Slots Systems
Because there is no strategy that gives you a better chance of winning in slots, people try to beat the games through a different method: betting systems. There are a number of popular betting systems and each is based on the idea that through modifying your bet you can either take greater advantage of wins, reduce the impact of losses, or both. Unfortunately, none of the slots betting systems work. They are all based on the gambler’s fallacy, which is the theory that an event that has not happened recently becomes more likely to happen. One example would be if you flipped a coin and it landed on heads three consecutive times. The gambler’s fallacy would say that it is due to land on tails, which is more likely because it hasn’t happened yet. However, the true odds remain unchanged. On every flip of the coin, it has a 50% chance of landing on heads and a 50% chance of landing on tails. The odds of online slots are similarly unchanging. The random number generator ensures that each spin is independent and no streak changes the odds of something happening in the future.
The Martingale system is the most famous and most widely used betting system. It is used by players who swear by the success of the system and players who didn’t even know that their betting technique had a name. It is a system where you attempt to cover past losses with wins in the future. With the Martingale system, you double the wager after each loss. Looking at it mathematically, the system seems to make sense. If you double your bet every time you lose, when you eventually win you will get all of that lost money back.

If you had an infinite amount of money to wager, the Martingale system could work. However, everyone has a limit to how much money they can bet. Therefore, a losing streak can easily cause you to run out of money if you are doubling your wager after each loss. Often players will drain their account before they get to that win that would have won the money back. Losing streaks are common in slots, and using the Martingale system they will quickly deplete your bankroll. Even assuming an infinite bankroll, though, the Martingale system still would not work due to betting limits. Online slots have a maximum amount that you can bet on each spin and it is usually in specific denominations, so during a losing streak you can quickly reach the limit to how much you are allowed to bet. With no limit on your funds or on betting size, the Martingale system would work, but that will never happen with slots.

For those not convinced about the Martingale, there is also the anti-Martingale system. As the name indicates, this system takes an opposite approach. With the anti-Martingale system, you double your bet after each win and cut the bet in half after a loss. While the Martingale system attempts to use your wins to negate the losses, the anti-Martingale attempts to take advantage of hot streaks. Unfortunately, though streaks happen, they cannot be predicted. A win is no more likely after a win; the odds are unaffected by past events. In fact, because the odds of slots favor the casino, on each spin you are more likely to lose than to win, which makes doubling your bet after a win costly.
A similar system is the Paroli system, in which you start with a base bet and double it after a win. After a loss, you return to your base bet. This betting system fails for the same reason as the anti-Martingale system. While a winning streak will become more profitable, in the long run it is simply exposing more of your money to the house edge. Because you double after every win, a single loss can wipe out the money you made during that winning streak.

The Parlay system is another popular betting system. Though more common with card games, slots players use the system as well. With the Parlay system, you take the money you win on one spin and bet it, along with your starting bet, on the next. This is what is known as “letting it ride.” Like the Paroli and anti-Martingale systems, this will seem profitable while on a winning streak, but it will only take a single loss to take away all of your winnings. Anytime you wager your winnings you are giving the casino a chance to take the money back, and since slots have a house edge, the casino is more likely to take the money back than you are to keep it.

The D’Alembert system is a common betting system that is more complex than the others. Instead of simply trying to take advantage of wins or negate losses, this system tries to do both. With the D’Alembert system, you increase your bet when you lose and decrease it when you win. The main flaw of this cancellation system is that it assumes that the two possible outcomes of winning and losing have an equal chance of happening, like flipping a coin. If the two outcomes had equal probability, this system would allow the wins to cancel out the losses. However, because the odds favor the house, losses happen more often than wins do. That simple fact alone makes the D’Alembert a bad system to use.

The above betting systems are commonly used by players who honestly think that they work. They are recommended by those players out of an honest desire to help you. However, there are other slots “strategies” out there that are not so benevolent. There are scams all over the Internet, where someone claims to have the key to beating online slots. To discover this foolproof strategy, you simply have to buy their book, pay for a subscription, or do something else that requires payment. Those are nothing more than scams and should be avoided.

Tips & Strategy
One of the things that makes slot machines so popular is the simplicity. They are random games of chance and no skill is needed. With one push of the spin button, you can win a life-altering amount of money. That is why they are so big with Las Vegas tourists who never gamble otherwise. You don’t need much knowledge about the game to play. That does not mean there aren’t tips and strategies that you can utilize, though.

Random Number Generator
The outcome of each spin of a slot machine is controlled by a random number generator, commonly called a RNG. That is true at brick and mortar casinos in Las Vegas and online casinos on your favorite gambling website. In both cases, the computer program generates hundreds of numbers every second. Each number corresponds to a specific symbol on a certain position of a specific reel. The numbers that are generated at the time you push the spin button determine the outcome of the spin.

That is important to understand because the random number generator eliminates the possibility of two slot machine myths: hot slots and due slots. According to the myths, a slot is hot when it is on a streak where it is paying out a lot. That means it is a good slot to play because you are more likely to win on it. Conversely, if a slot hasn’t paid out in a while, people will say that the slot is due to hit. That means it is a good slot to play because the odds say it has to start paying out soon. Neither of the above is true.

Because of the random number generator, no slot machine is ever hot or due. Each spin is completely independent of the last, so nothing that has happened before affects the outcome of your spin. Each slot machine is programmed to have a specific payout rate. That rate determines your odds of winning money. Those odds are the same on every single spin of that slot machine no matter what happened on the last spin. Taking the same machine, your odds do not change if it has paid out ten times in a row or if it has had losing spins ten consecutive times. The odds of the next spin are not affected by prior spins.

Slot Betting Tips
While you cannot change the odds of slots, you can determine how quickly it goes through your bankroll. Because slots have a house advantage, the more money you wager, the more you stand to lose. The larger your bet, the more money you are exposing to the house edge. The advantage to a larger bet, though, is that the machine will have a larger payout on winning spins.

With that in mind, there are two schools of thought for bet amounts. Some gamblers prefer to bet the minimum allowed amount so the bankroll will last longer. That allows you to play for longer using a finite amount of wagering money. It is a good strategy if you are looking to have some fun at the casino for the night. Players that are trying to win big money, however, opt for the second school of thought. By placing the maximum allowed bet, you will win more money on the winning spins. That will particularly come into play if you hit the jackpot, as you will only win the full jackpot if you bet the maximum.

Progressive slots are machines that are linked together to form a network. Those slots share a jackpot and in doing so, have a much larger jackpot than a traditional slot machine. Though progressive jackpots pay out less often than traditional slots, the payouts are much larger when they do occur. The best strategy for progressive slots is to bet the maximum wager in order to take advantage of the larger payouts when and if they happen. If you do not bet the maximum amount and hit the jackpot of a progressive slot, you will only get a fraction of that large jackpot payout.

Many people will swear by progressive betting systems as a way to overcome the house advantage of slots. The most popular betting systems are the Martingale system, where you double your wager after each loss, the Parley system, where you “let it ride” by wagering all money that you win, and the D’Alembert system, where you increase your bet when you lose and decrease it when you win. There are countless variations on those three betting systems, but the important thing to remember is that none of them will change the game’s odds. The best strategy when playing slots is to use flat betting, where you wager the same amount each time.

Slot Payout Rate
The most important tip for playing slots, though, is to look at the payout percentage. Even at a single casino, there will be different odds for different slots. Casinos will have loose slots, which have higher than average payout rates, and tight slots, which payout less often than the average. Casinos use loose slots in order to generate excitement. Players see them payout out at a high rate and then are motivated to hit the slots. Tight slots do the opposite. They pay out less often than normal but go largely unnoticed because people focus on the loose slots.

While the technique of using loose and tight slots is more common at brick and mortar casinos, it is done online as well. Before you play at a casino, it is wise to find the payout rates for the slots and play those that have the best odds. The rate at which an online slot pays out is called a hold percentage or a payout percentage.

Slots are programmed to have a certain payout percentage. In general, that amount is from 82% to 98%. In many jurisdictions, the casino regulators set a minimum payout rate that is acceptable for slots. For example, Nevada law states that slots must have a return to player rate of at least 75%, while in New Jersey it is 83%. Generally speaking, online slots have better payout rates than at brick and mortar casinos. The best slots online will usually have a payout rate of 90% or better. If you cannot find the payout rate of an online casino’s slots listed anywhere on the website, don’t be afraid to ask. If you contact the support staff and ask for more information, they should be willing to help.

Slot Systems Infographic