Casino Slot Odds
Generally slots odds are expressed in the form of a payback percentage. The closer to 100%, the better for players. Some machines even pay back at percentages greater than 100%, giving the lucky players who find them a positive expectation for winning. These 'loose slots' are frequently mixed into the sea of machines on a casino gaming floor. The odds of getting any combination on the slot reels are easy to calculate if you know the number of symbols used on each reel. Let's take a closer look at the odds and consider an example: If you have to make a line of 3 diamonds on one payline to win the jackpot, it is most likely that each reel has only one diamond symbol on it.
Slots machines, as games of chance (rather than skill), are generally more about having fun than they are about making money.
Slots are almost entirely down to chance, meaning there is very little strategy involved, and every player has the same odds of winning. You simply spin the reels and hope to match symbols along. Casino management has that information, but players never have access to that info. The best slot machine odds are almost always found in real casinos. If you see slot machines in an airport or a bar, be aware that the payback percentages on those games is much lower than you’ll see in a real casino. How to Win at Slot Machines. For example, the Slot Chart in Casino Player magazine and reports by the Nevada Gaming Control Board do not isolate just reeled slots but consider all electronic games a 'slot.' Therefore my return percentages should not be expected to agree with those reported by the casinos or regulators.
However, there are things you can do to maximize your wins and minimize your losses. For example, by calculating a slot machine’s payout percentage, you can obtain a larger picture idea of how much money you stand to win back. Other tactics include using effective bankroll management techniques, joining a slots club to benefit from its rewards programs, and more.
What Are the Odds of Winning on a Slot Machine?
Slot machine odds used to be easy to calculate. When you’re dealing with three reels, ten symbols on each reel, and a limited pay table, then it’s just a simple math problem. But the rise of electromechanical slot machines and (later) video slots added some complexity to the situation.
How Probability Works
Probability has two meanings. One is the likelihood of whether or not something will happen. The other is the branch of mathematics that calculates that likelihood. To understand the odds as they relate to slot machines (or any other gambling game), you have to understand the basic math behind probability.
Don’t worry though. The math isn’t hard. Probability involves addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, all of which you learned in middle school.
The first principle of probability is that every event has a probability of between 0 and 1. If something has no chance of ever happening, then its probability is 0. If something will always happen, no matter what, then its probability is 1.
Probability is, therefore, always a fraction. It can be expressed in multiple ways, as a decimal, as a fraction, as a percentage, and as odds.
A simple example is a coin flip. The probability of getting heads when you flip a coin is 50%. That’s common sense, but how is it determined mathematically?
You simply take the total number of possible outcomes, and divide the outcome you’re trying to determine the probability of it by that number. There are two possibilities when flipping a coin, heads or tails, but only one of them is heads. That’s 1 divided by 2, which can be expressed as ½, 50%, 0.5, or 1 to 1 odds.
Odds are expressed as the number of ways something won’t happen versus the number of ways that something will happen. For example, if you’re rolling a single six-sided die, and you want to know the odds of rolling a six, you’re looking at 5 to 1 odds. There are five ways to roll something other than a six, and only one way of rolling a six.
When you want to determine the probability of multiple things happening, you use addition or multiplication, depending on whether you want to determine whether one OR the other event will occur, or whether you want to determine whether one event AND the other event will occur.
If you’re looking at an “OR” question, you add the probabilities together. If you’re looking at an “AND” question, you multiply the probabilities by each other.
So if you want to know what the probability of rolling two dice and having one or the other come up with a six, you add the probabilities together. 1/6 + 1/6 = 2/6, which is rounded down to 1/3.
If you want to know the probability of rolling two dice and having BOTH of them come up six, you multiply the probabilities. 1/6 X 1/6 = 1/36.
How Slot Machine Odds USED to Work
Early slot machines were mechanical devices. They had three metal reels that had ten possible stops each.
To calculate the odds of a single symbol appearing on a reel, you just divide the one symbol by the total number of potential outcomes. So if you had one cherry on a reel, your odds of hitting that cherry were 1/10, or 10%.
To calculate the odds of getting three cherries, you multiple 1/10 X 1/10 X 1/10 and get 1/1000, or 0.1%.
If the odds of hitting that symbol are the same as all the others, then you have 10 possible jackpots you can win, which means that your chances of winning SOMETHING are 10/1000, which is 1%.
Most people wouldn’t play a slot machine that lost 99 times out of 100, though, so slot machine designers added additional, smaller prizes for getting two symbols out of three for certain symbols. And as long as they paid out less in prizes than the odds of hitting those jackpots, then those slots are guaranteed to make a profit in the long run.
For example, if a prize for hitting three cherries was $1000, you’d be playing a break-even game, but if the prize were $750, it’s easy to see how the casino would be guaranteed a profit. The difference between the odds of winning and the payout odds is where the casino makes its money.
How Slot Machines Work Now
Modern slot machines use a computer program called a random number generator to determine the outcomes of the various spins of the reels. This creates an imaginary reel with a number of symbols limited only by the program in question.
A mechanical slot machine with 256 symbols per reel would be huge, too large to play, much less to build. But a computer can create an imaginary reel with 256 symbols per reel and take up no more space than an iPod Shuffle.
To make things even more interesting and entertaining, slot machine designers can program different probabilities for each symbol to come up. Most symbols might come up once every 256 spins, but others might come up twice as often, while still others might only come up half as often.
This enables slot machine designers and casinos to offer slot machine games with far larger jackpots than they were able to when they were limited by mechanical reels. And they’re able to offer these large jackpots and still generate a healthy profit.
How Does This Relate to Payback Percentages?
The payback percentage is the amount of money that the slot machine is designed to pay out over an enormous number of spins. This number is almost always less than 100%. The difference between 100% and the payback percentage is the house edge, and that’s where the casino makes its profits.
A simple example can help illustrate how this works. Suppose you have a slot machine with three reels with ten symbols on each, and it only pays out when three cherries hit. The odds of winning that jackpot, as we determined earlier, is 1/1000.
If we set the jackpot as $900, and charge $1 per bet, the payout percentage for that game will be 90%, or $900/$1000. Of course, no one would play a slots game which only paid out once in every 1000 spins, which is why there are various smaller payouts programmed in.
There’s no way to tell what the payback percentage on a particular game is unless you have access to the par sheet for that machine. Casino management has that information, but players never have access to that info.
The best slot machine odds are almost always found in real casinos. If you see slot machines in an airport or a bar, be aware that the payback percentages on those games is much lower than you’ll see in a real casino.
How to Win at Slot Machines
Everyone would like to know how to win at slots, but the truth is that winning at slot machines isn’t any harder than losing at slot machines. You put your money in the machine, spin the reels, and hope for the best. Slot machines are meant to be fun; they’re not intended to provide the player with an income.
In fact, the reality is just the opposite. Slots are there to provide the casino owners with an income. How that works is one of the subjects of this page.
On the other hand, you can minimize your losses and increase your enjoyment of slots games by understanding how they work. You can also learn which slots pay back the most money. In the long run, the house will still have an edge over you, but understanding how much you can expect to lose in a given venue can help you make better bankroll management decisions.
In fact, it might be a good idea to modify you definition of “winning at slots”. Instead of considering yourself a winner if you bring home a big profit, consider yourself a winner any time you played and had a lot of fun.
How Slots Work
All slot machines in modern casinos use a random number generator (an “RNG) to determine the results of each spin. An RNG is a tiny computer that does nothing but constantly generate numbers. When you push the spin button, that microcomputer selects a number which determines the outcome. In fact, this happens before the reels have even stopped spinning.
On modern slot machines, the reels are just there for show. From a practical standpoint, you could put a quarter in a machine, push a button, and have the screen flash: “You lose!” or “You win $10”. The mechanism that determined the outcome would be the same, but who would want to play a game like that, especially if you know that the house has a mathematical edge over the player.
The spinning reels, the sound effects, and the bonus games are all there to make the game more interesting to play. If you don’t like the artwork, the music, or any other aspect of a slots game, don’t bother playing it, because those are the real rewards of playing. The chance of getting lucky and winning a jackpot is a real reward, too, but don’t ignore the other aspects of the game.
The random number generator is programmed to pay back a certain percentage of the money paid into it over a period of time. This period of time is known in gambling math as “the long run”, and it’s a lot longer than most people think. We’re talking about tens of thousands of spins, not dozens or hundreds.
This percentage that’s programmed into these machines is always less than 100%. If a slots game were programmed to pay back more than 100% of the money put into it, it would lose money for the casino.
Casinos aren’t in business to lose money.
The trick is to find slot machines that have the highest payout percentages.
Which Slots Pay Back the Most Money
If every slot machine game in the world had a payback percentage posted on the machine somewhere, it would be easy to determine which slots pay back the most money. You could limit your play to machines with a payback percentage of over 95% for example.
It’s too bad casinos don’t provide that information on specific games, though.
You can find information about specific locations and their payback percentages, though. Some gambling guides and magazines publish this information. For example, The American Casino Guide provides certified information about the payout percentages in various states. Not all states reveal this information, but it’s not a huge leap of logic to expect better payback percentages in states that do reveal this information.
For example, the overall payback percentage for slots in Black Hawk, Colorado is 92.8%. In Central City, Colorado, it’s 92.93%, and in Cripple Creek, it’s 93.66%. Alabama doesn’t release the numbers on their payback percentages.
Which casinos do you think offer the better game?
A couple of guidelines hold true no matter where you play, though. One of those is that payouts are better in large cities with lots of gambling. For example, the payouts in Vegas are higher overall than the payouts in Colorado. And the payouts improve when you play for higher stakes. For example, penny slots in Vegas average around 88% to 91%, but dollars slots average between 93% and 96%. Finally, slot machines at airports usually offer the lowest payouts.
What does that mean for the player? It means that over the long run, if you wager $x on a particular game, you’ll win back $x times the payback percentage for that machine. If you’re playing a dollar slot machine on the Strip in Las Vegas, for example, and the payout percentage is around 93%, then if you place $10,000 in wagers, you’ll win back $9300. You lost $700.
That’s only a long term mathematical expectation, though. In the short run, anything can happen, and that’s what keeps people playing.
How to Maximize Your Winnings and Minimize Your Losses
There are three ways to maximize your winnings and minimize your losses. The first is to always join the slots club, and always use your member card while you play. Slots club members get a percentage of their play returned to them in the form of casino rewards and cash back. This is normally a tiny percentage (think 0.1% or 0.2%), but it adds up, especially if you play a lot.
Don’t buy into the myth that playing with your slots club card lowers your expected return on the game, either. That’s not true. The random number generator in these games has no way of knowing whether or not you’re using your slots club card or not.
The second way to increase your winnings and minimize your losses is to use effective bankroll management techniques. This means limiting the amount of time that you play, limiting the amount of money that you’re willing to lose in any session and in any given gambling trip, and finding other fun things to do with your time besides just playing the slots.
Finally, try to play the machines with the highest payout percentage. Over the long run, if you keep playing, you’ll probably eventually wind up a loser at the slots (unless you hit a huge progressive jackpot), but you’ll lose your money more slowly and get more entertainment value for the money you gambled.
Las Vegas Casino Odds — What to Play and What to Avoid?
If you want to go to the Entertainment Capital of the World, you should definitely check the best and the worst Las Vegas casino odds first. The thing about odds is that they are not actually connected to casinos, but rather individual games.
In other words, you won’t find the best odds in Vegas by playing in a specific casino, but by playing specific games. However, before we proceed to talk about those games, let’s dwell on the notion of “odds” for a bit.
How Are Odds Determined?
Odds are a term that we usually use in sports betting. In the casino industry, we talk about the “house edge.” Therefore, speaking of Las Vegas casino odds means exploring which games have the lowest house edge in general.
But what exactly is the house edge? Simply put, it’s the amount of money that casino earns from players playing a game. Games with the best odds in Vegas usually have the lowest house edge.
For example, if the house edge of a casino game is set to 5%, the casino should win overall $5 for every $100 that players bet in it. The remaining $95 return to players via prizes in those games. Therefore, it’s only logical that we seek those games that have the smallest house edge.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the games that offer the best odds in Vegas.
Blackjack — 1% House Edge
Blackjack is probably the only game that has the lowest house edge of all, according to the majority of experienced casino players. Although it is essentially a game of chance, many players are able to insert the element of skill in it. How so?
Indian Casino Slot Odds
If you play blackjack with just basic knowledge, the house edge can be quite high. However, this card game is so popular that blackjack professionals came up with a unique strategy that helps players alway play the best possible hand. That way, the house edge is lowered to as little as 1%.
In other words, if you manage to stick to the strategy, you will be able to get some of the best Las Vegas casino odds in this game.
One cannot speak of blackjack without mentioning the infamous card counting. This technique could lower the house edge even more. However, it’s something that is not really allowed in casinos. Although it is technically legal to count cards, casinos reserve the right to ask you to leave if they think you’re applying this strategy to blackjack.
Craps – 1.4% House Edge
Although much more complicated than blackjack, craps is very similar to it when it comes to the house edge. Since there are so many bets in this game, you need to be very specific if you want to make craps have one of the best odds in Vegas. Just like blackjack, you need to adhere to a specific play strategy so as to get the most out of this game.
European Roulette – 2.8% House Edge
Roulette is definitely one of the most popular games in casinos all over the world. There’s something special about that wheel that makes many players fall in love with this game. Las Vegas casino odds for roulette may differ depending on the type you choose to play.
At the moment, the two most popular variants of roulette are European and American. The only major difference between the two is that American roulette has two zero fields on the wheel, whereas the European variation has only one.
It turns out that zeros make all the difference in roulette. Once you start making 50/50 bets such as red/black, 1-18/19-36, odd/even and more, you will realize that the chances of winning are not 50%. Simply put, if the ball lands on 0, you lose either way. But when there are two zeroes, the possibility to lose even bets is even higher. The zero field is the house edge.
If you follow roulette betting strategies and manage your bankroll properly, you will be able to achieve a house edge of 2.8% in European roulette. The lowest possible edge in American variants is 5.2%.
Therefore, players who want to go for the best Las Vegas casino odds shouldn’t take European roulette out of the equation.
Best Casino Slot Odds
Let’s take a look at the games with the worst odds.
What Las Vegas Casino Odds Are the Worst?
Blackjack, roulette, and craps have the best odds in Las Vegas. This list should also include games such as baccarat and Pai Gow poker, as they can also be very rewarding if your luck is backed by sufficient skill.
However, some games don’t have a house edge that is as low as in blackjack.
Slot Machines
Slots are the most diverse type of game in Las Vegas, meaning they can offer a wide variety of odds to players. Some are more rewarding than others, as their house edge starts at 3% and goes up to 20%. Needless to say, when choosing the best possible slot, it’s best that you go for ones that have a lower house edge.
Keno
Keno is a super-entertaining game, but it definitely doesn’t have the best odds in Vegas. On the contrary, many consider keno to be the worst in terms of the house edge, as it varies from 20% to 40%. Therefore, unless you really like keno, you should be careful when playing this casino game.
Conclusion: Fun Comes First
Las Vegas casino odds are not as important as entertainment. After all, if you’re not lucky, the odds cannot help you that much, even if you apply the best possible strategy.
Most of the games in Sin City are games of chance. That fact alone plays a huge role in the industry and brings casinos in Vegas millions of dollars in annual revenue. Unless you cheat, it’s impossible to gain the edge over casinos. Therefore, it’s important that you have fun, test your luck, and know when to stop. Once these three are taken into account, you are ready for your Vegas journey!
Casino Slot Odds
06 Feb 2020 Adam Shaw 1 Comments
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