Slot Myths - Fact and Fiction about Slot Machines

The following section has been created to ease your mind and clear up any false accusations you may have come across or heard in regards to the slot machine. It is very common, when hearing a rumor or a piece of negative information to never forget it. Hopefully we will change your feelings and all you’ll be able to think of after visiting our site are all the positive and exciting things that slot machines have to offer.

Some say that certain machines are not worth wasting your time and money since they’ve just paid out and are therefore not due to payout again in a long while. Although this theory seems to make perfect sense, it is not true. Yes, the machine is set to payout a certain percentage of the money it takes in, but every spin on the machine is completely random and totally independent of any other spin. One machine may take 10 000 spins before it pays out big but there is an equal chance of hitting that jackpot again on spin 10 002 as there is of hitting on spin 15 000 or spin 20 000. The winning spin is determined by an exact moment in time, not because it hasn’t hit in a while.

Others may argue that a machine is dry and won’t payout because it isn’t running in a pay cycle (it is in a take cycle). However when it comes to slots, again, each spin is completely random, and there is no such thing as a pay cycle or a take cycle.

Have you ever been playing a machine and been nervous to leave it in case the next person who comes along hits a big payout a few spins in to their game. How could you sleep at night if this happened, that jackpot should’ve been yours, right? Actually chances are if you had stayed on that machine you might not have hit the same jackpot. The random action of paying out does not depend on the amount of spins that have previously occurred. It is the exact moment that the reels are spun that determines the outcome of the spin. So if you had stayed at your machine, you would’ve had to hit spin at exactly the same moment as the other player had spun in order to receive the same payout. So you can sleep soundly tonight, as chances are you wouldn’t have spun at that exact moment.

Finally, there are rumors out there that suspect that hitting the slots machines using a casino club card will decrease your chances at winning big. Again, this is not true. In fact the opposite should be true, since club cards were developed to encourage more play in the casino and nothing encourages more play than being paid out. A player who is getting paid will more likely continue playing than a player who is getting nothing. In the long run, casinos want there players to continue playing. However, as mentioned over and over, each spin, no matter the payment method is totally random and depends on the exact moment in time. Further more, using a club card is worth your while; the added bonuses they offer (for example, an extra 5% of your initial bankroll) could be the difference of you becoming a big winning player or a less successful player.

"Hot" and "Cold" machines

Standard slot machines do not get "hot" or "cold". The odds of hitting a winning combination are determined by a random number generator contained in the machine's software and is exactly the same with every spin. Such slot machines are never "due to be hit" if they haven't paid out a jackpot in a while. (Exception: UK-style AWP and Japan-style Pachisuro machines are progressive which means chances of winning will increase over time if the machine has not paid any wins out. Many also "force" wins on players in order to meet the payout percentage).

Placement

There is a science to the placement of slot machines on the gaming floor, but the highest paying machines are not necessarily placed in high-traffic areas. Typically, machines of similar payback percentages are grouped together, with 1% or less difference from machine to machine in the group.

Payout changes

In most jurisdictions, casinos cannot alter the machine's payout percentage by time of day, day of week, or remotely via a computer.
Using a slot club card does not affect the machine's payout percentage. The card just allows the casino to keep track of the amount wagered by a player and issue complimentaries accordingly.

Missed opportunities
Consider these two scenarios:

You leave a machine. Another player comes up and immediately hits a jackpot. You think, "If I had played just one more time, I would have won that jackpot."
A machine returns a higher jackpot for playing more coins. You play fewer coins, and a winning combination appears. You think, "If I had played more coins, I would have won more money."
In both cases, you did not "miss" an opportunity to win. The results of modern slot machines depend on exactly when you play them. It is very unlikely in either case that you would have received the same result if you had played just one more time or just one more coin. This is because the random numbers being generated are constantly changing thousands of times per second. It is impossible to assume that the instant you would have made the play would be the same for the other opportunity, thus getting different results from the machine. See Random Number Generator above.

Slot Myths(Continue)

If you hit big on a machine you won't hit again.

Not true! - Slot machines have a computer chip that operates the
random number generator that causes a variation from 1 to several billion combinations in a matter of milliseconds beginning the second you spin. Whatever the number the random number generator is on in that split second that you spun is what you see on the screen. This number is compared by the computer chip, to a table in the memory and the result is the combination you spun.

The casino can, at will, loosen the slots or tighten them up.

Not true! - The payout rates are set and can not be changed by the casinos and these rates are audited by outside companies insuring fair play. You must consider that a reputable casino puts it's reputation on a very high set of standards and even attempting to change the payouts would risk the integrity that the casino has built for itself.

If a machine hasn't hit in awhile it is due to hit.

Not true! - The games are totally random due to the Random Number Generator and do not 'remember' when it hit last and does not predict when it will hit again. I have played at land based casinos and sat at a particular machine for hours several days in a row and it never hit. And on the same train of thought, I have hit a particular machine two or three times in one sitting.

If you get up from a machine and someone else sits down and hits the big one, this means that if you hadn't moved you would have won.

Not true! - No matter whether it's you or the next person in line, the spinner must hit the spin button at the precise time that the Random Number Generator lines up with the winning combination. The odds of you hitting the button at the same millisecond as the 'next' player are not calculatable.

You are least likely to win at a slot machine.

Not true! - Slot machines have among the highest payouts of any video gambling machines.

Odds are changed to pay higher on weekends or other high traffic times.
Not true! Again going back to the integrity of the casino and the ability to change the payouts, the casino has no control over this as it is all done with the Random Number Generator and in the case of land based casinos, the machines arrive at the casino with the Random Number Generators preset.

All winning combinations have an equal chance of being hit:

Not true! - The larger the payout on a win, the smaller the chance a player has to get that win. Therefore, a player most likely will win many small combinations in a sitting,
and winning the actual big payoff has a much less probability of being hit. This is why it is called gambling, you're taking a chance and have no assurances of winning but you
do have the promise of a fair chance.