I always thought it would be interesting to look at when to bet big on a game that’s as close to the opposite of blackjack as I could think of. When should you bet big on slot machines?
Quite frankly, I have several opinions and lines of thinking related to how much you should risk when playing slot machines. And the conclusions I’ve come to are about as different as the conclusions I came to when discussing blackjack as you could ever imagine.
You Should NEVER Bet Big on Slot Machines
Compared to other casino games, real money slots have the ability drain your bankroll fast. Not only do slot machine games have the highest house edge in the casino, but they also practically force you to put more money into action per hour than any other game.
Betting big on slot machines basically guarantees that you’ll lose a lot of money.
The name slot is a collective name for casino games that have reels that spin, and where you get a win with several similar symbols. They are entirely random, and it is not possible to control which symbols appear. What they have in common is that they are excited to play. They are available in a lot of different combinations and themes. Slots With The Best Odds – High RTP Games. How to win while playing slot machines? This is one of the most common questions among slot aficionados and one of the biggest mysteries of online gambling. Whether they play classic, video or progressive slots, punters are looking for ways to make a slot machine work for them. Manage your bankroll. To built up a gaming strategy, the slot player must first of all decide on the.
Slots: Slots as it is known is the oldest cross-platform online game in betting games. It comes from Slots machines, then the betting app is introduced into online casinos. Regardless of the shape, the game is still welcomed by gamblers and widely participated. Online slots come in a variety of betting themes, available in 3-reel, 5-reel.
The average slot machine in a competitive casino destination probably has a house edge of around 7%. It could be higher than that depending on the machine. You’re not able to determine how big the house edge, is though.
That’s because the payback percentage is based on the probability of winning multiplied by the amount you stand to win. You do this for all the possible combinations, and you have the payback percentage for the game. Subtract that from 100%, and you have the house edge for the game.
How the Payback Percentage for Slot Machines Works
Let’s look at a simplified slot machine game, slots probabilities, and how the payback percentage for the game is calculated. Let’s suppose the pay table looks like this:
- Three fruit symbols result in a 200 for 1 payout.
- Any two fruit symbols plus any other one symbol results in a 25 for 1 payout.
- Any one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols results in a 5 for 1 payout.
- Any combination without a fruit symbol but with a bar symbol results in a 1 for 1 payout.
Now, let’s say that there are 2,500 possible combinations, and you can achieve the following combinations in the following number of ways:
- You have eight ways to get three fruit symbols.
- You have 16 ways to get two fruit symbols plus any other symbol.
- You have 32 ways to get any one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols.
- You have 128 ways to get a bar without any fruit symbols.
- Every other possible combination results in no payout.
What are the probabilities of achieving each result?
You determine that by dividing the number of ways of getting that result by the total number of possible results:
- Getting three fruit symbols is a probability of 8/2500, or 0.0032.
- Getting two fruit symbols plus any other symbol is a probability of 16/2500, or 0.0064.
- Getting one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols is a probability of 32/2500, or 0.0128.
- And the probability of getting a bar with no fruit symbols is 128/2500, or 0.0512.
To get the expected value for each combination, you just multiply the probability by the payout:
- Three fruit symbols is worth 0.0032 X 200, or 0.64.
- Two fruit symbols play any other symbol is worth 0.0064 X 25, or 0.16.
- Getting one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols is worth 0.0128 X 5, or 0.064.
- Getting a bar with no fruit symbols is worth 0.0512 X 1, or 0.0512.
Add all those together, and you get an overall expected return of 0.9152, or 91.52%.
This means the hypothetical slot machine I described has a house edge of 100%, 91.52%, or 8.48%.
But What Does the Casino House Edge Really Mean?
The casino house edge is a statistical prediction of how much you’re going to lose on the action that you place. For example, if you bet $100 on a game with a house edge of 8.48%, you’re expected to lose an average of $8.48.
But this is a statistical average. As you can see in the example above, you can’t lose $8.48 on a $100 bet on this machine. You can lose $100. Or you can win an amount of between $100 and $20,000.
It’s a long-term expected average per bet, what you can expect after thousands of repetitions. This is what the Law of Large Numbers is all about. In the short term, with anything that’s random, you never know what’s going to happen. You might win a lot or lose a lot. On a single spin, you’re looking at the ultimate example of the short term.
But the closer you get to an infinite number of repetitions, the closer your average results will get to the statistical expectation.
At 10 slot machine spins, you’ll almost certainly get closer to that 8.48% expected loss rate. At 100 slot machine spins, the probability of getting close to the statistical expectation goes up even more. And so on at 1,000 spins and 10,000 spins.
How Long Does It Take to Get Into the Long Run With a Slot Machine?
The average slot machine player makes 500 spins per hour. That’s the same thing as 500 bets. Contrast this with the average number of bets per hour at various casino games:
- Blackjack might result in 60 bets per hour depending on the number of players at the table.
- Craps might result in 100 rolls per hour, but depending on your betting strategy, you might not be placing a new bet on every roll. If you base it on decisions per hour, you might be looking at just 30 bets per hour.
- Roulette might result in 60 spins per hour, and if you’re only placing one bet per spin, you’re only looking at 60 bets per hour.
If you notice, the number of bets per hour at a slot machine is greater than the number of bets per hour on any table game by a huge margin. The fastest of these table games is craps, but you’d need to be placing a new bet on every roll of the dice just to make 1/5 of the number of bets you’d make on a slot machine.
What Does This Mean to the Amount of Money You’re Expected to Lose on Slot Machines?
The casinos calculate a game’s predicted win for the casino by multiplying the average hourly action by the game’s house edge. The hourly action is just the product of the average bet size multiplied by the average number of bets you make per hour.
But suppose you’re betting $3 per spin on a slot machine. That means you’re putting $1500 into action per hour. And if you assume a 6% house edge, you’re looking at a predicted $90 per hour loss rate.
That’s a huge difference.
What Happens to Your Average Hourly Loss Rate on Slot Machines When You Start Making “Big” Bets?
Okay, so suppose you decide to cash out your 401k and play the high roller slots at your local casino. Let’s say these games have a max bet of $100. How much money are you expected to lose for an hour of this kind of action?
$100 X 500 spins is $50,000 in action.
With a 6% house edge, your expected loss in an hour of play at this rate is $3000. That’s a lot of money to lose on just an hour of entertainment. Sure, you could get lucky and have a big winning session. But the longer you play, the more likely you are to lose, and the more money you stand to lose during that losing session.
It’s Okay to “Take a Shot”
One of my professional poker mentors explained to me that it’s okay to occasionally ignore strict bankroll management requirements in poker if you want to “take a shot.” The idea is that you’re willing to risk a relatively large amount of money on a big gamble.
This doesn’t mean buying into the World Series of Poker every week for $10,000, if that were even possible. It does mean that it’s okay to save $1,000 a month for a year to be able to take a shot at the final table next year.
It’s okay to place a single big bet on a slot machine on the outside chance you might get a win.
Most people, though, treat slot machines like Lay’s potato chips. They can’t eat just one potato chip, and they can’t just make one slot machine spin.
Conclusion
When should you bet big on a slot machine game? The short answer is, almost never. The house edge is too high, and the number of bets you’ll make per hour multiply that amount exponentially. And the more bets you make, the likelier you are to see the statistically expected results.
If you want to bet big on a slot machine, limit yourself to a single big bet. If you’re really aggressive, set some arbitrary number of spins as your target.
I once played a game for $100 per spin for just 10 spins. I won $6,000 that session, so it went okay.
Had I stayed at the machine for a couple of hours, though, I would have almost certainly have given all that back to the casino and then some.
New slot machine players are going to find a lot of advice for beating the slots. Have a healthy skepticism when a slots expert tells you they know how to beat the slot machines. Among the games in a casino, video slots (in general) have a high house edge. Besides finding gaming machines with high jackpots and a low house edge, no skill or strategy is required to play slots. That means you can’t expect to increase your odds of winning in most situations.
Read through the advice below to optimize your chances of winning at slots. None of the advice assures winning sessions. Instead, it helps you stretch your bankroll, so you enjoy playing the slots longer. Also, the longer your bankroll lasts, the more chances you’ll have of hitting the big jackpot every slots player wants.
Use a Slots Card
Upon entering a live casino, sign up for a slots card. This provides comps and cashback, which automatically lowers the house edge by a bit. Never play a spin without using your slots card. In an online casino, accept the highest slots bonus and play according to the terms and conditions until you meet the wagering requirement. Once again, this lowers the house edge on online slots.
Make Max Bets
Look at the payout chart on a slot machine to determine how jackpots are paid. On many slot machines, the 5-coin bet pays out a higher percentage on the top fixed jackpot. For instance, a 1-coin bet might pay $200, a 2-coin bet might pay $400, a 3-coin bet might pay $600, and a 4-coin bet might pay $800. You might expect the 5-coin bet to pay $1000, but many slot machines pay out $1200 or $1500 in that case, trying to convince bettors to make the max bet.
If the jackpot increases a bigger percentage with a maximum coin wager, then it makes sense to make the max bet on a slot machine. If the bet size is too high for your tastes, then lower the coin denomination and make a max bet at that level. Of course, if there is no additional jump between the 4-coin and 5-coin bet, then you can wager a single coin and max out the coin denomination to the bet size you like.
Read the RTP Information
If an online casino or land-based casino publishes its return-to-player information, read through the RTP percentages to find the video slots with the best RTPs. Return-to-player or expected return is the percentage of a theoretical $100 you expect to see returned to you. It is a theoretical percentage based on probability, so an RTP of 95% does not assure you’ll be paid $95 for every $100 you put in the machine. You might lose $50 or you might win $150, or you might win a progressive jackpot and go home rich.
The point of the RTP percentage is to give a player an idea of their expected return. If two slot machines sit next to one another and one has an RTP of 93% and the other an RTP of 95% (and both have similar jackpots), then it pays to play the game with the higher percentage. Over time, this leads to you maintaining a higher percentage of your bankroll.
Money Management Techniques
Read about bankroll management techniques. “Money management” or “bankroll management” is a series of steps you take to lock on winnings when good luck happens and limit your losses when a bad streak occurs. These do not assure that you’ll win, but it optimizes your bankroll.
Players should know three core bankroll management methods: percentage betting, win goals, and loss limits. Learn to calculate your bankroll and divide this into percentages. Then bet between 1% and 5% of your bankroll on any given hand, depending on your capacity for risk. This limits the amount of your stake you lose on any given session, keeping you playing for longer throughout your vacation. It is a given that people go to the ATM machine or credit card when they lose their whole bankroll — which means you spend more than you intended. The point of percentage betting is to assure your bankroll last through your whole trip, so you never have to replenish.
What Is a Bankroll?
“Bankroll” is not defined as your entire bank account. It isn’t defined as your discretionary spending budget or the money you have earmarked for entertainment expenses. Instead, it is a part of your discretionary spending cash and entertainment budget which is set aside specifically for gambling. In this case, a bankroll is less than your entertainment budget.
Once you have your bankroll figured, divide this into easy to understand percentage. If you have a bankroll of $1000, then divide this into percentages. These are simple calculations, but you should have an understanding of 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and 20% of your bankroll. In the earlier example, 1% would be $10, while 2% would be $20. 5% would be $50, 10% would be $100, and 20% would be $200.
Now that you have these, decide whether to bet 1% to 5% of your bankroll. Most experts suggest betting no more than 1% to 2% in order to maintain your bankroll throughout your casino trip or online slots session.
Setting a Win Goal
Next, set your win goal. This is the amount of winnings you set as your goal for any given slots session. If you have a win goal of 10%, then your win goal would be $100 for any given slot machine sessions. As soon as you hit that goal, you walk away from the slot machine — no matter what. A win goal is a hard-and-fast rule, because it locks in winnings. One of the biggest mistakes players make is losing back their winnings, because they think they’re on a hot streak.
Setting a Loss Limit
Even more dangerous is trying to win back cash you just loss. To protect against this tendency, set a loss limit. Once again, make this your hard-and-fast rule. Typical loss limits can be 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% — though 20% means you could lose the entire bankroll in 5 slots session. 10% to 15% is a good middle ground. Once you’ve lost that amount, walk away from the slot machine under all circumstances. The slots game is not “due” to pay out, so step away from the machine and clear your mind.
Win goals and loss limits guard against gambler’s fallacy. Gambler’s fallacy is the idea that the law of averages assures or weight the odds in your favor. Slots use random number generators and every spin is entirely separate from the previous spin. Losing the last spin does not make it more likely you’ll win the next spin. The odds stay the same, no matter how many wins or losses in a row you’ve had.
Avoid Progressive Betting
For that reason, avoid progressive betting systems like the Martingale system, D’Alembert system, Fibonacci system, and so on. Betting experts have used computer simulations to track the progressive betting methods against flat betting (same bet each spin). Flat betting beats all of the progressive betting schemes over 1 billion spins.
Progressive betting seems like it’s working, because it leads to a lot of small winning sessions. The problem is that it also has a handful of huge losing sessions which wipe out all the wins — and then some. You can’t beat the house edge with the Martingale system, however it might look to the naked eye. The Fibonacci numbers are incredible, but they are not a magical way to beat the casino.
The reason progressive bets are bad is they increase the size of your bets (in some systems exponentially). If you start with $5 or $10 bets, a streak of bad luck has you betting hundreds of dollars on one spin. That’s busts your bankroll and leads to a “risk of ruin” — meaning you’ll lose your whole bankroll if you hit a bad luck streak. No matter what you read online, flat bets are better.
Take Breaks for Rest and Refreshments
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Play when you are at your best physically and mentally. Don’t play when you’re tired or sleepy. Don’t play when you’re hungry or thirsty. Take frequent rest and restroom breaks. If you get bored, take a break and walk the casino. Play another game to change up the betting pattern.
When you are rested and engaged, you won’t have distractions that might lead to bad decisions. The idea is to have fun, so if anything is causing you to lose focus on the entertainment aspect of the game, walk away and save your bankroll.
Don’t Go on Tilt
Tilt is a concept in poker where a player makes decisions based on emotional responses instead of solid strategy. It can cost a player a lot of money if they make bets based on anything but rational decisions. While going on tilt is not a concept in slot machine gambling, every game of chance has a personal component.
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In short, don’t play when you’re agitated. Take stock of your inner thoughts. If your ego or anger is causing you to make irrational decisions, take a deep breath and calm down. If that doesn’t work, walk away and clear your head. It stinks to lose a series of bets, but what stinks more is to lose a series of bigger bets when you’re trying to make up for lost bankroll.