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You can play all these Odds On Slots for free or try your luck for real money at sponsored online casinos. You can play classic slots or 5 reel video slots with multiple lines of payout, exciting bonus features, and wild and scatter symbols to increase your winning potential.

• Appendices
• Slots Analysis
• Miscellaneous

Introduction

When it comes to gambling, the easier a game is to understand the worse the odds usually are. This is certainly the case with slot machines. Playing them is as easy as pressing a button. However, between the high house edge and fast rate of play, there is no quicker way to lose your money in a casino.

Before going further, let me make clear that this page addresses the way slot machines work in most parts of the United States and the world. However, some parts of this page do not apply everywhere. For example, I state that slot machines have a memory-less property, where the odds of every spin are the same. In some places, like the UK, some machines in bars, called 'fruit machines,' have a mechanism that guarantees a certain profit over the short run, which causes the game to go through loose and tight cycles. These games do not have the usual independence property of the major slot makers.

How They Work

Whether you're playing a 3-reel single-line game or a 5-reel 25-line game, the outcome of every bet is ultimately determined by random numbers. The game will choose one random number for each reel, map that number onto a position on the reel, stop the reel in the appointed place, and score whatever the outcome is. In other words, the outcome is predestined the moment you press the button; the rest is just for show. There are no hot and cold cycles; your odds are the same for every spin on a given machine.

Slot machines are just about the only game in the casino where the odds are not quantifiable. In other words, the player doesn't know how the game was designed, so it is difficult to look at an actual game to use as an example. So, to help explain how they work, I created the Atkins Diet slot machine (link). It is a simple, five-reel game with a free spin bonus round, much like IGT's Cleopatra game.

For information on how it works and all the odds, please visit my Atkins Diet par sheet.

For a more complicated example, featuring sticky wilds in the bonus, please try my Vamos a Las Vegas slot machine.

For information on how it works and all the odds, please visit my Vamos a Las Vegas par sheet (PDF).

Odds

Best Odds Slot Machine

The following table shows the casino win for Clark County Nevada (where Las Vegas is) for all slots for calendar year 2012. They define 'slot' as any electronic game, including video poker and video keno. I've found video keno to be about equally as tight as reeled slots, but video poker has a much higher return. So, the return for reeled slots should be higher than these figures.

Clark County Slot Win 2012

Denomination	Casino Win (pct)
$0.01	10.77%
$0.05	5.96%
$0.25	5.74%
$1.00	5.64%
$5.00	5.51%
$25.00	3.97%
$100.00	4.73%
Megabucks	12.89%
Multi-denomination	5.32%
Total	6.58%

Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board, Gaming Revenue Report for December 2012 (PDF, see page 6).

Most players play penny video slots. Based on past research, I find the house edge on those to usually be set from 6% to 15%. In general, the nicer the casino, the tighter the slots.

Advice

While there is no skill to playing slots, there is some skill in selecting which machine to play and ways you can maximize your return. What follows is my advice, if you must play slots at all.

• Always use a player card. Slots may be a lousy bet, but the casinos treat slot players very well. A $1 slot player will probably get comped better than a $100 blackjack player. Of course, don't play for the reason of getting comps. You'll give them a lot more than they'll give you.
• The simpler the game, the better the odds. The fancy games with big signs and video screens tend to not pay as well as the simple games. However, slot players always tell me the fancy games are more fun.
• The higher the denomination, the better the odds. For that reason, it is better to play one coin per line on a 5-cent game than five coins per line on a 1-cent game.
• Don't forget to cash out and take your ticket when you leave. It is easy to forget after hitting a jackpot.
• Try to play slowly and as little as possible to get your fix.
• In some games there is a skill feature, like Top Dollar. In such games, advice is usually offered, which you should take.

Myths and Facts

Just about everything that players believe about slots is untrue. Here are the most common myths and facts. As a reminder, this page is based on slot machines commonly found in the United States. Some machines, like 'fruit machines' found in the United Kingdom work differently.

• Myth: Slot machines are programmed to go through a cycle of payoffs. Although the cycle can span thousands of spins, once it reaches the end the outcomes will repeat themselves in exactly the same order as the last cycle.

  Fact: This is not true at all. Every spin is random and independent of all past spins.

• Myth: Slot machines are programmed to pay off a particular percentage of money bet. Thus, after a jackpot is hit the machine will tighten up to get back in balance. On the other hand, when a jackpot has not been hit for a long time it is overdue and more likely to hit.

  Fact: As just mentioned, each spin is independent of all past spins. That means that for a given machine game, the odds are always the same. It makes no difference when the last jackpot was hit or how much the game paid out in the last hour, day, week, or any period of time.

• Myth: Machines pay more if a player card is not used.

  Fact: The mechanism that determines the outcome of each play does not consider whether a card is used or not. The odds are the same with or without one.

• Myth: Using a player card enables the casino to report my winnings to the IRS.

  Fact: That makes no difference. If you win $1,200 or more they will report it either way. If you have a net losing year, which you probably will, at least the casino will have evidence of it. Such annual win/loss statements may be used as evidence to declare offsetting loses to jackpot wins.

• Myth: The slot department can tighten my game with the press of a button remotely. Thus, you better be nice to the staff and tip them well, or they will use a remote control to have the machine take you down in a hurry.

  Fact: There is now some truth to the myth that the odds of a machine can be changed remotely. Such 'server-based slots' are still experimental and in a minority. Even with server-based slots, there are regulations in place to protect the player from the perceived abuses that could accompany them. For example, in Nevada a machine can not be altered remotely unless it has been idle for at least four minutes. Even then, the game will display a notice that it is being serviced during such changes. (source) Meanwhile, for the vast majority of slots, somebody would physically need to open the machine and change a computer chip, known as an EPROM chip, to make any changes.

• Myth: The machines by the doors and heavy traffic flow areas tend to be loose while those hidden in quiet corners tend to be tight.

  Fact: I've studied the relationship between slot placement and return and found no correlation. Every slot director I've asked about this laughs it off as just another player myth.

• Myth: Slots tend to be looser during slow hours on slow days of the week. However, when the casino is busy they tighten them up.

  Fact: Nobody would take the trouble to do this, even if he could. The fact of the matter is the casinos are trying to find a good balance between winning some money while letting the player leave happy. That is best achieved by slots loose enough to give the player a sufficiently long 'time on device,' as they call it in the industry, with a reasonable chance of winning so he will return to the same casino next time. If the slots are too tight, the players will sense it and be unlikely to return.

  The kind of place you're likely to find tight slots are those with a captive audience, like the Las Vegas airport. So, if the slot manager feels that 92% is the right return for a penny game, for example, he is likely to set every penny game all that way, and keep them that way for years.

Odds At Slot Machines

Play

Reviews

• Dazzle Me (NetEnt)
• Mr. Vegas (Betsoft)
• Sparks (NetEnt)

Internal Links

• Appendix 1 shows the details and analysis of almost 4000 actual spins on a Reno slot machine.
• Appendix 2 shows an example of the virtual reels behind a hypothetical slot machine and how the average return is calculated.
• Appendix 3A: 2003 Las Vegas slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3B: 2002 Jean/Primm slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3C: 2002 Tunica slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3D: 2002 Henderson/Lake Mead slot machine rankings.
• Appendix 3E: 2002 Quarter and dollar returns for Las Vegas slots
• Appendix 4 shows how the return is calculated for my Wizard's Fruit Slot Machine.
• Appendix 5 analysis of the 21 Bell Slot Machine.
• Appendix 6 Analysis of Red, White, & Blue Slot Machine.
• Lock and Roll analysis of the skill-based slot machine found in North Carolina.
• Deconstructing Jackpot Party analysis of the video slot machine.
• Deconstructing Lion's Share analysis of the classic MGM progressive game.
• Deconstructing Cleopatra analysis of the popular IGT game.
• Deconstructing Lionfish analysis of the slot game found on many Game Maker machines.
• Deconstructing Megabucks.
• Deconstructing the Atkins Diet slot machine.
• Deconstructing Lucky Larry's Lobstermania.
• Deconstructing Hexbreaker.
• Deconstructing Blazing Sevens.
• Deconstructing Hot Roll.
• Mystery progressives on Ainsworth slots.
• Mystery progressives on WMS slots.
• Baltimore Sun article, in which I am quoted.
• 100% Rebate on Slot Losses Promotions: When to quit playing when all losses are refunded.

External Links

• For a simplified explanation of slots, please see my companion site Wizard of Vegas
• German translation of this page is available at richtigspielen.com
• Another decent overview of how slots work and some practical advice for playing them is How Slot Machines Work at VegasClick.com.
• PAR Sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play: Implications for problem and non-problem gambling by Kevin A. Harrigan and Mike Dixon, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This is an outstanding academic paper that details how some popular slot machines were designed.
• PAR Sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play: Implications for problem and non-problem gambling - Academic paper based on the par sheets for some modern slot machines

Written by: Michael Shackleford

You want to play online slots for real money but don't know where to start. Which casino to trust? Which casino has the best slots? How can I deposit and withdraw money at the casino?

I feel your pain - having been in the position myself at one point - which is why I've done research on the subject. The following are my opinions on which casinos are best for slot machine players.

How I Evaluate Casinos

I like casinos with reasonable payback percentages. And even if a casino had a low payback, I like the ones willing to share that information and allowing players to make educated decisions instead of marketing 'incredible sign-up bonuses' but refusing to publish how expensive playing their machines really is. (It's easy to offer a great bonus when you're making much more money per bet than your competitors.)

With that said, payback is hardly the only quality you should base your opinion on. For instance, slot machine players (in fact, all casino players) need:

• Entertaining games
• Good service
• Beneficial promotions
• Suitable payment options
• Compatible software

Additionally, slot players need to find online casinos that accept players from their countries. (USA players have had some problems finding casinos that accept them.)

Best Casinos for Slot Players

Slotland Casino claims the highest payouts (98%). They haven't had any private testing agency prove the percentage (as all eCogra-approved casinos have, for example) but I believe they're telling the truth.

I'm also impressed with Loco Panda Casino's claim - 97.5%.

These two casinos are easily the highest payout casinos I've found but they're also completely unlike each other. Slotland only has a no-download slots while you can download Loco Panda to your desktop; Slotland has been in business since 1998 while Loco Panda started in 2012. They have one thing in common: both accept players from the USA.

Based on data from the past six months, Spin Palace has returned 95.97% to players, which is a relatively high percentage as well. Spin Palace is wildly popular in Australia and United Kingdom but doesn't accept players from the USA.

Best Online Slot Games

We, as slot players, never play to have a mathematical advantage (otherwise we'd be fools), therefore we value entertainment above all. An online casino needs more than a high payback; it needs to offer entertaining, high-quality games as well.

Slotland has the highest quality games in the browser.

Bovada/Bodog has the highest quality desktop casino games.

... and others still have work to do to reach their level.

Average Slot Machine Odds

Best Customer Service

We have to deal with a high house edge when compared to most of the other casino games - therefore when we contact a casino's customer service, we have can expect to be served in appropriate manner.

Slotland, Loco Panda and Spin Palace all have a great customer service department, which is why I can wholeheartedly recommend them slot players.

Best Bonuses (and Such)

I wrote a separate page comparing online slot machine bonuses which proved to be a useful thing to do, since wagering requirements varied from 13x to 51x depending on the casino.

Interestingly, Slotland - the casino that claims the highest payouts - also has the easiest bonus to clear (you need to wager 13x the deposit amount). You'd think that they can't afford to make bonuses that cheap but they've certainly proved otherwise.

Best Payment Method Selection

All the online casinos that I reviewed had similar deposit and withdrawal options (credit cards, Instadebit, Neteller, Click2Pay, Skrill and ECO Card, wire transfer and cheque).

US players, on the other hand, have one deposit option (credit, debit or gift card, usually VISA, Mastercard and American Express) and two withdrawal options (bank transfer and cheques). The only exception being Bovada, which also accepts Rapid Transfer deposits and withdrawals.

Free Slot Machines Odds Genesis Open

There are differences between how long certain casinos take to process money transactions, how much they charge fees and what are the minimum and maximum deposit and withdrawal limits, which will all be addressed on a separate page once I get around to doing the proper amount of research.

Best Mac Online Slots

Bodog/Bovada have done an admirable job when building their Mac casino softwares. If I were to choose my casino based on which has the best online slots for Mac, I would go with one of them depending on whether I live in the US (Bovada) or outside of the US (Bodog).

Slotland offers popular Mac-compatible slots played in the browser (they have no downloadable versions of their software anyway).

Slot Machine Odds By State

Remember when playing slots online to avoid the scammers and choose a reputable site.