One of the biggest fears for players who gamble at land-based or online casinos is to play against rigged slot machines. Granted people are also concerned about the prospect of being cheated at roulette, blackjack and baccarat, the prospect of rigged slots is looming larger. Yes, slot machines are rigged. However, they’re not rigged in the way you think they are In this post, I’ll explain how slot machines work, why you lose in the long-term, and I’ll give you some useful tips for beating slot machines more often.

• Are Indian Casino Slots Fixed
• Are Slot Machines Rigged Or Random

One of the most common questions you’ll see about anything in the casino gambling industry relates to “honesty”. You’ll see this question asked about every casino game under the sun. You’ll also see it asked about every casino, especially the online gambling sites.

In this post, I want to address this specific question:

Are slot machines honest?

How Do You Define Honest?

When I use Google to look for a definition of honesty, I see some of the following definitions listed:

• “Free of deceit and untruthfulness”
• “Sincere”
• “Morally correct or virtuous”
• “Fairly earned, through hard work”

I think most people are thinking of the first definition when they ask whether slots games are honest. They want to make sure they’re not being cheated. In this context, the answer is yes, slot machines are honest. I’ll explain why in detail in the rest of this post.

In the second context, where “honest” means “sincere”—I’m less sure. Are the casinos sincere when they want you to think you’re able to win money? I think so, but they know in the long run, anyone who plays slots long enough will lose all their money.

In the third and fourth contexts, I’d have to say that slot machines are NOT honest. Slot machines are closer to morally neutral than they are to sinful, but you might have a different belief system about such things. It’s hard to say that slots don’t appeal to one of the seven deadly sins, though (greed).

I’m not sure anyone could (or would) consider money won on a slot machine “earned” or to have anything to do with “hard work”. It’s a game of luck. If you win, then you got lucky—it has nothing to do with working hard or being smart.

I’ll explain more about that later in this post, too.

How a Slot Machine Works Mathematically

Answering the question “are slot machines honest?” begins with learning how the games work mathematically. The math behind the games is easier to understand than most people probably think.

The first concept to understand is basic probability. When someone says “probability”, they’re talking about the mathematical likelihood that something is going to happen. That “something” is called an event.

The probability of an event is always represented as a number between 0 and 1. An event that will always occur no matter what has a probability of 1. An event that will never occur has a probability of 0. An event that will occur half the time has a probability of 0.5.

For simplicity’s sake, and to make understanding the concept easier, I just used whole numbers and decimals in the previous paragraph. But probabilities are almost always expressed as percentages or fractions.

How to Express Probability as a Percentage

You’re watching the evening news, and the meteorologist says there’s a 50% chance of rain tomorrow.

That means it’s just about as likely to rain as it is to not rain.

Here’s another example:

You flip a coin. You have a 50% chance of it landing on heads. You also have a 50% chance of it landing on tails.

If you add the probabilities of all possible events together, you always get a total of 1 (or 100%).

Probability is the mathematical engine that makes gambling games possible.

How to Calculate a Probability

Here’s how you calculate a probability:

You take the number of ways an event can happen. You divide that by all the total events possible (including what can happen and what happens if it doesn’t.)

You’re rolling a single six-sided die. You want to know the probability of getting a 6.

There are 6 possible outcomes. Only one of them is a 6.

The probability of getting a 6 is 1/6.

Another way to express that is using odds, which can be useful when calculating whether a bet is expected to be mathematically profitable or not.

Odds expresses the number of ways something can’t happen versus the number of ways it can happen.

In the six-sided die example, the odds of getting a 6 are 5 to 1. You have 5 ways of NOT rolling a 1, and only 1 way of rolling a 1.

If you want to calculate a probability that includes the word “or”, you add the probabilities of the events together.

If you want to calculate a probability that includes the word “and”, you multiply the probabilities by each other.

You want to know the probability of getting a 1 or a 2 on a roll of a six-sided die. The probability of each is 1/6.

1/6 + 1/6 = 2/6

You can reduce that to 1/3.

Here’s another example:

You roll 2 dice. You want to know the probability of getting a 6 on both dice. The probability of each is 1/6.

1/6 X 1/6 = 1/36

Applying Probability to a Simple Hypothetical Slot Machine Game

But how does all this apply to the honesty of slot machines?

I’ll use a super simple hypothetical slot machine game to explain how this probability affects the integrity of the game.

This super simple game has 3 symbols on each reel—an orange, a lemon, and a cherry.

The probability of getting a lemon on the first reel is 1/3.

The probability of getting a lemon on the second reel is also 1/3.

In fact, it’s the same on each reel.

But the game only pays off if you get 3 of the same symbol on each reel.

The probability of that is 1/3 X 1/3 X 1/3, or 1/9.

Let’s suppose the payoff for getting 3 lemons is 4 for 1.

And let’s suppose the payoff for getting 3 cherries is 3 for 1.

Finally, we’ll suppose the payoff for getting 3 oranges is even money.

• The probability of winning 4 coins is 1/9.
• The probability of winning 3 coins is also 1/9.
• The probability of winning 1 coin is also 1/9.
• The probability of winning nothing is 6/9, or 2/3.

Now let’s suppose you’re putting $1 in on every spin, and you play 9 spins, getting every possible result once.

You win 4 coins once. You win 3 coins once. You win 1 coin once. That’s a total of 8 coins you’ve won.

But you’ve inserted 9 coins into the game.

Where did the extra coin go?

In the pockets of the casino, that’s where.

By setting up the payoffs so that they’re lower than the odds of winning, the casino sets up a situation where it’s guaranteed a mathematical profit over the long run.

Of course, most modern slot machines aren’t quite this simple. They have more symbols on each reel, for one thing. For another, the probability of getting a particular symbol might be different from the probability of getting another symbol.

For example, you might have a 2/3 probability of getting a pear, and only a 1/24 probability of getting a cherry.

What Happens in the Long Run vs. the Short Term?

By manipulating the payoffs and the probabilities of the symbols, the casino can guarantee that over a long period and many spins, they’ll profit.

But in the short run, a player might win a big jackpot or lose several times in a row.

That’s the nature of random events. In the short run, anything can happen. In the long run, the numbers get closer to the theoretical probability.

This is obvious when you look at it with an extreme example.

On an infinite number of spins, your average loss per spin will mirror the mathematical expectation.

The closer you get to an infinite number of spins, the closer you’ll get to the mathematical expectation.

Do Slot Machines Cheat?

The casinos don’t need to cheat to make a healthy profit.

The slot machine designers and manufacturers don’t need to cheat to make a healthy profit.

In fact, in well-regulated jurisdictions (like Nevada), games are thoroughly audited for fairness. When they’re auditing a game for fairness, one of the things they check is whether a game has a jackpot that’s impossible to win.

That’s the main concern many players have when they ask if slot machines cheat.

Does the game have jackpots that are impossible to win?

The short answer in almost every case is no, they don’t.

But you have no way of knowing what the probability of winning that jackpot is. Slot machine games have opaque odds and probabilities. The results are generated by a computer program called a random number generator (RNG).

The only people who know the exact settings for that RNG are the designers and the casino managers.

In fact, you could be playing two identical slot machines located right next to each on the casino floor and have different odds of winning. Not only is this legal, it’s common.

Does that sound like cheating?

By the strict letter of the law, it’s not.

Is it honest?

I’d say yes. Having two games next to each other offering different odds is intentionally misleading. It’s legal, but it’s not sincere in any way.

Online slot machines are no different, except that in some cases, these games HAVE been known to cheat. But not reputable casinos and not reputable software providers.

How do they cheat?

They set up games which are impossible to win.

The reasons baffle me. You stand to make far more money in the long run if you offer an honest game.

Even an idiot can tell after a while that he’s never going to win a rigged casino game on the Internet.

But otherwise smart people will continue to deposit money and wager it at a breakneck pace if they’re winning something every now and then, even if they’re showing a net loss over time.

That’s how gambling works.

What About Video Poker Games?

You need to understand immediately that video poker games are NOT the same thing as slot machine games. They look similar on the surface, but the math and the gameplay couldn’t be more different. And the philosophy behind these games is different, too.

Here’s why:

A video poker machine uses a random number generator that duplicates the odds found in a 52-card deck of cards. You know the probability of getting a specific symbol. Any specific card has a 1/52 probability of appearing.

A card of a specific suit has a ¼ probability of appearing. A card of a specific rank has a 1/13 probability of appearing.

Payback Percentages and the House Edge

Knowing this enables mathematicians and computer programs to calculate the actual payback percentage for these games.

What’s a payback percentage?

It’s the percentage of each bet that’s paid back to the player on average in the long run. It’s the opposite of the house edge.

On a slot machine, you have no way of calculating a game’s payback percentage. It’s impossible, because you have no way of knowing the probability of getting a specific symbol.

But on a video poker game, you can calculate all the possibilities. And since you know how much the game pays out for various combinations, you can add the expected value of each to get an overall payback percentage for the game.

And you know what’s even better than this?

The payback percentages for video poker games are significantly higher than the payback percentages on slot machines in almost every case.

Even the worst video poker game usually has a payback percentage of 95% or so. But the better games offer payback percentages in the 98%+ range. Some (rare) games have pay tables which offer a slightly positive game for the player, like 100.2%. But those numbers assume perfect strategy on your part.

But even the best slot machine games usually have a payback percentage in the 95% range. The more common games slip down into the lower 92% or so range.

Expected Hourly Loss Rates in Slot Machine Games vs. Video Poker Games

What does this mean to your bankroll?

Let’s look at how much money you can mathematically expect to lose playing 2 different games:

We’ll start with an average slot machine game with a 94% payback percentage. You’re playing for $1 per spin, and you’re making 600 spins per hour. You expect to win 94% of each bet back, which means you expect to lose 6% of each bet.

6% of $600 is $36, which is the amount the casino expects you to lose on this game on average over time.

Then we’ll consider a 9/6 Jacks or Better game which you’re playing with perfect strategy. The payback percentage for this game is 99.54%, which means the house edge is 0.46%.

We’ll assume you’re playing a quarter machine and betting 5 coins per hand. You’re putting a little more money into action on each bet–$1.25. Most video poker players are as fast as slot machine players; they play 600 hands per hour. That’s $750/hour in action.

But with a house edge of 0.54%, your expected loss on that kind of action is only $3.77.

That’s right.

Playing slots costs you 10 times as much as playing video poker.

Video poker offers other advantages over slots, too. One of these is the skill element. You might not want to think about what you’re doing when you’re gambling.

But if you’re anything like me, you want to be able to at least exert a little bit of control over your destiny.

In video poker, you get to do that. The decisions you make playing each hand have a direct effect on your bottom line.

Play your hands well, and you’ll be playing one of the best gambling games in the house.

Should You Play Slot Machines at All?

This is a legitimate question. Should you play slot machines at all?

Here are some pros and cons of playing slots:

Pros:

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• You can win bigger jackpots on slot machine games than any other gambling game except maybe keno. If you’re looking for a life-changing jackpot, like you’d see if you won a lotto drawing, slots are the way to go.
• They require little in the way of attention or effort on the part of the player. This suits some temperaments just fine. Relaxing in front of the spinning reels seems like a good deal for a lot of people.
• They’re available in an endless variety. You can find a slot machine game with any theme you can imagine. Love Elvis Presley? You’ll find a slot machine for it. Play Dungeons & Dragons when you were 12? There’s a slot for that, too. The themes and games are almost endless.

Cons:

• They offer some of the worst odds in the house. The house edge for slot machines vary widely. Some of them might offer good odds, but most of them have a house edge of between 5% and 10%. This isn’t awful. After all, roulette has a house edge of 5.26%. The problem is that slots play so fast that you can easily put more money into an action than you thought you could.
• You can’t figure out what the odds are. I have a philosophical problem with slot machine games. No other casino game is opaque about your odds. You can calculate the house edge for any table game in the casino. You can calculate it for video poker, too. But you’re never given the information you need to figure out the house edge on a slot machine. This is unacceptable to me.
• They’re designed to be addictive. Slot machine manufacturers spend millions doing research into what kinds of stimuli are going to put most people into the “flow” state. Flow is great if you’re interested in personal productivity at work, but if you’re playing a gambling game, it’s awful. No other casino game is as addictive as a slot machine.

Conclusion

Yes, slot machines are honest—in a manner of speaking, anyway. Casinos don’t make claims about slot machines that are blatantly untrue. If a game has a maximum jackpot of $1 million, you do have a chance of winning that much money.

What you don’t know is how likely or unlikely it is to win that amount.

Is this disingenuous on the part of the casinos?

I think it is, at least to some extent.

But all casino games have math behind them that puts the odds in the casino’s favor. That’s just the nature of the games. Slots are no different in that respect.

No matter which casino game you play, if you stick with it long enough, you’ll eventually lose all your money.

The only exceptions are certain games that can be played with advantage techniques, but that’s another subject entirely.

The only way for you to get an edge against a slot machine game is to cheat.

In most jurisdictions, cheating is blatantly illegal. You’re better off learning to play poker at an expert level, or learning how to count cards in blackjack.

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Playing a game on aslot machine is a great way to spend your leisure time if you love togamble. In the past, people had to go all the way to a landbasedcasino when they wanted to use slot machines. Thanks to theadvancement of mobile technology and the internet, you can now enjoyslot machine games from the comfort of your home. They work the sameway standard slot machines worked and pay you when you’re fortunateenough to win. There has been a long debate regarding this form ofgambling and it doesn’t just apply to physical machines in alandbased casino. People often wonder if slot machines are rigged infavor of the house or the manufacturers. This is a valid argumentwhen you consider the fact that hitting the slot machine jackpot isdifficult and sometimes impossible for people no matter how manytimes they play.

What Does It MeanFor a Slot Machine To Be Rigged?

A slot machine issaid to be rigged when the casino manipulates the probabilities ofthe symbols of the machine to influence the payoffs and guaranteelong-term profit-making for themselves. When they do this, playersmight think they are profiting from the occasional jackpots but theyare losing in the long run if they continue spinning. This is howmost random events work but the slot machines are not as random asthey are meant to be when they are rigged. Each time the playerloses, the money they have invested in playing goes to the casino.With over 100 million people playing slot games daily, and just asmall portion of them cashing out, it’s not a surprise that 70% ofthe profit casinos make come from slot machine games.

Many slot machinesare indeed manipulated by the casinos but not all of them are rigged.Some slot machines are strictly based on random odds. What you see iswhat you get. If you want to avoid rigged machines, consider playingonly in well-known reputable casinos whether it is online orlandbased. Most reputable casinos like to maintain their greatreputation. So, they do everything they can to prevent bad PR. Manyof the lesser-known casinos rig their landbased and online slotmachines. Sometimes, they make it difficult for people to winjackpots and other times they manipulate it in such a way thatwinning will not give the right amount. This is why the gamingindustry monitors the activities of these online casinos to make surethey are being fair to players.

How Do You KnowWhich Slot Machines Haven’t Been Rigged?

The first thing youneed to do before you start playing a slot machine game, especiallyonline, is to find out as much as you can about the programmingmethod running the slot machine. Every slot machine is created usinga unique programing language. The best slot machines out there arethe ones that use the Random Number Generator Software, also calledthe RNG. This is the best software for slot machines because theycalculate payouts randomly as the name implies. If there isn’t anyclear information about the software on the website, feel free to askthe customer support agents for more information about it. If you’rein a landbased casino, consider asking one of the workers for moreinformation about the slot machine software.

To increase yourchances of winning, it is better to spend more time on landbasedcasinos rather than online ones. These landbased casinos offer morefavorable payouts for slot games. These casinos use RNG software. Ifyou must use an online casino, consider using the online version of atrustworthy landbased casino. This way, you will be sure that thelandbased and online versions use the same technology. Apart from thefact that the RNG is good for ensuring random odds, the machine can’tidentify profiles and make adjustments to the payouts accordingly.Every single player is on an equal playing field with the same chanceof winning or losing during each spin. It all boils down to pickingthe right casino. So, how can you be sure that the casino you’repicking is the right one?

Choosing The BestOnline Casino

Read Reviews

Reviews fromstrangers are often the most reliable. When you people you have nevermet say something about a certain product or service, they areusually right. The more people who say bad things about it, thehigher the chances that you’re going to have a bad experience andvice versa. Does this mean that a reputable casino isn’t going to geteven a single negative review? Not at all. It’s difficult for abusiness, no matter how successful, to satisfy every single client.So, there will be someone or a few people who will leave bad reviews.A couple of negative reviews aren’t unusual. Also, keep in mind thatsome casino owners pay people to give them positive reviews online toattract customers. These reviews are usually generic and alwayspositive. They should be easy to identify so don’t let them full you.

Check Their Payment Methods

The best casinosoffer a variety of payment methods rather than just one or two. Theypartner with as many payment service providers as they can find togive their clients the best experience. If a casino can get intobusiness with these many payment service providers, they are mostlikely legit. Some scam casinos only offer debit and credit cardpayment options and this isn’t always ideal for security reasons. Itis better to go for casinos that offer payment options that don’trequire vital information that can be used against you. Landbasedcasinos also accept cash deposits from clients along with other greatoptions.

Look Out for Transparency

Transparency isparamount when it comes to casinos or any other establishment thatinvolves money. Good casinos are always transparent about theirpractices. There should be enough information about the casinoreadily available for customers to read. If it a landbased casino,this information should be ready on demand. When you don’t understanda clause or phrase in the casino’s terms, you can ask arepresentative and they should be willing to provide you with theassistance you need before you proceed. If the website has scantyinformation or the customer care agents are shady when it’s time toanswer your questions, you should be wary. Apart from customerservice, there should be a section on the website for FrequentlyAsked Questions where you can help yourself with the answers you mayneed. It should be made up of answers to the most common questions inthe space.

Find Out the Return to Player (RTP) Rate

Since your primarygoal of visiting a casino is to play a slot machine game, you shouldmake sure that the game you choose has a high RTP rate. The Return toPlayer rate refers to the percentage of money that has been paid outcompared to what was wagered overtime. The higher the RTP rate of aslot machine, the higher your chances of winning. Look for machineswith RTP rates of 95% and above if you want to enjoy your game. Ifyou can’t find one with an RTP rate of up to 95%, you can go for theones with a 90% – 95% RTP rate. However, try not to go for machineswith RTP rates that fall lower than 90%. You will most likely losemore money than you will gain.

Find Out If The Casino Is Licensed

The last thing youwant to do as a gambler is to use a slot machine from a casino thatis not licensed by any authorized body. If you’re in the UnitedStates, make sure that the casino is regulated by the United Statesgovernment. If you’re in other parts of the world that require moreoversight, make sure you find out which bodies regulate casinos inthat region and stick to the casinos that are regulated by them.These regulated casinos have to follow certain rules laid down byregulators and they are also accountable to these regulators. Thisway, if you are scammed or you have any other issue with the casino,you can hold them accountable.

Are Slot Machines Rigged Or Random

In conclusion, youhave seen that slot machines can be rigged by the casino owners.However, not every slot machine out there is rigged whether it islandbased or online. If you want to minimize your chances of playingon a rigged casino, you should make sure you gamble on a reputablewebsite. The website should be licensed by the required regulatorybody and the customer care agents should always be willing to provideyou with the assistance you need. Don’t forget to check the softwareand the RTP rate of the slot machine before you use it. If you followthese tips, you’ll increase your chances of enjoying random games ona slot machine.