Slots

History

Since 1887 people have been putting their coins in the slot, pulling the handle and hoping they are going to be the one to win the jackpot. Charles Fey is the man we have to thank for this popular game. Charles Fey built the original slot machines by hand in the basement of his home and then rented them to local casinos in San Francisco, so not only was Charles Fey the inventor of slot machines he was also the first proprietor.

The original slot machines had different symbols on the reels than you see today; the images were hearts, diamonds, spades, bells, horseshoes and a star. The first slot machine was called The Liberty Bell. The original slot machines were operated with nickels. They worked basically the same as today's slot machines; you deposited a nickel in the slot, which would release the handle for the player to pull down. When a certain combination of symbols appeared the players was warded with coins.

Charles Fey teamed with the Mills Novelty Company in 1907 and updated his Liberty Bell slot machine. They introduced the Mills Liberty Bell slot machine. It had a cast iron case and cast iron feet with toes, later the feet were replaced with ornate decorated feet. The Mills Novelty Company then introduced the Operator Bell in 1910, which varied just slightly from the Liberty Bell. The Operator Bell had a gooseneck coin entry and had fruit symbols on the reels. This also had a cast iron case. In 1915 the Mills Novelty Company introduced slot machines with wood cabinets bringing an end to the cast iron slot machines.

During the 1930's the Mills Novelty Company began making additional to slot machines. The slot machines were referred to as "silent bell" because they were much quieter; they also had double jackpots to double player's chances of winning. The slot machines also started being designed with themes there was the Lion Head, War Eagle, Roman Head and Castle Front. The themed designs were quite memorable.

Slot machines gained quite a bit more popularity in the 1940's when Bugsy Siegel furnished his Flamingo Hilton Hotel with them for the wives and girlfriends of the high rollers.

Slot machines were originally made with three reels and some still are, however today's slot machines you see in casinos typically have four or five reels. The bad side of that is the more reels the more difficult your chance of winning the jackpot.

For a long time there was a certain way of pulling the handle down on the slot machines to win the jackpot, this has led to modifications made on the slot machines. Today the majority of slot machines are electronic and computer controlled, thanks to this cheating is pretty much a part of the past. This easy game and the chance to win a big jackpot make it quite appealing to everyone.

A Slot machine has three spinning reels with 22 positions per reel marked with symbols. Each time a spin is made, the three reels come to rest randomly with a selection of symbols showing in the game window. Certain combinations of symbols in the game window result in payoffs. The payoffs for the different winning combinations are shown in a window at the top of each Slot machine.

For some machines, like Rags to Riches you need to click on the Payout Table button to view the Payout Table.

Uk betting casino Slot machines operate like Slots machines found in the casinos throughout the world. The only difference, which is greatly favorable for the player, is that you can switch your coin value from $0.25 to $5 without changing to another machine!

Rules

Strategy

Today's' slot machines are a wonder of technology, working off custom designed computer programs that randomly select numbers and winning combinations. The odds and winning percentages are set by the manufacture and are calculated simulating the millions of spins made with computer.

Slots are basically mechanical devices that use 3, 4, 5 or more circular reels or varying sizes. The reels are marked or painted with symbols and or numbers. The most common symbols being Cherries, Bars, the Jackpot Symbol, and then of course there is the Number 7. Themed slot machines are increasing in popularity, and trade off a themed game such as Tomb Raider, or the American Flag and get painted red, white and blue.

There are a number of different kinds of slot machines that a player must be aware of before he can implement a winning strategy.

Three Reels vs. Four Reels - Everyone knows it is easier to get 3-of-a-kind than 4-of-a-kind, and much easier to line up 3 matching symbols or numbers than to match up 4! Players should therefore look for 3 reel machines when playing.

Progressive Slots - These Slots are usually 4-Reel machines, offering open-ended Jackpots that increases in value after each pull, on every machine that is linked in a group. The Top Jackpot is only won if the player has bet the maximum bet or played the maximum number of coins for that pull, and all the winning symbols line up in order on the pay-line. These Slots do not pay out very often. Player wanting to play should pick a slot whose Primary and Secondary Jackpots are at a high level.

2-Coin vs. 3-Coin Machines - On a 2-Coin slot machine, the 2nd-coin play will pay a whole lot more than just double the 1-coin Jackpot for the Top Jackpot (perhaps even the Top 2 or 3 Jackpots!) ie: Playing on a 2-coin machine, the Top Jackpot payoff is three 7's, paying $1000. Playing only 1 coin, the same 3- 7's pays only $400 . The 3-Coin machine will show much higher payoffs for the top jackpots with the three coins played. However,... 3-Coin machines might look much better in their payoff than 2-Coin machines, but this is not the case as players also need to be more to get this, and so also end up losing more! Warning: Players must know the Golden Rule when playing progressive Slots: whatever slot is being played - play the maximum number of coins. If a player hits the jackpot and only bet 1 coin on a 4-coin machine... think about it....

One Payline vs. Three Paylines - The payline is usually the marked center line in most Slots. Winning symbols or numbers must line up on this line and this line only to make up a winning combination. However, some Slots play with 3 paylines - top, center and bottom of the screen - and any winning combination falling on any of the paylines will pay out. Players should therefore look for machines with multiple paylines to increase their chances of winning - by even getting double and triple payouts when winning combinations happen on a top and middle payline, for instance! The payouts are not large though, and the Top Jackpot is only paid out when a winning combination is lined up in the correct order on the bottom, or third payline. Three-Payline machines are also usually 3-coin machines, making play more "expensive", and then some Slots have 5, 7 and even 9 paylines - basically meaning that players must play up to 9 coins a pull to be eligible for the Top Jackpot. But...hey... it's fun. Then again, there is another little rule : stick to playing 2-Coin, 3-Reel, 1-Payline Slots.

Double-Up Symbols - Many Slots are now also making use of fabulous Double-Up symbols on their reels! These symbols, usually a circle or a diamond in a circle, and with the words "Double" across them, inform the player that the payoff has now doubled and that the symbol can be substituted for any other on the reel. Casinos obviously do not carry many of these Machines and when they do, the Machine is usually in the murky somewhere of the casino and surrounded by bad machines.

Probability

This is a typical three reel Slot machine, designed in the same way similar multi-payline machines work in the casinos. The paytable for this game is as follows.

Center Payline Pays Three bars 5000 Three cherries 1000 Three plums 200 Three watermelons 100 Three oranges 50 Three lemons 25 Any two cherries 10 Any one cherry 2

There seems to be always 22 actual stops on each reel of a Slot machine. The following table shows the symbol on each stop as well as the weight.

Weight Table Symbol Reel 1 Reel 2 Reel 3 Cherry 3 2 1 Blank 2 3 3 Plum 3 2 2 Blank 2 3 3 Watermelon 3 3 2 Blank 2 3 3 Orange 4 3 3 Blank 2 3 3 Lemon 4 3 3 Blank 5 5 8 Bar 4 3 1 Blank 5 5 7 Cherry 2 2 1 Blank 2 3 3 Plum 3 2 1 Blank 2 3 3 Watermelon 3 2 2 Blank 2 3 3 Orange 3 2 3 Blank 2 3 3 Lemon 4 3 3 Blank 2 3 3 Total 64 64 64

There are two interesting things to note at this point. First notice that the first reel is weight the most generously and the third is the least. For example the bar has 4 weights on reel 1 and only 1 weight on reel 3. Second notice the high number of blanks directly above and below the bar symbol. This results in a near miss effect.

Most of the symbols occur twice on the reel, and the blank 11 times. The following table shows the total number of weights of each kind of symbol.

Total Weight Table Symbol Reel 1 Reel 2 Reel 3 Bar 4 3 1 Cherry 5 4 2 Plum 6 4 3 Watermelon 6 5 4 Orange 7 5 6 Lemon 8 6 6 Blank 28 37 42 Total 64 64 64

Given the two table of weights and the paytable it only takes simple math to calculate the expected return. Following are the specific probabilities of each paying combination. Note that each virtual reel has a total of 64 stops so the total number of possible combinations is 643 = 262,144.

• 3 Bars: 4*3*1/262,144 = 0.000046
• 3 Cherries: 5*4*2/262,144 = 0.000153
• 3 Plums: 6*4*3/262,144 = 0.000275
• 3 Watermelons: 6*5*4/262,144 = 0.000458
• 3 Oranges: 7*5*6/262,144 = 0.000801
• 3 Lemons: 8*6*6/262,144 = 0.001099
• 2 Cherries: (5*4*62 + 5*60*2 + 59*4*2)/262,144 = 0.008820
• 1 Cherry: (5*60*62 + 59*4*62 + 59*60*2)/262,144 = 0.153778

The average return of the machine is the dot product of the above probabilities and their respective payoffs:

0.000046*5000 + 0.000153*1000 + 0.000275*200 + 0.000458*100 + 0.000801*50 + 0.001099*25 + 0.008820*10 + 0.153778*2 = 0.94545 .

Thus for every unit played the machine will return back 94.545%.

Here are 9 tips to help you increase your chances of winning at online Slots.

1. Set your bankroll

As slot machines are a game of chance set your bankroll in advance when it's gone it's gone its easy to get caught up in the excitement of playing online Slots but be disciplined.

While you should have loss cut off point have a profit one to so you can quit while you're ahead and enjoy your winnings.

2. Know Your Machine:

There are many players who play and then realize they have not played the right amount of coins for best payout, don't make this mistake.

3. Go for highest payback possible

It's a game of chance; so, get the biggest payback you can when playing online slot machines.

The player has a far better chance of winning on online Slot machines when payback percentages are bigger.

Online casinos payback between 75 - 97%.

Look for casinos that have online Slot machines with payouts of 97% - Its simple these machines payout more, so your chances of winning are greater.

4. Play maximum coins at all times

Payback percentages on online Slot machines are calculated to include jackpot amounts.

Jackpots, are only paid on maximum coins played and that's the incentive to play maximum coins

As online Slots are a game of chance your after the jackpot, that's the fun of it all and some of these jackpots can be life changing so play maximum coins and dont miss out.

5. Don't play online progressive Slot machines on a small bankroll

Payouts on progressives are much lower than on regular slot machines, as the jackpots and chances of winning are much less.

These machines payout million plus jackpots, so you should not play them if you're just after a bit of fun as they consume bankroll quickly, dont payout often - those jackpots have to be paid for!

6. Single pay line machines Are Good

If you have small bankroll, these online Slot machines are less expensive to play.

You can play for longer and you still have the chance of winning a jackpot as well so great for casual players.

7. Play only two coin or three coin machines

Your money will last longer on a two coin max online Slot machine, than on a three coin max machine.
You will be able to play and have the thrill of pursuing the jackpot for longer - Keep in mind it's the thrill of playing for the jackpot that attracts people to Slots.

Ok you might not win but you will have a lot of fun and that's what online Slot machines are all about.

If you don't want to just have fun and really want to have fun then there is one online Slot machine you can play where if you play with the correct strategy the odds are in your favor

Discover Video poker!

8. Play Video Poker

They are online Slot machines that if you play correctly you can win, as you can put the odds in your favor by playing with strategy.

Not only can you get the odds in your favor, you also get great visuals and an engaging game as the graphics are so good.

Each machine has its own optimum strategy and if you play with it and there are plenty of pre printed cards on the net for you to use as reference and play correctly and you can end up making consistent profits over time.