Expert review by Gemma Heathcote.
You may remember that gambling, including slot machines, is strictly prohibited in some countries. For example, land-based gambling is allowed only in special gambling zones in Russia. In Belarus, state residents can legally visit gambling establishments, and in Ukraine, the legalisation of gambling activities is in progress.
A slot machine is special gambling equipment placed in a casino for the guest’s entertainment. Its operation is simple: a coin, banknote or a special ticket of the casino’s currency is inserted, a lever is pulled, or a button is pressed. Unlike other types of gambling, such as poker and blackjack, you can get an economic advantage by a complete accident in slot machines. By knowing slot machines from the inside, the secrets of their operation and other features, you can make the game more diverse and exciting.
Interesting facts:
Today’s slot machines bear very little resemblance to the 20th century first analogues. Their design has similar features, but the results are generated completely differently. The electronics decide the winning combinations, and a small board has replaced the large gears and shafts. The playing field is in the form of a screen, which shows the random number generator (RNG) work results.
It is impossible to unravel the principles of calculating winnings for land-based slot machines (thanks to the RNG system). The casino administration carefully monitors the payout system and immediately removes the player from the establishment for using fraudulent schemes. However, there are still some secrets about slot machines. Some of these will be described below.
Many people think that casinos place slot machines at random. But a land-based casino carefully monitors and analyses every square meter of its area, placing slots with the highest profitability in the most popular places to attract players. Such slots stand out the most from their background and bring gambling houses the maximum income from visitors.
As a general rule, video slots pay less than traditional reel slots. This is because the latter are cheaper to use and maintain and less attractive to players than video slots. Thus, video slots attract more people, and the casino takes advantage of this by lowering the payout rate.
Many US jurisdictions divide slot machines into Class II and Class III slots. The former are not traditional slots like in Las Vegas. They are usually installed on Indian reservations and are more like bingo or lotteries. Instead of playing against the casino, the participants play against each other in an attempt to win a jackpot, which has nothing to do with the traditional format of slot machines since the mathematics and the operating mechanisms are completely different.
When looking at the top secrets of the slot machines, it is also worth noting the following features of the devices:
Slot machines in the long run
Slot machines are designed to guarantee a return of a certain percentage of the player’s bets. This figure is often around 70-90% but can be higher or lower depending on the device. Not a single person would play if there were no jackpots in the entire history of slot machines. Some gambling establishments may hide this information, but most of the time, it is publicly available.
Slot machines slow down the game
Previously, almost every gaming unit had a handle/lever to activate the rotation. Today, such devices are much rarer. The casino does not want the players to know that using a lever is much slower than pressing a button. Institutions want the client to play as quickly as possible since the more spins there are, the better it is for the casino.
According to psychological research, people are more likely to play with a ticket/chips than real cash. In this regard, or as a consequence of this, over the past couple of decades, the casinos have gradually phased out cash in slot machines, replacing them with tickets or chips. One of the reasons this change was made is to make sure that the client does not have access to finances immediately. Experts recommend always cashing out tickets rather than continuing to bet on other games.
Slot machines automatically record every action of the player. The device is connected to the Internet and equipped with sophisticated hardware and software to track all activities. The collected information is analysed and given to the casino marketing department to look for effective ways to attract visitors. If you do not use a player card, then the game will not be tracked, but it will also be impossible to receive bonuses.
In the future, marketing departments will implement a security infrastructure to monitor the actions during the game, regardless of whether the gambler has a card or not. Today, facial recognition programs identify a person by card or video. Experts predict that this tool will later be used to maintain a client’s account to track their actions in the video stream.
When players choose a device for betting, popular slot machines have an advantage. They are distinguished by attractive graphics, clear controls, bonus and risk rounds. Users have noticed the top secrets – the slot machine has small tricks that will increase the player’s profit:
The secrets of online slot machines do not guarantee a 100% win since each machine contains a unique algorithm. Please note that bugs you can purchase, firmware and keys offered for sale online interfere with the operation of devices, which is fraught with serious consequences for the player.