The transition of physical slot machines into online video slots has led to the survival of false gambling wisdom that needs to be eradicated from your strategy. Before sharing the most common slot strategies to avoid, you are first going to receive a brief explanation of slot game functionality.
How Slot Games Work
Blackjack and roulette can offer clarity in regard to the number of potential different outcomes. For this reason, you are able to calculate exact odds and house edge for those games, but not with slots. Instead, there are two alternative factors to explain how slots work:
- Random number generators (RNGs): Slot games run based on RNGs that are tasked with operating the reels. As the term suggests, they are entirely random, which nullifies the ability to say that video slots can have hot streaks.
- Return to player (RTP): The only long-term statistic to consider in a slot game will be the RTP percentage. This is by no means an entirely accurate piece of information, but is broadly used to quantify the long-term amount that players can win back as a percentage of their overall wagering.
The Slot Strategies to Forget
Understanding the basics of how slots run will now enable you to realise why the following strategies need to be left behind:
- Hot/cold streaks: Some players still believe that video slots are going to have predefined hot and cold streaks, but this simply isn’t possible because slot outcomes are entirely random on every single spin.
- Money management: This should only be used to ensure that you avoid spending money that you cannot afford to lose. As a strategy, this is tied to hot and cold streaks that call for you to stop playing based on winning or losing a set value.
- Using betting systems: Blackjack and roulette can offer 50-50 payouts, making them better-suited to betting systems. The sheer variety of slots makes it pointless to raise or decrease your betting based simply on the previous result.
- Targeting high progressive jackpots: In UK pubs, everyone turns round to look at a slot machine that’s eaten numerous coins without delivering a win. You should never apply this logic to a progressive jackpot that reaches high levels. These slots are costly and you are never guaranteed of winning.
- Following the trends: Some casinos will display a ticker showing all of the latest wins. It’s a mistake to simply play a slot because you see that other players are winning. This can simply be attributed to some slots being more popular than others. The wins are merely determined by RNGs.
- Picking favourites: You should never pick a slot machine because its your favourite film or because of the story. Some slots are stronger contenders than others based on their RTP and functionality.
There is no exact science or strategy to winning on slots, but you are doing yourself a disservice by using any of the misguided approaches above. Honestly, you’re better off playing the Mega Reel for the chance to receive bonus free spins at Lucky Admiral.
