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Still looking for some way to spend your Labor Day weekend? Rome Casino is offering up an option: their Labor Day online slots tournament.

Rome is hosting an online slots tournament that covers the entire Labor Day weekend. This tournament began yesterday, September 2nd, and will run through Sunday, September 5th.

Rome has a reputation as being an online casino that does not walk the exact same line as other online casinos in the online gaming industry. And this holds true for their Labor Day online slots tournament.

I suppose you could say that this is something of a freeroll online slots tournament in so much that there is no set fee to take part in this tournament. All any interested players need to do is create an account at Rome (if they do not already have one), and then make two deposits during the tournament time frame. There is no specified amount on those deposits.

Players compete in this tournament by playing any of the online slots game in order to collect Labor Day tournament points. The top twenty players at the time the tournament closes on September 5th will be rewarded:

1st place: $30,000
2nd place: $22,000
3rd place: $15,000
4th place: $8,000
5th place: $6,000
6th place: $4,000
7th place: $2,500
8th place: $1,500
9th & 10th place: $1,000
11th – 15th places: $500
16th – 20th places: $250

Obviously the nature of this online slots tournament deems the player who plays the hardest has the best shot at first place—the more you play, the more points you earn. But considering that there is no entry fee this is not a bad tournament.

Sure, you have to make two deposits, but you were going to make them anyway right?

All in all, this is not a bad online slots tournament. Players at Rome Casino stand a chance to win for doing what they do anyway: playing the slots. And this would be an easy online slots tournament to enter.

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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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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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Online slots and slot machines are a bit tricky when it comes to your slots betting to payout chances. Naturally, a slots player would have to be tricky in return in their slots strategy to help compensate for it.

Let’s say that you are a nickel player, meaning that you wager a nickel per payline. But you are a player who likes to play with multiple coins per payline. So in effect you are more of a quarter player because you are wagering closer to a quarter on a payline.

So you would think that the online slots game or slot machine that you are playing would recognize the increased wagering, and, recognizing the increased amount of wagering, payout accordingly like a quarter slots game would.

You would be wrong in thinking that. Remember that the house wants to hang on to every little bit of an edge that they can. It does not matter that online slots and slot machines are built to have an edge to take more money than they payout.

Even though the online slots game or slot machine is able to accept larger wagers because of multiple coins, it does not mean that it will payout on a larger scale.

So what should you do in terms of your slots strategy?

For starters look at your own slots betting. How are you betting? You say you are a nickel player, but you are wagering five nickels per payline, which is actually wagering a quarter per payline instead.

Look at your total bet per payline. If the number of coins you are betting has you betting a quarter per payline then you are not a nickel player. You are a quarter player.

And you want that quarter payout scale you will not find it betting multiple coins on a nickel slots game. But you will find that payout scale on a quarter machine while only wagering one quarter per payline.

The point is that you have to adjust your thinking about your own slots betting in order to proper work out your slots strategy. This means, in terms of slots strategy, looking at your slots betting and what you are betting in total per line rather than what coin you are betting.

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It looks like the reels of some of Microgaming’s progressive jackpots have been spinning in overtime. Several of their progressive online slots games have been paying out quite nicely over the last month. But one progressive online slots game has been paying more than most.

Mega Moolah has been working overtime for the last several months. On one hand it is building and building its grand progressive jackpot, which has now passed the $4 million mark. That last time the grand progressive jackpot was this high was back in early May of 2009 when one lucky player won $6 million from Mega Moolah.

On the other hand Mega Moolah’s major jackpot has been paying out fairly steadily.

Like most of Microgaming’s progressive jackpots, the online slots game has three jackpots: a major and a minor and then the grand progressive jackpot that is linked to all online casinos that offer that particular game. It is the grand progressive that has passed the $4 million mark, and its major jackpot that has been paying out steadily:

July 16th: $28,454
July 22nd: $25,885
July 29th: $55,509
July 31st: $17,419
August 5th: $40,476
August 13th: $75,724
August 15th: $10,343

But Mega Moolah is not the only progressive online slots game from Microgaming to be working hard of late:

Treasure Nile paid out $45,911 to a lucky player on August 5th.

Fruit Fiesta’s highest payout in July was worth $68,625.

Lotsa Loot made three payouts so far in August, the largest one being $8,779.

Cash Splash has made five payouts just in August alone. Of those five, two were worth more than $57,000 each.

It seems that Microgaming is the place to be as we near the end of summer in terms of progressive online slots games. With progressive jackpots climbing past $4 million and major jackpots going off left and right, players will definitely be heading to Microgaming powered online casinos to get in on the progressive online slots gaming action.

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