How many times have you seen a friend down the pub playing a slot for a good few minutes, before turning away frustrated from the machine and claiming that it's 'fixed'?
That little scenario probably plays itself out online every minute too as one player after another claims that the slots software is rigged and that players are destined to lose no matter what they do.
Of course, its easy to do this, especially when you are frustrated and on a bad run of results on the slots. But is it accurate, or even fair, to assume that the reason you didn't win is because the slots are rigged?
Let's examine a few key facts about slots, specifically online slots, which I believe will entirely disprove this method of complaint.
1. Regulation
The first thing to note about all top quality online casinos (including all those that you will find on this website) is that to adhere to the legal restrictions in place regarding gambling on the internet, they must be registered with an approved regulatory body.
There are several of these bodies around the globe (Kahnawake and Malta are two common examples of bodies that casinos are often regulated by).
What this essentially means is that when an online casino applies for a license, its software and infrastructure is rigorously tested and reviewed by the regulatory authorities team of online gambling experts.
They review all aspects of the site, its games, how the site is organised, the offers made to players, the security of player data and much more in order to ascertain whether the site meets the exacting (and for online gambling sites, it is VERY exacting) requirements for membership.
If a site passes, they are handed the license to offer online games. However if the regulatory body finds anything amiss with the site, such as games that are not as fair as stated, then the license is withheld and they are not allowed to operate as a gambling site.
All honest sites will have their license clearly displayed within the information about the site and this is the first step towards clearly demonstrating that all games are fair and above board.
But surely a site could slip one unfair, player-robbing game through? Well no they can't and the reason for that is explained clearly below.
2. Individual Game Certification
Of course it is one thing offering a site a license, but a site will often release new games after it has been issued with a license. Surely there is a likelihood that a site will gain a license and then release games that offer it a far greater degree of profitability at the players expense?
No, this isn't possible and the reason for this is that all casino games that are released on licensed sites, have to themselves be certified as being safe and fair for the gamer.
Perhaps the best known certification board for this task is eCogra. They will take any prospective game due to be released on a casino site and thoroughly review all aspects of the game. They will run millions of plays of the game to ensure that the results given are those stated by the game developer.
This extensive testing means that when a game is certified and advertised as having a 97.36 percent payout percentage, you can be sure that millions of test runs of the software have been conducted to ensure that this figure is as accurate as can be.
All games released on the top online casino sites are eCogra certified and will have a stated payout percentage. However as a player you are not likely to play a million spins of the slot to individually corroborate that.
For example, if you play 10 spins and win back the equivalent of just one stake, then that is a payout rate of 10 percent, however that is because you have played too few games in order to give your result a meaningful context.
Play 100 spins and you'll find greater corroboration, same with 1000 spins and then 10,000 and so on.
Many players assume that a 97 percent payout rate means that for every spin, they have a chance of getting 97 percent of their coins back. That is not what this means at all. It means that over a prolonged period of time, the slot will pay out 97 percent of the money it takes in.
By the same token, if you play 10 spins and win the equivalent of 100 stakes back, that offers you a 1,000 percent payout rate, which gives an equally inaccurate portrayal of the payout rate of the slot as the first example.
Misunderstanding what payout percentages are often leads to players assuming that they should at least get most of their money back through playing. While that may be the case if they play hundreds of thousands of spins, when you are playing considerably fewer, that is not the case at all.
That is not a flaw in the game, or a cheat, it is simply how the slot and the mathematics works.
3. House Edge - What is it for Slots?
Another issue which causes confusion is the house edge of a particular slot. In the real world the house edge for a slot can vary wildly to around 98 percent in casinos, to around 75 percent in airports and similar places where there is only one slot to play and no competition (hence they do not have to pay out as often to attract players).
Even within the online casino industry there can be a significant difference in the house edge of some slots, though most games offer a house edge of between 2 and 5 percent, some may offer around 6 to 7 percent, others more.
The impact this has on every spin can be marked. The greater the house edge, the more chance you have of losing on each spin and remembering that the slot is a random number generator at heart, this means you are more likely to go on losing streaks as there are simply a greater percentage of losing combinations than winning ones.
If you continually play slots offering a higher house edge, then you'll likely lose more. That's not that the slot is fixed, it's just you are choosing (even unwittingly) to play the slots that give you less chance of success.
4. Low/High Volatility Slots
Another issue to consider is the volatility of the slot. If you read a review of a slot, you may discover that it is described as a high or low volatility slot, so what does that mean?
A low volatility slot is a machine which pays out smaller amounts, more often. These tend to be the slots where the jackpot isn't a very large amount and where the payout percentages are usually around 95-98 percent.
These slots pay their users little and often, so they are low volatile as you tend not to experience long runs of spins without a win, but by the same token, you don't usually win vast sums of money playing them either.
A good example of a high volatility slot is a game with a progressive jackpot, which sees more of the money raised through the slot going into the jackpot. These games pay out considerably less in smaller wins than low volatility slots but there is always the chance of landing a big win or perhaps even the jackpot.
This means that players can win nothing at all, or a huge amount playing the slot, hence they are highly volatile.
Of course, if you spend your time playing mainly high volatile slots then the nature of these types of slot means that you are not likely to win as often.
5. Bet Size
One thing that most slots experts agree on is that in order to win on the slots, you need to keep the reels spinning. If you have 100 credits to play and gamble 10 credits per spin, then you have 10 spins within which to win. This is patently, far too small a number of spins in order to achieve a regular winning rhythm on the slots as you'll be out of money before you know it.
Therefore managing your money so you can afford to play for a large number of spins is absolutely vital and that is true whether you are playing 0.01 spin games, or 300 credits per spin games.
You need to find slots that allow you to play for long enough to give you a chance of winning. Spending all your bankroll on relatively few spins is a disastrous strategy and one that is likely doomed to failure.
If you have 100 of your own currency to play, it is considerably better and more profitable to buy 100 credits on a 1 slot, or 1,000 credits on a 0.10 slot, than 10 credits on a 10 slot.
So provided your casino is legit, your games are certified, the only reason you are losing on the slots so often is that you could be playing the slots that are highly volatile, with a low house edge and which don't pay out often. That is not cheating, that is how they are set up to ensure they can offer one lucky player a big win every now and then.
Online slots are among the most stringently regulated forms of entertainment available on the internet. The likelihood of you coming across one that genuinely is fixed, is probably smaller than your chances of landing the big mega jackpot on a progressive slot.
Next Post: One lucky player hits the $3.9m jackpot on Mega Moolah progressive
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