How To Use Probability To Win At Slots

It is usually taken for granted that slots are purely a luck – based game and there isn’t really much you can do to influence the odds of winning. What if we told you that there are actually some winning strategies that you can use and employ whilst playing on no deposit slots machines to increase your chances of winning?

On this page, we will go over some winning strategies to give you a basic idea of how they may help and how you can use them to customize your own winning strategy. The fact is that contrary to popular belief, there are winning strategies when it comes to slot machines, and here they are!

Random Number Generators – what are they?

Playing slots is incredibly easy, and that is part of the appeal of the game itself. All you do is simply pull the lever or hit the button to set the reels spinning. Then you wait and watch how the symbols land on the reels. If you happen to hit a winning combination then you are in luck! With a mechanical slot machine, the outcome is random implicitly. However, when it comes to virtual slot machines or online slot machines, algorithms known as Random Number Generators (RNG) are used to ensure that outcomes are in no way rigged by the casino and are actually random.

One of the considerations that random number generators take into account is that of the prior spin and outcome. The current spin is in no way influenced or connected to the outcome of the previous spin, it is completely independent of it.

Having said that, what you must note is that RNGs or random number generator algorithms are not that random at the end of the day when you consider that the probability of winning is preset. What this means is that the series of events that occur are random, but the probability of winning is pre-programmed or conditioned into the algorithm.

The odds of winning on a slot machine – what you need to know

One of the fundamental formulas you need to remember is the total number of symbols per reel to the power of the number of reels itself. What this gives you is the number of winning combinations.

For example, a three – reel slot with 6 winning symbols on each reel will have 6 * 6 * 6 = 216.

Now that you have the number of winning combinations, divide the number of winning combinations by the total number of all combinations

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Using a pair of slots to comprehend how you can increase your chances of winning while playing slots

For simplicity and the sake of comprehension, let us assume from this point onwards that all slot machines referred to have only one line and takes one coin per roll.

Now let us consider machine A – it has three reels and each reel has the following symbols – a grape, a pineapple, a papaya, a pear, a peach and a joker.

The payout chart has 4 different rows as follows:

  • Option 1: 30 coins for three jokers
  • Option 2: 10 coins for 2 of a kind fruits
  • Option 3: 4 coins for any pair of jokers
  • Option 4: 1 coin for any single joker

Given that there are three reels and 6 winning symbols, the total number of winning combinations are as follows – 6*6*6 = 216

Now that we know the total number of winning combinations, let us take a look at how easy it is to win in each of the four options specifically:

Option 1

Option 1 is what fetches you the biggest win with 30 coins. You need to hit three jokers to win big. There is no other option or combination, just this one. So the odds of winning this are pretty slim. However, if you go through this article and get an idea on how to pick a winning slot, you could just hit a big win sooner than later. A win this big, the biggest the slot offers can be worth millions of dollars depending on the bet size itself.

So, stay tuned and we will give you some insight into how to win big shortly.

Option 2

Option 2 is the second biggest possible win you can make at this slot. This win will fetch you 10 coins. To win the ten coins, you need a three of a kind fruits without using a joker. So, you must keep in mind that three different fruits won’t work. You will need the same fruit to appear on all three rows to hit this win. Therefore, if you got a peach in the first row, you will also need a peach in the second and a peach in the third as well.

Given that there are five fruits symbols only, there are only five combinations where in you can get a three of a kind fruits win. However, 5 is 5 times more than 1 and so your chances of winning option 2 are significantly better than option 1. Also, if you are familiar with how to pick a winning slot, you can further boost your chances of hitting such a high paying combination.

Option 3

The third winning option is where you can win 4 coins. In order to win option 3, you will need a pair of jokers. A pair is much easier than a three of a kind and more likely to transpire. In order to get a pair of jokers you could receive a joker on the first row and second, or the second and third, or the first and third, either way, it is a pair. However, the reel that doesn’t have a joker should have a fruit in order to win, and this is the caveat here which lowers your odds of winning option 3.

So, to calculate the total number of winning combinations here – it goes as follows – 1*1*5+1+5*1*1 = 15.

Option 4

The lowest paying option in this slot is 1 coin and is also the option with the highest odds of winning. To win option 4, what you need is just one joker on any one of the three reels. The caveat is that the other two non – joker bearing reels must have a at least one fruit on them each. As mentioned, this combination is pretty common and we can use the same formula to verify this.

Calculation is as follows (1 × 5 × 5 + 5 × 1 × 5 + 5 × 5 × 1 = 75).

Irrespective of which option or how much you win, in totality, there are 96 winning combinations in all (all four options included). So now, you have enough information to go ahead and plug in the numbers and calculate the payout percentage of the slot itself?

See the table below:

Winning CombinationsNo of winning combinationsCoins WonPayoff per CoinPayoff Percentage
3 jokers13030139.96
3 of a kind fruit5105023.27
2 jokers1546027.91
1 joker7517534.89

Now to calculate the total payout percentage of the slot itself:

Payout percentage = (1 * 30 + 5 * 50 + 15 * 4 + 75 * 1) ÷ 216 -> 215/216 = 0.9954 or 99.54 percent.

Now the question is, is a payout percentage of 99.54% good? For a slot, the answer is that it is better than the average for sure. But, if you don’t know how you came to that figure, you could be misguided into thinking it pays much more exorbitantly than in reality. However, you should know that the harder, higher paying combinations are given more weight.

If all were paid out at the same rate, the payout percentage would be 44.44% which means that the house has the edge. Out of a total 216 combinations only 96 are winning combinations, so the house has higher odds of winning in the long run.

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Did you know – slot machines have the highest house edge?

With a payout percentage of 44.44% if all winning combinations were paid out equally, you might be thinking – that’s not bad, you nearly have a 1 in 2 chance of winning each time. However, slots give the house the highest edge. For example, if a slot has a return to player of 98% you might think that you would win 98% of the time, but the reality is that 2% of every dollar you bet is paid to the house. In the long run, you could win big or lose big, but if you consider that total money paid out by the slot and the total money paid into the slot, the house is always going to end up a winner.

How to calculate house edge and why it is vital for winning strategies

Sometimes, you just don’t have all the info required to calculate the exact house edge. So, the players will have to rely on the publicly provided RTP. Most gaming boards have a regulation saying all slots should have at least a 73% return to the player. Small slot machines tend to be closer to this number than the bigger slot machines. This is why it would be advisable to skip the smaller paying, low roller bankroll and hit the larger slots if your pocket allows it. The bigger you go, the better your chances.

Published on: 2019/04/09

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