What Is The Best Denomination Slot Machine To Play
TEN TIPS FOR SMART SLOT PLAY
Choosing the best slot machine to play for real money can help you beat the casino and win loads of cash prizes. US players can learn the best way to pick a winning slot machine by going through our guide. Our team of experts has compiled a checklist to use when looking for a slot game to play. Others use the 'the attendant must know' theory and ask the slot attendant which is the best machine to play. A variation of this is to observe another slot machine when playing and if the machine has not paid a jackpot in a long time, to consider playing the machine as it should be ready to pay. African Diamond - This is a multi-denomination slot that comes with line configurations of 10, 20, 25, and 30. Players who are interested in rolling high can have a great time playing this game as you can play 1500 credits at a time. If you activate the bonus round, you will have the opportunity to claim up to 25 free games when playing this. If you want a variety of machines but still want to maximize high slot payout percentages, check out the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, where there are thousands of ways to play including a number of high-paying slot tournaments. The Bellagio features over 2,300 reel, video reel and video poker games.
Too many slot players take the 'how long will it lastapproach' to playing the machines. You take your playing bankroll and playthe slots until you run out of money. If you are lucky, your money will lastuntil you have to leave.This is adefeatist attitude so it's no wonder these players consistently lose.
Is there a scientific way to play the machines? I was oncetold 'people who consistently win at slots by playing them scientificallyare called casino owners.'That'sbecause slot machines are programmed to return to players a certain percentageof coins put into them over a long period of time. There are no playing systemsthat will allow you to beat the slots over the long term. But over the shortterm, a player who knows how to play the machines smartly,will have a much better chance of decreasing his risk and increasing hischances of walking away from the machine a winner.
Following is my ten tips for smart slot play.
Tip #1. Pick Thy Machine
Slot machines that have smaller jackpots usually have ahigher hit frequency that makes them a better bet over the short term. Try toplay on slot machines that certify at least a 98% or higherpayback or return. If that's not possible you are better off playing aslot machine with a mid-range jackpot which usually will have a higher hitfrequency rather than a machine that pays millions.
Tip #2. Play Max Coins
Most slot machines are programmed to pay off a certainamount for each coin played. When you insert two coins, the payoffs aredoubled. Likewise with 3 coins the payoffs increase proportionately to 3 timesthe 1 coin pay out. However the jackpot on most slot machines increases tobonus levels with maximum coins played. Always check if this is the case beforeyou play the machine. How do you do this? Just glance at thepayoffs listed somewhere on the machines. If the jackpot pays 1,000coins for first coin played, 2,000 coins for 2 coins but 5,000 coins for 3coins then its important that you play the maximum of3 coins. If you play less than 3 coins in these machines the overall returnpercentage is significantly lower compared with maximum coins played (note:some machines pay proportionally in which case it's OK to play less than onecoin).
Tip #3. More is Better
It's no secret that the higher the denomination machines thehigher the return percentages. On average quarter machinespayback 91 to 96% whereas dollar and five dollar machines payback more.Therefore to maximize your chances of leaving a winner, playing at a higherdenomination machine is your best bet. Putting a single dollar in a dollarmachine (ideally one that doesn't offer a bonus for a maximum coin jackpot) isa better bet than putting 3 quarters in a quarter machine.But you stand to lose more money at the higher limit machines unless you dowhat my fellow gaming writer Frank Scoblete suggestswhich is to slow down your play by pausing in between handle pulls. It takesdiscipline but if you can do it, you will be reducing your risk and increasingyour chances of going a home a winner.
Tip #4. Manage Your Money
First, divide the money you've set aside for playing theslots into 2 or 3 playing sessions. Do not risk blowing it all in one session!If your first session is a bummer, give it a rest before you start your nextsession. Play your session bankroll once through the machine then check yourcredits. If you've got more than you started with, I suggest pocketing some ofthe profits and play with the rest. If you've got less than you started with,I'd try another machine.
Tip #5. Play TheCarousels
If you are not playing certified slot machines then playthose machines that are most likely to be higher paying. Where are theselocated? Most managers I've surveyed tend to place the higher paying machines'in highly visible areas' of the casinos. In large casinos thesehigher return slot machines are placed in carousels usually at the end of aisles.That's not to say you won't find high payoff machines elsewhere in a casino,but I'd play the machines in those areas first.
Tip #6. Join the Club.
Casinos are willing to give you back a percentage of theamount of money you invest in a slot machine but only if you join a slot club.And not just any casinos slot club because they are not all alike. The betterslot clubs offer a higher cash rebate than others up to 0.67% and even 1.0%.
What does this mean? Suppose you play at a dollar machinewith an expected 98% payback. If you add the 0.67% cash rebate return to the98% return, your total return now increases to 98.67%.
Tip #7. Play at One Casino
If you are a loyal member of a casino's slot club programyou will be entitled to a lot more than just cash rebates. How about theseperks: free meal comps, free or discounted hotel rooms, free invitations tospecial events, free gifts (especially on your birthday), free entry intocasino slot tournaments, and invitations to special events hosted by casinos(free of course).
And if that's not enough incentives some casinos rewardtheir preferred slot club players with special events that offer the chance forplayers to win thousands in additional prizes just for playing their favoritemachine.
It's a good idea to shop around for the best deals in slotclub benefits. One good source of information is Jeffrey Compton's 'LasVegas Advisor Guide to Slot Clubs'. The book summarizes the benefits ofcasino slot clubs and which ones offer more.
It's not hard to figure that a slot player can easily earnan additional 1% or more with the above cash rebates, perks, and other goodies.It's an excellent way of getting value for your investment in playing themachines.
Tip #8. Know Who ToAsk For Freebies
Get to know the slot hosts especially when you get hungryand want to eat.Or you feel like takinga break and seeing a show.
Here's a technique from
Tip # 9. Play in Tournaments
If you participate in slot tournaments you have a chance ofwinning big money - while enjoying free room, meals, gifts, and everything elsethe casino throws in as an inducement to play.In some cases, the value of all the freebies that you get for being atournament participant will exceed your expected monetary loss. Just make surethat all of the player's entry fees are returned in the form of prizes. If youare not sure, ask the tournament director about this.
Tip #10. Common Sense, Willpower& Discipline
You've got to exhibit all three to play smartly. What doesthis mean? Don't play with any more money that you can afford to lose. Leaveyour ATM card at home. If you're behind, don't get upset or play longer to geteven. The main reason most slot players lose is because they don't quit whenthey are ahead. Therefore, if Lady Luck smiles on you and you hit the jackpot,scoop up those coins and walk away a winner!
Introduction to Choosing Slot Machines
Once a specific casino has been determined to currently be the best of any available, choosing slot machines becomes the next step towards making a profit at slots.
Remember, statistics supplied to state gaming commissions show that the odds of winning are, on average, somewhere around 90%. By assessing all available casinos, then selecting the best possible, you’ve already improved your odds of winning – perhaps by several percentage points.
Whatever your gambling goals are, we’ll talk about those in the next step Identifying Gambling Goals. For now, we need to consider choosing slot machines that will most likely improve our overall odds even more.
So, we’ve walked into our best casino to choose slot machines with the highest odds of winning we can find. How do we select a good slot machine? Most people don’t – they dive right in without much of a plan. Well, we have a plan.
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Why? Because everybody says it’s all about luck. If you pick wrong, “Well,” they say, “better luck next time.” Remember, casino employees are trained to say things like that. If you’d won a jackpot instead, you can believe they would have said, “You’re lucky! I’ll see you later when you win another jackpot!”
Slot attendants have a job to do, and it most certainly isn’t to get you to leave when you should. And, it’s difficult to not to influenced by such comments. But, try not to be.
In the following sections, I’ll briefly explain the following aspects of choosing slot machines:
What Is The Best Slot Machine To Play
- How odds are set within a slot machine
- Choosing denomination and maximum credits based on bankroll
- Basics of reading a slot machine’s paytable
- A simple way to use paytables to pick the best machines, and avoid the worst
Two Separate Odds of Winning
The odds of winning for a slot machine is a limited number of settings from the manufacturer. Besides understanding limited settings are available, it may help to understand that slot machines have two odds of winning to determine:
- If a player will or will not win anything
- How much that win will be, i.e., the jackpot amount
Why is understanding these two types of odds significant when choosing slot machines? Because winning slot machines come in all jackpot sizes. You’re still winning if you’re getting enough small jackpots that your bankroll isn’t shrinking. Even if it is slowly depleting, the bankroll can last quite a bit longer, so that’s also a winning slot machine.
Winning many jackpots this way is bankroll cycling. It may not seem very satisfactory, but whether it does or not depends entirely on what your gambling goals are. One type of gambling goal, earning maximum complimentary gifts, is most often achieved via bankroll cycling.
Another point about setting slot machine odds is, how often they change? Of course, it depends on the age of the casino, as discussed in the previous step Assessing Casinos, or if it’s been renovated lately.
In my experience, older-style casinos change their slot machine odds every 7-10 days. Newer-style casinos can change their slot machine odds whenever the machine has been idle for 15 minutes or more, without a players club card inserted or the machine temporarily locked by a slot attendant.
Matching Bankrolls to Denomination/Credits
Only you can decide how much bankroll you want to risk gambling. I highly recommend bringing only as much money you can safely afford to lose comfortably.
Bankrolls quite literally determine which slot machines you can play. But, there’s more to it than understanding a $100 bankroll lets you play a 1-credit, $100-denomination exactly once, with very, very little chance of winning.
Whatever bankroll you have limits which slot machines can be played and how much it can be played. Slot machines have denominations ($0.01, $0.25, $1, $5, $10, etc.) and the maximum credits that can be placed in a single bet.
Slot machines typically must run for a while before wins become more likely. Yes, wins can occur at the first press of a button. They can also happen within the first few bets, where casinos offer a taste. But, usually, they need to run for a while.
About 100-120 bets is the right amount to be prepared to play to determine if you’re sitting at a winning (or breakeven) slot machine. Yes, be careful initially, perhaps making as few as 20 bets, to determine if it happens to be a “bad” machine. Trust your instincts!
If it is a poorly performing machine, a “tight” slot machine, it won’t pay out anything at all. Quick decisions are necessary here, so limited betting gives a clue to its performance, yet still leaves enough to gamble with on another machine if it isn’t – assuming you stop playing it as soon as you notice it’s not performing well enough.
So, again, you determine how much bankroll you can afford to spend. Now, take that number and divide it by 120 bets. If your bankroll is $60, then that’s 50 cents per bet. In such a way, the right choice is a 2-credit, quarter-denomination slot machine. Or, a 50-credit, penny-denomination slot machine.
Always remember to play maximum credits for the highest odds of winning. Meaning, your casino may not have a 2-maximum-credit quarter or 50-maximum-credit penny machines. But, perhaps they have a 1-maximum-credit quarter or less-than-50-maximum-credits penny machines. Such slot machines would provide more than 120 bets of play, which is going in the right direction!
Reading a Slot Machine’s Paytable
When choosing a slot machine to play, a crucial aspect of winning is to review its paytable before playing. Frankly, the casino industry gains an advantage over players that don’t read slot machine paytables.
Located somewhere on a slot machine is one or more tables showing the number of credits won if specific combinations of reel symbols appear in the pay line after the player makes a bet. Below is a relatively generic example of a paytable.
The figure shows reel combinations along with their jackpot depending on the number of credits bet. Paytables don’t typically explain how much credits
Not every reel combination and its associated jackpot are usually shown in a paytable. Other reel combinations not shown in the top rows are also presented in the paytable area. Slot machines with WILD symbols can represent it with a myriad of other possible reel symbols.
A final element of paytable example provided is specific information on winning reel combinations, which can include an indication of how the slot machine operates during play. The bottom row of symbol explains that that slot machine has reel symbols which will move after the reels stop momentarily.
Such additional features may not activate until the maximum credits are bet. It can sometimes be difficult, or impossible, to determine this. Most slot machines with bonus rounds will provide at least some information about it within its paytable.
Developing a habit of reviewing and studying a slot machine’s paytable can help improve your ability to judge the financial risks involved with playing that slot machine.
How to Avoid the Worst Slot Machines
The best way to improve the odds of winning via slot machine gambling is to stop making “sucker bets”. In less colorful language, avoid playing slot machines with terrible odds of winning.
First and foremost, understand when choosing slot machines that there are indeed terrible slot machines at a casino. By merely avoiding them whenever possible, on average, your long-term gambling return will improve. Each time we raise our odds like this, we’re pushing closer to achieving our gambling goals. So, let’s make sure we do that, shall we?
Calculate this “Goodness Ratio” as follows:
What Is The Best Denomination Slot Machine To Play On
- When choosing slot machines, as discussed above, find the paytable with the denomination and maximum credits that best matches your available bankroll.
- Take a close look at the paytable. What is the maximum possible jackpot when maximum credits are bet?
- If the top jackpot is displayed in currency, divide it by both the denomination of the machine and the maximum credits
- If the top jackpot is displayed in credits, divide it by only the maximum credits
This “Goodness Ratio” tells us how worthwhile a specific slot machine is to play relative to others. By using this approach, any slot machine can be compared to any other slot machine.
Example: In the paytable above, the maximum jackpot is 2,400 credits with three maximum credits. Therefore, its Goodness Ratio is 2,400 / 3 = 800.
Repeat this calculation for slot machines of interest. While this Goodness Ratio will be similar for many slot machines, it can be startling to find “sucker bet” slot machines that might not otherwise be avoided.
Summary for Choosing Slot Machines
After a casino has been chosen, it’s time to select candidate slot machines most likely to result in a relatively high-value win. The size of your available bankroll, whatever it is, is an essential factor in this selection process. The bankroll size needs to be matched to the slot machine’s denomination and the number of maximum credits.
Here, we’ve also discussed how slot machines calculated odds twice: once to determine if you’ve won, and again to determine how much you’ve won. Another critical aspect discussed to improve a player’s performance was the basics of reading a slot machine’s paytable.
Finally, we talked about the “goodness” ratio to help select candidate slot machines and, perhaps critically important when improving our odds of winning, knowing precisely which slot machines must be avoided.
Next Steps
The next step on your journey to improving slots performance is Identifying Gambling Goals. Enjoy!
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What's The Best Slot Machine To Play
Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl LLC