- Buffalo Casino Slot Machine Games
- On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The Night
- On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The Spin
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.
Many experienced players brag about their ability to spot the patterns of the slot machine and stop the reels on the winning combination. 'It comes with experience' they say. On the other hand, there are those players that say that stopping the reels will prevent you from winning. Their reasoning is that the machine knows that. My name is Joshua, and I'm a 30-something who works in tech as a marketer by day, and dabbles in casinos periodically during off-times. Know Your Slots will reflect my interests in understanding the various ways you can play slots, games that give you a potential edge, casino promotions and systems and how you can get the most out of it.
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 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.
Buffalo Casino Slot Machine Games
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.
Readers ask if quick reflexes are the key to winning
On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The Night
By John Grochowski
I keep a list of questions that I'm most often asked about slot machines. You could probably tick off some of them: 'Are games programmed to go cold after a big win?' 'Do you get less payback when you use your rewards card?' And the big one, 'Can you tell me how to win?'
Those have been standards ever since I started writing about casinos and casino games 20 years ago. But recently, another question has been shooting up the charts. I have it all the way up at No. 2 on the readers' hit parade:
'I've noticed on a lot of video slot games that if I hit the button a second time while the reels are spinning, they stop right away. I was wondering if I could use this to my advantage. If I see the bonus triggers or the jackpot symbols at the top, should I quickly hit the button again and try to stop the reels?'
I had that thought myself the first time I accidentally double-hit a button and saw the reels click to an immediate halt. Could this be an answer to the chart-topping question, 'how to win on the slots?'
Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. In nearly all slot games that allow you to stop the reels, there is no skill or timing involved on your part. The random number generator has already determined your outcome when you hit the button to spin the reels, and you're going to get the same result regardless of whether you stop the reels early, or let them halt in their own time.
On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The Spin
When you play a slot machine, the game isn't actually being played out on the reels, whether it uses 'real' reels or video reels. It's being played internally, on the game's random number generator. The reels are just a player-friendly interface, and are told where to stop by the RNG. If there's a malfunction and the reel display doesn't match the numbers generated, it's the RNG that counts. Large jackpots can be denied—and have been denied—if a check shows the random numbers on the internal computer chip don't match the winning symbols on the reels.
But this is extremely rare. The engineering is good enough that almost all the time, the RNG and reel display are going to match up. This doesn't change if you double-hit the bet button. If the RNG has spit out a random number that tells the first reel to stop on a single bar, then you're going to get a single bar—regardless of whether you hit the button a second time for a 'quick stop,' or just let them take their own sweet time.
There are rare exceptions. When I've answered similar questions in the past, I've mentioned IGT's Reel Edge games. In their original incarnation, Reel Edge games enabled players to touch and stop the reels one at a time. There was actual skill involved. Your timing in stopping the reels determined the outcome. The reels spun very, very fast, so it was going take a keen eye and sharp reflexes to get better than random results, but it was possible.
I gave it a try, and found my reflexes just weren't fast enough to generate more than my normal share of winners. In the original three-reel Blood Life game, I identified a green 7 as the easiest symbol to pick out as it whizzed by. I touched each reel individually as I saw a green 7 reach the top of the slot window, and managed to stop 7s on all three reels. Alas, I failed to land them all on the same payline. Some younger folks with quicker reactions may have been able to do better.
I don't know if any of the first generation of Reel Edge games remain on casino floors. They were never widespread, and I don't get lists from casinos or manufacturers telling me what games are available in any given casino. The new generation of Reel Edge puts the skill-based portions of the games in the bonus events.
Blood Life's updated video incarnation, Blood Life Legends, allows you to test your skill with a joystick to guide a bat through the ups, downs, twists and turns of a cave as you try to collect gems for bonuses. There is actual skill involved, but it's not the reel-stopping experience readers have been asking about.
On most slot games, even in the bonus events you're getting an illusion of skill rather than actual skill. And when it comes to stopping the reels, it's the random number generator, not your reflexes, that determines the results.
/GettyImages-107697684-94b42c6677cb4e69be31097248d561d8.jpg "On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The")
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.
Buffalo Casino Slot Machine Games
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.
Readers ask if quick reflexes are the key to winning
On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The Night
By John Grochowski
I keep a list of questions that I'm most often asked about slot machines. You could probably tick off some of them: 'Are games programmed to go cold after a big win?' 'Do you get less payback when you use your rewards card?' And the big one, 'Can you tell me how to win?'
Those have been standards ever since I started writing about casinos and casino games 20 years ago. But recently, another question has been shooting up the charts. I have it all the way up at No. 2 on the readers' hit parade:
'I've noticed on a lot of video slot games that if I hit the button a second time while the reels are spinning, they stop right away. I was wondering if I could use this to my advantage. If I see the bonus triggers or the jackpot symbols at the top, should I quickly hit the button again and try to stop the reels?'
I had that thought myself the first time I accidentally double-hit a button and saw the reels click to an immediate halt. Could this be an answer to the chart-topping question, 'how to win on the slots?'
Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. In nearly all slot games that allow you to stop the reels, there is no skill or timing involved on your part. The random number generator has already determined your outcome when you hit the button to spin the reels, and you're going to get the same result regardless of whether you stop the reels early, or let them halt in their own time.
On Casino Slot Machines Should You Stop The Spin
When you play a slot machine, the game isn't actually being played out on the reels, whether it uses 'real' reels or video reels. It's being played internally, on the game's random number generator. The reels are just a player-friendly interface, and are told where to stop by the RNG. If there's a malfunction and the reel display doesn't match the numbers generated, it's the RNG that counts. Large jackpots can be denied—and have been denied—if a check shows the random numbers on the internal computer chip don't match the winning symbols on the reels.
But this is extremely rare. The engineering is good enough that almost all the time, the RNG and reel display are going to match up. This doesn't change if you double-hit the bet button. If the RNG has spit out a random number that tells the first reel to stop on a single bar, then you're going to get a single bar—regardless of whether you hit the button a second time for a 'quick stop,' or just let them take their own sweet time.
There are rare exceptions. When I've answered similar questions in the past, I've mentioned IGT's Reel Edge games. In their original incarnation, Reel Edge games enabled players to touch and stop the reels one at a time. There was actual skill involved. Your timing in stopping the reels determined the outcome. The reels spun very, very fast, so it was going take a keen eye and sharp reflexes to get better than random results, but it was possible.
I gave it a try, and found my reflexes just weren't fast enough to generate more than my normal share of winners. In the original three-reel Blood Life game, I identified a green 7 as the easiest symbol to pick out as it whizzed by. I touched each reel individually as I saw a green 7 reach the top of the slot window, and managed to stop 7s on all three reels. Alas, I failed to land them all on the same payline. Some younger folks with quicker reactions may have been able to do better.
I don't know if any of the first generation of Reel Edge games remain on casino floors. They were never widespread, and I don't get lists from casinos or manufacturers telling me what games are available in any given casino. The new generation of Reel Edge puts the skill-based portions of the games in the bonus events.
Blood Life's updated video incarnation, Blood Life Legends, allows you to test your skill with a joystick to guide a bat through the ups, downs, twists and turns of a cave as you try to collect gems for bonuses. There is actual skill involved, but it's not the reel-stopping experience readers have been asking about.
On most slot games, even in the bonus events you're getting an illusion of skill rather than actual skill. And when it comes to stopping the reels, it's the random number generator, not your reflexes, that determines the results.
What about my readers' other top questions?
To answer another—no, games are not programmed to go cold after big wins. Results remain as random as humans can program a computer to be. Casinos in las. As long as the RNG keeps doing its thing, any big jackpot, any hot streak, and any cold streak eventually fade away into statistical insignificance, and the machine comes very close to its expected payback percentage.
No, you don't get less payback when you use your rewards card. The player rewards system doesn't interact with the RNG.
D slot on computer. And no, with rare exceptions, there is no way to beat the slots except by being in the right place at the right time. There have been opportunities for small profit on games with banked bonuses such as the old WMS game Piggy Bankin', where the sharpies would start to play only when there were enough coins in the bank to give the player an edge.
Such games are not common. Just as with stopping the reels early, your results are up to chance and the RNG.
