Fruit Of Your Coins

Rooms filled with row upon row of slot machines are the archetypal image of Las Vegas life. But what exactly keeps the players glued to their seats?

Despite numerous conspiracy theories claiming otherwise, slots are a game of pure chance and coincidence. The real draw of spinning reels is not the skill required to play them, but the chance you can win a huge payout for the sake of a small stake, often up to several thousand times your initial investment.

That's why people often like to guard their machines and play for marathon stretches. Every time you spin the wheel you are buying in to the big win dream - and hopefully having fun while you do it.

There are very few rules to follow with slots, and most of them are common sense. First up, it's worth knowing what you're playing. Sometimes this can involve finding out what the average payout percentage is, but you should at least know what the various win combinations pay out and how any form of progressive jackpot structures works.

Most slots are progressive, meaning that you can play more coins per go and in theory enjoy greater jackpot wins as a result.

However, progressive slots are very rarely linear in their payout structure. In other words, the big jackpots are often only paid out on the max bets. For this reason it makes sense to play four coins at a time at a five pence stake than a single 20 pence stake.

Unless you just fancy a quick burst of action, there's no need to rush your game. Assuming you enjoy watching the reels spin you can have more fun if you play fewer lines for the maximum number of coins, rather than having max bets on every spin. Some machines could cost you 125 coins a spin on the max setting, which means your bankroll will be gone in the blink of an eye.

Hit And Myth

It's true that slot machines use a random number generator to determine the outcome. The chance of a payout is therefore not affected by what has gone before. It's the same principle as tossing a coin And, contrary to popular belief, slots don't have cycles that, if you hit them on the winning run, will make you a decent profit.

And the final myth debunk, it's not true that because online slots are computer operated, it's easier for the odds to be altered. All slots, real or virtual, are run by chips, not mechanics.