Slot Machines

Slot Machines: Win More Offline sounds like the name of a great book on the subject, but it’s actually the title of an article that can help you to win. Originally aimed at those who play UK slot machines, the advice that follows can also be of use to overseas and – to a certain extent – online players.

To begin with, slot machines should be studied before you play them. Machines play differently depending on the manufacturer and the place they are sited, so watch and learn, then play. Obviously the venue that has installed the machine wants to make money from it, but the machines can’t just take money, they have to pay out prizes. It may surprise you to know that this payback can vary from 70-98 percent of the money that a machine takes. However, this figure is based on thousands of spins, so don’t automatically assume that, if you put £100 into a 70% payout machine, you’ll get £70 back out.

A good thing to do when considering playing a machine is identify the manufacturer. Many UK machines will be manufactured by Barcrest, Maygay, JPM, Mazooma or Bellfruit. Some machines will store up money for a while and then do a run of jackpots (Maygay and Barcrest). Others try to get players to take smaller prizes to prevent a big jackpot building up (Mazooma).

One of the first things professional slot players look for before playing a machine is whether the machine is putting a player’s money into the payout hopper, or the cashbox. Some machines will keep putting your money into a cashbox (known as backing), and then when it is full they will put it into the prize hopper. So if the prize money hopper looks full, a jackpot could be on the cards. If the machine you are looking at has tubes, look at these to see how full of money they are. Watch out though – not all machines are this obvious, so it is useful to know a machine fairly well before playing it. You might like to just play a small amount to see how the machine plays. If it is backing then you should walk away. One way to win at slots is to know when it’s sensible to cut your losses.

It is important that you know when a machine last paid out its jackpot. Leave a machine for roughly ten days between jackpots; if the machine is heavily used you could risk reducing this to 4-5 days, although playing a machine after a weekend is more likely to bring you a jackpot. One good way of finding out when the last jackpot was won is by asking someone who spends a long time at the establishment, such as a barman or other regular players.

Something you should be aware of is ‘machine streaking’. This is when a machine pays out a few jackpots in succession, and some manufacturers design their machines to do this. Learn which ones do and keep playing them after a jackpot.

Finally, consider the type of game on offer and the jackpot available. Remember that the size of the jackpot can tell you a lot about your upside potential, so play machines with the biggest jackpots if you want to stand a chance of landing a really big win. If the machines at your local pub don’t offer big enough jackpots for you, consider visiting a members club or casino where they are likely to be better.

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