Casino floors used to be filled with nickel and quarter slot machines. And casinos made healthy slots profits with these coin denominations for decades.
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But nowadays, penny slot machines are the dominant game. These slot machines are enticing because they only require players to bet one cent on each payline.
- A great strategy to keep in mind the next time you’re gaming with slot machines online or at the casino is to set a limit to your wins or losses. Be smart and make a budget so that you can make wise decisions on whether you should lower your bet or quit spinning the reels once you’ve reached your limit.
- If you are not going to a specific casino but rather to a place like Las Vegas, where many casinos compete for your attention, take a moment to research which of your options offer the best odds. Many casinos publish their slot odds, guaranteeing a 90- or 95-percent payout rate.
Some might think of these games as mindless entertainment due to how you’re merely spinning the reels over and over. But I’ve actually learned some important lessons from playing penny slots.
Here are the 5 biggest lessons I learned from penny slot machines, including things I’ve applied to both gambling and real-life situations.
1. Always Understand What You’re Getting Into – Especially With Penny Slots
The name alone is what draws many players to penny slot machines. The term penny slots creates the idea that you can play for as little as one cent per spin.
But this isn’t the case at all, because most penny slots force you to play a fixed number of paylines. If you’re on a 50-line penny slot machine, then you’ll need to wager a minimum of $0.50 per turn.
This isn’t exactly what beginning gamblers have in mind when they sit down to a penny slots game. The same players are often shocked when their money quickly vanishes.
I myself fell for this the first time I played a penny slot machine. I automatically assumed that the game was going to be really cheap, but it drained my funds faster than a nickel or quarter machine.
I’m not saying that casinos are evil for putting these games on their floors. But you need to be aware of what you’re getting into with these games, just like anything else in life.
Here’s a dramatic comparison. You should always read through a contract before signing it, because failing to read a contract before signing could loop you into a bad deal. Likewise, you shouldn’t play a penny slot machine without first reading the help screen.
I realize that there’s more at stake when you sign a bad contract without reading through. But I want to stress that some penny slot machines are like bad contracts of the gambling world.
This explains how many lines you need to play along with minimum bets for specific bonus features and the jackpot.
For example, Aristocrat’s Game of Thrones slot machine requires that you make a 100-credit wager to active the Fire & Blood Bonus.
You can risk less than this on Game of Thrones. But most slots players don’t want to play a game where they don’t qualify for the best bonus features.
Some slot machines require that you play up to 300 credits, or $3 per spin for certain bonuses and/or the progressive jackpot, and $3 is hardly what players expect to wager on a penny slot machine.
Again, read the help screen to find out how much you need to bet to be eligible for every feature. This prevents you from being shocked when having to risk $1-$3 per spin to play.
The good news is that you can find cheaper penny slot machines in land-based casinos. Some of these games only require that you play 20 lines or less to qualify for everything.
2. Prepare Your Bankroll for the Worst
Continuing off the last point, many penny slots can be expensive. And this taught me both a life and gambling lesson in that you should always prepare for the worst.
Sometimes unexpected things happen that can rock you financially.
Nobody expects their heater to go out. But when it does, and the heater needs replaced, you’re staring at a $1,200 bill.
Hopefully no slot machine ever becomes this expensive for you. But on a smaller scale, you should always plan for the worst with slots.
This is especially the case with penny games that require playing 100-300 credits to unlock every feature. You’re risking between $1 and $3 per spin in this case.
Slot machines are already volatile, meaning they produce very unpredictable short-term results. Adding expensive bets on top of this volatility can create a bankroll nightmare.
How do you avoid this nightmare and plan for the worst? The best way is to do some simple bankroll calculations.
Here’s an example for a land-based penny slot machine.
- The average land-based penny slots player loses 350 bets (units) per hour
- You have a $500 bankroll
- You choose a penny slot with 50 lines ($0.50 minimum bet)
- 500 / 0.5 = 1,000 units
- 1,000 / 350 = 2.86
- You can expect your bankroll to last for 2.86 hours on this 50-line game
Keep in mind that this is only an average estimate, and you should have enough money to cover an even-worse scenario. As long as you only bring money to the casino that you’re fine with losing, then this won’t bother you.
3. Don’t Let Colorful Themes and Small Payouts Trick You
We all know that companies use clever marketing campaigns to get us to buy the products.
I accept this fact because businesses are out to increase their profit margins. And marketing is one of the best tools to make this happen.
But on the same note, I don’t want to be a slave to clever marketing and buy a bunch of things I don’t need.
Slot machines are similar in that gaming companies use colorful themes, 3D graphics, music, bonuses, and more to attract your attention. Slots makers know that their products will be placed in more casinos if they draw a large share of players.
I have no problem with people choosing slot machines based on the themes and surrounding entertainment. After all, the point of playing slots is to have fun.
But don’t get so sucked into the theme, graphics, and alluring music that you lose all sense of time and money. Instead, realize that these elements are designed to keep you playing longer than you initially planned for.
Another trick to avoid involves the numerous small payouts that modern slot machines offer.
Multiple studies have shown that a psychological effect kicks in when players receive small rewards after each spin. These frequent payouts convince players that they’re winning, even when they’re losing money overall.
Here’s an example to illustrate this phenomenon.
- You’re playing 100 lines on a penny slot ($1 bet)
- You win a $0.20 payout on one line
- While the win is nice, you’ve technically lost $0.80 overall
Stepping back, anybody can logically see that this is a losing long-term proposition. And $0.20 payouts don’t make up for the loss of $0.80.
But it’s tougher to think in these terms when you’re engrossed in a game while making span after spin. This is another area where you need to be consciously aware of what game manufacturers are doing.
While it’s great to net lots of wins in each session, you also need to keep your overall winnings and bankroll in mind.
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4. Playing Lots of Lines Is Entertaining
I’ve already discussed how expensive penny slot machines can be. But one of the greatest benefits is that you can also win lots of payouts thanks to the numerous lines.
Every payline that’s in play gives you a chance to win. And while the odds of winning with each line aren’t great, it’s still fun knowing that you have 50 or more chances to win on each turn.
The same lesson can be applied to life in that people are sometimes willing to pay more for certain forms of entertainment.
One example is how you can race Ferraris and Lamborghinis around the SPEEDVEGAS track for anywhere between $50 and $80 per lap.
Driving go-karts is cheaper and also entertaining. But go-karts don’t give adults the same thrills as driving a Ferrari around a race track.
Playing penny slot machines with lots of lines doesn’t have to comparatively be so expensive either.
Instead, you can choose games with lower volatility that increase your hit frequency, or the odds of winning with each individual payline. Doing so boosts the chances that you’ll net frequent wins and better sustain your bankroll.
A small number of slot machines actually offer a volatility rating in the help screen. For example, you might see between 1 and 5 lightning bolts to indicate how much variance is involved.
Unfortunately, most penny slots don’t have volatility ratings. You have to look for specific factors in this case to determine the game’s volatility.
Here are 3 factors that can help you out.
- Jackpot size
- Number of large payouts
- Number of small payouts
Low-volatility penny slots feature a smaller jackpot, fewer large payouts, and more small prizes than the average game.
A smaller jackpot combined with fewer large prizes means that a slot machine doesn’t need to make up for the top-heavy payout structure. In turn, the game can offer more small payouts on a frequent basis.
Of course, some players are only interested in playing for big jackpots and other prizes. This is perfectly fine if you don’t mind dealing with the chance that your bankroll will quickly disappear.
But if you want to extend your entertainment on a penny slot with 100 or more lines, then look for signs of low volatility.
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5. Cheaper Penny Slots Alternatives Exist
Many of the lessons that I’ve learned regarding penny slots came in land-based casinos. But one more lesson I learned comes from the world of online penny slots.
When people can’t afford a specific item or form of entertainment, they seek out companies that can provide them for a cheaper rate.
Not everybody can purchase expensive Gucci or Chanel clothing. But almost everybody can afford clothes at Walmart or on Amazon.com.
And you can look at online penny slots as the Amazon or Walmart of the gambling world.
I’m not saying that the value from online penny slot machines comes entirely from how cheap they are. In fact, a great deal of people play these games just because they’re more convenient than going to the casino.
But it should also be noted that internet penny slots are perfect for anybody who finds land-based slot machines to be too expensive.
Some online penny slots truly embody the name, because the minimum bet is $0.01 (one cent on a single line). This is what many gamblers have in mind when they first hear the words penny slots.
Other games require you to play between 20-50 fixed paylines. While this is expensive for some players, it’s still cheaper than what’s seen in land-based casinos.
On these games, I usually play anywhere from 20-30 lines at a penny apiece.
Also note that many online penny slot machines see you qualify for bonuses and the jackpot no matter how much you wager. This is good for anybody who cringes at being forced to play 100-300 lines for the features.
That said, check out online casinos if you don’t like the prospect of spending $0.50 or more on the average penny slot machine.
Conclusion
The main lesson worth noting about penny slot machines is that they’re not what the name implies. As long as you understand this fact going in, you’ll be perfectly fine with these games.
You should note that penny slots in land-based casinos have fixed payline amounts.
Brick-and-mortar casinos have more expenses to pay than online casinos. Therefore, they need to win back a greater rate from slot machine players.
Remember that casinos are businesses like anything else. And their goal is to earn enough money to make profits. That said, requiring 50+ pay lines and using entertaining themes to keep people playing doesn’t make them corrupt.
On the other hand, you want to know this all right away. By knowing this info, you’ll avoid having to learn the same lessons that I did through penny slot machines.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.As far as the casino industry is concerned, slot machine games are the most played games, yet, they are the least understood.
In the UK, slot machine games, also known as the fruit machine games, are some of the most sought after games at the land based casinos, and in the US, where they were first played in the 1890’s, they continue enjoying prominence and popularity among the players!
Australia, where they are referred to as Pokies, has more slots per capita than the US though, and while not at the same level as Australia, slot machine games continue to receive game time across different European countries and different gambling hotspots in Macau.
Online, hundreds of millions of bettors continue playing video slot machine games, as casual players through different social media application or for real cash at the different online casinos.
But even to those who have devoted their free time playing slots; the different slot terms, how they work, and the odds of winning the jackpots remain in the dark!
Is it possible to win playing slots jackpot?
The first and popular question that most of bettors ask is ‘Can I win the jackpot games?’ Right after this, they’ll ask ‘Is there a strategy or secret to winning big?’
It’s natural enough for any player to want to win! What’s the point of playing anyway? Is it not to experience the thrill and big wins that come with the video slot games?
Can I win while playing the jackpot slot games?
Sometimes, yes! All the payoffs as indicated on the video slot game actually represent your chance of winning. Any slots player who very often plays the game will increase his/her chances of winning and a reason to celebrate. But we are yet to see someone, besides the woman who won €1.75 million who while playing the same video slot game in a month, defied the odds of 625million:1 and won the same game twice in a row!
Is there a strategy or a secret to winning big?
Let nobody lie to you that they used a well worked out formula to win the video slot games! With rare cases, 99% of the slot machine games purely rely on chance. The results are determined by the Random Number Generator, and there’s nothing the casino or bettor can do to influence how the numbers are generated.
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To this popular question, there isn’t any magical strategy or formula to increase your chances of winning! Only cross your fingers and pray lady luck is on your side!
What are the odds of winning a casino jackpot?
The odds of winning any casino jackpot vary from one game to another, on different coin values for the different bets you place, and in some cases on a slot machine game with the same denomination but playing on different machines. Casinos don’t usually advertise the odds of the different games and neither do they post them on the different machines.
Therefore, the best that we could do to estimate the odds of winning the different jackpot is to compare different games, offered at different casinos. For the estimate, we focused our attention on the United Kingdom market, where the casino average payouts are made public by the UK Gambling Commission for bettors to see.
The percentages are different from one casino to another but the overall look of the paybacks look like this: Slot machines normally pay higher percentages if you place bigger bets. Below are some average house edges and returns, based on the information that we gathered from the UK Gambling Commission.
Take note that the percentage of bets returned to the bettor as winnings increase as the size of the bet gets bigger. Gamblers who choose to go for the more expensive jackpot games get a larger portion of their wager back, and also stand a better chance of winning.
Does this mean that players should focus on placing bigger bets? No! By playing the more expensive game and get a larger portion of the bets you place back, but at the end of it, lose more money as you’ll be taking a bigger risk. The best thing to do is to let your bankroll guide you, and also avoid betting more money than you can afford.
Modern Video Slot Odds
Most of the modernised slot machines don’t have 10 numbers on each reel and most of the slot games, both at the online and land based casinos, have at least five reels as opposed to the traditional three reels. This means that the developers and programmers are always dealing with more complex machines, featuring hundreds if not thousands of stops, symbols or random numbers on each reel.
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Below are some of the factors that are always considered when modern video slot odds are determined:
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- When the slot machines are on video, the programmer can choose to make the reels as long as he/she needs them to be. If for example, to achieve the right odds the programmer requires a slot reel to feature a sequence of 1000 symbols, then he/she will have to program a 1,000 symbol reel.
- However, in the land-based casinos, it difficult for the programmer to fit the 1000 symbols in the mechanical slot machines. Therefore to achieve this, the programmers use what is referred to as the ‘Virtual Reel’. Thanks to this feature, the slot machines at the brick and mortar casinos with the small reels can act as if they have more symbols. For example, the programmer could tell the machine ‘Any time the RNG software stops on number 7, stop on the jackpot symbol. Any time it stops on numbers 5, 3, 1 or 9, stop on the first bar.’ By programming the machine this way, the highly sought symbol that triggers the jackpot can only appear once after several hundred or thousands spins. This plays a huge role in determining the odds of the jackpot. A good example was in 2003 when the world record jackpot of Megabucks machine paid out a mind-blowing $39 million. According to IGT, the company behind this game, the odds of winning the jackpot were approximately 1 in 50 million.
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The Free Spins & Bonus Factor
Almost all the modern video slot games, including jackpots, have bonus events which come in different forms including the spinning of a bonus wheel as with Mega Millions; Pick’em bonuses as seen in Jackpot Party and you can check out free spins on our favourite sites at a number of highly recommended online casino operators.
During the bonus round, you have the chance of accumulating credits without spending any extra cash thanks to the in-game free spins bonus round. This has to account for while setting the game’s odds and paybacks during the regular reel spins. But how do the free spins contribute to the game’s overall jackpot?
One of my friend, who happens to be a programmer told me that one of the games he has developed has a 90% RTP; 60% of this comes from the general reel spins, 30% comes from the different in-game bonuses, including the free spins and the remaining 10% comes from the house.
So how do you increase your odds of winning the casino jackpot?
Below are rules of thumb that every bettor should follow to increase their chance of winning while playing video slot games.
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- Always choose games that you understand better
- Make the most of the casino bonuses and offers to boost your bankroll. Most sites powered by NetEnt have free spins offers and deposit offers
- To ensure that your bankroll goes further, reduce the number of coins that you bet on each line and increase the number of paylines. This increase your chances of winning the bet