How To Read Slot Machine Payouts

How To Read Slot Machine Payouts Average ratng: 6,3/10 9041 reviews

Remember the movie National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, when gambling fever consumes Chevy Chase’s character, Clark W. Griswold? He goes on a losing streak to beat all losing streaks while his son, Rusty, wins four cars by playing the slot machines. Maybe Clark would have done better if he had read Probability For Dummies! In this article, you discover the basic ideas behind slot machines and how they work, so that you can get past the myths and develop a strategy based on sound probability.

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Understanding average payout

When casinos advertise that their slot machines pay out an average of 90 percent, the fine print they don’t want you to read says that you lose 10 cents from each dollar you put into the machines in the long term. (In probability terms, this advertisement means that your expected winnings are minus 10 cents on every dollar you spend every time the money goes through the machines.)

Initially, you need to have knowledge of reading the payout chart of slot machines prior to playing the game. We will take a closer look at the basics of reading the payout chart of slot machines. The first information you will see in a slot machine is the coin denomination required to play the slot machine. The best way to separate one from another is to learn how to “read” a machine by looking at the payout schedule on the front. Let’s see what information can be found on a typical slot machine. Casinos here in the U.S. And abroad keep several types of slot machines in play at any given time. A few you'll most often see.

How to read slot machine payouts cash
  • How to Win Bigger Payouts on Video Slots. In almost every slot machine online, you win the biggest possible payout by filling every position on the reels with the highest value symbol. However, there are some features that can boost your payouts significantly, even if you don’t manage to fill the reels with the top-value symbol.
  • Reading the Slot Payout Table. So now that you know the basics of how online slot machine prizes work, you should have no issues reading slot payout tables. In other words, the key metric that you need to look out for is the ‘multiple’ of each winning combination. Once you find it, you simply need to multiply this against your stake size.

Suppose you start with $100 and bet a dollar at a time, for example. After inserting all $100 into the slot, 100 pulls later you’ll end up on average with $90, because you lose 10 percent of your money. If you run the $90 back through the machine, you’ll end up with 90 percent of it back, which is 0.90 x 90 = $81. If you run that amount through in 81 pulls, you’ll have $72.90 afterward (0.90 x 81 = 72.90). If you keep going for 44 rounds, on average, the money will be gone, unless you have the luck of Rusty Griswold!

How many pulls on the machine does your $100 give you at this rate? Each time you have less money to run through the machine, so you have fewer pulls left. If you insert $1 at a time, you can expect 972 total pulls in the long term with these average payouts (that’s the total pulls in 44 rounds). But keep in mind that casinos are designing slot machines to go faster and faster between spins. Some are even doing away with the handles and tokens by using digital readouts on gaming cards that you put into the machines. The faster machines can play up to 25 spins per hour, and 972 spins divided by 25 spins per minute is 38.88 minutes. You don’t have a very long time to enjoy your $100 before it’s gone!

The worst part? Casinos often advertise that their “average payouts” are even as high as 95 percent. But beware: That number applies only to certain machines, and the casinos don’t rush to tell you which ones. You really need to read or ask about the fine print before playing. You can also try to check the information on the machine to see if it lists its payouts. (Don’t expect this information to be front and center.)

Implementing a simple strategy for slots

Advice varies regarding whether you should play nickel, quarter, or dollar slot machines and whether you should max out the number of coins you bet or not (you usually get to choose between one and five coins to bet on a standard slot machine). In this section, you’ll find a few tips for getting the most bang for your buck (or nickel) when playing slot machines.

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. Go to the all-you-can-eat buffet and try your luck with the casino food; odds are it’s pretty good!

How To Read Slot Machine Payouts

Choosing among nickel, quarter, and dollar machines

The machines that have the higher denominations usually give the best payouts. So, between the nickel and quarter slots, for example, the quarter slots generally give better payouts. However, you run the risk of getting in way over your head in a hurry, so don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. The bottom line: Always choose a level that you have fun playing at and that allows you to play for your full set time limit.

How to read slot machine payouts

Deciding how many coins to play at a time

When deciding on the number of coins you should play per spin, keep in mind that more is sometimes better. If the slot machine gives you more than two times the payout when you put in two times the number of coins, for example, you should max it out instead of playing single coins because you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot, and the expected value is higher. If the machine just gives you k times the payout for k coins, it doesn’t matter if you use the maximum number of coins. You may as well play one at a time until you can make some money and leave so your money lasts a little longer.

For example, say a quarter machine pays 10 credits for the outcome 777 when you play only a single quarter, but if you play two quarters, it gives you 25 credits for the same outcome. And if you play the maximum number of quarters (say, four), a 777 results in 1,000 credits. You can see that playing four quarters at a time gives you a better chance of winning a bigger pot in the long run (if you win, that is) compared to playing a single quarter at a time for four consecutive tries.

The latest slot machine sweeping the nation is the so-called “penny slot machine.” Although it professes to require only a penny for a spin, you get this rate only if you want to bet one penny at a time. The machines entice you to bet way more than one penny at a time; in fact, on some machines, you can bet more than 1,000 coins (called lines) on each spin — $10 a shot here, folks. Because these machines take any denomination of paper bill, as well as credit cards, your money can go faster on penny machines than on dollar machines because you can quickly lose track of your spendings. Pinching pennies may not be worth it after all!

In our series of slots questions and answers we take a look at one of the most commonly asked questions - How do payout percentages really work.

We take a look at the basics as well as some extra questions on the subjects of game payouts.

We often get emails with the question - 'I played a slot game with an advertised payout percentage of 98% but lost all of my money. How can the casino say the game pays out 98% when I get these results?'

Payout Percentage Information

The advertised payout percentages do not relate to an individual game session but thousands of game sessions. Some players will get much less but some players will get much more. Over time and millions of spins the game will pay out 98%.

How To Read Slot Machine Payouts Jackpot

Slots would not be any fun to play if every time you put in $100 you got exactly $98 out. While you may have lost your bankroll some other players would have walked away winners - luck is the main factor effecting slot players.

Making Payout Percentages Work For You

How To Read Slot Machine Payouts

While there are no real tricks to playing slots there are some well known fact that can lead you to the best paying machines. In short - the higher the denomination you play the better the payout percentage will be.

It's not hard to see why casinos set there slots in this way. The need to keep a much smaller percentage of a $5 or $1 bet to make money than on a quarter or nickel machine where you will always find the lowest payout percentages.

How to read slot machine payouts free

We recommend always playing the highest denomination game you can afford. A one coin $1 machine is not that much more per spin than say a quarter machine with a three coin max bet but most probably has a higher payout percentage.

Of course even playing the games with the highest payout percentage does not guarantee you walking away a winner. Luck is still the key factor.

What about slots with payouts advertised at 99.9%?

How To Read Slot Machine Payouts 2019

This is more of an advertising stunt by casinos than anything else. Even playing a slot machine with a payout percentage of 100% you would not always win.

Why have I seen a casino with slot payouts over 100%?

How To Read Slot Machine Payouts Without

Occasionally we have also seen the independent payout percentage reports released by online casinos show a monthly payout on slots of over 100%. This is always due to the casino having a very big winner on slots which skews the results. It does not mean that everyone who played slots that month won.