How To Win Money On Slot Machines

• Slot machines are designed to take your money, by simply playing any slot eventually you will lose everything. Playing online slots is not like your daily job. However, there several ways that you can gain leverage on online casino and actually some money win playing online slot games.
• The lure of a huge jackpot win is one of the main reasons why many players do tend to flock to play slot machines that offer one or more progressive jackpots, and the jackpots attached to such slot machines do keep on goring in value until won.

Choose Online Slots with Bonus Rounds. Bonus slots or online slots with bonus rounds are particularly popular with players because they give you a little extra bang for your buck. Depending on the type of online slot game, it may have special symbols that can trigger special features and bonuses.

Everybody wants to know how to win on slot machines. If only there was a secret formula or cheat code that could allow you to win slots every time, your bank account would swell and your dreams would come true.

Alas, no such secret formula exists. However, that doesn't mean there's no way to win slots more often.

I've been playing slot machines since as long as I can remember. In the past decade or so, I've come to learn a thing or two about them. I'm going to share real, practical, and actionable steps on how to win at slots.

I'm not promising you'll win a progressive jackpot and retire to live the high life.

All I'm offering is hard-won insights and some useful information which can help you avoid common mistakes and maximize your chances of winning.

A Word About Slot Cheat Codes

Before we go deeper into slot machine secrets and winning tips, I need to tell you what this article is not about.

I am what you'd call a natural skeptic. I don't believe in things like lady luck and good fortune, I believe in probability and verifiable facts. That's why I don't put any stock—none whatsoever—in slot cheat machine codes and systems designed to help you win every time.

I recently read a short e-book called How to Win Gas Station Slot Machines Every Time. I was curious to see what the author had to offer. It turns out, it was full of clichés and empty platitudes.

• Waiting until someone had played for a while because the slot machine would be due.
• Finding specific games and tapping the buttons in specific sequences to unlock hidden features.
• Outright cheating by using mobile phone apps to read machine patterns and tricking the machine into paying out.

I chuckled to myself as I scanned the pages, knowing deep down that the author was a huckster and that nobody who used these slot machine cheats would gain anything.

Let me spell it out for you once, and once only: The companies which make slot machines, like Microgaming, are very rich indeed. They didn't get that way by building games you can exploit.

In the next section, I'm going to teach you how slot machines really work. Understanding this vital information is the only way to win at slots more often.

How Slot Machines Work

There are still a few slot machines in Vegas and other casinos around the world which operate mechanically. But, these days, the majority of them are electronic. Trying to interfere with them physically won't give you any advantage whatsoever.

Computer chips and algorithms known as 'random number generators' (or RNGs) power modern video slots.

Without getting into complex technical details, these are algorithms which generate millions, and even billions, of numbers per second. When you hit the spin button, one of these numbers is selected, and if it's associated with a payout, you win.

That's pretty simple, right? There's nothing overly complicated about it from a player's perspective. Yet, if you think about it, you'll realize that it means you can't manipulate slot machines.

Setting aside philosophical arguments about whether true randomness really exists or not, you're at the mercy of the algorithm. It could take a million spins before it pays out the jackpot, or it could happen three times in a row. It's all based on the RNG.

Random number generators control both land-based and online slot machines. Gaming commissions check them to make sure they are random and fair. For online slot games, organizations like eCogra test the games while, in Vegas, it's the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

If you understand the concept of random number generators, you understand the gist of slot machines. Let's now move onto how to win on slot machines.

How to Win on Slot Machines — Tips and Tricks

I've created some general rules of thumb for playing slot machines. These aren't 100% foolproof, but they do tend to be true. You should jot them down or remember them when you're playing. You could think of this as slots wisdom won over many years of spinning the reels of fortune.

The Bigger the Jackpot, the Lower the Payback Rate

Every slot machine has what's called an 'RTP.' This is a percentage which tells you how much money the slot returns to players.

For example, if a slot machine has an RTP of 97%, which is high, then it will pay back $97 out of every $100 which players feed into it.

It's important to remember that RTP is a theoretical number which explains the payback rate over the long run. It does not mean you will win back $97 out of every $100 that you play. It means that the machine returns this amount to all who play that slot. This includes all of the small wins as well as the jackpots.

Well, in my experience, slots with bigger jackpots, and particularly progressive jackpot slots, have a lower payback rate. I've seen jackpot slots with an RTP of 91%. That's low compared to a game like Jack Hammer II by NetEnt which has an RTP of 97.07%.

Sometimes, you're better off playing high RTP slots, even if they have a smaller jackpot. The chances of winning a progressive jackpot are slim, so you have to be realistic about the possibilities.

Yes, you could strike it lucky, but for every multimillion-dollar winner, thousands of players lost. If you want to win at casino slots, you're better off with high RTP slots for this reason, you get more back in the long game.

One of the highest RTP slot machines is Mega Joker by NetEnt. It has an RTP of 99%. It's a classic slot, and many people play it religiously because of the high payback percentage.

Don't Forget the Bonus Features

Almost every slots player I know is blinded by huge jackpots. There's a reason why casinos plaster the largest progressive jackpots all over banners across the web. They attract slots players like moths to a flame!

I'm not. The odds of winning the jackpot on any slot are low. Instead, I focus on lucrative bonus features. Some of the biggest wins I have ever had came from slot machine bonus rounds.

Here are a few which I feel are particularly worth looking out for. If a slot machine has one or more of these features, I give it serious consideration.

Free Spins

• Free spins are one of the best slot machine bonus rounds. When you enter them, you'll automatically bet at the value you were betting in the base game. If I haven't triggered the free spins feature after 20 spins, I usually increase my bet size in anticipation. It has to trigger eventually, and I want to reap the rewards to the maximum extent when it does.

Multipliers

• Multipliers can be part of the base game, or they can be part of bonus features. For example, a free spins feature can have a multiplier. I always look for slots with multipliers of up to 3x or higher. I then play with larger bets than I usually would. One big win with a 3x multiplier can be as good as a jackpot.

Cascading Reels

• This is probably my favorite feature in slot machines. When you create a win, the symbols disappear, and new ones take their place. If you win once more, the same happens again. Some slot machines mix cascading reels and multipliers together. Sometimes, the multiplier gets bigger every time you create a new cascade. An example of such a slot is Gonzo's Quest.

There are lots of other great slot bonus features. Bonus wheels, picking games, and progressive jackpot bonus rounds also offer a chance to win big. The point is, you should always study the paytable of a slot machine, play it for free, and try to figure out its bonus rounds.

Of course, if you can find a slot machine offering lots of great features and a big jackpot, that's the golden ticket. I'd always double-check the RTP on such a game, though. Usually, the greater the risk to the casino, the lower the RTP is.

Manage Your Bankroll by Leveraging Slot Volatility

Want to know the first game I play every time I log into the casino? It's almost always Starburst.

Why so? Because Starburst is a high volatility slot. I rarely, if ever, experience long dry spells on this game. The wins are frequent, even if they aren't life-changing. And I find that Starburst often helps me boost my balance. Once it's suitably boosted, I move across to a higher volatility slot for a shot at bigger wins.

You can read an in-depth article on slot machine variance and volatility here. I've created a short and easy version for you below: Adobe premiere pro could not find any capable mac.

• Low volatility slot machines pay little wins frequently.
• Medium volatility slots pay mid-range amounts semi-frequently.
• High volatility slots pay bigger wins less frequently.

How To Win On Slot Machines Tips

For example, I never play high volatility slot machines when using free spins bonuses which offer only 10 or 20 spins. Experience tells me that on a high volatility game, I could easily experience 10 or 20 spins without a single win. I know that when the win does come, it will be explosive. But those slots aren't best suited for this kind of bonus.

To leverage slots volatility, play low volatility slots when you're down on your luck and only have a small bankroll.

They can also be extremely useful when trying to meet wagering or rollover requirements on a bonus offer. However, when you have a suitable amount of house money, switch over to higher volatility games with bigger potential wins.

Please remember that this is not a foolproof plan. Sometimes, the RNG just doesn't spit out the right number, and no wins occur. That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes, and you've got to accept that before you start playing a slot machine or expecting to win on slot machines.

Conclusion

I promised you logical, sensible tips for winning slot machines, and I hope you feel that I've delivered. All of what I've written above is fact-based, and none of it requires you to believe in hocus-pocus or to resort to cheating.

Winning slot machines is all about reducing the house advantage, knowing how to give yourself the best shot at the biggest payouts, and avoiding the common mistakes that too many players make.

That's all I can offer you, and no matter what they say, it's all anybody else can offer you, too.

Now that you know how to win more often, check out some of the best slot machines online.

Gif creator 2 1 0 os x. Virtually anyone who visits a casino, even for the first time, is familiar with a slot machine and how it operates: just put in your money, pull thehandle and wait a few seconds to see if you win. It isn't intimidating like table games where you really need some knowledge of the rules before you play and it's this basic simplicity thataccounts for much of the success of slot machines in modern American casinos.

As a matter of fact, the biggest money-maker for casinos is the slot machine with approximately 65 percent of the average casino's profits being generated by slot machine play. As an example,in Nevada's fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 the total win by all of the state's casinos was a little more than $11.8 billion. Of that amount, $7.54 billion, or slightly less than 64 percent,was from electronic machine winnings.

How To Win Money On Slot Machines

With this in mind, you must ask yourself, 'can I really win money by playing slot machines?' The answer is a resounding yes..and no. First the 'no' part: in simplest terms a slot machine makesmoney for the casino by paying out less money than it takes in. In some states, such as Nevada and New Jersey, the minimum amount to be returned is regulated. In Nevadacasinos the minimum is 75 percent and in New Jersey casinos it's 83 percent. However, if you look at the slot payback percentages for those particular states inthis book you will see that the actual average payback percentages are much higher. In New Jersey it's close to 91 percent and in Nevada it's slightly more than 93 percent. Even though theactual paybacks are higher than the law requires, you can still see that on average for every $1 you play in any of the Atlantic City casinos you will lose 9¢ and inLas Vegas casinos you will lose 7¢. Therefore, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that if you stand in front of a slot machine and continue to pump in yourmoney, eventually, you will lose it all. On average, it will take you longer to lose it in Las Vegas rather than Atlantic City, but the result is still the same: you will go broke.

Gee, sounds kind of depressing, doesn't it? Well, cheer up because now we go on to the 'yes' part. But, before we talk about that, let's first try to understand how slot machines work. Allmodern slot machines contain a random number generator (RNG) which is used to control the payback percentage for each machine. When a casino orders a slot machine the manufacturer will have alist of percentage paybacks for each machine and the casino must choose one from that list. For example, a manufacturer may have 10 chips available for one machine that range from a high of 98%to as low as 85%. All of these chips have been inspected and approved by a gaming commission and the casino is free to choose whichever chip it wants for that particular brand of machine.

In almost all instances, the casino will place a higher denomination chip in a higher denomination machine. In other words, the penny machines will get the chips programmed to pay back around85% and the $25 machines will get the chips programmed to pay back around 98%. A casino can always change the payback percentage, but in order to do that it usually must go back to themanufacturer to get a new RNG that is programmed with the new percentage. For this reason, most casinos rarely change their payback percentages unless there is a major revision in theirmarketing philosophy.

And what exactly is a random number generator? Well, it's a little computer chip that is constantly working (as its name implies) to generate number combinations on a random basis. It does thisextremely fast and is capable of producing hundreds of combinations each second. When you pull the handle, or push the spin button, the RNG stops and the combination it stops at is used todetermine where the reels will stop in the pay window. Unlike video poker machines, you have no way of knowing what a slot machine is programmed to pay back just by looking at it. The only wayto tell is by knowing what is programmed into the RNG.

Okay, now let's get back to the 'yes' part. Yes, you can win money on slot machines by using a little knowledge, practicing some money management and, mostly, having lots of luck. First, theknowledge part. You need to know what kind of player you are and how much risk you are willing to take. Do you want to go for the giant progressive jackpot that could make you a millionaire inan instant or would you be content walking away just a few dollars ahead?

An example of a wide-area progressive machine is Nevada's Megabucks where the jackpot starts at $10 million. These $1 machines are located at more than 125 Nevada casinos around the state andare linked together by a computer. It's fine if that's the kind of machine you want to play, but keep in mind that the odds are fairly astronomical of you hitting that big jackpot. Also, thepayback percentage is lower on these machines than the average $1 machine. During Nevada's fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 Megabucks averaged a little less than 89% payback while the typical$1 machine averaged a little less than 94%. So, be aware that if you play these machines you'll win fewer small payouts and it will be very difficult to leave as a winner. Unless, of course,you hit that big one! If you really like to play the wide-area progressive machines your best bet is probably to set aside a small percentage of your bankroll (maybe 10 to 15 percent) forchasing that big jackpot and saving the rest for the regular machines.

One other thing you should know about playing these wide-area progressives is that on most of them, including Megabucks, you will receive your jackpot in equal payments over a period of years(usually 25). You can avoid this, however, by playing at one of the casinos that link slot machines at their own properties and will pay you in one lump sum. Be sure to look on the machinebefore playing to see how it says you will be paid for the jackpot.

Knowledge also comes into play when deciding how many coins to bet. You should always look at the payback schedule posted on the machine to see if a bonus is payed for playing the maximumnumber of coins that the machine will accept. For example, if it's a two-coin machine and the jackpot payout is 500 coins when you bet one coin, but it pays you 1,200 coins when you bet twocoins, then that machine is paying you a 200-coin bonus for playing the maximum number of coins and you may want to bet the maximum two coins to take advantage of that bonus. However, if it's atwo-coin machine that will pay you 500 coins for a one-coin bet and 1,000 coins for a two-coin bet, then there is no advantage to making the maximum bet on that machine and you should only betthe minimum amount. To see more on this subject, watch my video titled 'The Slot Machine - When tobet Maximum Coins' on our YouTube channel.

Knowledge of which casinos offer the best payback percentages is also helpful. When available, we print that information in this book to help you decide where to go for the best return on yourslot machine dollar. You may want to go to the Las Vegas Strip to see some of the sites, but take a look at the slot machine payback percentages for the Strip-area casinos in the Las Vegassection and you'll see that you can get better returns for your slot machine dollar by playing at the off-Strip area casinos.

The final bit of knowledge you need concerns players clubs. Every major casino has a players club and you should make it a point to join it before you insert your first coin. It doesn't costanything to join and as a member you will be able to earn complimentaries from the casinos in the form of cash, food, shows, drinks, rooms or other 'freebies.' Just make sure you don't getcarried away and bet more than you're comfortable with just to earn some extra 'comps.' Ideally, you want to get 'comps' for gambling that you were going to do anyway and not be pressured intobetting more than you had planned.

It's important to remember that RTP is a theoretical number which explains the payback rate over the long run. It does not mean you will win back $97 out of every $100 that you play. It means that the machine returns this amount to all who play that slot. This includes all of the small wins as well as the jackpots.

Well, in my experience, slots with bigger jackpots, and particularly progressive jackpot slots, have a lower payback rate. I've seen jackpot slots with an RTP of 91%. That's low compared to a game like Jack Hammer II by NetEnt which has an RTP of 97.07%.

Sometimes, you're better off playing high RTP slots, even if they have a smaller jackpot. The chances of winning a progressive jackpot are slim, so you have to be realistic about the possibilities.

Yes, you could strike it lucky, but for every multimillion-dollar winner, thousands of players lost. If you want to win at casino slots, you're better off with high RTP slots for this reason, you get more back in the long game.

One of the highest RTP slot machines is Mega Joker by NetEnt. It has an RTP of 99%. It's a classic slot, and many people play it religiously because of the high payback percentage.

Don't Forget the Bonus Features

Almost every slots player I know is blinded by huge jackpots. There's a reason why casinos plaster the largest progressive jackpots all over banners across the web. They attract slots players like moths to a flame!

I'm not. The odds of winning the jackpot on any slot are low. Instead, I focus on lucrative bonus features. Some of the biggest wins I have ever had came from slot machine bonus rounds.

Here are a few which I feel are particularly worth looking out for. If a slot machine has one or more of these features, I give it serious consideration.

Free Spins

• Free spins are one of the best slot machine bonus rounds. When you enter them, you'll automatically bet at the value you were betting in the base game. If I haven't triggered the free spins feature after 20 spins, I usually increase my bet size in anticipation. It has to trigger eventually, and I want to reap the rewards to the maximum extent when it does.

Multipliers

• Multipliers can be part of the base game, or they can be part of bonus features. For example, a free spins feature can have a multiplier. I always look for slots with multipliers of up to 3x or higher. I then play with larger bets than I usually would. One big win with a 3x multiplier can be as good as a jackpot.

Cascading Reels

• This is probably my favorite feature in slot machines. When you create a win, the symbols disappear, and new ones take their place. If you win once more, the same happens again. Some slot machines mix cascading reels and multipliers together. Sometimes, the multiplier gets bigger every time you create a new cascade. An example of such a slot is Gonzo's Quest.

There are lots of other great slot bonus features. Bonus wheels, picking games, and progressive jackpot bonus rounds also offer a chance to win big. The point is, you should always study the paytable of a slot machine, play it for free, and try to figure out its bonus rounds.

Of course, if you can find a slot machine offering lots of great features and a big jackpot, that's the golden ticket. I'd always double-check the RTP on such a game, though. Usually, the greater the risk to the casino, the lower the RTP is.

Manage Your Bankroll by Leveraging Slot Volatility

Want to know the first game I play every time I log into the casino? It's almost always Starburst.

Why so? Because Starburst is a high volatility slot. I rarely, if ever, experience long dry spells on this game. The wins are frequent, even if they aren't life-changing. And I find that Starburst often helps me boost my balance. Once it's suitably boosted, I move across to a higher volatility slot for a shot at bigger wins.

You can read an in-depth article on slot machine variance and volatility here. I've created a short and easy version for you below: Adobe premiere pro could not find any capable mac.

• Low volatility slot machines pay little wins frequently.
• Medium volatility slots pay mid-range amounts semi-frequently.
• High volatility slots pay bigger wins less frequently.

How To Win On Slot Machines Tips

For example, I never play high volatility slot machines when using free spins bonuses which offer only 10 or 20 spins. Experience tells me that on a high volatility game, I could easily experience 10 or 20 spins without a single win. I know that when the win does come, it will be explosive. But those slots aren't best suited for this kind of bonus.

To leverage slots volatility, play low volatility slots when you're down on your luck and only have a small bankroll.

They can also be extremely useful when trying to meet wagering or rollover requirements on a bonus offer. However, when you have a suitable amount of house money, switch over to higher volatility games with bigger potential wins.

Please remember that this is not a foolproof plan. Sometimes, the RNG just doesn't spit out the right number, and no wins occur. That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes, and you've got to accept that before you start playing a slot machine or expecting to win on slot machines.

Conclusion

I promised you logical, sensible tips for winning slot machines, and I hope you feel that I've delivered. All of what I've written above is fact-based, and none of it requires you to believe in hocus-pocus or to resort to cheating.

Winning slot machines is all about reducing the house advantage, knowing how to give yourself the best shot at the biggest payouts, and avoiding the common mistakes that too many players make.

That's all I can offer you, and no matter what they say, it's all anybody else can offer you, too.

Now that you know how to win more often, check out some of the best slot machines online.

Gif creator 2 1 0 os x. Virtually anyone who visits a casino, even for the first time, is familiar with a slot machine and how it operates: just put in your money, pull thehandle and wait a few seconds to see if you win. It isn't intimidating like table games where you really need some knowledge of the rules before you play and it's this basic simplicity thataccounts for much of the success of slot machines in modern American casinos.

As a matter of fact, the biggest money-maker for casinos is the slot machine with approximately 65 percent of the average casino's profits being generated by slot machine play. As an example,in Nevada's fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 the total win by all of the state's casinos was a little more than $11.8 billion. Of that amount, $7.54 billion, or slightly less than 64 percent,was from electronic machine winnings.

How To Win Money On Slot Machines

With this in mind, you must ask yourself, 'can I really win money by playing slot machines?' The answer is a resounding yes..and no. First the 'no' part: in simplest terms a slot machine makesmoney for the casino by paying out less money than it takes in. In some states, such as Nevada and New Jersey, the minimum amount to be returned is regulated. In Nevadacasinos the minimum is 75 percent and in New Jersey casinos it's 83 percent. However, if you look at the slot payback percentages for those particular states inthis book you will see that the actual average payback percentages are much higher. In New Jersey it's close to 91 percent and in Nevada it's slightly more than 93 percent. Even though theactual paybacks are higher than the law requires, you can still see that on average for every $1 you play in any of the Atlantic City casinos you will lose 9¢ and inLas Vegas casinos you will lose 7¢. Therefore, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that if you stand in front of a slot machine and continue to pump in yourmoney, eventually, you will lose it all. On average, it will take you longer to lose it in Las Vegas rather than Atlantic City, but the result is still the same: you will go broke.

Gee, sounds kind of depressing, doesn't it? Well, cheer up because now we go on to the 'yes' part. But, before we talk about that, let's first try to understand how slot machines work. Allmodern slot machines contain a random number generator (RNG) which is used to control the payback percentage for each machine. When a casino orders a slot machine the manufacturer will have alist of percentage paybacks for each machine and the casino must choose one from that list. For example, a manufacturer may have 10 chips available for one machine that range from a high of 98%to as low as 85%. All of these chips have been inspected and approved by a gaming commission and the casino is free to choose whichever chip it wants for that particular brand of machine.

In almost all instances, the casino will place a higher denomination chip in a higher denomination machine. In other words, the penny machines will get the chips programmed to pay back around85% and the $25 machines will get the chips programmed to pay back around 98%. A casino can always change the payback percentage, but in order to do that it usually must go back to themanufacturer to get a new RNG that is programmed with the new percentage. For this reason, most casinos rarely change their payback percentages unless there is a major revision in theirmarketing philosophy.

And what exactly is a random number generator? Well, it's a little computer chip that is constantly working (as its name implies) to generate number combinations on a random basis. It does thisextremely fast and is capable of producing hundreds of combinations each second. When you pull the handle, or push the spin button, the RNG stops and the combination it stops at is used todetermine where the reels will stop in the pay window. Unlike video poker machines, you have no way of knowing what a slot machine is programmed to pay back just by looking at it. The only wayto tell is by knowing what is programmed into the RNG.

Okay, now let's get back to the 'yes' part. Yes, you can win money on slot machines by using a little knowledge, practicing some money management and, mostly, having lots of luck. First, theknowledge part. You need to know what kind of player you are and how much risk you are willing to take. Do you want to go for the giant progressive jackpot that could make you a millionaire inan instant or would you be content walking away just a few dollars ahead?

An example of a wide-area progressive machine is Nevada's Megabucks where the jackpot starts at $10 million. These $1 machines are located at more than 125 Nevada casinos around the state andare linked together by a computer. It's fine if that's the kind of machine you want to play, but keep in mind that the odds are fairly astronomical of you hitting that big jackpot. Also, thepayback percentage is lower on these machines than the average $1 machine. During Nevada's fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 Megabucks averaged a little less than 89% payback while the typical$1 machine averaged a little less than 94%. So, be aware that if you play these machines you'll win fewer small payouts and it will be very difficult to leave as a winner. Unless, of course,you hit that big one! If you really like to play the wide-area progressive machines your best bet is probably to set aside a small percentage of your bankroll (maybe 10 to 15 percent) forchasing that big jackpot and saving the rest for the regular machines.

One other thing you should know about playing these wide-area progressives is that on most of them, including Megabucks, you will receive your jackpot in equal payments over a period of years(usually 25). You can avoid this, however, by playing at one of the casinos that link slot machines at their own properties and will pay you in one lump sum. Be sure to look on the machinebefore playing to see how it says you will be paid for the jackpot.

Knowledge also comes into play when deciding how many coins to bet. You should always look at the payback schedule posted on the machine to see if a bonus is payed for playing the maximumnumber of coins that the machine will accept. For example, if it's a two-coin machine and the jackpot payout is 500 coins when you bet one coin, but it pays you 1,200 coins when you bet twocoins, then that machine is paying you a 200-coin bonus for playing the maximum number of coins and you may want to bet the maximum two coins to take advantage of that bonus. However, if it's atwo-coin machine that will pay you 500 coins for a one-coin bet and 1,000 coins for a two-coin bet, then there is no advantage to making the maximum bet on that machine and you should only betthe minimum amount. To see more on this subject, watch my video titled 'The Slot Machine - When tobet Maximum Coins' on our YouTube channel.

Knowledge of which casinos offer the best payback percentages is also helpful. When available, we print that information in this book to help you decide where to go for the best return on yourslot machine dollar. You may want to go to the Las Vegas Strip to see some of the sites, but take a look at the slot machine payback percentages for the Strip-area casinos in the Las Vegassection and you'll see that you can get better returns for your slot machine dollar by playing at the off-Strip area casinos.

The final bit of knowledge you need concerns players clubs. Every major casino has a players club and you should make it a point to join it before you insert your first coin. It doesn't costanything to join and as a member you will be able to earn complimentaries from the casinos in the form of cash, food, shows, drinks, rooms or other 'freebies.' Just make sure you don't getcarried away and bet more than you're comfortable with just to earn some extra 'comps.' Ideally, you want to get 'comps' for gambling that you were going to do anyway and not be pressured intobetting more than you had planned.

Now let's talk about money management. The first thing you have to remember when playing slot machines is that there is no skill involved. Unlike blackjack or video poker, there are nodecisions you can make that will affect whether you win or lose. It is strictly luck, or the lack of it, that will determine whether or not you win. However, when you are lucky enough to getahead (even if it's just a little) that's where the money management factor comes in. As stated earlier, the longer you stand in front of a machine and put in your money, the more likely youare to go broke.

herefore, there is only one way you can walk away a winner and that's to make sure that when you do win, you don't put it all back in. You really need to set a 'win goal' for yourself and tostop when you reach it. A realistic example would be a 'win goal' of roughly 25 percent of your bankroll. If you started with $400, then you should stop if you win about $100. The 'win goal'you decide on is up to you, but keep in mind that the higher your goal, the harder it will be to reach it, so be practical.

And what if you should happen to reach your goal? Take a break! Go have a meal, see a show, visit the lounge for a drink or even just take a walk around the casino. You may have the urge tokeep playing, but if you can just take a break from the machines, even it's just for a short time, you'll have the satisfaction of leaving as a winner. If, later on, you get really bored andfind that you just have to go back to the machines you can avoid a total loss by not risking more than half of your winnings and by playing on smaller denomination machines. If you made yourwinnings on $1 machines, move down to quarters. If you won on quarters, move down to nickels. The idea now is basically to kill some time and have a little fun knowing that no matter whathappens you'll still leave as a winner.

And now, let's move on to luck. As stated previously, the ultimate decider in whether or not you win is how lucky you are. But, is there anything you can do to help you choose a 'winning'machine? Not really, because there is no such thing. Remember, in the long run, no machine will pay out more than it takes in. There are, however, some things you could try to help you find themore generous machines and avoid the stingy ones. Keep in mind that all slot machine payback percentages shown in this book are averages.

Like everything else in life, slot machines have good cycles where they pay out more than average and bad cycles where they pay out less than average. Ultimately, what you want to find is amachine in a good cycle. Of course if I knew how to find that machine I wouldn't be writing this story, instead I'd be standing in front of it with a $100 bill in my hand getting ready to playit. So, I guess you'll have to settle for my two recommendations as to how you might be able to make your slot bankroll last longer.

First, is the 'accounting' method. With this method you start with a pre-determined number of credits and after playing them though one time, you take an accounting of your results. If you havemore than you started with you stay at that machine and start another cycle. Just keep doing this until the machine returns less than you started with. As an example, let's say you start with a$10 credit voucher. After making 10 $1 bets you see how many credits you have left on the machine. If it's more than $10 you start over again with another 10 $1 bets and then do anotheraccounting. If, after any accounting, you get back less than the $10 bankroll you started with, stop playing and move on to a different machine. This is an especially good method because youhave to slow down your play to take periodic accountings and you will always have an accurate idea of how well you are doing.

The other method is even simpler and requires no math. It's called the 'baseball' method and is based on the principle of three strikes and you're out. Just play a machine until it loses threetimes in a row, then move on to another machine. Both of these methods will prevent you from losing a lot in a machine that is going through a bad cycle. To see more on this subject, watch myvideo titled '10 Tips To Stretch Your Slot Machine Bankroll' on our YouTube channel.