Slots Secrets and Myths

There are certain myths and misconceptions about slot machines that can be very costly or ruining the whole gaming experience. While there is no secret way to win the jackpot, there are tips to help play better and increase your odds.

This page will help players get better "luck" at playing slots. Most myths can be expelled by the fact that slot machines operate by programmed software and computer technology called RNG or Random Number Generators. A lucky rabbit's foot or lucky shirt is not the correct way to win at slots and has no connection with the computer calculations. Each machine has the odds built right into it and that payout percentage is sometimes printed right on the machine itself, which is very helpful.

Trying to predict payouts is one common myth with slots. A machine has to pay out as some time, but there is no way to predict when it will happen since the payouts are governed by a random number generator. It is not a secret that eventually the machine must pay out eventually in order to meet fair standards, but when it will is not predictable. The only exception is when a slot is rigged.

Rigged games are highly connected with the above myth as well. Just because a machine is not paying out doesn't mean it is rigged, it just means that it could have paid out a lot of money recently and it needs to correct it's payouts by tightening up a little. Although there are still rigged slots that exist but it is not often. Most land based casinos are regulated and the software checked out so they are usually safe. The software itself would have to be reprogrammed in order to be rigged and that is not an easy job to do, unless it is old technology slots from the old days, which are rare to come by. Most online casinos are regulated but not all of them. The secret in this case is to play at only the most reputable casinos to avoid a rigged game.

Specific slot machines in a casino are not always "lucky". Like that one slot machine sitting in the corner or at the end of a row... This is one of the superstitious myths that fall along the lines of the lucky objects. Each machine has it's own software and it's payouts are independent of machine location, even with progressive slots linked throughout the country.

Slots symbol counting is another myth that somehow got linked with the popular card counting practice. Unlike cards used in land based casinos, computerized slots use the random number generator to produce combinations. For example, the machine may keep landing on a particular symbol and keep landing on it for long periods of time. In a way, this could be a secret advantage if you know a machine is landing on a lot of high valued symbols versus low valued ones if you feel this could improve your chances of paying out on higher prizes. However, counting the symbols would be senseless to predicting when a pattern is about to change as it would in blackjack since each spin is independent of the previous spin.