Figuring the Slot Machine Odds
Trying to figure out the odds for slot machines is a challenging task. With such a variety of machines and games available, the odds can vary a great deal. Generally slots odds are expressed in the form of a payback percentage - the closer to 100% the better (though you'll probably never see a slot that pays back 100%). Once, "loose slots," which had a particularly high payback percentage, were mixed into the ocean of machines on a land-based casino floor.
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Before the advent of online gambling, strategies for finding these "loose" slot machines were widespread. Supposedly, casino owners put the highest-paying machines in high traffic areas like entrances and bars. But all that changed when slots moved to the Internet, leaving behind land-based odds like dust in the wind.
Online slots more than match casino slots for sheer number and variety and their payout rates tend to be even higher. Online casinos can occasionally come very close to 100% in payout rates for a given time period. To find out more about online slot odds, look for online charts that show the top online casinos' payouts based on audits by big accounting firms. These charts are a good and reliable way to find the online casino that will give you the best odds on their slots.
Look at the Odds When Choosing an Online Slot Machine
| If odds are important to you, take payback percentages into consideration when choosing an online slot machine. As mentioned, slots don't have universal odds; every machine is factory-set with a different payback rate. Before deciding to play any slot machine game, it's important to think about the odds of winning. The payback percentage is the amount of money the slot machine is designed to return over the long course of time. This time could be tens of thousands of spins or more. |
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It's important to not think that the machine will perform according to the printed payback rate over the course of your session (even if you play for hours), which is only a small part of the big picture. The payback percent of a slots game is based on every dollar that is run through the system over the (very) long run. The odds of hitting a certain grouping of symbols are based on how the slot machine's Random Number Generator is programmed. The odds of hitting a certain combination are based on how many virtual stops correspond to the actual stop.
Thanks to the sheer number of slot players and to fierce competition between online casinos, online slots are usually programmed to give between 96 and 98% in payouts. The smart slots player should look for the machine with the highest. If a dollar machine has a 98% payout, over, say, a million spins, this means that it pays out $980,000 to the players while over the same course of time the online casino keeps $20,000 (2%). Those are odds most slots players can live with.
