Slot Tips

Make sure you are benefiting when playing the maximum number of coins. Check the payout and make sure playing Max coins is worth it. If it's not, then don't.

Generally the slot machines found in most casinos should be played with maximum coins. Although you should still check out the payout table, playing maximum coins will increase the amount of money you can win. This means that you can reduce the hold that the casino has on you. Now this doesn't mean you are changing the odds of winning but it is affecting the payouts. Playing maximum coins could raise your return to 96% on some machines, that only pay 90% when fewer coins are played.

Be patient when inserting your caoins and pressing the spin button or pulling the handle. Sometimes the slot machines can be slow registering the coins inserted, which means you might not be playing with maximum coins when you spin the reels. There is nothing worse then inserting max coins into a slot machine, press the spin button and the big payoffs symbols showup on the payline, only it isn't the big payoff because all the coins did not register in the machine before you hit the spin button. There is nothing that can be done about this. Take some time, make sure all the paylines light up and then press the spin button.

When you are looking to play a progressive slot machine of any sort make sure that the jackpot is at a level that it higher than it's last payout. It is rumoured that the jackpot on progressive machines are not included into the payout scheduled until the jackpot reaches a certain level. Now this is just a rumour but there is usually some truth in rumours and this rumour cannot hurt you so there is nothing to lose by following it. There is a old time rule that says "follow the advice of experience, as long as it does not cause you any harm". In this case there is no harm in passing over one progressive machine for another.

You may have heard the old advise that the casino places the loosest slots near the door to entice people into the slots area because they see those machines near the door paying out. This may have been true in the past but given the popularity of slot machines the loosest machines are likely evenly scattered around the room, some even believe that the machines nearest the door are the tightest. Given the opportunity it is still a good idea to play the machines nearest the door, not because they are the loosest slots but for other reasons, first you won't be surrounded on all side by other players, there is some leg room to stretch out and it is very easy to quickly get up, grab some fresh air and return to your machine. And who knows, just maybe the loosest machines are next to the door because everyone thinks they are the tightest machines now.

Everyone's dream when playing the slot machine is to hit the big jackpot. The only bad thing about winning more than $1 200 in a 24 hour period from a slot machine is that you now have to pay taxes on your winnings. A good piece of advice to limit the amount of tax you will have to pay when you hit it big, or not so big, is to keep track of your losses. Now you won't be able to write gambling losses off at the end of the year, but you will be able to write off gambling losses against gambling winnings. So no matter how depressing keeping track of your losses might be, remember should you win more than $1 200, those records might mean you get to keep more of that money.

In a lot of parts of the country especially around casinos, everyone has a slot machines, the corner store, the local gas station and bars. These slot machines and other small location machines should be passed over. The general rule is floor space reflects payouts. This reason behind this rule is a little more complicated but it boils down to this. A casino relies on visitors playing their games, if their payouts were poor, visitors would stop playing which means their income would dwindle and they would have to close the casino. Gas stations, bars, stores and other small locations don't rely on repeat business. The slot machine isn't a big source of income it's like those packs of gum by the cash, a nice bonus but at the end of the day it's not going to break their business if no one plays the machine. Besides they know you'll never tell your friends about the machine that didn't pay off at the Mr. Gas on Johnston St. but the casinos know you'll tell your friends about the machine that didn't payoff at their casino!

That slot promotion sound too good to be true? Well it probably is. The favorite of mine is the "free spin on the jumbo slot machine for the monster jackpot" The catch is you only get to spin once each hour and you have to stay close by so you don't miss your name being called out. So what will you do for an hour? You'll play the slots and the casino knows it, and to top it all off when you do get to spin you'll probably win another free spin... in an hour.

Make sure that if you are going to play more than one machine that you don't play more machines than you can comfortably watch. Playing more than one machine is a great way to burn through your session money as fast as you can, but it is also a way to burn through your winnings without even knowing it. There are many people that would be more tan happy to help you spend your winnings when your not looking, and playing multiple machines helps these people win.

The last piece of advice is probably the most important piece of advice that you may ever recieve. When you are planning your trip to the casino, decide how much you are going to gamble, then decide how much time you want to spend at the slot machines (seesions). Then divide the money you will be taking with the number sessions you'll be playing. Lets say you'll be going to Vegas for 5 days and taking $2 000. You want to play twice a day, which means you will be playing 10 sessions. This means that for each session you will be playing the slots with $200 ($2 000 / 10 = $200). Now at each session make sure you keep you winnings seperate from your original money and only play through the $200 once. Do not start playing your winnings, By playing your winnings you will be exposing yourself and winnings to the grinding effects of the slot machine. One player I know goes as far as using western union to send hos money home to himself so he can't play it.