Common Slot Machine Myths

Published : 13th of April 2003

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Slot machines are the most misunderstood of all the casino games. They are also the most popular which makes understanding them important for the majority of casino players. The first thing to note is that slots have changed dramatically since the early days. All slots whether spinning reel or video slots have a RNG.

RNG stands for random number generator. The RNG is the key to all of the slots pay outs and combinations and cannot be altered in any way by you.

Slot Machine Myth 1 - All Combinations have an equal chance
All slots have a programmed amount of winning and losing combinations. There are far more losing and small win combinations than there are big wins and top jackpot combos. Below is an example of how the combinations work.

For a simplified example of how slots work lets say that the best combination starts at number 1 and the combinations get worse as the number gets bigger. The following combos will be available for the RNG to select when you press the spin button, pull the handle or online click your mouse.

1,2,2,3,3,3,4,4,4,4,5,5,5,5,5,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,7,7,7,7,7 and so on.

In other words the top jackpot only appears once and as the jackpots get smaller they appear more often. Of course as you get further down the line there are thousands of non winning combinations or "Near Misses"

Slot Machine Myth 2 - A near miss indicates that the slot is about to pay
If you have played slots for any length of time you are sure to have hit one of those frustrating combinations where you are just off a big win. These combinations are specifically programmed in to give you the feeling that a win is close and to keep you playing.

In reality these near misses mean nothing. As every spin is unrelated to the last and is selected by the RNG. Don't get caught up in the "I'm about to hit the jackpot mentality" - this is just what the slot manufacturers want.

Slot Machine Myth 3 - Once a jackpot is won it won't hit again for some time
This is totally false. Every spin of the reels is in no way effected by the last spin so it is entirely possible hit the jackpot two spins in a row. For a real world example of this read our recent news release regarding the Major Millions Slot.

Slot Machine Myth 4 - Slots are the worst bet in the casino
While slots do tend to have payout percentages that are quite low they are not necessarily the worst game in casinos. For instance many of the bets on a craps table have worse odds than most slots.

For the unskilled casino player slot machines are not so bad because playing blackjack or any other game that requires some knowledge could well be worse than playing a game like slots where to odds are set and luck is the key.

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