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SLOT MACHINES YOU CAN WIN AGAINST Australia

SLOT MACHINES YOU CAN WIN AGAINST Australia

With a few exceptions, Las Vegas-style slot machines with random number generators were not designed to test your skills. There is no strategy you can use to overcome the casino's advantage.

In the long run, you can't win against the games. This could change as both traditional casinos and online casino operators try to reach out to the Millenial generation. The state of Nevada legalized skill-based electronic games in 2015, and some such games are expected to make their way into casino halls in 2016. In some international markets, skill is already part of the game. Japanese pachinko parlors offer so-called pachisuro games, a mix of slot machines and traditional pachinko, and with skillful play you can improve your score. Las Vegas is still the trendsetter in slot machines, however, and random number generator machines are designed to give casinos the edge. Some games that you can win against have nevertheless established themselves in the casino halls.

ACCUMULATED BONUSES

In the mid and late 1990s, there were a variety of games where you could collect coins or symbols on a video screen until you reached a trigger for a bonus win. Well-informed players could seek out machines that were close to reaching the trigger, and only play when the trigger was close enough to receive an advantage. Such games rarely exist today.

Occasionally, you can still find such games in legit online casino Australia with older equipment.

That's how they work:

 

Piggy Bankin:

This three-reel slot from WMS Gaming was the trendsetter for accumulated bonuses. Piggy Bankin' had a dotmation display above the mechanical reels. Whenever the reels showed three empty reels, a coin was added to the piggy bank animated with orange dots. Each time the jackpot symbol landed on the payline, an animated hammer smashed the piggy bank and the player received the amount displayed. It soon became clear that you had an advantage if you only played when there were already enough coins in the piggy bank.

 

Racing 7s:

Before IGT focused on video games, it had its "Vision Series" with colored LCD display in the top box. Racing 7s had red, white and blue sevens on a track. Each time a corresponding 7 landed on the pay line of the main game, the 7 with the corresponding color moved a little closer to the finish line. To get an edge, you could look for screens whose sevens were already close to the finish line and the bonus payout.

 

Fort Knox and Buccaneer Gold:

Silicon Gaming, which has already ceased operations, offered various games with accumulated bonuses.

At Fort Knox, you had an advantage if five numbers of a ten-digit code were already solved by spinning the reels. Once the entire code was solved, the vault opened for your bonus. The goal in Buccaneer Gold was to collect five daggers stuck in the ship's railing. If three or four daggers were already collected when you started the game, you had an advantage.

S&H Green Stamps:

This was the beginning of Bally Technologies in the field of accumulated bonuses. During the game you collected green tokens when they landed on the video reels. If you filled a book with 1,200 tokens, you could play a bonus game. The trick was to look for machines that already had 600 or more tokens in the book to get an edge. Casinos with new equipment no longer carry these games. Casinos with older machines can still find them. More important than the particular game, however, is that you understand that for games with accumulated bonuses that build up, you need to start near the end to increase your chances.

THE HUNT FOR THE JACKPOT

Over the years, some players have told me that they won against slots by looking for progressive jackpots that were larger than normal. This method works better in video poker, where the banker's advantage is smaller than in slots. Percentage payouts on slot games are already small enough that you can't overcome the casino's overall advantage even with oversized jackpots. However, if you always wait until the jackpot of a game has grown to a certain amount, you are playing a game with a smaller casino advantage than if you play for smaller amounts.

 

This method was revealed to me by a jackpot hunter:

She keeps a daily lookout and watches the jackpots of the various machines.

It notes the payout amounts of the observed machines when the jackpot is won.

After much research, she has an idea of the average jackpot size.

Then she only plays when the jackpot approaches that average. For example, if the jackpot builds up from $1,000 and her observation of dozens of jackpots shows that it pays out at about $2,500 on average, she only plays this game when the jackpot reaches $2,500 or more.

WARNING FOR JACKPOT HUNTERS

If you were going to play these games anyway, it doesn't hurt, but may bring something to postpone your play until the jackpot has exceeded a certain amount. However, winnings are not guaranteed.

If you know the average jackpot amount, this will not tell you the trigger point.

There is no guarantee that you will be the person to hit the jackpot.

Waiting until the jackpot reaches a certain amount does not increase your chances of winning the jackpot

Let's take a closer look at this. Imagine a game where the jackpot is usually hit at $2,500. However, unbeknownst to you, the jackpot has to reach $5,000 before the game's return reaches 100%. This means that even if you only start the game when the jackpot contains $2,500 or more, you are still playing a game where the casino has an advantage. Waiting only guarantees that your average payouts will be higher when you hit the jackpot than if you start the game at the base value.

So if you're on the hunt for jackpots, good luck. However, be aware that you can expect pitfalls as well as big wins.

SKILL-BASED BONUS GAMES

Although fully skill-based games have not yet been introduced in Nevada, there are games with skill-based bonuses. In recent years, these have included IGT's Centipedev, where your bonus game involves playing a version of the old arcade game, and GTECH's Zuma, which is based on a popular online game.

Although your skill makes a difference in these games, they are not machines you can win against. Even if you are a grandmaster at Centipede, the casino still has an advantage. With some regional differences, a maximum of 4% of a game's total payouts can be based on skill, and the casino's advantage is large enough that they are not profitable even if you get the entire 4%.

 

Most games are not based on strategy and therefore cannot be beaten in the long run.

Games with accumulated bonuses offer a way to get an edge when you see that you are already close to reaching the bonus.

Games with progressive jackpots may offer a chance of winning, but there is no guarantee.

Skill-based bonuses depend on your skills, but expertise does not give you an advantage in the games.

TEST YOURSELF

True or False: The casino gets an advantage in slot machines by blocking winning combinations.

How many possible combinations are there in a mechanical slot machine with three reels and 10 symbols per reel?

How many reel combinations are possible in modern slot machines with video reels or virtual reels?
A. 1 million | B. 10 million | C. As many as the game developer requires.

Do identical looking slot machines always offer the same percentage payouts?

True or False: Percentage payouts on slot machines are only "programmed" to adjust the odds of the game to achieve the desired percentage payout.

Does random mean that all symbols will show up on an equal number of spins?

Do long winning or losing streaks defy the game's winning probability?

With most slot machines, is there a chance to overcome the casino advantage and be consistently profitable?

What is an "accumulated bonus"?

Does waiting for a progressive jackpot to reach a certain amount increase your chances of hitting the jackpot?

Answers:

Wrong. The bank has an advantage in slot machines by paying out less than the actual odds.

In a mechanical slot game with three reels and 10 symbols per reel, there are 1,000 possible combinations.

  1. Slot machines can be programmed with any number of spaces on a virtual or video reel. So there can be as many combinations as the game developer needs.

No, identical looking slot machines do not always offer the same percentage payouts. You cannot determine the odds of a game by looking at the machine from the outside.

Correct. Percentage payouts on slot machines are only "programmed" so that the game's winning probabilities are set to achieve the desired percentage payout.

No. Results can be random, although the win probabilities are set so that some symbols appear more often than others.

No. Winning or losing streaks are part of normal probability.

No. Most slot machines do not offer a way to overcome the casino advantage and be consistently profitable.

An accumulated bonus is an event where you collect coins or symbols until you have enough to start the bonus game.

No. Waiting until a progressive jackpot reaches a certain amount does not increase your chances of winning the jackpot, but it does increase your average payout if you hit the jackpot.

 

 

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