A slot machine is machine with 3 or more reels that spin when a button is pushed. Players start the process by inserting coins, cash, tickets, vouchers, etc. Into the machine and then pressing a button or pulling a handle. In the long term – no. Slot machines are programmed to pay out no more than 98 or 99 percent over the lifetime of the machine. And many machines have worse odds than that. So the short answer is they’re designed to give the casino an edge. The first gambling machine we might recognize as a precursor to the modern slot machine was invented in Brooklyn, New York, by Sittman and Pitt. This custom continues right now, with the vast majority of on-line slot machine video games featuring A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 symbols on their reels. A SIMPLIFIED SLOT. To see how slots pay less than true odds to give the house an edge, let’s set up an example that’s as streamlined as slot odds can get, a game of the type used in the early decades after Charles Fey invented the three-reel slot machine in 1895.A hypothetical three-reel slot game with one 7, two bars, three cherries and four watermelons per reel would have 1,000 possible. What Casinos Are in Las Vegas? This is a more interesting question than it might initially appear.

Welcome to our site, created to provide you with all the answers to some of the question most asked by players, with all the knowledge and answer it will be much easier to have fun and with some luck, it could be the way to win lots of cash. Our team have extensive experience and did hours of research to provide all the information you could need in making the best choices when it comes to playing slots at home or in Las Vegas.

Our FAQ is focussed on offering answers to the most common questions and by reading our extensive FAQ, you’ll learn all there is to know about slot machines, their bonuses, which are best to play, and you could pick up some tips that could come in handy when you chase down progressive jackpots. Our answers get right to the pint and succinct, so you can get all the information you need effortlessly.

With our FAQ you can discover how to best select slots based on how they work and once you understand all the terminology and what the function is of each bonus feature, including wilds, free spins and scatters you’ll know which slots appeal most to you. Your choices could be quite different once you know what payout rates, RNGs and low, medium and high volatility is all about. With the explanation about which progressive jackpot pays the most or how to optimize your winning chances via the right choice, we hope to add to your success once you start your spinning adventure.

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Finally, you’ll find out which of the slot theories work and which belongs to the myths section, you can put all those beliefs shared online to rest as you’ll be better equipped to make your own decisions with the information provided via answers. If you wonder if there really are cheats that work, we even answer that and other questions that might have not crossed your mind yet.

The number of questions regarding slot machines is only limited by the number of online and land-based gamblers who prefer slots, we did our best to answer all the most important question but might extend our page in future so let us know if you have other unanswered questions. Knowledge is power, and we would like to share our knowledge about the most popular form of entertainment with you. We wish you good luck and great success in every spin!

If you are a first time slot player irrespective of whether you decide to play slot machines online, at a mobile casino site or even in a land based casino venue, there are bound to be a lot of questions you may be seeking the answers to about doing so.

Even if you are a regular slot player there may be lots of questions you may have about some of the newer features and playing structures attached to some of the more recently launched slot games and slot machines.

With that in mind we have put together the following guide that is going to enlighten you as to how you can play slot games online and it will also list all of the most frequently asked questions from slot players and will also answer each of those questions for you too.

How to play off free spins bonus games

If you trigger a set of free spins when playing a slot game then the stake levels and the number of pay lines you have in play on the base game spin that triggered the feature round will almost always be the ones in play during the bonus free spins round.

So all that you will need to do once any slot game does award its free spins bonus game is to sit back and watch as the slot games are playing off your free spins, and any winnings you achieve are possibly going to be boosted in value via a multiplier value too.

When playing off a free spins bonus round you may also get the chance of being awarded with additional free spins if you spin in any type of scatter or bonus symbols and enough of them as listed on the pay table of the slot you are playing have been spun in.

Do I have to play for real money?

One question we do get asked a lot, especially from online and mobile slot player is whether they are going to be forced to have to play slot games for real money online as soon as they have signed up to an online or a mobile casino site.

We have lots of different casinos showcased on this website and we are pleased to inform you that all of them will give you the option of playing their slot games for free or for real money once you have registered as a brand new player!

What is Auto Play?

Slot Machine Trivia Questions

Auto Play is one of the option settings that you are going to be able to configure a slot game with, and when you make use of the auto play setting you have the ability of setting any slot you are playing in such a way that the slot will play itself automatically.

You will be able to choose from a range of different built in auto play settings such as being able to choose the stake levels that the auto play option will be using, and also you can pick how many spins you wish to have played off for you.

Plus, you can configure the slots to stop playing at any time when your balance decreases or increases by a certain amount or even to stop when you have triggered a bonus game or any type of bonus round too, so lots of adjustable settings will be available to you when using auto play.

What are random jackpot slots?

You will have seen lots of different slot games on which one or more progressive jackpots can be won, however there are going to be quite a number of different ways that a slot game can and will award any and all progressive jackpots attached to it.

Take for example when you play random jackpot slots, those types of slot machines will award their respective progressive jackpots completely at random, either by paying them out at the end of any spin or by you first having to play off a randomly triggered bonus game.

These types of slots tend to be the most exciting to play as they come with several jackpots which are won very frequently, however some random jackpots can grow to huge amounts of cash.

Who has won the biggest online slot jackpot?

There are always massive sized slot game jackpots on offer at most online casino sites and when playing some of them you have the chance of winning a jackpot that could turn you into an instant millionaire, and those slots do get a lot of attention from players.

The biggest online slot jackpot was recently won by a man based in the UK, he won the biggest ever jackpot awarded by an online slot and his story made the headlines in many newspapers at the time.

How are slots certified as fair?

One thing you will possibly be wondering about if you are thinking of playing slot game online is whether they are going to be completely fair and random, as no slot player is ever going to want to play a slot that in anything less than 100% fair and random!

With that in mind there are several different companies and organisations that guarantee the fairness of slots, and as such when you are looking around for an online casino site at which to play at you should always ensure that the casino you are playing at has had their games all certified as being fair and random.

You will find that information is displayed on their respective website and if will usually link into the website of the company or organisations that audits those casinos games and slot machines to give you complete peace of mind you are playing fair games at all time.

When do new slot games get launched?

There are so many companies who now designed and supply online casino sites with not only their slot game but their other casino games too, that as a player you are going to be amazed at just how many new slot games get launched at different times of the year.

You will often find however that the major slot game designers will always announce new slot games are going to live well in advance of them being made available at various different casinos, so do checkout the very latest new stories from some of the major slot game and casino game designers as many of those slot slots will be very appealing to you as a player!

Do Online and Mobile Slots Pay the Same?

As you will often find the exact same slot games are available at both online and mobile casino sites you may be wondering whether the actual long term expected payout percentage of both of those two types of identical slot games are designed to return the same amounts of players’ stakes as winning payouts in both playing environments.

There are actually one or two minor differences in regards to the payout percentages of only a handful of online and mobile slots, and with that in mind we would always suggest that when you are about to play slot games either online or via a mobile device you first take a look over the website or the casino you are about to play at.

By doing so you will then be able to take a look at their entire list of available slot and other casino games and see for yourself on those websites what each slot game has been designed to return to players by their certified and verified payout percentages or RTP’s as they are known.

How quickly do online casinos pay their players?

There can be some huge time differences in regards to when you make a withdrawal from an online casino site account until the moment in time those winnings are in your hand and have been fully paid out to you!

Fortunately there are some very fast paying online and mobile casino sites that we have fully reviewed and fully showcased for you on our website and as such you are going to be much better off playing at our featured casino sites if you do want to get paid out all of your winning rapidly and get them paid out to you on time every time you cash out!

One thing to keep in mind however is it is usually the method of withdrawal that you use to get paid your winnings by that will determine just how long you have to wait. It could be preferable for you to sign up to a web wallet such as Neteller or Skrill as most casinos pay winning players their winnings back to web and e-wallets very quickly indeed sometimes in a matter of minutes after they request a withdrawal!

What are fixed payline slots?

When you play some slot machines online you will find that there is no ability on those slot games for you to alter or adjust the number of actual paylines that you want to have in play, and those types of slot games are known as fixed payline slots.

So when you do come across and even start to play a slot with fixed paylines then just keep in mind that whenever you send the reels of that slot spinning you will have every single payline attached to the slot in live play.

You will however find that fixed payline slots give you the ability of alerting and adjusting the number of coins you can wager per spin and also you will be allowed to alter the coin values too so the stake levels you can play fixed payline slots will be adjustable and affordable!

How do I play slots for a penny per spin?

New we do know that a very large number of slot players love playing their favourites slot games for very low stake amounts, and you cannot get much lower that one penny per spin, and with that in mind if you do want to play for one penny per spin we will tell you how you can do just that.

You will first need to find a slot on which there is an optional payline playing structure and format, and when you do launch such a slot when playing at an online or mobile casino site then you need to activate just one of its pay lines.

Next you will need to set the coin value settings to 0.01 and then also ensure that you have just one coin in play per spin, one you have done all of the above then you imply need to click onto the spin button and by doing so you will then be playing that slot for one penny or one cent per spin!

What are slot bonus codes?

There are a huge number of different casino bonuses that you are going to be able to claim at different casino sites and those bonuses will allow you to start playing the slot games with a much increased bankroll when you make use of those bonuses and claim them.

However, you do need to be aware that many online casino sites now have something known as a bonus code claiming system which you have to use to get your bonuses credits to your account instantly and by using those bonus code systems you will be crediting your own bonuses to your account without having to contact a casino customer support team.

The first thing you need to do when claiming such a bonus is to find out the unique code number or phrase attached to the bonus you wish to claim, that will be usually displayed on the online or mobile casinos website on their promotions page.

You then simply need to enter that code or phrase into the banking interface when you are making a deposit and when you have made your deposit the bonus funds are then added instantly to your account.

Can I play more than one slot at a time?

You will have to log into an online casino site that uses the downloadable Microgaming supplied and designed gaming platform if you want to be able to play more than one slot game simultaneously, for when you do play at such a site you will find they have something known as a tabbed browser on offer.

By playing at those casino sites at the top of the slot game screen you will see a small plus button and by clicking on that button a new window will then be opened in which you can then launch another slot, you can open up quite a number of new windows and launch several different slots in total on those windows.

You will then be able to drag and move about those slot game windows on your computer screen so you can see each slot game clearly and then will be able to play them all at the same time, the best way to do just that is by also using the auto play option!

Can I play fruit machines online?

There are many slot players who are based on the UK who much prefer playing slot games they know and are used to playing, and some of the very unique types of slot machines found in the UK are slot machines.

Those types of slot machines come with three reels and usually just one single payline and offer a huge number of bonus games and bonus features so they are very action packed slot games.

If you are one of our UK based slot playing website visitors and you are looking or a range of fruit machines that you can play online then we are happy to let you now there are lots of them available at various different casino sites and they come with variable stake options, high valued jackpot paying and come much higher payout percentages than fruit machines found in land based amusement arcades too!

When is the best time to play slots?

Many slot players make the mistake in thinking that there is a good time to play slot games and a bad time, however one thing you always need to keep at the back of your mind is that all slot games are completely random.

That means there is never a good or bad time to play any type of slot machines either online or in a land based casino venue, as it will be down to luck whether you win big or not, so you can play slot machines at any time of the day or night and on any day of the week and still hit the big one with some luck on your side when you are playing them!

Introduction to Choosing Slot Machines

Once a specific casino has been determined to currently be the best of any available, choosing slot machines becomes the next step towards making a profit at slots.

Remember, statistics supplied to state gaming commissions show that the odds of winning are, on average, somewhere around 90%. By assessing all available casinos, then selecting the best possible, you’ve already improved your odds of winning – perhaps by several percentage points.

Whatever your gambling goals are, we’ll talk about those in the next step Identifying Gambling Goals. For now, we need to consider choosing slot machines that will most likely improve our overall odds even more.

So, we’ve walked into our best casino to choose slot machines with the highest odds of winning we can find. How do we select a good slot machine? Most people don’t – they dive right in without much of a plan. Well, we have a plan.

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Why? Because everybody says it’s all about luck. If you pick wrong, “Well,” they say, “better luck next time.” Remember, casino employees are trained to say things like that. If you’d won a jackpot instead, you can believe they would have said, “You’re lucky! I’ll see you later when you win another jackpot!”

Slot attendants have a job to do, and it most certainly isn’t to get you to leave when you should. And, it’s difficult to not to influenced by such comments. But, try not to be.

In the following sections, I’ll briefly explain the following aspects of choosing slot machines:

• How odds are set within a slot machine
• Choosing denomination and maximum credits based on bankroll
• Basics of reading a slot machine’s paytable
• A simple way to use paytables to pick the best machines, and avoid the worst

Two Separate Odds of Winning

The odds of winning for a slot machine is a limited number of settings from the manufacturer. Besides understanding limited settings are available, it may help to understand that slot machines have two odds of winning to determine:

• If a player will or will not win anything
• How much that win will be, i.e., the jackpot amount

Why is understanding these two types of odds significant when choosing slot machines? Because winning slot machines come in all jackpot sizes. You’re still winning if you’re getting enough small jackpots that your bankroll isn’t shrinking. Even if it is slowly depleting, the bankroll can last quite a bit longer, so that’s also a winning slot machine.

Winning many jackpots this way is bankroll cycling. It may not seem very satisfactory, but whether it does or not depends entirely on what your gambling goals are. One type of gambling goal, earning maximum complimentary gifts, is most often achieved via bankroll cycling.

Another point about setting slot machine odds is, how often they change? Of course, it depends on the age of the casino, as discussed in the previous step Assessing Casinos, or if it’s been renovated lately.

In my experience, older-style casinos change their slot machine odds every 7-10 days. Newer-style casinos can change their slot machine odds whenever the machine has been idle for 15 minutes or more, without a players club card inserted or the machine temporarily locked by a slot attendant.

Matching Bankrolls to Denomination/Credits

Only you can decide how much bankroll you want to risk gambling. I highly recommend bringing only as much money you can safely afford to lose comfortably.

Bankrolls quite literally determine which slot machines you can play. But, there’s more to it than understanding a $100 bankroll lets you play a 1-credit, $100-denomination exactly once, with very, very little chance of winning.

Whatever bankroll you have limits which slot machines can be played and how much it can be played. Slot machines have denominations ($0.01, $0.25, $1, $5, $10, etc.) and the maximum credits that can be placed in a single bet.

Slot machines typically must run for a while before wins become more likely. Yes, wins can occur at the first press of a button. They can also happen within the first few bets, where casinos offer a taste. But, usually, they need to run for a while.

About 100-120 bets is the right amount to be prepared to play to determine if you’re sitting at a winning (or breakeven) slot machine. Yes, be careful initially, perhaps making as few as 20 bets, to determine if it happens to be a “bad” machine. Trust your instincts!

If it is a poorly performing machine, a “tight” slot machine, it won’t pay out anything at all. Quick decisions are necessary here, so limited betting gives a clue to its performance, yet still leaves enough to gamble with on another machine if it isn’t – assuming you stop playing it as soon as you notice it’s not performing well enough.

So, again, you determine how much bankroll you can afford to spend. Now, take that number and divide it by 120 bets. If your bankroll is $60, then that’s 50 cents per bet. In such a way, the right choice is a 2-credit, quarter-denomination slot machine. Or, a 50-credit, penny-denomination slot machine.

Always remember to play maximum credits for the highest odds of winning. Meaning, your casino may not have a 2-maximum-credit quarter or 50-maximum-credit penny machines. But, perhaps they have a 1-maximum-credit quarter or less-than-50-maximum-credits penny machines. Such slot machines would provide more than 120 bets of play, which is going in the right direction!

Reading a Slot Machine’s Paytable

When choosing a slot machine to play, a crucial aspect of winning is to review its paytable before playing. Frankly, the casino industry gains an advantage over players that don’t read slot machine paytables.

Located somewhere on a slot machine is one or more tables showing the number of credits won if specific combinations of reel symbols appear in the pay line after the player makes a bet. Below is a relatively generic example of a paytable.

The figure shows reel combinations along with their jackpot depending on the number of credits bet. Paytables don’t typically explain how much credits are worth. In general, the top row is the maximum jackpot of the machine.

Not every reel combination and its associated jackpot are usually shown in a paytable. Other reel combinations not shown in the top rows are also presented in the paytable area. Slot machines with WILD symbols can represent it with a myriad of other possible reel symbols.

A final element of paytable example provided is specific information on winning reel combinations, which can include an indication of how the slot machine operates during play. The bottom row of symbol explains that that slot machine has reel symbols which will move after the reels stop momentarily.

Such additional features may not activate until the maximum credits are bet. It can sometimes be difficult, or impossible, to determine this. Most slot machines with bonus rounds will provide at least some information about it within its paytable.

Developing a habit of reviewing and studying a slot machine’s paytable can help improve your ability to judge the financial risks involved with playing that slot machine.

How to Avoid the Worst Slot Machines

The best way to improve the odds of winning via slot machine gambling is to stop making “sucker bets”. In less colorful language, avoid playing slot machines with terrible odds of winning.

First and foremost, understand when choosing slot machines that there are indeed terrible slot machines at a casino. By merely avoiding them whenever possible, on average, your long-term gambling return will improve. Each time we raise our odds like this, we’re pushing closer to achieving our gambling goals. So, let’s make sure we do that, shall we?

Calculate this “Goodness Ratio” as follows:

1. When choosing slot machines, as discussed above, find the paytable with the denomination and maximum credits that best matches your available bankroll.
2. Take a close look at the paytable. What is the maximum possible jackpot when maximum credits are bet?
   • If the top jackpot is displayed in currency, divide it by both the denomination of the machine and the maximum credits
   • If the top jackpot is displayed in credits, divide it by only the maximum credits

This “Goodness Ratio” tells us how worthwhile a specific slot machine is to play relative to others. By using this approach, any slot machine can be compared to any other slot machine.

Example: In the paytable above, the maximum jackpot is 2,400 credits with three maximum credits. Therefore, its Goodness Ratio is 2,400 / 3 = 800.

Repeat this calculation for slot machines of interest. While this Goodness Ratio will be similar for many slot machines, it can be startling to find “sucker bet” slot machines that might not otherwise be avoided.

Summary for Choosing Slot Machines

After a casino has been chosen, it’s time to select candidate slot machines most likely to result in a relatively high-value win. The size of your available bankroll, whatever it is, is an essential factor in this selection process. The bankroll size needs to be matched to the slot machine’s denomination and the number of maximum credits.

Here, we’ve also discussed how slot machines calculated odds twice: once to determine if you’ve won, and again to determine how much you’ve won. Another critical aspect discussed to improve a player’s performance was the basics of reading a slot machine’s paytable.

Finally, we talked about the “goodness” ratio to help select candidate slot machines and, perhaps critically important when improving our odds of winning, knowing precisely which slot machines must be avoided.

Next Steps

The next step on your journey to improving slots performance is Identifying Gambling Goals. Enjoy!

My research indicates I’m the first to share this information and offer personal coaching for slots enthusiasts.

I sincerely hope you find it both enjoyable and useful. For questions, call my voicemail hotline at 702-90-SLOTS, email me at Jon Friedl, or reach out to me through social media:

Slot Machine Questions

Further, I suggest that you sign up for my Free Report on the Best 7 Online Resources for Gamblers. Not only will you immediately receive a great list of online resources, but also other tips, tricks, and slots-related articles as I post them.

For the foreseeable future, this email subscription is my only request of you:

Slot Machine Questions And Answers

Finally, to provide further assistance if needed, I’m offering an inexpensive, 1-hour-long, one-to-one Consultation with me, your fellow slots enthusiast and friendly slot machine expert. Let’s talk! With only a few openings available most weeks, this is a strictly limited opportunity!

Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl LLC