Remember the movie National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, when gambling fever consumes Chevy Chase’s character, Clark W. Griswold? He goes on a losing streak to beat all losing streaks while his son, Rusty, wins four cars by playing the slot machines. Maybe Clark would have done better if he had read Probability For Dummies! In this article, you discover the basic ideas behind slot machines and how they work, so that you can get past the myths and develop a strategy based on sound probability.
How to win at slots – Don’t fall for slot machine myths. Over the years, many tales have emerged regarding slots. If you visit any casino, you’ll find people trying to win at slots by rubbing or tapping the screen for luck or saying that a particular title is their “lucky game.” Below are 5 common myths that people believe will help. Busting Online Slot Myths Online Slots Machines are Rigged. Maybe, this is the most common slot myth related to the belief that online casinos. Casinos Can Change Game Settings. This myth is related to the previous one and also completely untrue. Games are rented. The New Games Payout Better. Slot machines myths and facts EVERY SECOND COUNTS There is a theory out there, which you can read in a variety of books on slot machines, which purports that the time at which you hit the ‘spin’ button determines the exact payout of each spin result. .MYTH #4: Video slots, as computers, adjust paybacks in ways three-reel slots can’t.FACT: Three-reel slots are as computerized as video slots. All modern slot machines use random number generators and reel maps to determine your results. Neither video slots nor three-reel slots make any sorts of adjustments on the fly.
Basically, when it comes to slot machines, strategy boils down to this: Know the rules, your probability of winning, and the expected payouts; dispel any myths; and quit while you’re ahead. If you win $100, cash out $50 and play with the rest, for example.
Understanding average payout
When casinos advertise that their slot machines pay out an average of 90 percent, the fine print they don’t want you to read says that you lose 10 cents from each dollar you put into the machines in the long term. (In probability terms, this advertisement means that your expected winnings are minus 10 cents on every dollar you spend every time the money goes through the machines.)
Suppose you start with $100 and bet a dollar at a time, for example. After inserting all $100 into the slot, 100 pulls later you’ll end up on average with $90, because you lose 10 percent of your money. If you run the $90 back through the machine, you’ll end up with 90 percent of it back, which is 0.90 x 90 = $81. If you run that amount through in 81 pulls, you’ll have $72.90 afterward (0.90 x 81 = 72.90). If you keep going for 44 rounds, on average, the money will be gone, unless you have the luck of Rusty Griswold!
How many pulls on the machine does your $100 give you at this rate? Each time you have less money to run through the machine, so you have fewer pulls left. If you insert $1 at a time, you can expect 972 total pulls in the long term with these average payouts (that’s the total pulls in 44 rounds). But keep in mind that casinos are designing slot machines to go faster and faster between spins. Some are even doing away with the handles and tokens by using digital readouts on gaming cards that you put into the machines. The faster machines can play up to 25 spins per hour, and 972 spins divided by 25 spins per minute is 38.88 minutes. You don’t have a very long time to enjoy your $100 before it’s gone!
The worst part? Casinos often advertise that their “average payouts” are even as high as 95 percent. But beware: That number applies only to certain machines, and the casinos don’t rush to tell you which ones. You really need to read or ask about the fine print before playing. You can also try to check the information on the machine to see if it lists its payouts. (Don’t expect this information to be front and center.)
Implementing a simple strategy for slots
Advice varies regarding whether you should play nickel, quarter, or dollar slot machines and whether you should max out the number of coins you bet or not (you usually get to choose between one and five coins to bet on a standard slot machine). In this section, you’ll find a few tips for getting the most bang for your buck (or nickel) when playing slot machines.
Basically, when it comes to slot machines, strategy boils down to this: Know the rules, your probability of winning, and the expected payouts; dispel any myths; and quit while you’re ahead. If you win $100, cash out $50 and play with the rest, for example. After you lose a certain amount (determined by you in advance), don’t hesitate to quit. Go to the all-you-can-eat buffet and try your luck with the casino food; odds are it’s pretty good!
Choosing among nickel, quarter, and dollar machines
The machines that have the higher denominations usually give the best payouts. So, between the nickel and quarter slots, for example, the quarter slots generally give better payouts. However, you run the risk of getting in way over your head in a hurry, so don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. The bottom line: Always choose a level that you have fun playing at and that allows you to play for your full set time limit.
Deciding how many coins to play at a time
When deciding on the number of coins you should play per spin, keep in mind that more is sometimes better. If the slot machine gives you more than two times the payout when you put in two times the number of coins, for example, you should max it out instead of playing single coins because you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot, and the expected value is higher. If the machine just gives you k times the payout for k coins, it doesn’t matter if you use the maximum number of coins. You may as well play one at a time until you can make some money and leave so your money lasts a little longer.
![Myths Myths](https://www.docdroid.net/file/view/t2EODf9/slot-machine-myths.jpg)
For example, say a quarter machine pays 10 credits for the outcome 777 when you play only a single quarter, but if you play two quarters, it gives you 25 credits for the same outcome. And if you play the maximum number of quarters (say, four), a 777 results in 1,000 credits. Wild vegas no deposit bonus codes 2019. You can see that playing four quarters at a time gives you a better chance of winning a bigger pot in the long run (if you win, that is) compared to playing a single quarter at a time for four consecutive tries.
The latest slot machine sweeping the nation is the so-called “penny slot machine.” Although it professes to require only a penny for a spin, you get this rate only if you want to bet one penny at a time. Play free poker no downloads. The machines entice you to bet way more than one penny at a time; in fact, on some machines, you can bet more than 1,000 coins (called lines) on each spin — $10 a shot here, folks. Because these machines take any denomination of paper bill, as well as credit cards, your money can go faster on penny machines than on dollar machines because you can quickly lose track of your spendings. Pinching pennies may not be worth it after all!
Betting, both online and in a land-based casino, has always been the perfect myth booster environment. Because myths feed off superstitions and conspiracy and considering the clear house advantage, people’s imagination often goes beyond sanity and comes up with the craziest ideas. They circulate in the air and in every gambler’s mind but with no logical proof of their true existence. Today we are about to dig deep into the diverse myth alternations surrounding the most popular casino game – slot machines. If you happen to plead guilty to the charge of mistaking one of the following myths for a fact, don’t worry! We’ll promise to keep your secret safe. And now, let’s go myth busting!
#1 Time and Space Related Myths
This is the most popular myth category. Probably because it’s not totally absurd and has some reasonable background. Gamblers often believe that slot games have better payout chances at certain times of the day, such as early mornings, during holidays, and over the weekend. Or else that the payout rate determines the exact position of a slot machine at the casino hall. After a throughout research, here are the chart-topper myths in this category:
- Progressive Jackpots always hit on weekends rather than weekdays.
- Slots pay out more during slow periods than they do during busy periods.
- The machines close to the areas with heavy traffic (entrance/exit) have better payout than the ones in quieter places or the other way around.
- Same slots have different payout in the different casinos.
We can go on for ages, but I believe you’ve got the idea! So, to save you the trouble, all of the above have nothing to do with reality. Slot machines have an in-built Random Number Generator (RNG) guaranteeing that each spin is non-dependent of external factors – placement, time or whatever else that the human brain can come up with! The chance of winning is always the same and it depends on nothing but the math mysteries which define randomness.
#2 Cold and Hot Slot Myths
Here it’s all about the mysterious case of hot and cold slot cycles. In you’re not familiar with that term, the hot waves are streaks of wins and the cold represent streaks of losses. These waves are absolutely normal and there is nothing wrong with noticing them. However, thinking that a certain slot game is generally cold or hot based on a current losing/winning streak is a myth and a potential mistake. The reason for that irrational behavior is super simple and lies in our brains. People are excellent at spotting patterns even when they are not present. The Hot-Hand Fallacy is the easiest way to describe how our brain tricks us into doing so. In a nutshell, it’s totally normal to experience hot or cold streaks and to believe they are not random. But remember, when speaking of slots, randomness is all there is!
#3 Jackpot Myths
If you think about it, jackpots have an immense myth-generating power. They are so highly desired and so rare that gamblers often come up with various concepts to justify their scarcity.
Myth number one in this category is that a slot which has recently paid a jackpot is not likely to do that soon again. The quick answer to that statement is: RNG is 100% unpredictable and messing with this unpredictability could lead to nothing but wrong expectations.
Jackpot myth number two is my personal favourite. I call it the ‘Lurker Myth’ which has inspired one of the most popular ‘Friends’ scenes. The myth is based on the belief that if you start playing a slot machine which has been on a long losing streak with its previous player, you’re super likely to hit the jackpot. The person leaving the losing streak gets the annoying feeling that the jackpot slipped through their fingers. What a drama, right? It’s like someone else gets to enjoy the benefits of your hard work. In fact, this is just an illusion. The randomness-providing software works even when the slot is not in use generating millions of possible outcomes even during the players-switching gap. That’s why, the jackpot winning spin is only a matter of luck, there are no guarantees or patterns no matter how desperately we try to see them. Card counting in blackjack.
#4 Auto Play Feature Myth
Playing with a predetermined number of automatic spins is a great option especially for the not-so-exciting slots. It saves you the effort of hitting the spin button 1 million times. However, many people think that playing with an Auto Play mode on lowers the overall winning potential. Not holding the control is scary for those players which doubt the true randomness of the RNG. They see it as the perfect opportunity for the casino to collect their auto bets without triggering a bonus round or displaying a higher winning combination on the reels. This has nothing to do with how slots work, though, and it’s again, the myths-blurred mind talking.
#5 The Master of Puppets Myth
Slot Machine Truths And Myths
The last myth is something everybody secretly suspects. Namely, that casinos are the grand evil mind which pulls all the strings. The casino is supposedly determining the game settings so that they fit its own interests. Slot players come to this general and totally wrong conclusion usually after a long losing streak when they eagerly seek someone or something to put the blame on. Imagine that a bonus feature is playing hard to get. So hard to get that you start to think that something must be wrong. The casino must have influenced the game by interfering with the settings! It’s you against the house! An epic fight which you’re meant to lose because the enemy holds the control. An epic screenplay but for a fantasy drama series. In the real world, slot machines are usually rented, and casinos are just using an already customized product. Luckily for us, operators have no superpowers, secret setting buttons or any other magic tricks. The power belongs to the almighty Random Number Generator only, leaving it all up to the good old luck.