Slots Hero

Slots—be they online slots games or slot machines—are games of chances. This means that there is no slots strategy out there in the world that is going to beat the house edge and cause the slots game or slot machine to pour forth its coins.

Not that slots games use coins anymore, but that is beside the point.

The point is that there is nothing that a player can do that will have an effect on the slots game. This is because the game is controlled by a Random Number Generator (RNG). This is a part of the slots game that is programmed by the creators with all the possible outcomes for that came. When a player hits Spin the RNG will pull one of the possible outcomes at random.

Hence, the ‘random’ in Random Number Generator.

But I never tire of hearing about the things player will do to try to have an impact on a random game anyway. I think this derives from our culture’s need to dominate and control all aspects round it.

And while the stories about blessing a slot machine with holy water, mathematically calculating a pattern of spins to make, and the trinkets and statues that players will play with to combat the RNG, there have been times when what sounds like a silly hope is actually mildly true.

Such is the case with slot machines and pacemakers.

Pacemakers are generators of electromagnetic interference (EMI). EMI is similar to radio frequency interference (RFI).

Some of the older patrons of slot machines are either concerned that their pacemakers will interfere with the workings of the slot machines and hurt their chances of winning. Others are hopeful that it will interfere in a positive way, and cause the machine to pay out.

To the relief and sadness of both parties, while RFI has been known to play with slot machines from time to time, the EMI from pacemakers will not have an effect on slot machines.

So add pacemakers to the list of things that will not work on a slot machine with holy water, tiki statues and lava rocks from a sacred volcano. The truth is that slot machines—and online slots games—are truly random and players will not be able to have an impact. So, humans, give up that compulsion to control this aspect in your lives.

And put that sacred lave rock back because chances are you have irritated some Hawaiian deity, and while that will not impact your slots odds, it just might have an impact on the bigger aspects of your life.

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It is no secret that there is no slots strategy out in the world that will allow a player to influence the Random Number Generator (RNG) of a slots game. No amount of holy water or rabbits’ feet is going to make the RNG like you more.

However, there is one thing that a slots player can control: their bankroll.

Approaching bankroll management with the idea of saving money is a good attitude to have. But then this depends on how you judge the quality of your time playing. If you judge the quality of playing based the amount of time or money you put into playing then bankroll management can be done.

Managing your slots bankroll is similar to using coupons—the more you save the more you have in your pocket.

Translation: Throwing the maximum amount of money into a slots game is not going to make you any likely to win. Slots games do not recognize the amount of money as large or small, and use that to determine the likelihood of you winning.

Winning slots is based on chance and on luck. If you just so happen to be sitting in front of the game when the RNG pulls that jackpot winning combination then congrats to you. But the amount of your wager is not a factor.

So what are some ways to manage your bankroll as your slots strategy?

First off, stick to wagering only one coin on non-linked and non-progressive slots games.

Yes, those progressive jackpot slots games offer those life changing jackpots, but they are just carrots being dangled in front of players. Casinos and online casinos make money off of players who play progressive jackpots.

This is because you have to wager the maximum amount, meaning multiple coins, in order to be eligible to win that amount. Progressive jackpot slots games are linked so there are more players, which decrease everyone’s odds of winning it. Between the maximum wagering and the thousands of players, these are cash cows for casinos and online casinos.

This is why playing only one coin should be a part of your bankroll management and your slots strategy.

More to come in Part II.

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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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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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With gaming technology being what it is today the appeal in online slots games grows daily. Graphics and animation are drastically better in online slots than they were several years ago. Gaming technology has also improved in the video slots that are in place of the classic slot machines.

One thing that has not changed between classic slot machines, older video slots and our beloved online slots games is strategy.

Strategy of online slots is the same no matter where you have chosen to play them. Meaning, there is no such thing as strategy for slots games.

Slots games are games of chance, meaning that due to the nature of the game, there is nothing that the player can do to influence the outcome of a round of online slots.

In a round of online slots the player begins the round be selecting how many paylines to play. Once the player has decided on their number of paylines to activate and the amount to wager on each payline, the player then clicks on Spin.

Once Spin is clicked the Random Number Generator (RNG) then selects one of the possible outcomes for that game. This means that as soon as the player clicks Spin the RNG pulls a combination of symbols to appear on the reels. The reels then stop on the combination that the RNG has selected at random.

Because the RNG chooses the outcome instantly there is nothing that the slots player can do to have an impact on the outcome a round of slots. And because there is no way for a player to have an impact on the outcome of an online slots game. The best you can do is to sit back and have fun with the online slots games.

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While I like bonus games on online slots games better than free spins, free spins do have their place and one should not turn their nose up at them. After all the multipliers on those free spins is what makes them a close second to a good bonus game.

But what about the Random Number Generator (RNG)? Does it already know the outcome of my free spins? And if it does how, if at all, does it affect my free spins?

The issue with this question is that the RNG is being giving human like qualities. As if this is a computer process with a brain. And it does not have a brain.

Remember that an RNG is a computing process that, when first created, is fed all of the possible outcomes for an online slots game. This includes all of the possible outcomes for free spins. In all actuality the outcomes on free spins are not any different than the outcomes during a regular spin. The difference is the payout which the game’s computer calculates based off of what the RNG throws up as the outcome of a spin.

So a quick review of how the outcome of a free spin works. The online slots game’s computer sets the reels spinning. The moment the reels start to spin, the RNG polls all possible results and selects one as the outcome. That all happens in a second, and that is why the Stop Spin buttons are useless.

So far the outcome of a free spin is the same as a regular spin. The only difference is that once the reels stop, the slots game’s computer will tally the results and apply the multiplier if necessary. The multiplier is not a part of the RNG, but is rather a part of the game’s computer.

Because the multiplier is a separate component of the slots game, issuing from the computer once the reels stop spinning, free spins are not any different from regular spins in terms of the RNG’s work.

When you are playing out free spins on an online slots game, remember that the results of a spin are not being determined any differently than normal, and that the only difference is the multiplier that the game’s computer is applying to the outcome.

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A little while back I wrote a post explaining what a par sheet for a slot machine is and what it says and what its information means. But it seems that there might have been a bit of a misconception about what the information means and what it means in practical terms.

First a quick review. A par sheet is a set of sheets with performance specifications about a specific slot machine. These sheets help casino staff know whether a slot machine is performing within the range that it is supposed to. But these sheets, while revealing odds information, do not impact the actually playing of the slot machine.

One of the details on a par sheet is the machine’s payout percentage. This is used by casino staff to know if the machine is paying out as it should. For example if a par sheet says that a slot machine is supposed to have a payout percentage of 95% and it is paying out at 80% something is wrong with the internal workings of the machine. And it needs to be removed from the floor for repair.

Another detail offered on a par sheet is the odds on hitting the jackpot. A par sheet can say that there is a 20,000:1 chance of a slots player hitting the jackpot. What slots players need to understand is that this does not mean that if you spin the reels of this slot machine 20,000 times that you will win the jackpot.

The reason for this is because of the Random Number Generator (RNG). Each spin is independent of the last. For each spin the RNG will pick a combination for the outcome of that spin. The RNG does not count up to 20,000 and award a jackpot; that would undermine the randomness of its purpose.

What the par sheet is saying that out of all the combinations there are 20,000:1 odds. It is just an odds statement, not a secret to how to beat the machine.

Even if you get a chance to see the par sheet of a slot machine only regard it as interesting information. Do not regard it as the key to beating the machine. True it will give you a better insight into a slot machine—for example if one machine has a better odds on hitting its jackpot then another slot machine, then it makes sense to play the one with the better jackpot odds.

But do not believe that those papers will reveal the secret nature of your favorite slot machine. Remember that they are only performance guidelines for casino staff to use to tell if a slot machine is performing as it should.

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