Can Casino Slot Machines Change Odds

Can Casino Slot Machines Change Odds

I can’t speak for other jurisdictions, but in Colorado my suggestion would be to play the highest denomination you can afford to. Our penny machines are set at an high 80% payback (I think it’s right around 88%, but I can’t remember for sure) wher. Casinos are not able to change slot payouts, slot machines come with an already set payout percentage, when a casino places an order for a slot it specifies the long-term payout percentage it wants. Although, depending on the jurisdiction the casino may or may not be able to change.

I recently read an article where someone asked for advice on changing your bet size while playing slots. The idea was, when you get ahead, you raise your bets to try to hit a bigger win.

Over the years, I’ve also seen questions about betting more when you’re losing to try to make up for past losses when you hit a win.

If you've ever contemplated spinning the reels of a slot or have, in fact, spun one (or a few!), you've probably asked yourself a few questions every serious player in the iGaming industry has - can slot machines be rigged to trick the player, what are the odds of winning slots, are slot machines honest, and do casinos manipulate slot machines at the player’s expense.

These look like two different questions, but they’re actually the same question. And the answer should be the same to both questions.

In the article I just read, the answer was decent, but it didn’t cover the real reasons in enough depth. Anyone asking either of these questions doesn’t understand how slot machines work. They also don’t really understand how expected value and long term expectation works.

I’m going to explain why changing the size of your bet while playing slots doesn’t matter. The fact is that the more you bet, the more you lose. These two things might not seem to go together, but after you learn how slots work, you’re going to see why both statements are true.

Slots and Expected Value

Every slot machine in existence, whether located in a casino or online, has a built in house edge. The house edge is how the casinos make money, and it’s impossible to legally overcome the house edge on a slot machine in total. What I mean by “in total” is that slot machines make money collectively.

A few players win more than they lose in the short term, and a few lucky players win a big enough progressive jackpot to come out ahead. But overall, the slot machine industry is wildly profitable.

Expected value is a term often used in gambling that is a way to express the value of a betting decision. It’s used most often in poker to determine the best way to play a hand in a certain situation. You can also use it in games like blackjack to determine the best way to play a hand.

In games like poker and blackjack, you can make strategy decisions based on expected value. Bets on slot machines also have an expected value, but they’re all negative. A negative expected value means that, on average, you’re going to lose money.

Here’s an example of expected value on a slot machine.

If a slot machine has a house edge of 5% and you bet $1 on every spin, the expected value is -.05 per spin. On an individual spin, you might lose your entire $1 or win something, but the expected value is the amount you expect to lose on average over thousands of spins.

Expanding this example, if you make 500 bets in an hour, you’re expected value is -$25. In other words, you can expect to lose $25 an hour playing this slot machine. Once again, this is an average, so in any single hour, you can lose more or win.

The expected value is tied directly to the house edge. If you bet more than $1 per spin, it doesn’t change the house edge. You’re still going to have an expected value of -5% on every dollar you bet.

The house edge is the same whether you bet $1 or $100 per spin. It’s also the same if you lost the last three spins or won the last three spins. The house edge doesn’t change, so changing your bet sizes doesn’t help you win more often.

Slots Long Term Expectation

This is going to sound similar to what you learned in the last section because it’s closely related. The mistake many slots players make, like the ones asking the two questions in the opening section, is thinking past results in some way change future results.

But, if nothing you can do changes the house edge, how can you believe that you should raise your bets after a losing streak or after a winning streak?

The belief is that because the long term results must come very close to equaling the expected results that there must be a correction one way or another after a winning or losing streak. But the problem with this is that the house edge and expectation are based on a large number of outcomes.

Instead of it being based on 10 or 100 spins like many players act, it’s based on hundreds of thousands or millions of spins. Even if you win 10 spins in a row, it doesn’t change the odds of what’s going to happen on the next spin because the machines are based on such a large number of spins.

I’m trying to show you why without getting into complicated mathematical principles, but you can run the math on the effect of short streaks in large pools of results to prove what I’m saying is true.

The belief many players have about short term streaks is made worse when they guess correctly about the next result after a streak. This reinforces what they want to believe, even though the math shows it isn’t true.

If you win 10 spins in a row, what do you think is most likely to happen on the next spin? Some players say a loss, because the machine is due for a loss. Other players say a win, because the machine is hot. How can both opinions be true?

The fact is that neither opinion is true based on why they think they’re correct. The true chance of a win or loss is 100% based on how often the machine is programmed to produce a winning spin.

Casino

Is It Ever Correct to Alter Your Slots’ Bet Size?

When I play slots, I operate in what I call the “jackpot or bust” mode. I set aside a bankroll to chase a jackpot and keep playing until I either hit a jackpot or run out of money. Most of the time, I run out of money, but every once in a while, I get lucky and hit a small jackpot.

I know that, in the long run, I’m going to lose unless I hit a big slots jackpot. I’m okay with this, just like I’m okay with buying a lottery ticket chasing a big prize. The odds of winning are low, but I’m willing to risk a set amount for the chase.

I always bet the minimum amount on my chosen slot machine that allows me to qualify for a jackpot. I tend to look for machines that have a low bet threshold to unlock the jackpot, because I want to take as many spins as possible.

If you buy a lottery ticket, do you ever spend more money than the ticket costs? Do you give the store clerk $5 for a $3 ticket and not expect to get your $2 in change?

This is how I feel about betting more than I need to while playing slots. This is why I never bet more than the minimum to qualify for a jackpot while playing slots.

The question of changing your bet size while playing slots has two answers. The first answer is if you’re betting more than the minimum, then you should bet less. The second answer is that it doesn’t matter if you change the size of your bet for any other reason. As long as you understand that the more you bet the more you lose, you can do whatever you want. It’s your money, and you can play any way you like.

But if you want to know the best way to play, it’s simply to bet the smallest amount you can while still having a chance to win a jackpot.

Conclusion

You’re welcome to change the size of your bet while playing slots any time you like. It doesn’t matter if you’re winning or losing, changing the size of your bet isn’t going to alter your chances to win. The only thing that matters is the house edge you’re working against and the average bet size of your wagers.

When you bet more after a win, you’re just going to lose more in the long run. When you bet more when you lose, you’re just going to lose more in the long run. The only way to lose less money playing slots in the long run is to bet less.

The best way to lose less playing slots is to stop playing. But that’s not much fun, and you’re never going to hit a jackpot if you don’t play. I don’t recommend that you stop playing. But use smart money management so your bankroll lasts as long as possible and you have the best chance to hit a jackpot before you run out of money.

The only way you can possibly come out ahead in the long run playing slots is to win a jackpot big enough to cover all of your previous losses. This doesn’t happen often. The best chance to do this is to make the minimum bet that unlocks the chance at the jackpot and hope for the best. Changing your bet size isn’t going to help in the long run.

Can Casino Slot Machines Change Odds Free

There are a few ways to increase your odds of winning a jackpot on slots. Progressive slots are regarded as the best of casino games by slot enthusiasts. Progressive jackpot slots are probably the most played games, due to the fact, that they offer the highest potential payouts. Progressive jackpots provide players with the opportunity to win multi-millions within a single spin and to increase the odds of winning the jackpot it is vital to familiarize yourself with the rules of the jackpot.

There are quite a few different slot jackpots, these include fixed jackpots with a predetermined value, progressive jackpots increasing constantly due to a percentage of each wager contributing to the jackpot, and random jackpots. When it comes to random jackpots, the jackpot has the potential to activate at the end of any winning spin and in most cases the higher your bet the more likely these are to trigger.

With most progressive jackpots it is necessary to bet the maximum, to have a chance of triggering the jackpot. The rules or requirements of activating a jackpot is explained in the payout section of the slot and it is important to know all the details, since even if you get the combination and you failed to bet the required amount you won’t walk away a multi-billionaire, since the jackpot round won’t activate or you’ll have to settle for a fraction of the grand prize. So, the one sure way to increase your odds of winning the jackpot is to make sure you bet enough to be eligible for the jackpot.

Can Casino Slot Machines Change Odds Genesis Open

Why do Progressive Jackpots Differ so Much in Payout Value?

Progressive jackpots are contributed to via a small percentage of each wager, some progressive jackpots are classified as local progressive jackpots, these are contributed to by players of the casino only and can also only be won by a player of that, online casino.

Linked or pooled progressive jackpots are available at all casinos part of the progressive platform, these are contributed to by players at several online casinos and therefore increase much quicker in value and reach higher payouts in a much shorter time-period than local progressive jackpots.

Can Casino Slot Machines Change Odds Without

What are the Odds of Winning a Progressive Jackpot?

The odds of winning a progressive jackpot such as the megabucks slot in Las Vegas is projected at 1 in 49,836,032. There is a formula to work out the probability of winning on online progressive jackpots, should the slot feature five reels, each with 20 stops or paylines and the jackpot activates by a single payline the probability of winning is 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 which works out to about 1 in 3,200,000 chances of hitting the progressive jackpot.