With their vibrant flashing lights, engaging storylines and interactive features, the slots room is the heart and soul of the casino. You don’t have to be a high-stakes VIP player to play slots – there are slot machines that suit every betting preference, every experience level and every interest and fantasy.
Slots are popular because they capture players’ imagination, offering ideas about special features, bonus rounds, and a continuous flow of excitement and delight.
Over the years, many myths about slot machines have cropped up. Such myths give some gamers unrealistic expectations of what slots have to offer while others dissuade gamers from joining in the gameplay. The Grande Vegas online casino and other casino consultants advise slot machine players to research the casinos, the games and general information about slots gaming before they play.
However, if you’re preparing to play a slot, it’s also important to be aware of myths and unsubstantiated data about slots gaming that circulates in order to enjoy the best gaming entertainment possible.
Join Grande Vegas to explore some common myths surrounding slot machines so you’ll become a more knowledgeable and empowered player.
Due for a Win
If the slot machine hasn’t paid out for a while, you might think that the machine is “due for a win”. It seems to make sense – in any activity, there are swings so after a slot swing to a low-win time, there should, it seems logical, be a swing to a big-win time.
There are several “strategies” built on this belief – the Martingale Strategy, the Fibonacci Model, the Kelly Criterion, the D’Alembert Strategy, etc – but they are all types of Gamblers’ Fallacies which don’t work because, in slots, past outcomes don’t influence future ones.
This is due to the fact that each spin of a slot machine is random and independent. The spins are governed by a Random Number Generator (RNG), an algorithm software that ensures that every spin is unsystematic. There’s no way for the player or for the casino to predict when or if a machine is going to hit. So even if a machine hasn’t paid out in a while, it doesn’t mean that the machine is likely to pay out soon. Conversely, you can go through a long winning streak and, to your surprise, the winning streak may continue indefinitely.
Don’t count on a slot machine’s predictability and you’ll be better able to manage your expectations and gamble responsibly when you play an online slot.
Strategies
As mentioned when discussing the possibility that a slot machine is “due for a win”, there is no strategy or system that will help you beat the odds or overcome the Return to Player percentage of a slot. Yet, you might be told that there’s a strategy that will allow you to increase your odds of winning because it sounds like a “smarter” way to play or it makes the gameplay more exciting. But in truth, slots are a game of chance and there’s no real strategy that will allow you to overcome the house edge.
It's worth it to become familiar with the best-known strategies because they can be fun and entertaining to try. Some of the most popular gaming systems include:
- The Martingale system involves doubling your bet after every loss in the hope that you’ll recover all previous losses and gain a profit when you eventually win
- The Reverse Martingale system (the Paroli system) involves increasing your bets after every win so that you can capitalize on winning streaks.
- The Fibonacci System is based on the mathematical Fibonacci Sequence in which you add your last two bets together after a loss to determine the value of your third bet in the hope that you’ll recoup your losses more gradually.
- The D’Alembert System advises that you increase your bet by one unit after a loss and decrease it by one unit after a win in a more conservative approach to betting
- The Labouchere System is also known as the Cancellation System. Players are told that they should create a sequence of numbers to represent betting units and then aim to eliminate all numbers in the sequence through the placing of bets.
- The Oscar’s Grind System is a positive progression system that focuses on increasing bets after wins so that you gradually win back your losses.
The most important thing to remember is that every slot machine is designed in a way that guarantees that every spin is random. No matter what system you use, you won’t influence the final result.
I’ll Eventually Win
Not only does persistence not pay off when you’re gambling but statistically, the longer you gamble, the more likely you are to start to incur losses. Even though each result is random and unaffected by anything that happened previously, the longer your gaming session lasts, the more your odds of winning decrease.
The more you risk, the more you will have to lose. Therefore, casino consultants suggest that you keep your gaming sessions short. Your odds rise if you have 5 gaming sessions of 15 minutes each as opposed to one gaming session of one hour and fifteen minutes.
Rituals Work
It’s astounding to hear how many players have different rituals or good luck charms that they believe will help them attain better results when they play slots. Some people play with a lucky charm nearby while others chant a specific mantra or conduct a certain ritual as part of their gaming event. These actions are fun and, for some people, meaningful, but in no way influence the outcome of a slot machine’s spin.
If you rely on any gaming system, ritual, good luck charm or another type of “system”, keep in mind that it’s all just for fun. The crux of slot machine gaming is entertainment and excitement!
