How to Win at Video Slots

One of the most popular questions asked by slot players is "how do you win at slots?"

It makes sense to ask the question. After all, we have all seen the stories of the player that won a million dollar jackpot playing slots. We all want to experience that win, or at least give yourself the best chance of winning at slots

So, is it possible to win at slots?

The most important point to take home is that slots are designed so that they make money from players and there is no way to swing the odds in your favor so that you are more likely to win, rather than lose.

But, on the other hand it is possible to win (if you have good luck) and also, when you play slots, it is possible to maximize your chances of winning

Best strategy to improve your chance of winning a jackpot

When you play slots, you are basically buying into entertainment. There really is no point playing slots in a bid to make money. There are no professional slot players in the US, just like there are no professional lottery players.

You play for the fun and excitement, not to make money

1 - Look to see if you need to "max bet" to win a jackpot

Online video slots with jackpots are very possible. But, if you look at the small print on the game rules, you might find that you need to bet the maximum number of lines at the maximum bet per line to stand a chance of winning the progressive jackpot.

Playing max bet can be very expensive and if you play max bet, you may lose your money very quickly. The result can be that you don't get the amount of playing time (entertainment) that you were expecting

So, if you are playing for jackpots, you might want to look out for games where you can still win the jackpot when you play minimum bet

Examples of slots where you can win the jackpot on minimum bet include the Penny Parade games made by WMS and online, the Jackpot Party Mystery Progressives

In general, most machines that offer "Mystery" or "Random" jackpots give you the chance to win the jackpot on minimum bet. But, you need to look at the playing rules to check for yourself

Another good range of slots for winning jackpots on low bets

2 - Find yourself slot machines with a high "payback percentage"

Something that is very difficult to do in a Las Vegas casino, but is possible with many online casinos, is to find out how good a machine is at paying out

You can do this by looking for the average payout percentage. The higher this percentage is, the 'looser' the machine is. Basically, the nearer you get to 100%, the better.

As a general rule, you should not be playing any machine with a payback of less than 85% and you should be looking for slots that pay out over 90%.

If you are heading to a land-based casino, quite often you can't find this machine for individual slots, but you can sometimes find out the average slot payback for individual casinos

For example, slots in Downtown Las Vegas are most often set to pay back over 10% more than the slots on the Las Vegas Strip. This sort of difference really can make a big difference to the amount of entertainment you get for your money, but also, with regard to how likely you are to win

Also, in some casinos you might find blocks of machines with a big sign that reads "98% payout" - these machines are good ones to play and although you are still likely to lose, at least you have given yourself the best chance possible by playing a machine with a very good payout rate

Summary

Playing slots is about entertainment and they are NOT at all suitable as a method of making money. Slots are more fun when you win more often (or lose less often) - using the tips shown above, you will get the best bang for your buck