1. How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Large Jackpots Slots
2. How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Out Jackpots
3. How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Out

Three-reel progressives are this type of game, amped up with a growing jackpot. You have to bet the max to be eligible for the jackpot. To see how the effect this has on payback percentages, let’s imagine the above pay table on a $1 game that returns 95 percent when you bet the max and in which the odds lead to the top jackpot hitting about once per 20,000 plays. Although you have no way of predicting when a progressive jackpot will happen the smaller the number of machines contributing to the jackpot the more often it is paid. Some local jackpots may be paid 2 or more times per week, or several times a month.

Revealing the truth behind some of the most common slot player questions

By John Grochowski

Your choices do matter. Bonus round possibilities are set by a random number generator, but the decisions you make after those possibilities are set will determine the size of the bonus you receive.

Way back in the late 1990s, as video slots were first gaining a foothold on casino floors, players used to ask the same question, over and over. It went something like this:

“How can you tell when you’ve won with all these crazy paylines?”

Different slot machines have different features. So examine your machine before you start playing. To determine how to qualify for bonus points, click on the menu button to read the rules. To win a massive slot jackpot, you do not need to bet max coins. Join Players Club. As a gambler, you should start by joining the players club.

That was back in the days of five-line games, long before anyone thought of marketing games with 100 paylines, or games like Aristocrat’s Tarzan and Jane with a dual playing field, or Xtra Reel Power slots with 7,776 ways to win. But back then, those five-line games were new, different and a tiny bit confusing.

Nowadays, people are used to all the paylines and other configurations, and if they can’t tell what’s going on as it’s happening, at least they’re comfortable with winning combinations being outlined on the screen afterward.

The question of how you can tell when you’ve won isn’t asked all that much anymore, but that doesn’t mean there’s no mystery left in video slots. There are other questions that are still are asked over and over again. So let’s try to answer some of the ones that are most frequently asked.

How can I tell when a machine is ready to pay off?

This is always the million-dollar (or even thousand penny) question with slot machines, isn’t it? The answer is that there is no way to tell when a jackpot is coming, or when there’s about to be a hot streak, or when the bonus round is on its way.

Just as with reel-spinning slots, the results you see on the screen are determined by a program called a random number generator. Nothing humans can design is perfectly random, but the RNG is close enough that we can’t tell what’s coming next.

Do video slots pay out as much as reel slots?

The old formula of slots having higher payback percentages at higher coin denominations holds true on video, just as it long has done on reel-spinning games. Dollar games pay more than quarters, which pay more than nickels, which pay more than pennies. And since most video slots are at lower denominations—penny games are the most popular things casinos have going—they tend to have lower payback percentages than reel-spinners.

One factor to consider: Play is slower on a video slot than on a reel-spinner that doesn’t have animated bonus rounds. Whether you’re getting free spins on Tarzan or racing through Gotham City on the Dark Knight game, you’re getting more playing time without making extra wagers. If you’re betting 75 cents a spin on a video slot, and I’m betting 75 cents a spin on a three-reel game with no bonus events, then I bet more money per hour than you do because I’m not getting that free time.

Is your bonus decided before you play a pick’em bonus round, or do your choices matter?

Your choices do matter. Bonus round possibilities are set by a random number generator, but the decisions you make after those possibilities are set will determine the size of the bonus you receive.

Let’s say you’re playing Jackpot Party and the gift box on the bottom left corner is hiding a 200-credit bonus, while the one next to it is hiding a party pooper that ends the round. When you pick, you have a chance at that 200-credit bonus that will allow you to continue picking. You also have the chance at a pooper that will end it there, and you have a chance at any of the other outcomes hidden by gift boxes on the screen.

Your final bonus is not predetermined. It could be thousands of credits, it could be the minimum for hitting the pooper on the first pick, and it could be anything in between.

The random number generator just sets the possibilities. It does not just give you a set bonus.

What exactly is a mystery bonus?

Mystery bonuses are awarded not on the basis of the symbols you land on the video reels, but on factors of time or amount wagered since the last mystery award.

The mystery rewards can be trips to a bonus event; progressive jackpots; or even bonus events that lead to progressive jackpots.

Some mystery progressives are programmed with start points and stop points. You’ve probably seen signs at some machines that say something like, “Jackpot must be awarded before $1,000.” If there’s a $500 seed amount and a $1,000 maximum, then the random number generator selects a target between those two amounts. The player whose wager pushes the jackpot to that target amount wins.

Or the game or bank of games could be programmed so that the RNG picks a wager total between a start and stop point, and when the total of wagers on the machine or bank reaches that randomly selected amount, a bonus event is launched. It can even be done with a timer, so that the RNG selects an elapsed time since the last bonus event to launch the next one.

When the bonus event launches, you’ve been given no clues by the symbols on the reels that it’s coming. It’s a mystery.

Should you always bet maximum coins, like on the three-reel games?

Not necessarily. The reason you get the best payback percentage by betting the max on most three-reel games is that there’s a disproportionate jump in the top jackpot. Let’s say a three-reel game’s top jackpot pays 1,000 coins for a one-coin bet, and 2,000 coins for two, but 5,000 coins for three. You can break that 5,000 coins down to say you’re getting 1,000 for your first-coin bet, 1,000 for the second, but 3,000 for the third-coin bet. The payback is disproportionately higher for betting the third coin.

Most video slots don’t have such jumps. For each winning combination, the raise in payoffs is proportionate to the size of your wager.

Most players like to at least cover all the paylines, even if it’s for only one coin per line. Then if all payoffs are proportionate, you get the same payback percentage whether you bet one coin per line, 10 per line or 20 per line. You can stay within your bankroll and bet one coin per line if you like, and not feel like you’re missing a higher payback percentage.

There are exceptions. If you’re playing a machine with a progressive jackpot or jackpots, be sure to read the glass and make certain your bet makes you eligible for the progressive. Progressive machines tend to have lower paybacks outside the jackpots, so if you don’t want to bet enough to be eligible, it’s better to find a different game. Also, a few games activate certain jackpot symbols only if your bet is large enough. You don’t want to line up five winning symbols only to find you haven’t wagered enough to collect. Read the glass and the help menu, and make sure.

Do slots pay more jackpots at night, when there are more people in the casino?

How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Large Jackpots Slots

More jackpots are paid during crowded times, but only because there is more play and more chances for jackpot combinations to come up. Your chances of hitting a jackpot are no better during crowded times than when there are fewer people around.

Let’s imagine a casino filled with machines that pay their top jackpots once per 25,000 plays. (In reality, some machines pay more often, some far less, but let’s keep the example simple.)

How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Out Jackpots

If 100 people play 1,000 spins each, there are 100,000 plays. On average, that will result in four top jackpots. But if 1,000 people play 1,000 spins each, there are 1 million plays, and that will result in an average of 40 top jackpots.

The odds of winning a top jackpot don’t change. They remain at 1 in 25,000. But there are more jackpots awarded during the more crowded time.

There is no advantage to playing with bigger crowds. Personally, I prefer less crowded times when I can pick and choose the games I want to play, instead of just looking for a machine with am empty seat. Others prefer the energy and excitement of a crowded casino. Take your pick, and know that the odds of winning are the same either way.

Do games with free-spins pay more than games with pick’em bonuses?

They don’t pay more. They pay differently.

There’s some variation within each type of game, but usually pick’em second-screen bonuses are even keel games, with the bonuses designed to give you extra time on device. The bonuses aren’t enormous, but they’re fun, and they keep you in your seat. Free-spin bonuses are wilder rides. With these, you can win thousands of credits at a time, or you can win nothing—or very little. They’re a more volatile experience that give penny players the potential for rewards worth winning, while the pick’ems tend to be more popular with nickel players.

There’s plenty of room for games with different looks and different payback methods. That’s all part of the fun in the video age.

Remember the movie National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, when gambling fever consumes Chevy Chase’s character, Clark W. Griswold? He goes on a losing streak to beat all losing streaks while his son, Rusty, wins four cars by playing the slot machines. Maybe Clark would have done better if he had read Probability For Dummies! In this article, you discover the basic ideas behind slot machines and how they work, so that you can get past the myths and develop a strategy based on sound probability.

Understanding average payout

How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Out

When casinos advertise that their slot machines pay out an average of 90 percent, the fine print they don’t want you to read says that you lose 10 cents from each dollar you put into the machines in the long term. (In probability terms, this advertisement means that your expected winnings are minus 10 cents on every dollar you spend every time the money goes through the machines.)

Suppose you start with $100 and bet a dollar at a time, for example. After inserting all $100 into the slot, 100 pulls later you’ll end up on average with $90, because you lose 10 percent of your money. If you run the $90 back through the machine, you’ll end up with 90 percent of it back, which is 0.90 x 90 = $81. If you run that amount through in 81 pulls, you’ll have $72.90 afterward (0.90 x 81 = 72.90). If you keep going for 44 rounds, on average, the money will be gone, unless you have the luck of Rusty Griswold!

How many pulls on the machine does your $100 give you at this rate? Each time you have less money to run through the machine, so you have fewer pulls left. If you insert $1 at a time, you can expect 972 total pulls in the long term with these average payouts (that’s the total pulls in 44 rounds). But keep in mind that casinos are designing slot machines to go faster and faster between spins. Some are even doing away with the handles and tokens by using digital readouts on gaming cards that you put into the machines. The faster machines can play up to 25 spins per hour, and 972 spins divided by 25 spins per minute is 38.88 minutes. You don’t have a very long time to enjoy your $100 before it’s gone!

The worst part? Casinos often advertise that their “average payouts” are even as high as 95 percent. But beware: That number applies only to certain machines, and the casinos don’t rush to tell you which ones. You really need to read or ask about the fine print before playing. You can also try to check the information on the machine to see if it lists its payouts. (Don’t expect this information to be front and center.)

Implementing a simple strategy for slots

Advice varies regarding whether you should play nickel, quarter, or dollar slot machines and whether you should max out the number of coins you bet or not (you usually get to choose between one and five coins to bet on a standard slot machine). In this section, you’ll find a few tips for getting the most bang for your buck (or nickel) when playing slot machines.

Basically, when it comes to slot machines, strategy boils down to this: Know the rules, your probability of winning, and the expected payouts; dispel any myths; and quit while you’re ahead. If you win $100, cash out $50 and play with the rest, for example. After you lose a certain amount (determined by you in advance), don’t hesitate to quit. Go to the all-you-can-eat buffet and try your luck with the casino food; odds are it’s pretty good!

Choosing among nickel, quarter, and dollar machines

The machines that have the higher denominations usually give the best payouts. So, between the nickel and quarter slots, for example, the quarter slots generally give better payouts. However, you run the risk of getting in way over your head in a hurry, so don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. The bottom line: Always choose a level that you have fun playing at and that allows you to play for your full set time limit.

Deciding how many coins to play at a time

When deciding on the number of coins you should play per spin, keep in mind that more is sometimes better. If the slot machine gives you more than two times the payout when you put in two times the number of coins, for example, you should max it out instead of playing single coins because you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot, and the expected value is higher. If the machine just gives you k times the payout for k coins, it doesn’t matter if you use the maximum number of coins. You may as well play one at a time until you can make some money and leave so your money lasts a little longer.

For example, say a quarter machine pays 10 credits for the outcome 777 when you play only a single quarter, but if you play two quarters, it gives you 25 credits for the same outcome. And if you play the maximum number of quarters (say, four), a 777 results in 1,000 credits. You can see that playing four quarters at a time gives you a better chance of winning a bigger pot in the long run (if you win, that is) compared to playing a single quarter at a time for four consecutive tries.

The latest slot machine sweeping the nation is the so-called “penny slot machine.” Although it professes to require only a penny for a spin, you get this rate only if you want to bet one penny at a time. The machines entice you to bet way more than one penny at a time; in fact, on some machines, you can bet more than 1,000 coins (called lines) on each spin — $10 a shot here, folks. Because these machines take any denomination of paper bill, as well as credit cards, your money can go faster on penny machines than on dollar machines because you can quickly lose track of your spendings. Pinching pennies may not be worth it after all!