Slots Hero

I think we might have some crossover players, players who once played blackjack, and maybe still do, but are now into playing slots games.

The reason I say this is because I have heard tell of a new slots strategy: count the symbols.

The way this works is that players will count the symbols on the reels. It is believed that the number of symbols on the reels will reveal the likelihood of landing a particular winning combination.

For example if you were playing a three reel slots game with twenty symbols per reel, you would multiply 20 x 20 x 20 to equal 8,000. Then you would divide 1 into 8,000 then multiply it by 100%.

True this will tell you the odds of landing that winning combination, but it does not in any way reveal when that combination will happen. Knowing the odds of landing a particular winning combination could either depress you or just add to the trivia knowledge you possess.

But it does not give you an edge, or increase your chances of landing that combination.

And when it comes to modern day slots games—both online slots games and slot machines—this so-called slots strategy is actually useless.

Both online slots games and slot machines are video slots. This means that they do not have actual reels. The symbols are programmed into the game’s software and the RNG pulls a result for a spin when Spin is clicked or hit.

Without actual physical reels it is impossible to count the number of symbols present as the positions and visible number of symbols could change from resulting spin to resulting spin.

And without the ability to accurately count the symbols this slots strategy gives even less than it originally did back when there were actual reels.

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It seems that slots players will never tire of trying to find ways to crack the Random Number Generator (RNG) of online slots games and slots machines. I think they feel that if they can crack the RNG that they will then be able to beat the slots game, and collect that jackpot.

But the truth is that the RNG is not something that can be cracked.

Today’s ‘concern’ pertains to the RNG and previous spins.

Some players seem to think that the RNG takes into account the previous spin when pulling a result for the current spin. The truth is that the RNG does indeed take anywhere from the last spin to any number of spins into account when pulling a result for the current spin on an online slots game or slot machine.

Now, do not jump the gun on this. This is not by any means the secret, long sought after key to cracking RNGs and slots games open. There is a logical explanation to this:

The RNG has to take previous spins into consideration when pulling a result for a current spin simply because it would not due to have the exact same results as the last spin.

Actually that would be a pretty cool random jackpot idea—award a jackpot for landing exactly the same symbols in the same places as the previous spin.

The point is that, yes, the RNG does take precious spins into consideration. And if you were to go back in time and hit Spin on an online slots game or slot machine, you would get the same results on the next spin as you did the first time.

But there are two sides to this. While the RNG considering previous spins keeps the same results from being landed, this also means that it keeps the online slots game or slot machine from paying out the same jackpot too frequently.

This is a part of balancing the payout percentage of an online slots game or slot machine: the previous spin consideration of RNGs keeps the spins varied and also keeps the payouts from going crazy, paying out too much or not enough.

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We live in the age of technology. As a result we have some pretty extraordinary online slots games to play.

Back in the old days of casinos, before gaming technology got to be what it is today, people played on slot machines. They used to have an arm to pull in order to set the reels spinning. Back in those days there were actual reels in the machine.

Now even the slots machines are video slots. And the pull arm is long gone, replaced by a button.

Video slots are online slots games or slot machines that do not have reels in them. The game is designed to have the look of reels—symbols that spin in fashion like how the real reels look—but otherwise the entire game is electronic.

Any online slots game is going to be a video slots game because there is no way for an online game to have actual physical reels. In the world of online slots games, video slots are the standard and are what people are referring to when they say online slots games.

But these video online slots games come in two formats: standard and classic.

Classic online slots games only differ from standard online slots games in that they are visually modeled after the original slot machines. When playing one, the window is filled with the image of a slots machine. And even though players click Play to spin the reels, there is still a pull arm on the side of the machine.

Classic online slots games will generally only have three reels. Usually they only have one payline, but some do have three paylines. These games are not as popular as the standard five reel online slots games, but there are players who prefer them, and they are often used in online slots tournaments.

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Within the last couple of years developers of online slots games have begun to work another feature of the Vegas style slot machines: the ability to wager multiple coins.

What exactly is multiple coin wagering?

When you wager multiple coins you are wagering more than one coin on a single payline. For example you could be wagering $0.01 on a payline. A penny is your coin. If you were to wager, say, three coins on a single payline you would be wagering $0.03 per payline at that point.

This does not sound like a big deal but multiple coin wagering does have an impact on your slots strategy.

Remember your wagering is the only aspect of slots that you can control, so it is what you build your strategy on.

First off you need to check what the coin setting is on when you first open up an online slots game. Many online casinos will have the coin denomination set at its highest setting. If you do not check you could wind up wagering a lot more. Say you are a nickel player and want to wager $0.05 per payline. If you do not check the coin setting and it is set at 5 coins, you will be wagering $0.25 per payline; and your spins will get expensive quick.

If you do intend to wager multiple coins per line, think first about how much you want to wager in total. If you only want to spend no more than $1 per spin and are playing a twenty five payline online slots game, you could wager at most 4 $0.01 coins per payline.

The thing to remember about multiple coin wagers is that you need to take into consideration what denomination you assign to a single coin, and then figure what you are wagering in total so that you are not surprised at the cost of a spin. This is a part of managing your betting in your slots strategy.

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I was doing some more thinking about one of the online slots games that I wrote about yesterday, Cashapillar. And while it is visually speaking a lovely online slots game with all the graphics and style that players come to expect from a Microgaming online slots game, there was still something about the game that bothered me.

Finally I realized what was bothering me so much. The paylines. All of them. There, to me at least, are too many paylines.

Think about it. Cashapillar has one hundred paylines. If a player is wagering only $0.01 per payline that still makes the cost of one spin $1. For some online slots players $1 is a lot for a single spin.

For other online slots players, the nickel and quarter players, the cost is even more. For the nickel online slots player the cost of a single spin is $5; and for a quarter player the cost is $25 per spin.

Compare that to what they would be paying per spin if they were playing a standard twenty five reel online slots game: $1.25 for the nickel player and $6.25 for the quarter player.

When comparing the two that is quite an increase.

What bothers me is that with those one hundred paylines, players can expect to run through their bankroll a lot faster, and potentially wind up wagering money that originally had not intended to just so that they can keep on playing.

And players do stand to lose more money faster when playing a one hundred payline online slots game than they would if they were playing the standard twenty five payline game.

Slots games are designed to take your money over time. Some take faster than others, but that is usually a result of the game’s payout percentage and odds. An online slots game with one hundred paylines is definitely going to take your money faster purely because of the paylines alone.

So while Cashapillar is a fun online slots game to play and visually amusing, it will be an online slots game that I play for fun since I do not want to spin my money away too quickly.

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Do you remember a few days ago when I reviewed two of the WagerWorks online slots games?

One of those online slots games was Monopoly, which featured a very rewarding bonus game called Pass Go. And the other online slots game was Cluedo, which was based on the Clue board game, but for some odd reason needed –do tacked on to the end of its name.

Well both of those online slots games are two of the four that have been launched at BetFred Casino to begin their partnership with WagerWorks. Four online slots games were chosen to kick of the beginning of the partnership.

The other two online slots games that were chosen were Cleopatra and Wheel of Fortune, the Hollywood Edition. Guess what those two are based off of.

WagerWorks is reported to be quite happy with the new partnership. Their Director and General Manager, Oliver Lofthouse, has this to say on the subject:

“I am delighted that BetFred Casino has chosen to include WagerWorks titles as part of its online games development strategy. As a key operator with a long established reputation for value and customer satisfaction, this agreement allows it to leverage the best games in the market…I am confident that WagerWorks games will add incremental value to BetFred and continue to give its players best-of-breed game content.”

So obviously WagerWorks is pleased by the arrangement.

As for BetFred’s opinion of the arrangement, they also have nothing but nice things to say about this partnership. BetFred’s Operations Director, Nick Mounteer, said:

“The decision to integrate WagerWorks games was, in that respect, an easy one. WagerWorks is widely regarded as one of the top games suppliers in the market and it makes perfect strategic sense to utilize its availability via the Finsoft platform.”

But the ultimate winners are the players as they are the ones who get to play the four new online slots games, and any other online slots games that WagerWorks releases.

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Yes, you read that correctly. This online slots game has one hundred paylines for players to play on.

The online slots game is called Cashapillar, named after the caterpillar that stares in the game. Though oddly enough, it is the centipede that has one hundred games. But I guess online slots game developers can be lax on their entomology.

Cashapillar is being launched today at Virgin Casino, which is owned by Virgin Games. Although this online slots game is new to Virgin Casino, it is not by any means a new online slots game. Cashapillar was created a couple of years ago by Microgaming. It can be found in many Microgaming powered online casinos.

Other than the one hundred paylines, this is a five reel online slots game with an insect party theme. Apparently the Cashapillar who is really a centipede is celebrating his birthday, and has invited all of his little bug friends to help him come celebrate. I hope they help him blow out the one hundred candles that would be on his cake.

Like any good Microgaming online slots game, this one comes with some good features. There is a Wild, a Scatter, free spins, multipliers and a Stacked Wild.

A Stacked Wild is when the Wild symbol is stacked, in this case five high, on the reels, making it more likely to have a Wild completing a combination. The Stacked Wild can be found on all five reels of Cashapillar.

As for rewards, the potential is definitely there. Players can win up to 2,000 coins in regular play and up to 6,000 coins in the free spins feature. That is on a single payline. Now factor in all one hundred paylines and there is the potential to win two million coins in regular play and six million in the free spins.

In regards to the paylines and Stacked Wilds, Warren Eloff, Head of Products at Virgin Games, had this to say:

“With 100 paylines, this latest release from Microgaming is certainly a unique addition to our game portfolio. The plentiful paylines together with the stacked wilds makes this slot enormously rewarding and fun.”

While the theme and the bonus features definitely add to this online slots game, the only thing that actually worries me is the paylines themselves. Even wagering at the minimum amount per payline, a single spin can still cost $1.

Cashapillar can be found at just about any Microgaming powered online casino, such as All Jackpots. And now it can be found at Virgin Casino as well.

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This morning I discussed elements of slots strategy that can be controlled by a slots player, the first point being to not even bother doing battle with the RNG as there is no way to beat it.

The one aspect of gambling with a slots game that a player can control is their bankroll. And bankroll management is the key to having a slots strategy. Rate of play is a part of such a slots strategy, but betting strategy is the other aspect.

Whether you are playing slot machines in a brick and mortar casino, or play online slots games, you will at some point, either from other players in the casino or in forums online, hear of something called a betting system.

Do not confuse a betting strategy with a betting system.

A betting system is a plan for betting with steps that you follow and do not deviate from.

An example of a betting system would be the Martingale betting system.

The way that this betting system works is that you double your wager on the next round if you lost the previous, and you keep doubling until you win.

So let’s say that you wager $0.25 on your first spin and you lose. You would wager $0.50 on the next, and a $1 on the next, and then $2, then $4. Well you see how this is going. In five spins, which can take less than five minutes, you would have gone from a quarter a spin up to $4.

With a betting system the wagers ad up quickly when used with a slots game. You can see how easily and how quickly you could run through your bankroll.

Now a betting strategy would be, in its easiest format, wagering the same thing and only increasing or decreasing the amount of your wager if your bankroll could handle the change. The change in your wager is dictated by you, and not by the rules of some silly betting system.

Any slots player worth their chips is going to steer clear of a betting system and focus on sticking with a betting strategy.

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Yesterday I talked about slots strategy in regards to the RNG of a slots game—how both online slots games and slot machines alike have RNGs, and how RNGs pull outcomes for a spin of the reels.

I ended my explanation of RNGs and slots strategy by clarifying that there is no slots strategy out there that can do battle with the RNG of a slots game and outsmart the RNG.

However, not all hope is lost. There is a way to create a slots strategy that can be used when spinning the reels. And it can be used when playing online slots games or slot machines, which is nice should you play both.

So what is this slots strategy? It is bankroll management.

No, no, wait, hear me out!

Think of it like this: strategy is about taking advantage of opportunities to make money and about making action that minimize your losses. Think about that last part: minimize your losses. That is what slots strategy is for.

Slots games—both online slots and slot machines—are designed to take a player’s money. Sad, but true fact of life. Some slots games will take players’ money faster than others.

Since the RNG of a slots game cannot be impacted by the player, there is no strategy that can be applied to take advantage of opportunities to make money since all opportunities are the same. So that leaves the other side of strategy’s purpose in your hands: to minimize your losses.

The best way for a player to minimize their losses in terms of slots strategy is bankroll management.

There are two ways to go about bankroll management. You can control your rate of play. Or you can use a betting strategy to control your bankroll—do not confuse that with betting system.

Rate of play means that you do not use the Stop Spin feature because it speeds up your playing, and you play more games per hour. The more games you play per hour, the faster you lose your money.

Also to control rate of play you can set yourself a certain number of games per hour or give yourself a set time limit to play—like play for ten minutes and take a break.

Bankroll management is key to a player’s slots strategy as it is the only aspect of playing slots games that the player can control.

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Something that puzzles me about some slots players is that they swear that they can beat the RNG. They will build whole slots strategies for tricking a slots game out of its jackpot like the game is the troll on the bridge, and they have to trick it to cross the bridge.

But slots games—both online slots and slot machines—are not trolls that can be tricked.

In fact, the RNG is one of the things the two types of slots games have in common. An RNG is a Random Number Generator. It is the portion of the game that pulls the results of a spin of the reels.

When a slots game is created, the game developers program the RNG with every single possible outcome the reels could have. I imagine that this takes a lot of time to do. Anyway, when a player clicks or presses Spin, the RNG will randomly pull an outcome for that spin.

And the RNG pulls that outcome the second Spin is clicked or pressed. That is why the Stop Spin feature that some slots games have is pointless—the outcome has already been pulled.

But some players swear that this is how to outsmart the RNG. They are advocates of Stop Spin being a part of any slots strategy. These players believe that if they click or press Stop Spin at just the right moment, they will fool the RNG into giving up its jackpot.

This is untrue since the RNG pulls an outcome as soon as Spin is hit. All Stop Spin does is increase your rate of play, and that increases the amount of money you stand to lose in an hour.

Because slots games are games of chance there is no slots strategy available to beat or trick the game. The best that a player can do in terms of slots strategy is to manage their playing and their bankroll.

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