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Slots Slot strategies

Discussion in 'Slots' started by mazoom, Mar 17, 2014.

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  1. mazoom

    mazoom Low-Roller

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    Hi all,
    Would anyone like to share their slot strategies. After a win, I can never seem to walk away and end up putting it all back.
    How many spins after a win should I walk away? If there is no win after a certain amount of spins (say 8) is that walk away time?
    What is your experience. Also do you always play max on progressives?:rolleyes2:
     
  2. NYPoker

    NYPoker Tourist

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    I always play max on a progressive. The girlfriend and I like to have enough for at least 100 spins. So if the machine is $2 a pull we try to put in $200. If we can play a machine like Bean to Be Wild, we will only play 2x credits for 0.80 a pull and put in $80.00. We like to either double and leave or lose it all. If when we win we are up to $422 after putting in $200 we'll play down to $400 unless we hit another big win.
     
  3. vegasvic

    vegasvic VIP Whale

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    I'll be interested to read this thead. I never play slots so I don't know if there are any strategies. I've heard the only strategy is to "always play max coins".
     
  4. WrongWayWade

    WrongWayWade VIP Whale

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    Don't trouble yourself with worrying about when to quit, as this will have no effect on your total results. Only if you quit while you're ahead AND NEVER GAMBLE AGAIN for the rest of your life would it matter. Each spin exposes your money to the house edge, and if your next spin is in the next 2 seconds or tomorrow or on your next trip makes no difference.

    You should keep playing if it's still fun, and quit if it isn't fun anymore.

    If we're supposed to quit while we're ahead, why do they tell us that quitters never win and winners never quit? :wink2: :poke:
     
  5. airball1996

    airball1996 High-Roller

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    Written by our friends in the casino industry.
     
  6. Smo

    Smo Mr. Las Vegas

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    The title of this thread is an oxymoron in itself.

    There is no such thing as slot strategies. Slot wins are random luck at best. If you play slots, then practicing good money management is the key.

    You should play max on progressives if the machine says you must do so to win them. Otherwise, there are many newer slots that you can hit a progressive on without max bet. Read the glass, the paytables, and the info screens to determine what you should throw in the machine per pull to get the most bang for your buck.

    When I first started gambling many many many years ago, I thought slots were the way to win easily. It took me 25 years to figure out that they are not going to supplement my income(or my BR for that matter) in any way, shape, or form. But they are stupid fun nonetheless. :thumbsup:
     
  7. sindustry

    sindustry VIP Whale

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    There are actually some slots that can be in +EV situations. These are slots with bonus rounds that players abandon. By continuing the play when they walk away from their uncompleted bonus, you actually have a chance at a +EV scenerio.
     
  8. firstkill

    firstkill High-Roller

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    good point, I am not a slot player, but have seen a few slots that you require to "collect" something in order to trigger a bonus. (instead of just on the last reel with the correct symbol)

    BUT I couldn't imagine walking around to the 100s of machines and looking that carefully and being a vulture to snag it.

    I usually will move machines if I don't get small hits within 10 hits. I might expect 1-2 "free" spins worth of credits in the first 10 spins.

    as when to walk away, I just check with my GUT. :evillaugh


    fk
     
  9. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    I sometime play the max number of spins possible based on my buy-in, assuming no wins.

    so if I am playing a $5/spin machine, and I put in $100 I will spin 20 times and then cash out whatever I have and move on...make it easy to stop.

    If I am just trying to kill time, or waiting for a drink I will play till I lose or I 4x my buy in
     
  10. mgill1974

    mgill1974 Low-Roller

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    There is no strategy to winning slots
     
  11. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    Not 100% true. Making certain decisions can improve your EV...albeit not a positive value (unless a HUGE progressive) but it can increase it
     
  12. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    That might be so, but what is your point?

    First, the original poster didn't even ask about winning at slots but more "when do you draw the line" as far as trying to walk away with winnings they already have because not everybody is always down money while playing slots.

    And second, every game you play against the casino has a house edge and other than very good blackjack card counters who are part of a well funded team everybody is expected to lose in the long run.

    Beyond that its really just pick a game, place your bet and see if you win or lose: none of the casino's games actually has any real strategy to them beyond picking what game to play, which is a "strategy" in slots as well.

    You might think "there is a strategy to blackjack, same with the video poker games!" but thats not actually true:

    If you have a little video poker strategy card it has all the best moves you can make for the game you are playing... I can make one up for slots that just says "1) Push SPIN button"

    That might seem really different than a Jacks or Better strategy card and in a way it is:
    a) My slot strategy card is a whole lot easier to follow since it only has one thing on it
    b) I can't make mistakes but a video poker player can

    And its the same for blackjack and its basic strategy: by following VP or blackjack strategies there is nothing you can do to improve your payback, only mistakes you can make that will cost you payback.
     
  13. Carole

    Carole Low-Roller

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    Nothing scientific..put 40 in, see if the machine will give me a little to play with. on penny slots I often vary the bet with each spin, from 1.00 or so to max bet usually between 2.00 and 3.00 for most machines that I play. On games like Buffalo I play 1.20 as the low and 4.00 as the high. If the machine starts paying me I keep up the same type of play...If I get the credits up over 100 I set the my cash out amount..Never lower than my original amount. It has worked pretty well from the stand point that I don't sink hundreds into a machine that is not paying at all.
     
  14. Michelle

    Michelle Low-Roller

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    Yes I think we can all agree there is no sure fire strategy. More like how you handle it. I go to my favs, Wizard of Oz (old school), Wolf Run, Tarzan, etc. but stay away from the big commercial ones, Family Guy, Michael Jackson, Pawn Stars. Those don't seem to pay out well, but you are buying the experience. If I'm up, I run to many different machines that look cool and play five spins, if I don't get a bonus I move. If I get a nice win on the first spin, like $16 or $20, I'll move immediately, since I think that's all it will pay out before eating my $100. Then there is Village People Party, so fun to dance to the music. For that one, I found it never pays well, so I play all lines, 1X, because I'm playing for the bonus, and often it takes a while to get. Last week I was at MGM Detroit, and on my way out I saw the Village People Party and dropped in $20, played the lowest amount, hit the bonus, danced and nearly had all but one Village People picked. I won $75, not a lot, but it was fun:)
     
  15. Smo

    Smo Mr. Las Vegas

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    Funny you mentioned this...............About 4 years ago Aruze Gaming introduced a series of slots with something called "Rescue Spin". It was a countdown timer with a 0.01 - 5x multiplier that told you how many games needed to be played until the guaranteed bonus round. These machines were a lotta fun and I searched them out everywhere. Many people didn't understand the Rescue Spin counter or what it was for.
    I still look for these machines to this date, but albeit with not much luck lately. There are still a few down in Laughlin IIRC.
     
  16. DonnyC

    DonnyC VIP Whale

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    I will put in $20 and play about $.50 a spin. If I run through that 20 without hitting a bonus then I move.
     
  17. PokerFaceNJ

    PokerFaceNJ Low-Roller

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    My wife has become quite the slot addict recently, but thankfully with just the penny slots...but she wins! She has developed a bit of a system of money management that helps her become more aware of when it is best to walk away. She will put a $20 bill into the slot machine, if she loses it all, she will walk away. If she hits some bonuses and it grows to something like $80 or $100, she cashes out, puts the ticket in her purse and then puts a fresh $20 in the machine and repeats. She likes this since this does not create a situation where she spends all of the money she just put in and causes her to move on if the machine starts to dry up. Yes, each spin is totally random but for her, this is a way for her to manage the money flow with more awareness of everything. Plus, she truly enjoys going to the cash out machine and putting in a whole bunch of slips to cash out.
     
  18. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    The progressive part is easy: you have to play at a level where you at least have a chance to win the progressive.

    On some machines that means you have to be betting max while on other machines you don't have to bet max but the more you bet the better your chances.

    Two examples:
    Megabucks: no matter what version you play of this machine (there are three reel versions, video slot versions) if you are not betting maximum you have no chance of winning the Megabucks jackpot.

    Life of Luxury Progressives: You don't have to be betting max to win a progressive but how it works is: if you get a shot at a progressive there are 8 gems on the screen and you pick one. How many gems have the "PROGRESSIVE" winning symbol behind it depends on how many credits per line you are playing. So if you are playing 30 lines at 5 credits per line then you would have 5 of the 8 symbols with the "PROGRESSIVE" winning symbol behind it. The max you can bet is $2.40 (30 lines at a maximum of 8 credits per line) which would mean all gems have the "PROGRESSIVE" winning symbol behind it.


    As for when to walk away: for me it really depends on the machine.

    If it is a highly volatile machine, which many of the newest machines are, then on most of those the only way you can actually win anything is by hitting the bonus and in that case if I hit the bonus game I will usually walk away right afterwards. An example would be the Spiderman machine: most spins on that thing will get you only a fraction of your bet back, and even if you hit a screen full of symbols you will likely only win 4-10 times your wager which is pretty stingy for how rare that is. But its a neat game so I play it once in a while and if I hit the bonus or some big miracle win, even on the first spin, I would just walk away after that.

    If its a game with less volatility, which most games that are 5+ years old are like, then you can get a fair amount of play for your gambling dollar and even have a chance to win money at it if you never hit the bonus game(s). A game like this might be Cleopatra, Enchanted Unicorn, Whales of Cash, Crystal Forest, etc.

    And thats not to say the high volatility games are bad: the games that have the high volatility mean if you get lucky you can win a lot of money on a cheap spin (a couple of weeks ago I saw somebody win over $200 on a 30 cent bet on one) but in order to have those gigantic wins the tradeoff is that the machine has really bad small wins where 3 or 4 of the top symbol might only return a fraction of your bet back. For machines like that you need a bigger bankroll to play them so you can ride the ups and downs your bankroll will take as you play it.
     
  19. Shauncho

    Shauncho Tourist

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    My wife has pretty much the same system and she rarely ever leaves the casino down...never huge wins but she often walks away with a few hundred extra. Fortunately she's kind of a bitter loser so when she starts losing, she gets pissed about it and leaves...thus preventing her from putting more money in the machine and losing it all.
     
  20. JimKnuckles

    JimKnuckles Tourist

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    The only strategy IS walking away lol
     
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