Over the past few years, the online casino landscape has significantly swelled up. The number of gaming platforms has reached over 2,000, and the number of available reel-spinners has hit the 15,000-mark.
The rise of gaming options has been accompanied by a growing number of betting info sites, all of which make sweet-sounding claims, boasting winning slot strategies.
Unfortunately, a ton of bandwidth has gone to waste on false promises regarding secrets to win and slot hacks. The reality is that nothing can make you a sure-fire winner. Slots get programmed to return less money than what players put in them. By design, they guarantee the operator a profit, and you cannot change that.
However, that is not to say that you should give up on your reel-spinning education and leave
everything up to chance.
There are things to look out for and a few tricks that can help save you the money you might otherwise squander. There is a reason why experienced players are still in the game and retired from this profitable hobby.
They follow a set of guiding principles that aid them in doing what they can to stay ahead. To test the strategies, you can claim a first deposit bonus on these user-reviewed slot casinos and use those funds before using your own.
One winning slot strategy
If you’re deep into wagering of any sort, you are well aware of the two essential categories of betting systems out there, positive and negative progressive betting systems. You know all about the Paroli, the Labouchere, The Martingale, the D’Alembert, and the reverse variations of these systems.
While the Martingale is the most famous betting pattern and the one most players apply on slots, simulations have shown that utilizing a proportional betting strategy works best with reel-spinners.
Proportional wagering schemes involve betting a section of your bankroll and then growing your bets by that same percentage following a win.
For instance, if you have a bankroll of $100, you bet 10%, which is $10. If you win, you would add your winnings to your bankroll, figure out what is 10% of your new bankroll size, and bet that.
Let us say that you won $50 on your $10 bet. That would mean that your current bankroll is $150 and that you should bet $15 on your next spin.
When you win, your total funds grow, but the rate you increase your stakes stays the same. Many bettors use proportional betting to organize their bankroll more effectively, and most professionals agree that the most significant value is between 3-5% for this system to be successful.
Without proper bankroll management and knowledge of betting systems, even the most passionate and pocket-heavy gamblers will not sustain positive growth. Long-term, a proportional betting system is more profitable and safer than fixed staking, but short-term, it’s less likely to provide a profit.
Which online slots payout the most
Before investing your hard-earned money and setting sail on your gaming adventure, you need to know which titles are a quality bet and which are a no-go.
We already mentioned no magical formulas that will continuously provide an upper hand over the casino. Nevertheless, there are things to look out for when choosing a slot.
Understanding return-to-player (RTP) and volatility can make the difference between having fun playing slots and the activity burning a hole in your pocket.
Return-to-player is the slot equivalent to the house edge, a term used by operators that refers to the average percentage of funds that the game will pay back over time.
If a title’s RTP is 96%, which is the industry standard, then for every $100 bet on its reels, it will give back $96, letting the operator keep $4 for providing the service.
On the other hand, volatility signifies how often winning combos will happen and what amounts these combinations will likely pay. Yes, the game can have an RTP of 96%, but that means that it pays back that 96% over millions of spins.
Volatility tells you if it will pay it back in small rewards often or if it will lay dormant for long stretches before yielding a massive prize and making up for the lost time.
If you are looking to stay ahead and not risk your paycheck or savings, you should ideally play low volatility slots with a high RTP percentage (above 96%). That way, you can land smaller sized wins that will keep you in the game while enjoying gaming entertainment.
If you crave that life-altering win, know that such a pursuit may come at a great price.
Technique to improve your odds
Since there is no way to beat online slot machines 100% of the time, you can set your sights on those who offer these games, the online casinos.
Welcome bonuses are the cornerstones of online gambling marketing, and they entice players to join sites by offering some free playing cash after you fulfill a wagering requirement.
Since games of chance are random, it is your job to figure out how to tilt the odds in your favor any which way you can, and a tool that helps you do that is an EV calculator.
EV stands for expected value. It is an anticipated value for an investment calculated by multiplying possible outcomes by the likelihood of each result, then summing up all of those values.
An EV calculator can help you understand how much you may win or lose in the interactive gaming space when trying to fulfill the wagering requirement of a specific casino bonus.
All you have to do is scan the internet for what seem like generous welcome offers, put in the parameters of each one into a free EV calculator, and see what numbers come up.
The expected value represents an average estimation. An assumed result that most players who attain the bonus will reach.
Parameters include the RTP of the game you must play to fulfill the requirement, the requirement itself, a game’s contribution, the bonus amount, and so on.
Naturally, only grab those deals that have a positive expected value. However, know that a positive value doesn’t guarantee that you will win money. It only tells you what you can expect from the bonus.
The best time to play slots at a casino
When it comes to land-based casinos, undoubtedly, the best time to spin reels is night. Nighttime is when gaming floors have increased foot traffic when there’s peak attendance. That means that more people are playing, and the machines are more active.
Since slots feature programming that guarantees that they have to pay back a chunk of the money wagered, the more their reels spin, the more likely they are to produce wins during this game window.
There’s an old Vegas myth on how to win – steal other people’s prizes. The belief here is that machines are due for a win. That if one is active long enough, it eventually has to pay off. A classic Vegas strategy is to look for people sitting winless at a machine for long periods.
Then, when they step away, you sit down to steal their win. They have already loaded the slot with coins, done all the leg work. You only have to swoop in and grab their due prize.
However, all of this is theoretical. Yes, there’s some logic involved, but it’s not applicable to single gaming sessions. The return-to-player remains the same whatever time of the day it is, and it gets calculated over millions of spins.
Thus, it’s hard to apply those percentages to a gaming session lasting one night. The best time to play slots in the online sphere is when you have free time and are clear-headed.
Final tip to win
The best piece of advice anyone can give you when it comes to slots is not to fall prey to old wives’ tales and myths. While some may have a bit of factual basis, they are stretched-truths and can lead to bad choices.
There are no cold and hot slots, no predictable payout cycles, and no, the auto-play feature does not decrease your chances of winning.
You should always practice proper money management. Set win and loss limits, and know when to walk away. Find the casino with a decent registration offer, one with a positive expected value, sign-up there, and configure your account by setting monthly limits.
Do not go chasing after progressive jackpots. Stick to low volatility games with high RTPs. Make small bets on multiple paylines while utilizing a proportional betting strategy.
Your goal should be to have fun while making a little extra so that you can play again. Eventually, a big win will come if you play smart so that you extend your gaming journey long enough to snag such a prize.