Play this slot machine with play money or real money at Bovada No popups, no download, no registration, no B.S., just the game. One click and you're in. Slot Machine Strategies Last update: October 2018 Let's be clear: no strategy will make you a consistent winner. These tips can increase your chances of winning, and help you save money you'd otherwise lose, but the odds are still against you. Anyone who tells you that their strategies will help you win big is simply telling you what you want to hear. But since you want to win (because you're here), let me mention that your odds of winning are way better if you play just about any other game besides slots. I hope my Average Loss Calculator is an eye-opener: Turn your phone sideways for a better calculator! Average Loss Calculator Game Rounds / RollsPer Hour Bet per round House Edge Average Avg. Loss for 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 20 25 50 100 200 300 400 500 1000 2000 hour(s) hrs of play Slots > 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1¢ 2¢ 5¢ 10¢ 25¢ 50¢ 75¢ $1.00 $1.25 $1.50 $1.75 $2.00 $2.25 $2.50 $2.70 $3.00 $4.00 5.00 6.00 0.5% 1% 2% 3% (Bovada, educ. guess) 4% (25¢, Vegas locals) 5% ($1, Vegas locals) 6% ($1, Vegas downtown) 7% (25¢, Vegas downtown) 8% ($1, Vegas strip) 9% (5¢, Vegas strip/DT) 10% (1¢, Vegas locals) 11% (25¢ Vegas strip) 12% (1¢, Vegas downtown) 13% (1¢ Strip, 5¢ Venetian) 14% 15% (5¢, McCarran airport) 22% (Megabucks, no JP) 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 22% $ Video Poker 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1¢ 5¢ 25¢ 50¢ $1.25 $2.50 5.00 0.5% (9/6 Jacks or Better) 1.6% (8/6 Jacks or Better) 2.7% (8/5 Jacks or Better) 4.1% (8/5 JoB single-coin) 3.9% (7/5 Jacks or Better) 5.0% (6/5 Jacks or Better) 0.5% 1.6% 2.7% 3.9% 4.1% 5.0% $ Roulette 35 6 players 48 5 players 45 4p, source 2 55 4p, source 1 48 3p, source 2 60 3p, source 1 49 2p, source 2 76 2p, source 1 81 1p, source 2 112 1p, source 1 ---------- 140 online, slow 200 online, med. 260 online, fast 35 6 plyrs 45 5 plyrs 55 4 plyrs 2 plyrs 1 plyr 112 turbo 140 online 200 online 260 online $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $50 $100 7.69% (Triple-zero / 000) 5.26% (American / 00) 2.70% (Single-zero / 0) 2.63% (00 with 1/2 back) 1.35% (0 with 1/2 back) 2.70% 5.26% $ Baccarat 52 (7 players) 60 (6 players) 70 (5 players) 84 (4 players) 105 (3 players) 138 2p, source 2 139 2p, source 1 125 1p, source 2 209 1p, source 1 ---------- 250 online, slow 350 online, medium 530 online, fast 52 7plyrs 60 6plyrs 70 5 plyrs 84 4 plyrs 105 3 plyrs 138 2 plyrs 209 1 plyr ---------- 250 online 350 online 530 online $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $50 $100 1.06% (Banker) 1.15% (Half & half) 1.24% (Player) 1.06% 1.15% 1.24% $ Craps 102 (11 players) 123 (9 players) 135 (7 players) 144 (5 players) 216 (3 players) 203 1p, source 2 249 1p, source 1 ------------- 160 online, slow 240 online, medium 335 online, fast 102 11plyrs 123 9 plyrs 135 7 plyrs 144 5 plyrs 216 3 plyrs 203 1player 249 1p fast ------------- 160 online 240 online 335 online $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $50 $100 1.40% Don't Pass 1.41% Pass Line 1.52% Place 6 or 8 1.82% Place to lose 6/8 2.50% Place to lose 5/9 2.78% Field 3.03% Place to lose 4/10 4.00% Place 5 or 9 4.76% Buy 6 or 8 4.76% Buy 5 or 9 4.76% Buy 4 or 10 5.56% Any craps, 7.5:1 6.67% Place 4 or 10 9.09% Big 6/8, Hard 6/8 11.1% Hard 4 or 10 11.1% Any craps, 7:1 16.7% Any seven 1.36% 1.41% 1.52% 1.82% 2.50% 2.78% 3.03% 4.00% 4.76% 5.56% 6.67% 9.09% 11.1% 11.1% 16.7% $ Blackjack 52 (7 players) 60 (6 players) 70 (5 players) 84 (4 players) 105 (3 players) 80 2p, source 2 139 2p, source 1 148 1p, source 2 209 1p, source 1 -------- 200 online, slow 300 online, med 550 online, fast 52 7playrs 60 6players 70 5players 84 4players 105 3 plyrs 148 1 plyr 209 1p fast -------- 200 online 300 online 550 online $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $50 $100 0.16% 1D H17 DAS 0.27% 1D H17 RSA 0.26% 2D S17 DAS 0.30% 1D H17 ------------ 0.15% 2D S17 DAS RSA Sur 0.20% 2D S17 DAS RSA 0.20% 2D S17 DAS Sur 0.29% 2D S17 RSA Sur 0.34% 2D S17 RSA 0.34% 2D H17 DAS RSA Sur 0.35% 2D S17 Sur 0.39% 2D H17 DAS Sur 0.40% 2D H17 DAS RSA 0.46% 2D H17 DAS 0.48% 2D H17 RSA Sur 0.54% 2D H17 Sur 0.55% 2D H17 RSA ------------ 0.29% 6D S17 DAS RSA Sur 0.35% 6D S17 DAS Sur 0.36% 6D S17 DAS RSA 0.43% 6D S17 DAS 0.43% 6D S17 RSA Sur 0.48% 6D H17 DAS RSA Sur 0.50% 6D S17 RSA 0.50% 6D S17 Sur 0.55% 6D H17 DAS Sur 0.57% 6D H17 DAS RSA 0.63% 6D H17 RSA Sur 0.64% 6D H17 DAS 0.69% 6D H17 Sur 0.72% 6D H17 RSA ------------ 0.50% 8D H17 DAS RSA Sur 0.57% 8D H17 DAS Sur 0.59% 8D H17 DAS RSA 0.64% 8D H17 RSA Sur 0.66% 8D H17 DAS 0.71% 8D H17 Sur 0.74% 8D H17 RSA ------------ 1.00% 3:2, imperfect play 1.66% 8D 6:5 S17/DAS/RSA/Sr 0.16% 0.27% 0.26% 0.30% --- 0.15% 0.20% 0.20% 0.29% 0.34% 0.34% 0.35% 0.39% 0.40% 0.46% 0.48% 0.54% 0.55% --- 0.29% 0.35% 0.36% 0.43% 0.43% 0.48% 0.50% 0.50% 0.55% 0.57% 0.63% 0.64% 0.69% 0.72% --- 0.50% 0.57% 0.59% 0.64% 0.66% 0.71% 0.74% --- 1.00% 1.66% $ Play online casino games with fake money! It's better than losing real money. To get started with other games, see my crash course in table games or my primer on video poker. But if you've got your heart set on slots, then here are your strategies. Bet the minimum amount that's still fun for you. The more you bet, the more you'll lose. It's that simple. Bet as small as you can and still have fun. Most casinos will still serve you free drinks even if you bet only a penny at a time. Play the highest denomination machine you can afford. Higher-denomination machines usually pay better. The trick here is to not bet more just because you're playing a bigger machine. If you were playing 10 lines, 5 credits on a 1¢ machine (50¢/spin), instead play 2 lines, 5 credits on a 5¢ machine (50¢/spin). Choose electro-mechanical machines over video slots Jackpots come far more frequently on old-school slots vs. video slots. With full-time play, an electromechanical slot hits its jackpot once every few weeks on average, while it takes literally years on a video slot. And the more likely you are to hit the jackpot, the more likely you are to walk away a winner. On electro-mechanical slots, choose the machines with the smallest jackpots The smaller the jackpot, the easier it is to win, increasing your chances of walking away a winner. This doesn't work with video slots, because the jackpot odds are almost always incredibly long, and unrelated to the jackpot size. Limit play on progressives with huge jackpots. On the machines with huge progressive jackpots, a huge portion of each bet goes to feed the meter. For example, on Megabucks, a whopping 10¢ of every $1 goes to pushing the meter higher. Excluding the jackpot, Megabucks returns only about 78% on average. If you must play a big progressive (because you want a shot at a huge jackpot), play a two-coin machine instead of a three-coin machine, and look for a $0.05 or $0.25 machine instead of a $1.00 machine. Use a slot card. Get a free slot card from the Player's Club desk (every casino has one) and use it. While the cashback rewards for slot points are usually insignificant, playing on a slot card means that the casino may give you free meals and will usually mail you offers for free or deeply discounted rooms, and that can save you a bit of money. Contrary to popular myth, using a slot card has zero effect on whether you win. The card system is completely separate from the RNG that chooses where the reels stop. I've won several jackpots with my slot card in. Play in the less stingy casinos. The best slot odds, hands-down, are found in the online casinos. Land casinos, by contrast, have a huge overhead (payments on the building, excessive utilities, a large staff), so they can't afford to give you good odds on their slots. Online casinos have much smaller margins and their slots pay more generously. Bovada seems to return about 97% according to the data I've seen, though this includes bonus money and cash back rewards. Video Slots pays about 96% before incentives (which would probably make the true return closer to 97%), but they don't take U.S. players. However, the easy access of online casinos makes it easy to bet more than you would otherwise, so even with better odds, you could wind up losing more. Set loss limits and stick to them! You can also play with fake money so you don't risk losing. In Vegas, off-strip casinos generally have the best paybacks, downtown is in the middle, and the Strip is the worst. ("Off-strip" means any casino that's not on the Strip or downtown.) Nationwide, Reno NV is usually on the top of the list for the best paybacks in the U.S. Most of the rest of the country has pretty lousy slot odds. If you're in one of those areas, then either play online or graduate to a better game. Avoid celebrity & licensed slots Slots based on a celebrity, movie, or TV show have to pay licensing fees, so they pay out a couple of percentage points less than generic slots. (source) Don't play on boats. Cruise ships and ferries have the worst odds in the world. That's because there's no competition. What, are you gonna walk from the ship over to the next ship and play there? The boats know they have a captive audience, and the set their odds accordingly. The worst roulette odds I ever saw in my life were on a ferry between England and the Netherlands. I imagine the slots were similarly set. Play machines which are advertised as paying back a specific high percentage. If you can find machines that are listed as paying a specific high percentage, then choose those. This will almost never happen in a land casino, because casinos don't like to divulge that info, but it happens sometimes. For example: The Hollywood Casino in Mississippi reportedly had twelve 98% machines in 2016. (They didn't return my call to verify whether they still do. Can any reader please verify and send me a picture?) Stratosphere and Riviera had specially-labeled 98% dollar slots, but that's a thing of the past. The last time I was in Reno, years ago, Fitzgeralds there had a section of about 50 dollar slots whose average payback was 97.4%. If you know of other casinos which list the payback of any machines, please send me a picture! However, ignore a sign on a bank that says "Up to xx% payback." The "up to" means that one of the machines pays that much, and the rest are crap. Also ignore claims such as "Loosest Slots" or "High Payback" which are meaningless since they're not specific. Some online casinos list the paybacks of their machines, such as Video Slots. Unfortunately, they don't take U.S. players. "Hit & run" doesn't work Popular strategies say to move onto another machine after a set, short period of time, or after getting some nice payouts (under the assumption that after paying generously, the machine will tighten up). These methods are useless, because every spin is random. Previous results have no bearing on future results. $10,000 challenge for system sellers It galls me that some people prey on the gullible by selling "winning slot machine strategies" on the Internet. It ought to be obvious that if someone really knew a way to consistently beat slot machines then they wouldn't need to sell that information for $19.95 (or whatever). Unfortunately, some people are still duped. For years I've offered a $10,000 to any system-seller who could prove that their system actually does what they say it does. I hope to show that those systems are worthless, because no system-seller has ever dared to take me up on the challenge. Bluejay's $10,000 Slot Machine Challenge Anyone claiming their for-sale system can beat slot machines is invited to put their money with their mouth is with this challenge. Contest prize escrow. You can challenge for any amount between $5000 and $10,000. We'll each deposit that amount with an escrow agent whom we both agree on (e.g., any licensed U.S. attorney in good standing). We'll split the escrow agent's fee. Judging. We'll jointly choose a judge to observe and rule on who wins in the event of a dispute. We'll each deposit the full amount of the judge's fee with the escrow agent. Game selection. You pick which slot machines to play and how you want to play them, using your own special techniques, at any single casino in Las Vegas. Number of spins. The minimum number of spins is 5000 times the ratio of your largest wager to your smallest wager. For example, if you always play $0.75 at a time, then the minimum number if spins is 5000. If you wager between $0.50 and $3.00, then the minimum number of spins is 6 x 5000 = 30,000 spins. You can choose any number of spins above the minimum number, as long as you choose that number before you start playing. You bank your spins yourself. You use the same method you describe in the system you're selling. Time Limit. Play must be completed within 120 hours (including any time spent machine-scouting or machine-hopping). Winning. If you have made at least $15 per hour by the end, you'll win the challenge amount. If you failed then I'll win it. The judge will instruct the escrow agent to forward the money to the winner. Appeal. The losing side can appeal via arbitration through the American Arbitration Association, paying the filing fee. The party losing the arbitration case will pay the arbiter's fees. If you can truly beat slot machines this should be an easy win for you. Number of slot "experts" who have accepted this challenge to date: - 0 - I will meet anyone in Vegas to execute this challenge. Play slots online I suggest you play something other than slots because the slot odds are so bad. You could also play online with fake money, because then it doesn't matter if you lose. A good casino for free-play is Bovada, since it requires no download and no registration. (If you see a registration box, you can close it and continue without registering.) You can play with real money too, though I hope you won't (or at least won't bet more than you can comfortably afford to lose). Play these free slots now Gambling problem? Call the 800-522-4700 hotline or get online help See these horror stories. Know that Parkinson's drugs encourage gambling. All my slot machine articles Slot machine basics. How much it costs to play, how much you can win, expected loss, why they're a bad bet, why they're popular, how you can limit your losses, speed of play How to play slot machines Slot returns. How much they pay back. The Randomness Principle. Slots don't continually get looser and tighter as they're played. They don't have to. How they work. Explains the randomness principle, and runs through the math to show how a game returns a particular payback percentage. There's a companion page on Par sheets. Slot Machine Myths Slot Machine B.S. Wrong info that's published elsewhere. Strategies. Tips for increasing your chances of winning, and saving money. Slot Jackpots. Odds of hitting the jackpot, progressive jackpots, and other jackpot topics. Skill-Based Slots. The scoop on the new games in which your results aren't entirely determined by chance. Slot Machine malfunctions. How and why slot machines screw up, causing players to think they've won the jackpot when they really haven't. Slot Machine Simulator. I programmed an exact replica of the Blazing 7s slot (odds-wise). Click it to play thousands of spins in one second and see how you do. List of good Bovada slots. I spent a full day surveying Bovada's voluminous offerings and extracted only the few with nice, modern graphics and mobile-compatibility.
