SLOTS – Guide and Rules to Playing Slots Online
Slots Playing Strategy Guide and Game Rules – How to Play Slots Online or at Land Casinos: Slot machines are easily the most popular form of gambling entertainment online and off. They are also the simplest game to understand; You drop a coin and spin. But there is a lot more to them than that, and understanding them a little more will help you get the most out of your entertainment dollar.
First we should look at the various types of machines. There are basically two kinds – 3 reel and 5 reel machines.
In the 3 reel category there are the Vegas Classic single line with no wilds where the win line is in the center and only the printed symbols from the paytable make winning combinations. This concept has expanded into 3 and even 5 line machines – some with wild symbols and some with bonus rounds.
Then there are the 5 reel machines where usually we see three rows in five columns (reels). There are usually anywhere from 9 to 25 paylines, but it can go higher.
A win is achieved by randomly aligning symbols – usually from left to right and adjacent – of like symbols. Whether 3 reel or 5 reel the games are played by making a wager, activating the reels, and collecting whatever the win was based on a paytable after the reels come to a stop. The paytable is always available, usually by clicking on “see pay table” on a video slot.
There is another kind of slot that can be either 3 or 5 reel. The Progressive. A Progressive slot is linked to other machines of its type through a network. A portion of each wager on any of the machines in the network goes to a Progressive Jackpot. When someone wins, it is usually a good sum, anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars depending on the network and how long it has been since the prize was won. Once won, the meter resets to a predetermined start point and begins to progress again.
The technical aspects such as reel weighting, virtual strips, PAR sheets, an depth explanation of Random Number Generation, auditing and how to determine Return to Player are easy enough to find online. They would take up several pages here as well so we’ll mainly focus on two things; Variance (or volatility) and Bankroll Management with a mention of RTP or Return to Player percentages.
These are the three things any one who plays slots should know about the machine they are playing, or at least be aware that they enter into any wins or losses. With this knowledge you will stand a better chance of meeting your expectations and having a good time playing..
Volatility/Variance: Some machines are set to pay out a lot of small wins and rarely if ever pay out staggering jackpots. If a machine is set to 95% RTP, it is going to give back .95 for every 1 it takes in over time. This is a theoretical number but it is a true number. There are two ways this can happen. Very often you can get small wins or very rarely you can get large wins. (If you are lucky)
A highly volatile slot will pay out seldom but the wins will be large. If you don’t mind the ‘dry spells’ and you yearn for those big wins that would be the slot for you.
We can tell a lot about a slot’s volatility by looking at the paytable. In its simplest analysis you will be looking for very low and very high paying symbols for a high volatility slot. There won’t be many in the medium range. If five of a kind for the highest paying symbol pays 50,000 coins and most other symbols are in the 2500 and below range it is probably high variance. Also on a video bonus slot if you can win 25 free spins and they are all tripled during the bonus round, along with high paying symbols, this will be a highly volatile slot.
The opposite is true and how to determine a slot of low volatility. Many people want extended play time, and love lots of small to medium sized wins. It is still absolutely possible to win jackpots on low variance machines like this so some people are very happy playing them.
RTP or Return to Player percentage is not always an easy number to come by. The only thing we can suggest is to ask your casino host or customer service agent if the information is available. Obviously if you have a choice between a low RTP and a high RTP you will want to play the higher overall return. This number means far more to the low volatility player than the high risk player because with a highly volatile game it’s unlikely you would ever hit that number – you would be way above or way below it over a lifetime of play. Winning or losing.
Bankroll Management: This will be handled differently depending on whether you have decided on a high risk or low risk strategy. What you want to be sure to do in either case is get the enjoyment you are seeking out of a gambling session. Slots are random and beyond choosing high or low risk and assuring yourself you are playing on a machine with a decent RTP there is not much you can do other than control the rate at which you risk your money.
If you want a leisurely evening spinning the reels with the potential for a nice win here and there it may be best for you to risk less than 1% of your starting bankroll on any given spin. The frequency of wins and winning features is less than 1 out of a 100 spins on averages so it’s easy to see why your wagers should not be too large. You will of course have returns along the way so you will have far more than 100 chances.
If you don’t mind going long times between wins or even winning sessions but savor the big ones it might be good to look at the bigger picture than just one session. Many players have won phenomenal amounts by betting more heavily on higher risk machines. It takes knowing that you will probably bust out this time, and next and the next time, but you stand a chance of winning a much larger jackpot in the long run. It should be an informed choice.