Slots are fiendishly addictive- probably the most difficult game in the casino to stop playing once you have been mesmerised by the wheel spinning around, and the little voice in your head saying “just one more spin and you cold be a miilionaire!”
So when playing slots, its important to keep your head about you and to play the numbers. Play with your head, not your heart (or gut!). Here are some pointers.
Watch out for the marketing mumbo jumbo from the casinos. Terms like “loose”, “hot” and “high payback” are there to bamboozle you. Get the facts. What do they mean exactly? If its a “loose slot” what is the exact payout and more importantly, how does it compare with their other games?”
Today’s slot machines are run off a computer algorithm which continually picks a series of numbers at random, whether you are playing or not. The RNG or random-number generator continually picks numbers that are then translated into what you see on the reels. When you put a coin in or press “spin”s the computer spins the reels to tell you which number series landed when the button was clicked.
The reels will stop where the computer tells them to stop – the reels are actually a bit of theatre to make the binary code of 0s and 1s more intereresting. So it’s just you against the RNG.
So how is the algorithm programmed? The casinos make money if they return to the players less money than was originally put in. So the casinos return a percentage of the money put in them. This is the Payout Percentage. Choose a casino with a higher payout and you’ll get better odds.
If a casino pays out at 95% it means that on average it will payout 95 pence for every pound played.
It keeps 5 pence in the pound for its own revenue.
But remember, slot machines are pre-set to pay out in spikes and troughs. It’s a bit like waiting for a London bus. They’ll be nothing, and then a big surge of payouts. Hit the surge, and you will be up on your money.
Just keep that in the back of your mind if you win big. You might win big again on the next spin (people have), but if you are playing the stats, the sensible thing to do is to bank the cash and go and chill the champagne.
