as $1,000, regardless of what the wager per payline is. The thing that makes random jackpots their own kid of jackpot is that they have no designated trigger.

For a fixed jackpot to trigger, the slots player has to land a certain symbol one per reel. So on a five reel slots game, the slots player must land the jackpot symbol one each reel on an active payline. A random jackpot needs no such trigger. Anything in the game could trigger it.

A progressive jackpot could be either fixed or random—it all depends upon the slots game. Players can read the pay table to find out which it is. What makes a progressive jackpot different is the amount.

A progressive slots game is linked between several slot machines or several online slots games. A portion of each wager made by each player is put into the jackpot. So the more players playing the progressive slots game, the more money that goes into it. It is worth noting that progressive jackpots, owing to the large number of players playing them, are generally harder to trigger.

Knowing the difference between the different kinds of jackpots can make the difference in which slots game you choose to play. You may want a fixed jackpot so that you know what you are looking to land on the reels, or you may want to throw odds to the find and shoot for that progressive. Knowing the difference helps you to decide which you want to shoot for.

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Losses when playing a slots game never feel good. We know, deep down in our brains, that slots games are designed to be the cash cows of the casinos and online casinos; they are designed to take our money.

And knowing that and playing anyway, and then the losses on top of that, well, it just does not leave us with a happy feeling.

But there is a way to put those losses to use.

Any time a slots player has a single payout of $1,200 or more he or she is required to fill out a W-2G form with the casino before receiving their winnings. Same applies with online casinos, but it involves faxing forms back and forth before a withdrawal can be made.

This is the government’s way of making sure they get their share of your winnings regardless of whether you think they should or not. In fact, we are supposed to be listing gambling wins of significant size on our tax returns.

And that puts a bit of a kill joy on hitting a jackpot of any real size.

But you can take those losses from slots games and put them to use. You can claim them on your tax return and that can offset the amount of taxes you have to pay on your winnings from slots.

But in order to do so you need to keep a record. You must record the casino you are playing at, the date, the number of the slot machine you were playing along with any significant wins and losses.

Having this information will help should the IRS question the losses you claim. The casino name, date of play and slot machine number helps them to go back and verify the losses that you are telling them you had.

You can claim losses up to the amount you won playing a slots game since the amount you won is what goes on your taxes. At least those losses are good for something.

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It is an incredible rush when you win a jackpot off of a slots game, be it a slot machine or an online slots game. But there are legal matters that sometimes have to be attended to—such as tax forms.

I know, we all hate taxes. This is probably why we all look back at ‘Robin Hood’ so fondly—guy stealing from the royalty who taxed the peasants to excess. But when we win a jackpot there is a lot of money involved and the government naturally wants their share.

Tax form procedures can differ from online casino to online casino. This is mostly because online casinos are not run on US soil. If you are concerned about the process of cashing out large winnings or withdrawing funds from your player account, it is best to ask the specific online casino you play at to make sure you have an accurate picture of how their taxes, if any, work. Again, this is because they are not run on US soil.

Online casinos aside, brick and mortar casinos, slot machines and their tax forms are more standard.

In the case of slots jackpots, any significant amount of winnings—even a $1,500 jackpot, which does not sound like a lot, but to the IRS it apparently is enough to warrant taxing. You should not be surprised though.

Let me say right now, it is very important to have your tax forms willed out for your winnings. And it is very important that you be the one who fills them out. For example, Trump Marina in Atlantic City was fined $10,000 because they allowed a friend of a winner to fill out the tax forms on behalf of the winner. It is that serious of a matter. And it was only for a $1,200 jackpot.

So if you are lucky enough to land a jackpot do not jeopardize your winnings by neglecting the tax forms for slots winnings—it could land you and the casino in hot water with the IRS. And no one wants to be on the bad side of the IRS.

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As promised, here is this afternoon’s post on why reels on a slots game are not necessary and why that can help explain why there is no slots strategy.

As I have stated before, reels are just for show, part of the entertainment of a slots game, be it a slot machine or an online slots game.

The only part of the slot game that make up the actual game are the RNG, the activation button (the Spin button) and a means of collecting a wager and paying out for any wins that occur.

Really all a slots game really is, when it comes down to it, is a sort of random drawing game.

Seriously! A drawing game works like this: you put money in—the wager—and activate the game, if one of any of the set winning combinations is drawn then you receive a payout. Otherwise your money is taken.

Another way to look at is like drawing to see who is going to take out the trash. The ‘wager’ is the unwanted chore, and each person has a chance of receiving the ‘winning combination.’ The one that drew the chore is the ‘winner,’ depending on how you look at it. But the process is similar.

In the case of pushing a button to activate a random drawing game, the player cannot influence the outcome. There is no way for the player to do anything other than put money in and activate the game.

When you take all the flashy show from a slots game and get down to its basic core, it becomes obvious that there is nothing a player can do to influence the outcome. No influence equals no slots strategy.

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Often enough I get asked how can I be sure that there truly is no strategy for slots.

The answer lies in the game itself.

First picture a slots game. It can be a slot machine’s playing screen or the window of your computer with an online slots game on it. What do you see?

You will see a varying number of paylines, a varying number of reels, all the bright happy colors of the graphics and symbols. All the things that make up the surface of a slots game.

Now I want you to picture the buttons, the only part of the slots game that the player can do anything with. There are two buttons that are used to increase and decrease the amount of your wager. There are two buttons to increase and decrease the number of active paylines. And there are buttons to show the paytable, set auto play going or bet the maximum amount. Then there is the Spin button and, on some slots games, a Stop Spin button.

Based on those buttons, a player can adjust their wager, the number of active paylines, view the paytable, use auto play, bet the max and set the reels spinning; and in some cases stop the reels.

That is all.

There are no buttons that influence the reels at all. Once a player hits Spin, the Random Number Generator (RNG) will immediately pull one of the thousands of possible outcomes for that spin.

On the surface it might appear that the Stop Spin button might have an impact. There are supposed slots strategies based on that idea. But because the RNG pulls an outcome immediately, all the Stop Spin button does is stop the show, the entertainment portion of the game.

You would still get the same outcome whether you hit Stop Spin or not.

In all actuality the reels are not really necessary for a slots game. I am serious. I will explain this afternoon why reels are not necessary for a slots game. Perhaps once I explain that, it can be further understood why there is no strategy for slots.

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Despite what you might hear on the casino floor or in online forums dedicated to online slots, there is no way to know or sense when a slot machine or an online slots game will let loose its jackpot.

Any and all slots games are random. They are games of chance. This means that there is nothing that a player can do to influence them, nor is there any way to know in advance when the jackpot is going to be triggered.

This morning I talked about how some slots players believe a supposed slots tip that the clock in a slots game is set to trigger the jackpot at a particular time.

Another slots myth is that it is possible to track a slot machine and figure out when it will trigger the jackpot again. This supposed slots tip requires a player to constantly observe one particular slot machine, counting the spins and how often it pays out the combinations.

The problem with this slots myth is that you cannot play a slot machine twenty four hours a day for days on end. And the only thing you would discover is that there is no pattern to when the slots game hits any of its combinations.

What players truly need to keep in mind is that the Random Number Generator (RNG) is there. It is there to make sure that there is no pattern in how a slots game pays out.

Think about it—if a slots game had a pattern, it would be possible to create a strategy to beat that game. Or any slots game. But there is no viable slots strategy. Lucky statues or rituals or clothing do nothing to the slots game.

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Slots games are one of the most attractive casino games available. For one thing they are easy to play. And they are bright and shiny and will draw your eye to them. Easy to play, entertaining and easy to get caught up in, who would not want to play a slots game.

And do not forget the lure of the jackpot.

Because of such reasoning slots games are the biggest money makers for online casinos and brick and mortar casinos. This is because they create a high draw of players. And they also pay out less than other casino games such as blackjack and video poker.

It is all fine and well to play a slots game but it is important to keep some things in mind.

Slots are games of chance. This means that there is nothing that a player can do to influence the outcome of a spin of the reels. This includes superstitions and charms. Holy water, rabbit’s feet and lucky talismans do not have any influence on the reels of a slot machine or online slots game.

Because there is no way for a player to influence the outcome of a slots game, there is no real slots strategy.

However slots players can create a type of slots strategy. It is called bankroll management.

This involves controlling your rate of play and how you make your wagers on the game—the amount of the coin and the number of coins per line.

Overall, slots games are still games that are designed to take a player’s money. This does not mean that they should not be played. When viewed as a form of entertainment and played in moderation, slots games are just fine to play.

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Find your own little piece of paradise in another new online slots game from Vegas Technology.

This new five reel, twenty five payline online slots game is called Paradise Riches and features an exotic summery beach theme. This comes across in the Dolphins, Coconuts, Island Drinks and other tropically oriented symbols.

While it does not carry all of the bonus features that Vegas Technology’s other new online slots game, Agent Cash, does Paradise Riches does not come to players empty handed.

There is only one Wild in Paradise Riches, but it is a Wild that pays. When substituting for any symbol other than the Scatter, there is a 3x multiplier on any winning combination that the Hula Girl helps to complete.

On top of the 3x multiplier, the Hula Girl will also payout a 10,000 coin jackpot for landing five of her on the reels.

The Tropical Flower is the Scatter in Paradise Riches. Players need only land a minimum of two to be awarded a Scatter payout.

But three or more Tropical Flowers will trigger the free spins feature. Twelve free spins are awarded and each free spins has a multiplier of 3x on it. As another little bonus, players can retrigger the free spins as long as all twenty five paylines are active.

The cost of a spin on Paradise Riches starts at $0.25 ($0.01 per payline) and goes up as high as $125 ($5 per payline) per spin. This range makes this a good online slots game for a high roller or basic player or someone who is just looking for some relaxing slots play in paradise.

Vegas Technology has done a good job in creating a new online slots game to gives off a relaxing feeling while at the same time giving players a good game.

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