Slot Machines Strategy

The ‘thing’ about feature, or bonus slots, is that on average a feature will appear every 100-150 spins. But because they are truly random, you might get a feature on your first spin, and you might get one soon after - or – you might not get one for hundreds of spins or never see one in any given session.

Slot Machine Bankroll Strategy

So what kind of strategy can be divined from that knowledge? On one hand you might want to divide your bankroll by 125 and hope that you’ll catch a feature. This can work – sometimes – we have to factor in the reality that the average feature only pays thirty times total bet. Some will be 0, some 2 times and some will be 1000 times. But on average they will be 30x bet. This is because you will have many line wins, large and small, between features.

So how do we develop a strategy that balances the desire for a large win, with the need to manage our bankroll for the longest playtime/best chance to hit a feature?

Determine Slot Machine Bet Size

One way is to determine a minimum bet, a maximum bet, and an average bet; then to work around those numbers and have some fun.

So if I deposit $100, my minimum bet might be .75 or .80 depending on whether it is a 15 line or 20 line slot. My maximum bet (while still playing on my initial deposit - not winnings above and beyond) will be twice that or $1.50 or $1.60, and my average bet somewhere in between.

Now it’s time to play. We know we’ll get some play time if we don’t blow the wad hoping for the big one, we have a statistical chance of catching a feature, and we stand a chance of getting a good feature, or more than one.

Slot Machine Chances for a Jackpot

Because slots are not ‘rigged’, we have as much chance of getting a jackpot on the first spin as we do on the last spin, and we have the same chance to hit a feature on the spin right after a feature as we do at any other time.

So we start spinning those reels at .75 until we get bored, hit something decent, or spend $25. If any of those things happen, we boost it up to $1.50 If any of those things happens again, we middle out to the average bet, and if it happens again we are in one of three places: Almost broke, about where we started, or at a profit.

Slots Scenarios

Assume ‘almost broke’. What are you going to do? Divide your bankroll again and start over? Depends on your mood, and what’s going on in your ‘real world’.

Assume ‘about where you started’. What to do? Again, you could play on, cash out, or go crazy looking for the big one. You’ve already ‘played the odds’ and what did it get you but some play time?

Assume ‘at a profit’. Here’s where it gets tricky. You can cash out whatever you consider respectable… $120? Or you can cash out $100 and play with $20, or you can do the math and start over again, or you can bite the bullet and go for the gusto.

It is a complete fallacy that the 1,000 spins you’ve done so far will have anything to do with the spins you are going to do next, right? But, you have had your fun. You sat down knowing you would probably lose your deposit if you didn’t get lucky, and you’re okay with that. You should be, this is gambling.

What about deciding to quit a winner? Cash out, call it good. What about deciding that you’ll go 50/50 with the casino on your original deposit? Cash out $70 (your profit and your $50) and play hard core with the fifty left? Why not? Might have lost it all anyway.

Go big or stay home? Ten $5 spins? Five $10 spins? Twenty-five $2 spins? Whatever you decide, stick to it – no matter what – and you can write that on your hand with a pen, or your monitor screen with dry erase marker – NO MATTER WHAT, those are how many spins you will make before you cash out, or walk away with a bundle.

There are no slots strategies (outside of maximizing bonuses) that guarantee a winning session. But there are ways to have more fun with the game. The best we can hope for is to not go broke too fast, to play as long as we wanted to, and to enjoy the session. A jackpot is just icing on the cake