1. Understanding Bingo Slot Machines
2. Understanding Slot Machine Payouts
3. Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables

There are thousands of slots at casinos and online, with new slot titles being dreamt up all the time. While millions of people enjoy these games, few know how they work behind the scenes. On this page, we explain how slot machines work and the essential playing concepts that can make a difference for your bankroll.

Understanding Slot Machine Payback Percentages. By John Grochowski. Every slot player has tough days when the wins aren’t coming. And many a player has had the same. Most people look at the vast array of casino slot machines and assume they are all alike. They see a handle, a coin slot, flashing lights and figure one is as good as another. However, in making this assumption, they fail to see a lot of valuable information to help determine if they should play a particular slot machine.

1. If you sat down at a slot machine for eternity and pulled the lever an infinite amount of times, your payback percentage would be exactly 95 per cent. Likewise, in a casino full of gamblers, the collective machines will pay back roughly 95 per cent of the total money gambled during the course of a day.
2. Thanks for Watching HUGE WINS! I PLAY EVERY QUICK HIT SLOT MACHINE IN THE CASINO! Winning W/ SDGuy1234!
3. It is definitely worthwhile for every slots plays to understand these. Payout percentages determine the percentage a slot machine will pay out in relation to the take, or the total amount wagered on the machine. The payback percentage of a slot machine game is directly related to the house edge, or the expected casino net win off that game.

Slots have evolved drastically from the first mechanical three-reel devices. These days, most slots are electronic, showing animated symbols on HD screens. Many have elaborate themes, some tie-in with popular music, TV or movie franchises. Bonus games might vary widely, though the underlying technology based on random number generator (RNG) software is standard for all games.

Below, you’ll find out more about how RNG software works, key factors like return-to-player (RTP) percentages and the many varieties of slots available.

Also, we share how to take advantage of bonuses and loyalty schemes to get the best bang for your bucks from slot play. If you’re looking for a spot to play slots online, we recommend the list below. Most of the casinos offer games similar to those you find in your local casino.

Best casinos to win real prizes in 2020

Slots are among the most popular ways to gamble. It’s easy to sit down, put your money in, and watch the reels spin. But there’s more going on than you might expect. Let’s take a look inside to understand what’s happening when you pull the lever.

Understanding Bingo Slot Machines

Slot machines generally have three or more “reels,” each of which has a number of symbols. While physical slot machines may have 20 or more symbols per reel, digital technology allows them to have many more—some have 256 virtual symbols—with millions of possible combinations. The combinations of symbols that pay out if you bet on them are called “paylines.”

Slot machines contain random number generators that can generate thousands of numbers per second, each of which is associated with a different combination of symbols. Whether you win or lose is determined by the random number generated in the exact instant you activate each play—if it matches a payline, you win. Since each spin is independent, random and unrelated to previous or future spins, it’s impossible to predict what will happen on each play.

There are many different kinds of slot machines. Some allow you to choose how many paylines to bet on per play, and how much you want to bet. Before you put your money in, figure out the cost per play, the odds, the paylines, the return to player, and anything else that will help you make the right decisions for you. Look for pay tables on or near the machine that explain everything you need to know.

The possible payouts and the odds of winning depend on the machine you’re playing, the paylines you choose to play, and how many credits you wager.

Machines that cost pennies to play might pay out small prizes relatively often. Others cost several dollars per play, but offer bigger jackpots and higher odds. For instance, for the I Heart Triple Diamond penny machine, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 12, but the odds of winning the top prize are only 1 in 649,400.

No matter what machine you decide to play, the odds always favour the house. This means that over time, it’s more likely than not that you will walk away with less money than when you started.

While machines can be programmed to pay out at higher or lower odds, a typical average house advantage for slot machines is 8%, meaning the average return the player is 92 percent. That makes slot machines less favourable than tables games such as fortune pai gow poker, blackjack and roulette, in terms of return to player.

Playing longer doesn’t improve your odds of walking away a winner.

Understanding Slot Machine Payouts

Persistence doesn’t pay off. Each play on a slot machine is independent, unpredictable and unrelated to what happened on the previous play. A machine is never “due for a win” and they don’t “go cold” after a win either.

Soon after you leave a machine it wins a jackpot—that doesn’t mean you would have won if you had kept playing.

Future wins on a machine are completely unrelated to what happened when you were playing. Because random number generators determine the outcome of each play, the results of each play are totally independent from what happened before. Outcomes depend on what random number is generated in the exact instant a player presses play or pulls the lever.

Machines that are furthest from the aisle do not pay out more because they’re played less often.

How often a machine is played has nothing to do with how likely it is to pay out on the next play. Payouts are determined by the pre-set odds of the machine and the unpredictable results of the random number generator inside.

You cannot improve your chances of winning at most slot machines.

Most slots are games of chance, based on the random number generator. For some machines, bonus games offer you a chance to influence the outcome by interacting with an arcade-style video game. While skill may be a factor, the random number generator usually determines whether you even get to play the bonus game and the amounts available to be won—so chance is still a major part of the deal.

Understand how skill and chance work and how they affect the games you play.

Understanding Slot Machine Pay Tables

Take this quiz to get a better understanding of your gambling habits.

Understand the role randomness plays in games of skill and how it affects the outcome of the game.