Slots Strategy Guide
Basic Slot is fairly simple. Usually it’s a coin-operated machine with three or more reels that rotate when you pull the lever, newer machine also present you with option to use bar coded ticket and use touch screen instead of old style lever. Payoff is determined based on combination of patterns visible on reels when they stop.
There are many variations of slot machines and Video Poker is one of them. In Video Poker you need to get a set of symbols that correspond to a winning hand in Poker. Newer version of Slot Machines that gaining popularity are a 9 line slots, usually they are theme based with a bonus rounds. And of course we have the standard 3-5 reel slot machines, which are so passionately called ‘one-armed bandits’.
Major differences of Slot Machines and how to use it to your Advantage.
One of the biggest differences between video slots and reel slots is the way payouts are calculated. With reel slots, the only way to win the maximum jackpot is to play the maximum number of coins (usually 3, sometimes 4, or even 5 coins per spin). With video slots, the number of coins per line that are being bet multiplies the fixed payout values. In other words: on a reel slot, it is to the player’s advantage to play with the maximum number of coins available. On video slots, it is recommended to play as many individual lines as possible, but there is no benefit to the player in betting more than one credit per line with regards to calculating the payout amounts. There are some exceptions but we will ignore them for now.
Slot Machines terminology – talk the talk.
A coin hopper is a container where the coins that are immediately available for payouts are held. The hopper is a mechanical device that rotates coins into the coin tray when a player collects his credits/coins (by pressing a “Cash Out” button). When a certain preset coin capacity is reached, a coin diverter automatically redirects, or “drops”, excess coin into a “drop bucket” or “drop box”.
A drop bucket or drop box is a container located in a slot machine’s base where excess coins are diverted from the hopper. Typically, a drop bucket is used for low denomination slot machines and a drop box is used for high denomination slot machines. A drop box contains a hinged lid with one or more locks whereas a drop bucket does not contain a lid. The contents of drop buckets and drop boxes are collected and counted by the casino on a scheduled basis.
Shortpay refers to a payout made by a slot machine, less than the amount indicated by the payout schedule. Occurs when the coin hopper becomes depleted during a payout and the remaining amount is paid to the player by a hand pay.
Hand Pay is when the slot attendant or cage gives the player a cash payout, rather than the actual slot machine paying out from the coin hopper. A hand pay may be automatically requested by the slot machine if the total credits on the machine is greater than a certain number of coins (typically 1,000).
A hopper fill slip is a document used to record the replenishments of the coin in the coin hopper, which are required as a result of payouts to players. The slip indicates the amount of coin placed into the hoppers, as well as the signatures of the employees involved in the transaction, the slot machine number and the location and the date.
Weight count is an American casino term, referring to the dollar amount of coins or tokens removed from a slot machine’s drop bucket or drop box and counted by the casino’s hard count team through the use of a weigh scale.
Optimal play is a payback percentage based on a gambler using the optimal strategy in a skill-based slot machine game.
The Theoretical Hold Worksheet is a worksheet provided by the manufacturer for all slot machines, which indicates the theoretical percentage that the slot machine should hold based on adequate levels of coin-in. The worksheet also indicates the reel strip settings, number of coins that may be played, the payout schedule, the number of reels and other information descriptive of the particular type of slot machine.
Pay Table
Each machine has a table that lists the number of credits the player will receive if the symbols listed on the pay table line up on the pay line of the machine. Some symbols are wild and will pay if they are visible in any position, even if they are not on the pay line. Especially on older machines, the pay table is listed on the face of the machine, usually above and below the area containing the wheels. Most video machines display the pay table when the player presses a “pay table” button or touches “pay table” on the screen; some have the pay table listed on the cabinet as well.
How do Slot Machines Work.
In all modern Slot Machines, including in Online Casinos, a Random Number Generator determines winning combination of reels that you see on the screen. That number is programmed into Slot Machine software and activated as soon as you pull lever or hit that “play” button.
Slot machines are typically programmed to pay out as winnings between 82 to 98 percent of the money that is wagered by players. This is known as the “theoretical payout percentage”. The minimum theoretical payout percentage varies among jurisdictions and is typically established by law or regulation. For example, the minimum payout percentage in Nevada is 75 percent and in New Jersey is 83 percent. The winning patterns on slot machines, the amounts they pay, and the frequency at which they appear are carefully selected to yield a certain percentage of the cost of play to the “house” (the operator of the slot machine), while returning the rest to the player during play. Suppose that a certain slot machine costs $1 per spin. It can be calculated that over a sufficiently long period, such as 1,000,000 spins, that the machine will return an average of $950,000 to its players, who have inserted $1,000,000 during that time. In this (simplified) example, the slot machine is said to pay out 95%. The operator keeps the remaining $50,000.
Often machines are linked together in a way that allows a group of machines to offer a particularly large prize, or “jackpot”. Each slot machine in the group contributes a small amount to this progressive jackpot, which is awarded to a player who gets (for example) a royal flush on a video poker machine, or a specific combination of symbols on a regular or 9-line slot machine. The amount paid for the progressive jackpot is usually far higher than any single slot machine could pay on its own.
In some cases multiple machines are linked across multiple casinos. In these cases, the machine maker who is responsible for paying the jackpot may own the machines. The casinos lease the machines rather than owning them outright. Megabucks may be the best-known example of this type of machine. Megabucks Nevada starts at $7,000,000 after a jackpot. The new penny Megabucks video game has a jackpot that starts at $10,000,000.
Slot machines that are not linked to a large regional jackpot such as Megabucks usually have higher payout percentages, as linked machines have to take into consideration the large jackpot amount into their payout percentage calculations
