- The Probability Of Winning On A Slot Machine Is 8 6
- The Probability Of Winning On A Slot Machine Is 8 2
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.
Every professional or occasional punter loves a game of slots now and then. The appeal of the casino slots is obvious – the odds are fixed, the games easy to understand and the proliferation of online betting sites and mobile apps makes it even more accessible for anybody to become a successful bettor without putting much of an effort. However, with this richness of choice comes the frustration as everybody prefers to invest their time in something that will pay off eventually. Soon, finding these best slot sites becomes more of a quest than an actual enjoyment of the games. Is the welcome bonus good enough? Is there a single winning strategy to finding the best slot games? It is normal that many are curious to know more about mobile slots with all the casino sites on the internet. Like any other betting game, slot sites have their own system of making a profit and digging beneath the surface is the first step to adopting your individual winning strategy to beat the slots provider.
- Dec 22, 2013 What is the probability of winning on a slot machine? It depends on the machine, but hitting the multi-million dollar progressive jackpot on the Megabucks machine is almost 50 million to one.
- 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.
Understand the Science behind the Casino Slots Structure
Have you ever wondered why there are so many casino sites and mobile apps? The truth is simple – the house always wins; therefore, the provider always makes a profit out of your bets. Very few people know that you can use this fact to your advantage by understanding what’s going on behind the scenes of the slots games and by adopting a strategy for your future games, instead of just playing blind.
Slots Probability Formula
Let’s take a look at slots mathematics as a starting point. When slot providers purchase casino software, they receive information about the payback percentage that the bettor will get; the hold per cent for the house, and the volatility index showing how frequently the game will pay off. Of course, this information is not visible to the punters, but it can be assumed that games that are heavily advertised or which feature flashing graphics are not necessarily the most played games or the games that have actual payouts closer to the theoretical ones determined by the software provider. The bottom line is that slots will eventually pay back a percentage of what has been played by all bettors in that particular game. Slots are also considered a game of chance, as they are determined by a random selection of symbols equal to a set of predetermined odds by the software provider, but different each time the game is played. The payout percentage can be calculated by using the number of the reels and symbols on each wheel in a given game. Take, for example, slots with three reels and twenty symbols per wheel. To work out the sum of combinations of symbols on this machine, multiply the total of symbols by the number of symbols on each of the remaining reels. Thus, the equation looks like this: 20 x 20 x 20 = 8,000 combinations. If you know the frequency of each symbol to appear on each reel, then you can easily determine the probability of a jackpot if you hit three of the same symbols. Slot games with 5 or more reels might offer attractive returns at first sight, but the probabilities will be thousands if not millions more than a simple three-reel one. It is important to remember that the payout percentage has been predetermined by the provider and it will only pay out after a very long period of time, while the site operator will continue to take a percentage on every virtual coin played in the game. This is not to say that you cannot trust any given site, as there are good reference sites such as SlotsWebsites.org which vigorously test the betting providers of their reliability and then present a weekly list of the best casino sites. Basic traits of the good slots site include the reliability of the software provider, the number of payment options and games offered, and the bonuses included, such as no deposit welcome bonus, free spins and free coins. Shop around and play different games on several wagering sites, as you’d stand a better chance to win than just sticking with one slot game you’re most comfortable with.
Which Slot Games to Pick?
There are different types of games, ranging from traditional 3-reel slots to video slots and 3D slots with immersive sounds and graphics making for a great experience, but also more uncertain returns. A good piece of advice is to search for sites that list their payback percentage, bearing in mind that the remainder will be the percentage that the house will make for every time you spin the slots. Good betting sites also list the player's win rates or return to player payback percentages which directly relate to determining which game will pay off better over the long term. To sum up, you should first try slots with fewer reels and know the total symbol number, as well as which symbol combinations are jackpots and bonuses. Then, use the slots probability formula to find those games that offer more regular returns, as you’d not only stand a better chance of cashing out sooner, but you’d also be able to play enjoy the games longer. Alternatively, if you have a limited bankroll and you'd like to win in the short run, choose slots with the smallest jackpots, as those are the easiest to win. On the other hand, video reels and novelty themed slots might be attractive, but usually have the worst odds, as they are likely to be the newest games on the sites. Another common mistake is to assume that you must bet all your money on one game because if you don't, you'd lose more in the long-term. In fact, on most slots, the probability of you winning would be very similar, with the only difference being that if you put more coins, you'd get a higher return if and only if you hit the jackpot. So, what does it mean to look for loose online slots and why are they so good? Loose slots simply refer to slots with higher volatility meaning that they'd pay bigger amounts but rarely. A good strategy is to consider low and medium volatility games that pay more regularly, but smaller returns.
How Would you Play?
At the end of the day, it is really down to your betting style and bankroll and whether you've chosen slots for the excitement and entertainment or whether you'd really want to make some money out of it. If you're new to slots and you still don't know whether it's for you, study the games for free online or on mobile to understand better the different bonuses and pay lines.
The Probability Of Winning On A Slot Machine Is 8 6
A slot machine simply takes a dollar and gives 80-98 cents back (it's rare to find a slot machine with a payback of over 98%).
But, of course, it does this in the long run.
Since playing slot machines seems insane on paper, what makes slot players spend so much money on these machines that are often referred to as one-armed bandits?
That'll be all the psychological factors.
Slot Machines and Psychology
A machine that just takes money and does nothing else would unlikely succeed, so the way slot machines have worked around that hurdle is offering a theoretical chance to win money, even if you lose money on the machine in the long run.
And that chance makes people play the machines. First of all, who wouldn't want to win a lot of money for basically doing nothing? That's appealing even if the odds were against you.
Additionally, people rarely realize just how much of a house edge slot machines have, and how much better it would be to play games like blackjack with optimal strategy.
Usually, the bigger the jackpot, the more players are willing to play the machine. After all, what's $50 spent on a machine that may give you a life-changing sum of money? (Co-incidentally, progressive jackpot slots, the ones that have more than a million dollars in jackpot prizes, give you the worst winning odds.)
Our desire to win big-time allows slot machines to play another psychological trick on us: the near-miss situations, which happen because slot machine reels are weighted differently (more about that lower on this page). It encourages us to keep on playing since we 'came so close' to winning life-changing money.
At live casinos, the most popular slot machines are often placed in the places where most people can see them. This takes an advantage of a psychological tendency called Social Proof (or as I like to call it, 'monkey see, monkey do'). Some say that casinos even place the machines with the highest hit frequency to where everyone can see them - I find this believable, but I have no proof.
Seeing lots of others play and win is one heck of a psychological trick. The sound of winning that a slot machine makes is affiliated deep in our mind with something positive, as is the sound of coins clinging and clanging against the metal disposer of the machine (the sound of money!). It's easy to see why someone walking in to space like that would be hooked.
So I thought it would be important to understand how slot machines work from a psychological point-of-view first - since psychological factors are what make us play slot machines - and now that you understand the basics of slot machine psychology, let's move on to the technical aspects.
Random Numbers and Paytables
When someone believes in a slot machine's hot and cold streaks, it's called Gambler's Fallacy, and for a good reason. 'Hot' streaks happen, 'cold' streaks happen in the sense that sometimes, when numbers are chosen randomly, they happen to be of similar sort for X times in a row.
It's like receiving pocket aces twice in a row at poker - it's unlikely (in fact, there's a X% chance it happens) but it does happen sometimes. Does that mean the deck of cards is 'hot'? Or when you flip a coin and you get heads five times in a row, is the coin 'hot'?
Of course not. When things happen at random, they do. They're unpredictable. Anything can happen, and at some point probably will happen.
But the point is, you have no way of knowing what the future holds for a slot machine. Every spin of the reels is an independent trial, which means the previous game has no influence on the next game. Everything starts over and the chances of winning are the same with each spin of the reels, regardless of whether someone's lost ten spins in a row or just hit a jackpot.
Why would anyone design slot machines that get 'hot' or 'cold' anyway? If they did, players could tell when to play and when not to play. It makes no sense. Casinos are much better off creating slot machines to which there are no 'winning systems' available.
The Probability Of Winning On A Slot Machine Is 8 2
So slot machines use a random number generator (from now on referred to as 'RNG') to, well, generate random numbers for each reel. These numbers are between one and a couple of billions (let's just say a lot of numbers).
And there's a symbol assigned to each number - for example, if the RNG would pick numbers between one and a billion, the game had ten symbols and each were as likely to come, there would be a 100 million numbers assigned to each of the symbols.
But lot machine symbols are never equally likely to come; the ones that pay the most are the hardest to get. Therefore different symbols have a different amount of numbers assigned to them. (The odds of winning the Megabucks jackpot are somewhere in the one out of 50,000,000.)
But the point is, the RNG assigns numbers to each reel and those numbers correspond with symbols that have been assigned to them. The RNG is not influenced by previous results; it deals a new, random set of numbers with every spin, regardless of what's happened.
Interestingly, the moment you press Spin or pull the lever, your fate has already been sealed. Spinning reels stopping one by one is just theatrics; they make the game more exciting and enjoyable.
Now, the slot machine must also know which symbol combinations are winners and how much they pay. For this, slot machines use EPROM chips. They tell the slot machine winning combinations and define the paytable.
When a casino wants to change the payback of a machine, they change the EPROM chip (or the settings of the chip). Not long ago casinos had to physically change the chip which was quite a bit of work, but now many casinos can change the settings of the chip externally.
There are rules, though. In Nevada, for example, casinos aren't allowed to change the settings four minutes before and after someone has played; this eliminates the myth that casinos change the settings while you're playing.
So either someone physically changes the chip or there has to be a four minute time window before and after someone's played. (While the settings are being changed, the slot machine screen should have a message stating that some sort of 'configuration' is happening.)
That's pretty much it. There are a lot of psychologal tricks involved, but technically the RNG assigns random numbers to each reel and the EPROM chip determines the winning combinations and paytables, which together determine the payback (or 'return') of the machine. The less it pays back, the more you're going to lose on the machine in the long run.
More About the Subject:
- Vegas Click: Michael Bluejay's comprehensive explanation of how slot machines work. In my opinion, the best one out there.
- Wizard of Odds: Michael Shackleford's slot machine advice -- the site also features an extensive FAQ section for slots.
- Gambling Captain: If you're looking for a short but insightful read on the basics of slots (or other casino games), this is a good site to visit.