Slots Hero

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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This myth is one that every single slots player encounters: the near miss. I say myth because what has started as a myth has actually worked its way into slots strategy.

And no slots player is untouched by this. Does not matter if you play online slots games or slot machines in a casino, you will have encountered this scenario:

You are sitting in front of your computer playing your favorite online slots game or are perched on the edge of your seat in front of a slot machine. This is a five reel game and you land four of the jackpot symbols on a payline. And that needed fifth symbol is only one space above the payline you need it to be on.

This is known as the near miss.

The near miss works its way into a slots slot strategy because it is believed that a slots game or a slot machine has a near miss when it is almost ready to make a jackpot payout. This, in terms of slot strategy, translates to ‘keep playing.’

But this near miss idea that a slots game or slot machine is almost ready to payout is a myth. Just because a near miss occurs does not mean that a jackpot is near. It is merely a near miss. Your odds of winning do not increase when a near miss occurs.

So what causes the excitement and the drive to keep playing?

The answer lies in the slot player’s brain. The near miss creates a stimulation in brain activity in the regions of the brain that is responsible to reactions to rewards. With more blood in that area of the brain, the player’s drive to keep playing in increased.

The player will unconsciously seek a reason for the heightened excitement, coming up with the idea that the slots game or slot machine must be almost ready to payout a jackpot. But that reasoning is a slots myth.

Still, the myth over time becomes a part of some players’ slot strategy so that when a near miss occurs they will keep spinning the reels.

What the smart slots player needs to understand is that a near miss is just a near miss and does not signify anything. Keeping that thought in mind when you experience a near miss will allow your strategy to shift a bit—to understanding that it does not mean anything.

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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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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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For some strange secret reason casinos guard the par sheets for their slot machines like they are the most valuable treasure ever to be had. But as a special treat to loyal and long standing players, sometimes a casino host will reveal—reveal, not show—the par sheet of a loyal player’s favorite machine.

But what do these sheets really say and are they really worth guarding that closely?

A par sheet is a statistical analysis of a slot machine and its programming. It is not an analysis of its performance.

A slot machine is programmed when it is manufactured. This is when the par sheets are made. Since the slot machine has not yet been played in a casino, but it has a par sheet, so this proves that a par sheet is not an analysis of performance.

Really what a par sheet holds is information about how the slot machine is supposed to perform. Casino staff can see if a machine is performing ‘on par’ by checking its actual performance against what the par sheet says.

Par sheets give details such as how many times a symbol appears on a reel and the number of hits each combination should have. That last one, it is not used to predict when a combination will hit though. It allows the casino staff to monitor a slot machine. Say a combination is supposed to have 92 hits, but the recorded hits show that the machine is hitting that combination for a lot fewer hits, it means that something in the programming is off and the machine needs to be looked at, possibly repaired.

Another statistic given on a par sheet is the calculation of that slot machine’s payout percentage. This will be broken down by each number of coins wagered, with the payout percentage for each coin wagered given. This gives the slot machine a minimum payout percentage and a maximum payout percentage.

If you are ever given the opportunity to see a par sheet, especially one for your favorite slots, take a look. It will not give you any secrets on how to beat the machine or win more money from it—that sort of information is not on a par sheet.

But it is interesting to see the ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of you machine; you can see how many times a symbol appears on a reel. And while such information won’t help your slots strategy (it does not tell you the order of the symbols on a reel) it does make for interesting knowledge. Think of it as gaining trivia knowledge about your favorite slots machine.

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Payout percentage. Slots players will often here those two words thrown around when slots game and slots strategy are being discussed. But what is it exactly and what does it mean to you?

Payout percentage describes the return of a game or a casino. In terms of a slots game or a slots machine, payout percentage means the return of the total amount wagered on a machine to a slots player.

A payout percentage does not apply of the total amount one player wagers versus what they win. Rather it comes from adding to gather every single wager made on one game or machine for a set period of time, say one month; then all the payouts, large and small, are added together and divided into the total number of wagers. That answer is then multiplied by 100. The resulting number is the payout percentage of that slots game or slot machine.

For example, if in one month a single slots game takes in $100,000 total form every player who played that month, and $97,000 in total is paid out to players during that same month, dividing 97,000 into 100,000 gives you 0.97. By multiplying 0.97 by 100, you are given 97. The payout for this slots game is 97%.

This means that 97% of all money wagered on this slots game will be paid back to players. Only 3% is kept by the casino.

What this means for slots players is that the higher the payout percentage, the more that slots game pays out.

It does not, however, mean that one player is going to receive 97% of all money wagered on that slots game. It just means that 97% of its intake will be paid back out. This could be in the form of lots of small payouts or only a few larger payouts.

The best thing that a slots player can do is to play a slots game or slot machine with the highest payout percentage that they can find. But at the same time remember that there is no way of telling if the machine pays out many small payouts or only a handful of large ones. If the slots game does not seem to be paying out despite the high payout percentage it is probably a game that makes larger payouts less than often. In those instances it is best to walk away from that machine and find another.

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Since slots players all know that there is not any sort of strategy available to help them win big, they will turn to the machines, to the games themselves and question them. Surely there are some properties that will make one machine better than another. Or maybe some property slots players should avoid.

Today we will look at the speed at which the reels spin and what it means to slots players.

You are bound to find that the reels on some slots games spin faster on one machine than on others. Is it the computer controlling the speed and how does it affect the game?

The computer does control the speed of the reels’ spinning, but it is not a setting that can be changed. When a slot machine or an online slots game is programmed the speed at which the reels spin is set. And it is not changed from there on out unless a game programmer goes in and resets it. But the speed is not going to vary from spin to spin.

But this does not mean that the speed is the same for every single slots game. Some will be programmed to spin faster and others to spin slower. This, of course, allows for the different preferences of players to be met.

What you should know though is that the faster the reels spin, the more you play. And that means the more of your bankroll you are spending. So if you want to hang on to your money for a little longer find a machine or game where the reels spin slower.

But rest assured that the computer is not changing the speed that the reels spin at. It is up to you whether you play on a fast machine or a slower one.

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