One of the most common questions most players seek is how to pick a winning slot machine when they play casino games. In this article, I will give you a short guide to spot a good slot and not lose your money.
When picking a slot, the first rule of thumb is NEVER pick one that has been going for too long without hitting anything. You can check this by looking at the machine’s information panel. If it has been going for hours without anything hitting, don’t waste your time or money on this machine.
If it is a high variance slot (e.g., 40-80%), make sure it has hit at least twice in the last hour, if not more.
The second rule of picking a winning machine is to look at its payout information panel. You should ALWAYS pick the highest paying one – don’t take anything less than 96% unless you have a really good reason not to.
The third rule of picking a slot is to pick one with the best RTP (Return to Player) percentage – usually, this will be between 97% and 98%. Failing that, pick one which has been paying out reasonably well over the past couple of days.
The fourth rule is NEVER to pick a slot where the jackpot has not been won in days – most likely; this means that it is impossible to win on this machine.
The fifth rule is NEVER to pick a low volatility slot if you are playing for money – if you are playing just for fun with play chips, it doesn’t matter which one you pick.
If you are playing for money, ALWAYS pick the one with the highest volatility (e.g., Look at its Volatility Rating).
The sixth rule is to pick a slot that has been paying out for the longest period – if it has been paying well, the chances are that it will keep going and going just like a good old slot machine.
If you are playing for money, ALWAYS pick a slot paying out reasonably well over the past couple of days.
The seventh rule is to pick a slot with a low minimum bet – if it can be played with £0.01, the chances are that it will pay out more often than one that requires £1.00.
The next thing to look out for is long pauses between spins. These are very common with games with bonus features manually activated by a player (e.g., Lady of the Orient). If you see a machine going for many minutes without activation, it is very unlikely that this slot will hit shortly.
A final thing to look out for is slots that have just been started and hit immediately. Don’t be too tempted by it, though, because if this pattern occurs regularly, that is bad news for the player.
It is worth noting that some machines are better than others, e.g., Viking Quest or Big Bad Wolf is generally good, whereas Casanova is not so good – always keep an eye on which machine has hit in recent times and how often it hits.
