Best Strategies for Online Slots

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Jul 27, 2023 13 min read Last updated Nov 29, 2023

Many casino players often wonder, is there a strategy to playing slot machines? These games have fascinated people for years, with many players desperately trying to crack the code and work out how to beat them.

Unfortunately, there’s no surefire way to win on these games of chance when playing at an online casino, and they are notorious for their random payouts. However, there are aspects of slots strategy that can set you up to have a better chance of winning.

In this definitive guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about slot machine payouts and the different types of slots on the market. We’ll also discuss some key aspects of slot games that you need to know. Once you’ve got a firm understanding of how these games work and the best ways to play them, you can improve your enjoyment of the games and maximise your chances of making a return.

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Understanding Slot Machine Payouts

One of the best ways to get the hang of slot games is to use some free online slots so you can get used to the way they pay out for wins. We’ve got a comprehensive guide for you to read on free slots, but here are a few of the basics that you need to know as well:

• The objective of slot games is to land a specific combination of symbols on the paylines to win a payout.
• Payouts are determined by the slot machine's paytable, which lists the winning combinations and their corresponding rewards.
• The paytable also shows the value of each symbol, indicating how much you win for matching different symbols on a payline.
• Paylines are the lines across the reels where winning combinations must land to receive a payout.
• Traditional slot machines usually have a single payline running horizontally across the centre of the reels, but modern ones can have multiple paylines in various patterns. Indeed, Megaways games can have more than 100,000 paylines!
• Some slots have fixed paylines, meaning you must bet on all of them, while others allow you to choose how many paylines to activate.
• The payout amount depends on the type and number of symbols you land on the active paylines.
• Some symbols may act as wilds, substituting for other symbols to form winning combinations and potentially increasing payouts.
• Scatter symbols are special icons that can pay out regardless of their position on the reels, often triggering bonus features.
• Some slots feature progressive jackpots, where a small portion of each bet contributes to a growing jackpot that can be won by landing a specific combination or at random.
• The Return To Player (RTP) percentage represents the long-term expected payout percentage of a slot machine. For example, an RTP of 95 percent means that, on average, the machine returns 95 coins for every 100 wagered, although it's important to note that this is based on an average of thousands and thousands of spins, so it doesn't mean you will receive back $0.95 if you bet $1.

Tips for Choosing the Right Slot Machine

When playing online slots, here are a few handy tips for choosing a game:

1. Choose a game theme that appeals to you. The main point of playing slots is to have fun, so choose one that you want to play.
2. Make sure you understand a slot's features, including any bonus features.
3. Try a range of games to see which options suit your playing style and strategy.
4. Find out the minimum and maximum bet amounts. It's not great to find a slot game you like, only for the min. bet amount to be too high for your bankroll.

Bankroll Management Strategies

One of the most important strategies for playing slot machines is to manage your finances and make sure you don’t overspend. Here are our top tips for bankroll management:

• Set a Budget: Determine the amount of money you are comfortable spending on slots and consider it as your bankroll. Only use disposable income, and never gamble with money meant for essentials like bills or savings.
• Divide Your Bankroll: Split your bankroll into sessions or sessions within sessions if you plan to play for an extended period. This helps you avoid spending your entire bankroll too quickly.
• Bet Wisely: Decide on a reasonable bet size that allows you to play for a decent amount of time without depleting your bankroll too fast. A common rule of thumb is to bet no more than 1-2% of your total bankroll per spin.
• Set Win and Loss Limits: Decide on a winning threshold at which you'll stop playing and cash out your profits. Additionally, set a loss limit to determine when you'll quit playing to avoid significant losses.
• Take Breaks: Don't play for extended periods without breaks. Taking breaks can help you refresh your mind and prevent impulsive decisions when you're on a losing streak.
• Utilize Bonuses and Promotions: Some online casinos offer bonuses and promotions. Just make sure you read and understand the terms and conditions before using them. Use these offers to your advantage, but don't let them start reckless gambling behaviour.

Basic Slot Machine Strategies

In this section, you’ll find a breakdown of all the key facets of slot games that you need to know about. Understanding these things will help you choose a slot machine and a playing strategy that works for you. If you want a more detailed guide on online slots, check out this article aimed at beginners and experts of the game.

RTP
RTP stands for return to player. It’s listed as a percentage in the slot game’s info, and it’s something that you should always check before playing. It’s a theoretical figure that dictates how much a game has to pay out. For example, if the RTP is 96 percent, a game should pay the player back 96 coins for every 100 spent on average. Of course, these payouts will happen randomly so there is no way of knowing when a slot will drop.

Volatility
RTP combines with volatility to determine how frequently a slot will pay out. Low-volatility slots offer smaller wins that you can expect to come more regularly, while high-volatility slots have the potential for high payouts but less frequently. Medium volatility games land somewhere in the middle.

Multipliers
Multipliers are special features of symbols that increase the value of a winning combination and lead to a higher payout. These usually occur during the game’s special features.

Bonus Rounds
Bonus rounds are side features of slot games that give you the chance to win higher payouts. Most online slots come with a free spins bonus, while many come with additional features as well.

Wilds
Wilds are special symbols that can replace other symbols on paylines to generate wins. They are usually the most important symbols in the game and can also sometimes trigger bonus features.

Advanced Slot Machine Strategies

The best strategy for maximizing your chances of returns on online slots is to search for bonus offers at a range of online casinos and use them to your advantage. Many sites now offer free spins on selected slot games for new players. By playing these titles at maximum stakes, you could win without having to invest any of your own money.

But what else is there to try when you're spinning the reels? Here are some more advanced slots strategies to consider:

Note that these online slot strategies work best with games that have a low volatility since you will have to adjust the size of the bet as you go.

Levels Betting

The most popular slots strategy uses steps to determine the size of the bet. You start by setting the size of a bet unit. This should be around 1% of your available bankroll for the session. You start by betting one unit and you increase the level after five consecutive losses. Each level should be worth five units.
For example, if we are betting $1 per spin and we lose five in a row, we increase the level and start betting $5. If we lose another five rounds in a row, the next level will be at 10 units, so we are now betting $10 per spin. After a win, we reset to the initial betting level and start the process all over again.
The goal with this strategy for winning at slots is to win back our losses. By increasing the bet, we can receive a larger payout when landing a winning combination. Plus, if we trigger the free spins mode on a higher level, the profits will be significant. The risk is that a dry run will result in a large bet that is difficult to sustain.
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Fixed Percentage Betting

This strategy requires players to be more involved with every win, so having a calculator close by is recommended. Instead of changing the size of the bet based on won or lost rounds, the system has a fixed bet determined as a percentage of the available balance. Using 5% can be convenient, but we prefer staying safe and only betting 3%.
So, let’s say that we start with $100, which means our first bet is 3%. We spin the reels and we win $13. Now that we have $110 available, we increase the bet to $3.30, or which betting option is available. Not all slot machines allow for very precise bets. We continue with the strategy until we end the session.
When learning how to win at slots, this optimizer strategy is great for taking advantage of hot games that are paying well above average. You get to increase the bet size and thus take advantage of the streak. Moreover, the system can even be beneficial during losing streaks since you reduce the bet to limit the amount of money lost. The drawback is that it can be difficult to apply and can take some of the fun out of the session.

Martingale Betting System (with a limit)

The Martingale betting system is one of the best strategies for games with even money payouts. However, since slots don’t exactly fit in this category, we suggest using a slightly modified Martingale system by adding a maximum limit. As a result, learning how to win at slots with Martingale remains simple and straightforward.
With this betting strategy, you are doubling the bet after each loss and then resetting the stake after a win. We only recommend going up to 16 times the original bet in order to avoid reaching an unaffordable stake. After a winning round, you should reset the bet to the starting amount.

Progressive Jackpot Strategy

When playing progressive jackpot slots, it is wise to adopt a different strategy. Most casino jackpot slots have a low RTP if we take the rare prizes out of the equation. Despite the fact that jackpot slots generally have a low RTP (once you remove the rare prizes), the size of the prizes on offer means that they are appealing to all slots players.

First things first with a jackpot slot, is checking what you need to do to be eligible to spin:

• Typically, these games come with a slightly higher minimum bet level than other slots, or you may need to bet a certain amount before you have the chance to win the biggest prizes.
• Sometimes, the jackpot can only be won from the bonus round, and these can only be triggered at certain points in the game.
• Another eligibility factor is an opt-in for the jackpot itself, and this may require making additional bets of a certain size.

With these eligibility factors and any others you might find, your best option is always to game details or information before you commit to playing.

Another key aspect of playing progressive jackpot slot games is playing for a long time. Winning. a jackpot is a rare event, so you may find you need to commit to spinning for longer than usual. In these scenarios, it is critical to ensure you have the necessary bankroll to make your bets, but never spend more than you intend to, and take regular breaks.

Our last word on jackpot slots is to start small. make the smallest bets you can initially, and build up over time. The jackpot is growing all the time on these games, and you are more likely to win with a larger bet, so you might need to wait until the prize has already reached an impressive level.

Practice Slots for Free Online

If you want to get the hang of slot games and how they work, we highly recommend playing some free games first. There are numerous social casinos that offer free slot games that you can play with Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins. Our top-rated option is LuckyLand Slots.

Play Online Slots for Real Money

Once you’ve got a feel for playing online slots for free, you may be ready to move on to playing for real money. There are loads of online casinos that offer free spins to new players, and we highly recommend that you take advantage of these. Here's a couple of the best:

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Online Slot Strategy FAQs

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