Thinking about how to win on slot machines is the key to understanding the things you should consider when you visit a casino. My 18 do’s and don’ts slot tips are designed to guide you through the things about slots you must know about.
My top slot machine strategy tips – you’ll read about below – include 12 do’s and 6 don’ts that may assist you in answering the big ‘how to win at slot machines?’ question lots of slot players ask.
Owners and operators of land-based and online casinos are fully aware that casino goers love to play slot machines. In this blog post, I’ve written 18 do's & don'ts slot machine tips with a focus on how to win at slot machines.
In some countries, including the United States, slot machines are the most-played casino games. In the rest, the popularity of attempting to win at slots is surging to the point slot play is rivaling table play.
As a slot player, the big question you probably want answered is: “How to win on slot machines?” It also brings up the related questions such as:
- Are there systems for beating slot machines?
- How have others beaten the machines?
I think that trying to win at slots is all a matter of chance. There are no blackjack- or video poker-like strategies that can cut into the house’s mathematical edge. The payout odds on slot games don’t change.
There’s nothing you can do legally that will change the outcome. And some scam artists have sometimes succeeded in profiting from slots until caught, arrested and imprisoned.
How to win at slots?
There are approaches that will help you get the most out of slot games.
- In-game play slot machine tips;
- systems for playing with their strengths and flaws; and;
- slot machine cheats & slot machine scams artists.
SUMMARY OF SLOT MACHINE TIPS: 12 DO'S
- Higher denomination slots have higher payback percentages
- Make sure you bet enough to be eligible for slot jackpots
- Choose slot games that fit your goals and playing personality
- Always play slots within your budget
- Start small to win big, or “prime the pump”
- Play machines at the ends of rows
- Scout slot machines of those that are paying big
- Look for near misses on slot games
- Try online slots for extra variety
- Take advantage of slot game bonuses and promotions
- Search slot game demos to see how games works
- Remain aware you're playing slots for real money
SLOT TIP 1: HIGHER DENOMINATION SLOTS HAVE HIGHER PAYBACK PERCENTAGES
It was true when three-reel games ruled slot floors, and it’s true now when the large majority of games are video slots:
- Dollar slots yield a higher payback percentage than quarter slots, which;
- Pay more than nickel slots, which;
- Pay more than penny games.
But it doesn’t mean everyone should rush to an online casino and play dollar slots. There are factors beyond payback percentage, including entertainment value and what you want from slot games.
Even in pure dollars and cents, playing higher-denomination slot games means bigger bets and more risk. So, if you’re wondering how to win at slots machines betting more doesn’t guarantee any sizable wins.
If you’re betting $3 on a three-coin dollar slot (that pays 95 percent), your average losses will be more money than if you’re betting 40 cents on a 40-line 1-cent game that pays 86 percent.
SLOT TIP 2: IF YOU PLAY PROGRESSIVE SLOTS, MAKE SURE YOU BET ENOUGH TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE JACKPOTS
How to win at slots playing progressive slot machines. Basically, a percentage of each wager is added to the jackpot or jackpots. And jackpots drop randomly.
On three-reel slot machines usually have a single progressive jackpot on the top payoff. You must bet maximum coins to be eligible.
On three-coin dollar slot machines, you can’t win the progressive slots jackpot if you only bet only one or two coins. Instead, landing the top jackpot combination on the payline brings a reduced payoff at a fixed amount.
On video slots, progressive jackpots usually are multi-tiered. I’ve seen anywhere from 2 to 12 progressive levels offered.
Typical is a four-tier progressive with levels labeled as follows.
| Mini | Major | Major and Grand | Or |
| Bronze | Silver | Gold and Platinum | Or something similar. |
On some video slots, all players are eligible for the jackpots regardless of bet size. On others, slot players must make a separate bet to be jackpot eligible.
The jackpots are the main events on progressives, and aside from those jackpots, the games usually pay less than other games.
Don’t settle for a lower paying slot game. How to win slot machines is sometimes about following the rules. Where applicable ensure you make the necessary bets to be eligible for the slot jackpots. If you can’t afford those bets, choose a non-progressive slot games.
SLOT TIP 3: CHOOSE GAMES THAT FIT YOUR GOALS AND PLAYING PERSONALITY
The types of slot games you can choose from include:
- might give you maximum jackpot opportunities; and/or;
- slot games that tend to extend play with by dropping frequent small wins; or;
- slot games that offer something in between.
Lines can be a little blurred as slot game designers experiment in all formats but there are a few general guidelines.
Three-reel slot games put more emphasis on their top jackpots but have a lower hit frequency with more losing spins. If you’re thinking how to win at slots, three-reel slot games do give slot players the best chance to win big, but also the best chance to lose fast.
How to win at pick’em bonuses video slots?
In video slots with pick’em bonuses, you touch the screen to pick gift boxes, restaurant dishes, alien creatures or other game icons to reveal your bonuses.
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Video slots that feature pick’em bonuses usually have high hit frequencies with many small wins giving you extended play, but a lesser chance at a big jackpot.
How to win at video slots that feature free spins?
Video slots that feature free spins as their main bonus events usually fall between the three-reel games and the pick’em games in both volatility and the chance at a big win.
During free spins, video slot players make no additional bets and can win anything up to the top jackpot. However, it’s also possible that players won’t win at all to win nothing on the free spins feature.
A zero-bonus balances the possibility of bigger wins than you see in pick’em bonuses.
Slot tip 3 conclusion of how to win at slots:
In summary, it’s up to you to decide what types of slot games may offer where to find the most best value and chances of winning i.e.
- in jackpot chances;
- in the player-participation opportunity of pick’em bonuses; or;
- in the hit-and-miss nature of free spins.
SLOT TIP 4: ALWAYS PLAY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET AND BE WILLING TO LOWER YOUR BET OR STOP PLAYING IF YOU HIT A LIMIT
Knowing how to win slot machines may come down to your slots playing budget.
Most playing sessions on slot machines will result in losing money, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.
Sometimes you’ll win at slots, and maybe even win big. Since winning doesn’t come easy, enjoy those times when they come.
But never bet money you can’t afford to lose and be sure you’re playing slot games that align with your bankroll.
As a basic rule of thumb, you might want your gambling bankroll to cover 250 bets. This could give you a 90 percent chance of lasting about three hours.
Here’s a breakdown of recommended bankrolls for that 90-percent chance of three hours without spending it all in some common configurations:
How to win on slot machines with dollars
If you visit a land-based casino or play online casino slots with $200, you really can’t afford to play dollar slots. But if you decide to try them anyway and end up losing $100 in no time at all, be prepared to either stop or lower your spin stakes and play on penny slots with your remaining bankroll.
Slot machines don’t give players the opportunity to place multiple bets in combinations like craps or roulette. And you can’t take advantage of ever-shifting odds as card counters do in blackjack..
Slot machine odds are unchanging, the same on every spin. The most creative slot machine betting systems and theories might be fun to try, but they can’t make you a consistent slot game winner.
SLOT TIP 5: START SMALL TO WIN BIG, OR “PRIME THE PUMP”
How to win slot machines using the prime the pump…but does it work?
Slot bettors assume that wins won’t come right away. They start with small bets and work up hoping to be betting big when the wins land. But if you ask me, how to win at slot machines? and is priming the pump the way? I say as follows:
Actually, you’re just as likely to win early as later on. And starting small will miss some winners. The payback percentage will be the same on every spin regardless of your bet size.
Chuck Flick, a slot player who tested many slot betting systems, tried priming the pump by stepping up his bets in a regular pattern. In five trials, he had four losing sessions and one winner—a normal outcome even if you’re not starting small.
SLOT TIP 6: PLAY SLOT MACHINES AT THE ENDS OF ROWS
How to win on slot machines by playing at the end of rows – does it work?
The theory is that slot machines at the ends of rows are visible to passers-by and casinos want those other customers to see and hear slot players winning.
In modern casinos, games of the same type in-a-row usually have the same payback percentage.
SLOT TIP 7: SCOUT SLOT MACHINES OF THOSE THAT ARE PAYING BIG
Some players like to play slot games that have paid out big figuring they’re hot slot machines. Others avoid those slot games, figuring they’re due to go cold.
In reality, all streaks are just blips on the radar to slot machines that yield a normal payback percentage over hundreds of thousands of plays.
How to win on slot machines using timing:
Slot machines are never “due” to go hot or cold, and recent paybacks do not offer any clue as to how a slot machine will perform for you.
SLOT TIP 8: LOOK FOR NEAR MISSES
Scouting near misses means looking for slot games with jackpot symbols on the reels or screen, but just short of a winning combination.
But how to win at slots using this method?
If you’re in the right frame of mind, scouting can add a little intrigue to choosing a game, but near misses aren’t really any indication. of future outcomes.
How to win slot machines using systems?
A slot machine strategy can add a little interest to games, but they can’t change outcomes or lead you to a winning machine.
SLOT TIP 9: TRY ONLINE SLOTS FOR EXTRA VARIETY
Major slot machine manufacturers supply slot machines to land-based casinos and distribute online slot games too. The names of such slot manufacturers include:
- International Game Technology;
- Scientific Games;
- Aristocrat Technologies.
But there's a new breed of slot game designers who focus on the online market including the following:
- NetEnt;
- ReelPlay;
- NextGen; and;
- High Five Gaming.
They develop creative touches on slot games with online players in mind.
Video slots in land-based casinos and online slots are very similar. They are programmed in the same way, with numbers from a random number generator mapped onto reel positions and bonus possibilities.
Big, showy displays with moving parts are difficult to translate to online gaming. But online slot designers let their imaginations run wild giving slot players creative bonus events such as:
- The mystery chase through the Crime Zone in NetEnt's Cash Noire.
- The outer-space cluster payoffs that replace paylines in ReelPlay's Cosmic Convoy.
How to win at slots playing online?
If you play slots online and a land-based casino slot game favorite catches your eye, by all means, play it. But you may like to try new slot games from unfamiliar game makers too. You could be lucky and win at slots playing online because winning is random.
SLOT TIP 10: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BONUSES AND PROMOTIONS
Many online casinos offer bonuses if people just to sign-up to play. There may be restrictions, but sometimes you'll see:
- a small bonus even without depositing funds; and;
- larger bonuses if you make a deposit.
You'll have to play off the bonus amount before you can withdraw funds. It wouldn't make sense for a casino to just give you free money without requiring you to try the product.
So, you can use the bonus money to play games you already like or to try new games before you spend your own money.
At most online casinos, signing up for an account will give you access to a player rewards program. Once you're an active player, watch your email box for special offers such as free spins or extra bonus credits.
Use the same caution with online programs as you would with a land-based casino player rewards card.
- Don't bet extra just so you can gain rewards; and;
- Don’t go beyond your normal bankroll.
- Play at your usual comfort level but then reap the rewards.
Rewards help boost your overall return, and they start with sign-up bonuses available to online players. Not all casinos offer the same bonuses. It's worth shopping around for the best bonus offers.
Once you become a member of an online casino you don’t need to stick to slots, you can choose any available casino game including roulette, blackjack and baccarat.
SLOT TIP 11: SEARCH GAME DEMOS TO SEE HOW A GAME WORKS
Online players have a wealth of information available to them these days.
When you come across a new online slot game, you can find out more about it before you play on it.
After the intriguing theme and big bonus advertised on the "attract" screen has caught your attention you could watch a game demo before you decide to play.
Type the name of the slot game into a search engine, and it will usually bring multiple results. Click "videos" and you should be able to see a demo of the game as well as video recordings other players made of the slot game in action.
WITH DEMO VIDEOS YOU CAN VIEW:
- the reels;
- symbols;
- themes; and;
- how various bonus round play out.
AND IN PLAYER VIDEOS YOU SHOULD GET A SENSE OF A SLOT GAME'S:
- peaks and valleys;
- losing streaks; and;
- lucrative bonuses.
You can also watch videos and read posts by people who specialize in reviewing new slot games. You might also get a sense whether it’s possible to win on slot games and if so how to win at slots. But remember that how to win at slot machines is not a skill thing – it’s a random thing.
SLOT TIP 12: STAY AWARE YOU'RE PLAYING FOR REAL MONEY
Some land-based casinos and in some online casinos the money value is replaced with a value of points or credits.
Always remember that when you play slot games online or slot machine games in a casino, the credit value is a cash money value you’ve paid for.
The display of a credit value places a psychological wall between you and your money. Therefore, it's easy to blur the distinction between:
- pay-to-play where credits are money; and;
- social play where credits are just credits.
If you start thinking, "Well, they're only credits," or even, "They're already paid for," it's harder to convince yourself to protect your bankroll.
When playing for real money, always stay aware those credits represent cash and there is a real cost to over betting.
SUMMARY OF SLOT TIPS: THE DON'TS
- String theory (slot tip number 13)
- Slug it out (slot tip number 14)
- Magnetic force (slot tip number 15)
- Inside job (slot tip number 16)
- Cheat by chip (slot tip number 17)
- Automatically bet the max (slot tip number 18)
Slots in land-based casinos, where cheats can interfere with the physical device, have been more vulnerable to scams than slots in online casinos.
If you’re thinking that cheating is how to win at slot machines, I think you should forget any ideas that will land you in jail.
In jurisdictions with licensed casinos, the law takes a very dim view of cheating the slots. Cheating licensed casinos is a felony and can carry stiff prison terms.
Nevertheless, the following five slot machine tips (13-17) are scams players have tried and ones you should avoid trying to replicate.
DON’T TRY SLOT TIP 13: STRING THEORY
When all slots were three-reel games with coin slots, cheaters worked a scam in which they tied affixed a string to a coin.
- They’d drop the coin into the slot;
- trip the mechanism that gave them credit to play, then;
- use the string to pull the coin back out.
One woman in Nevada was caught using a coin on a brightly colored piece of yarn, easy to spot from a distance. Others were less obvious, but those who were caught were prosecuted.
Manufacturers designed more secure coin acceptance devices to make this cheat impossible. These days, most slots accept only paper currency or tickets and no longer have slot heads.
SLOT TIP 14: SLUG IT OUT
Fake coins, or slugs, were a problem for casinos for as long as slot machines accepted coins.
Some were no more than a rounded piece of metal, with no design. Others were more elaborate, and counterfeiters in the eastern U.S. stamped slot tokens that looked much like those used in New Jersey.
As long as the metal and manufacturing costs were a lot less than the value of a real slot coin, there was incentive for cheaters.
Coin recognition software grew progressively more sophisticated to combat the problem.
DON’T TRY SLOT TIP 15: MAGNETIC FORCE
Some slot machines in the 1960s and ‘70s were vulnerable to ordinary magnets.
Cheaters could use the magnets to make the reels float freely instead of stopping on a spin. The scam artists would remove the magnet only when the reels had aligned in a winning combination.
More sophisticated were top-bottom devices, used into the 1980s.
- The top was a metal rod that was bent on one end, and the bottom a strand of wire.
- The wire would be inserted in the coin slot to hit a metal contact, and then;
- The top would be jammed in the coin slot.
- The combination completed a circuit that would activate a coin dispenser and send free coins pouring into the slot tray.
Protection had to be built into the games to shield vital parts from magnets and to make it impossible to hit contacts and create an electrical circuit.
DON’T TRY SLOT TIP 16: INSIDE JOB
This scam was pulled on so-called “Big Bertha” slots in the 1990s. Big Bertha’s are bigger and wider than other slots.
A team was arrested in Nevada after they crowded around a Big Bertha.
- The front of the machine was opened;
- A woman climbed inside; and;
- The machine was mostly shut.
- She then rigged results.
With team members blocking views, everything looked normal to casual passers-by, but security was alert enough to catch the cheats in the act
DON’T TRY SLOT TIP 17: CHEAT BY CHIP
A software engineer for the Nevada Gaming Commission programmed chips that functioned normally in slot machines. Except those in the know could take advantage of a cheat code.
When the cheats inserted specific numbers of coins in a specific order, the machine would pay out. The engineer was arrested, of course.
DON’T TRY SLOT TIP 18: AUTOMATICALLY BET THE MAX
For generations, slot players were told that maximizing bets produced the highest payback percentages.
That was true on most old three-reel slots, but it usually isn't on video slots or online slots.
The reasons max bets brought the highest payback percentages were incentives built into pay tables.
There usually was a disproportionate jump in the top jackpot if you bet maximum coins.
For nearly all online slots and video slots, that's not true. Pay table returns are proportionate, meaning the average payback percentage is the same regardless of whether you're betting one coin per line or the max.
Cover all the paylines online and on video slots, but bet at your comfort level and don't worry about trying to bet the max.
Conclusion how to win at slot machines – Summary of my 18 Do's & Don'ts Slot Machine Tips
To conclude with a more general tip, it is of utmost importance to thoroughly familiarize yourself with how slot machines work. You’ll learn what to expect and how to adjust your playing style to the features of a particular slot machine game.
