All about Slot Machines

Slot Machines are those lovely electronic, lights-flashing pieces of equipment that can be found in pubs, clubs, snooker halls and bars all over the world. They tend to be amazingly popular with people from all walks of life. The only snag with gambling on slot machines is that literally no one can agree on how they work. If you were to buy ten books on the subject, there would be variances and discrepancies in many areas. No set odds are available for slot machines, because each casino orders their machines with their own particular random payoff percentages.

So how can I win on slot machines?

Gaming expects today cannot even agree how the winning and losing selections are determined on any given slot machine. Two schools of thought represent when a winning hand is determined. The most common slot machine uses a microchip that has many random winning and losing combinations (4,294,967,296 different combinations, if you want the exact number). Some experts think the moment money is dropped into a slot machine the microchip selects a random combination. Other experts think once a player pulls the handle, or pushes a button to start the game, the random selection starts.

For people who think they are on winning or losing streaks or patterns, slot machines are nothing more than a random chance occurrence generator that people play to bet on the outcome. Having slot machines play patterns is impossible, because their outcome changes by using a microchip that randomly selects each game outcome. The odds of hitting two jackpots in a row are identical as hitting a second jackpot 500,000 games later. They pre-program the machines and over a period of many millions of outcomes, the machines will bring in much more money than they payout -- end of story!

No matter when the winning or losing combination is selected, slot machines are interesting gambling tools for casinos. Billions of dollars per year are collected in revenue throughout the United States alone from slot machines. It is really a matter of luck and random selection. These highly programmed machines are nothing more than a cash cow for the casinos. We should play slot machines as an amusement, not as an opportunity to make money.