I recently discovered Professor Slots' website, and went in expecting to debunk his advice. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he seems more legit than most gambling experts. His credentials as a professor are impressive, even though none of them qualify him to explain how to win at slot machines consistently.
It was true when three-reel games ruled slot floors, and it's true now when the large majority of games are video slots: Dollar slots yield a higher payback percentage than quarter slots, which may more than nickel slots, which pay more than penny games.That doesn't mean everyone should rush out and play dollar slots.
- Even though fundamental strategies may be a little divergent from sorting out a way to recognize a fake or read a poker face, it remains a successful framework for making a profit. These tips can be used to play slots on the web or used on metal slot frames to extend the occasions when you can ring the bell.
- Let's take a two-tiered approach to the big questions, with tips for playing slot machines, systems for playing with their strengths and flaws, and slot machines cheats & scams. Here's a collection of slot tips and slot cautions as to add to your map of how to win on the slots. SLOT TIPS: THE DO'S.
Regular readers here already know that you can't beat slot machines consistently. They're negative expectation games, and you can't overcome the math.
Advice on the games is more or less equally worthless. If you play any negative expectation game long enough, you'll eventually lose all your money.
But I thought today it would be fun to look at some of the specific advice on Jon Friedl's site to see what's worthwhile and what's trickier.
Win, Walk Away, and Return Later
To get started, I just went into the blog and clicked on the slots strategies category. The first post that came up was titled 'Slots Strategy 7: Win, Walk Away, Return Later.'
I have a feeling I know how this strategy is going to work, but I'm reading the post anyway, so we'll have something to discuss.
He starts off by explaining that this is his mainstay strategy and that casinos now have several possible setups for their real money slots games. He suggests that most casinos now have all their slot machines connected to some kind of centralized computer that controls the odds on all the machines in the casino.
He also suggests that the casino can tune their financial performance throughout the day.
I'm skeptical.
The Law of Large Numbers suggests that casinos have no need to 'tune their financial performance' throughout the day. They're dealing with tens and hundreds of thousands of slot machine spins per day. The average slots player makes 500 spins per hour; if you have 20 gamblers on the floor on average, you'll see 10,000 spins per hour.
And when's the last time you saw a casino with as few as 20 gamblers on the floor at a time?
The point is that when you're dealing with those kinds of numbers, there's no need to adjust payouts on the slots daily. At the end of the month, you're going to see the kinds of revenue numbers you'd expect.
Details of the Strategy
Friedl suggests you begin by getting clear about what your gambling goals are. This sounds familiar. I suspect he might have read some of my other blog posts.
His goals include learning, winning money, and getting free stuff.
The first part of his strategy for that is to play high-limit slot machine games. He would play games where he needed to make 2, 3, or 5 coin bets per spin on $5 or $10 machines.
He was putting $20 to $25 in action per spin.
And he was playing Wheel of Fortune slots, but he refuses to say WHICH Wheel of Fortune slots games he was playing.
He talks a lot about cycling bankrolls and brags about how much he's winning in casino comps, then he finally gets to the meat of his strategy:
Play until you win a decent-sized jackpot. Once you've done so, leave the casino and go home.
What You Do Next and Why
A week later, come back and play the same machine – starting 5 to 10 minutes before the time you won the jackpot the prior week.
He claims that the casinos are adjusting the odds on the machines daily to meet the financial performance metrics required by law in their jurisdiction. This is why the strategy works.
The idea is that you're going to find specific slot machines that get their payouts adjusted on one particular day during the week.
This means that sometimes machines have better odds of winning than at other times.
Here's my opinion:
Casinos don't need to adjust the payouts on their games based on the time of day or how their finances are doing. The Law of Large Numbers and the difference between the payouts and the probabilities of winning handles that for you.
Here's How Slot Machines Work
A slot machine is programmed with a probability of getting each symbol on a stop, and each symbol might have a different likelihood of coming up. For example, you might have a 1/10 chance of getting a cherry on a reel stop.
This means that the probability of getting 3 cherries in a row on a 3-reel slot machine is 1/10 X 1/10 X 1/10, or 1/1000.
If that combination pays off at 500 for 1, it's easy to see how the casino makes a significant profit.
On average, every time you make 1000 spins, you'll win 500 coins, but you'll also lose 500 coins.
The casino doesn't need to 'adjust' anything to make a profit.
And they don't have to do anything to achieve their financial requirements, either.
The way probability works is this:
In the short run – on a single spin, a dozen spins, or even 100 spins – anything can happen. The game is random, after all.
But in the long run – over the course of thousands of spins – the Law of Large Numbers suggests that your overall results will resemble the mathematically predicted results.
These games don't run in cycles. The odds of winning don't change based on how long it's been since the last jackpot was hit. If the odds are 1/1000 that you'll win a jackpot, and you hit that jackpot, the odds of winning that jackpot again on the next spin are also 1/1000.
The Gambler's Fallacy suggests that past results affect future results, but that's not how things work when you're dealing with something random involving independent events.
Another Example Strategy from Professor Slots
I'm unimpressed with the first slots strategy I read on his site, but I thought I'd give some of the other seven strategies he explains on his website a look.
The next one in the blog was 'Strategy #6,' which he calls 'High Roller Slot Tricks.'
I can hardly wait.
He starts this strategy off with an observation that at one casino he goes to regularly, he wins at the slot machines there when he first sits down but doesn't win again for a long time after.
He points out that this is an example of his skills at 'pattern recognition.'
He claims that the first dozen times he visited that casino, he'd win a jackpot during his first few pushes of the button, but he would then burn through thousands of dollars without hitting anything at all.
He then digresses into a tale about a slot operator he interviewed regarding who was winning jackpots and where. The slot operator apparently told him about a gambler who had won eight times in a row by playing eight different machines and switching from one to the other as soon as he'd won at one.
He claims that using this strategy has worked consistently at the casino for four months.
And he said that he brought $500 to the casino and left with an average $250 profit several times. Then he hit a $4000 jackpot.
This Strategy Doesn't Even Seem Like a Strategy
Reel them in slots. He follows this up with another tip. You're supposed to look for a slot machine that recently hit and still has the winning results on the pay line. The usual advice is to skip such a machine, but Friedl suggests playing it once.
His theory is that some casinos set up their slots to offer early wins to entice you to keep playing. If a small jackpot was just won, a bigger jackpot might be on the horizon, too.
Guess what?
That's just now how these machines work.
In the short run – an hour – anything can happen.
I'm sure it's possible that this strategy MIGHT work in the short run. After all, ANYTHING is possible in the short term.
I don't believe that trying to time these jackpots is going to help you become a winner.
I should point out, though, that a good friend of mine is convinced that his mom had slot machines figured out. She believed that games became 'due,' and she would tell him which games to play and when.
He claims they paid rent and bills consistently doing this.
I suspect this might be true, anecdotally, on a short-term basis.
But I think there's also some confirmation bias here.
My friend works a nine to five job, so he obviously wasn't confident enough in his ability to play slots for a living.
Conclusion
Is the advice you get from Professor Slots good advice for winning at slot machines?
Some of it is trite but true. He suggests you shouldn't play with money you can't afford to lose. He also suggests joining the players club at the casino.
But the stuff about how to win is pretty worthless. It's all anecdotal.
If beating slot machines was this easy, no one would have a job.
Introduction to High Roller Slots Tricks
This blog continues our journey of winning strategies for slot machine casino gambling. Here, I'll be explaining to you three easy high roller slots tricks. Now, please understand I'm not trying to turn you into a full-time high-limit slot machine gambler! Not at all!
As I'll explain, there are some very inexpensive slots winning strategies which can be applied to more than just low limit slots. They can also be rather cheaply used, with only a few bets, on a $1 to $5 denomination high limit slot machine.
The three tricks you should know about involve applying a few of the winning strategies I've already discussed, as well as a new slots strategy, winning strategy #6, I'll be explaining in full momentarily. Here goes!
This article has the following sections:
- Introduction
- 1st Trick: Use Winning Strategy 1 in a High Limit Slots Area
- 2nd Trick: Combining Winning Strategies #1 and #7
- 3rd Trick: If a Slot Machine Shows a Win, BET ONCE
- How Long Does a Slot Machine Need to be Idle?
- Play High Limit Slot Machines When Appropriate – Carefully!
- Summary
Keep Reading … or Watch Instead!
Or … Listen Instead!
Find my podcast wherever you listen to audio!
1st Trick: Use Winning Strategy #1 in a High Limit Slots Area
One interesting pattern I'd noticed at a relatively medium-sized casino had to do with a simple observation. At this local casino, I saw that I would win once when I first sit down, but not win again for some time.
This pattern recognition is a slots strategy I've mentioned before, explicitly Winning Strategy 1: Only Win Immediately and my Professor Slots podcast episode #23.
By using this approach, we can take advantage of a common practice found at many casinos, where they provide an initial winning taste.
The first dozen times I visited the high limit slots area at this small, local casino, I found it odd that I would win a jackpot during the first few pushes of the button. But, then, I would spend thousands of dollars without so much as another hit.
I don't mean I wouldn't have another taxable jackpot, but that I wouldn't win anything whatsoever. It just seemed odd. Or, put another way, it was statistically unlikely to be randomly happening so consistently and often, visit after visit after visit.
Mama free online. As an aside, don't worry too much about all the money I was spending. Unbeknownst to me at the time, each $100 spent these three months earned one more entry for the drawing of a car – which I would end up winning. I tell that story in:
As a second aside, the money I was spending was significant slots winnings from another local casino where I was consistently making quite a profit using Winning Strategy 7, the topic of my next blog article.
2nd Trick: Combining Winning Strategies #1 and #7
Let's back to the story of what I learned and how I learned it. At the time, I even struck up a conversation with one of the slot operators. In that helpful interview, I asked them when were people winning jackpots and on which machines were they doing it?
This slot attendant helpfully told me about a slots player who had recently gone from one machine to another winning about eight total jackpots in a row in the high limit slots area.
I found this other slots player's approach very intriguing, to say the least, and have since tried to employ my Winning Strategy 7 alongside playing each machine up to 5 times. By doing so, I've found that my annual return for this strategy alone resulted in a 150% profit over my original bankroll.
However, I'd only been using this strategy for four months since this casino opened, and felt I'd need to continue doing it for about a year to be convinced that it wasn't either temporary or due to having limited data.
Today, I see this as an error on my part, and probably a severe loss of winnings. Winning slots strategies exist, and you can find them yourself – if you can believe your own eyes.
The area most people get stuck on is this: They don't believe these strategies are possible, and it's hard to try it yourself they do when you've already convinced yourself it's impossible.
It doesn't help that most winning strategies are relatively new, and based on the latest casino technologies that started being installed in new casinos since 2012.
Getting down off my usual soapbox, and back on topic, I have found this combination of winning strategies to be the cheapest approach yet to slot machine gambling, while resulting in the highest profit margin.
Using it at my local casino required only $500 per visit and $250 in return on most visits without a taxable jackpot. But then there are the taxable jackpots won, which are more than a few of the typical jackpot winnings on high limit slot machines.
As I'm sure you understand, a single $4,000 taxable jackpot pays for many subsequent visits.
Again, so far, this is all further storytelling about the experiences which resulted in my discovery of Winning Strategy 1 and how to best use it in conjunction with another winning strategy I knew. But, next, I learned a strategy I didn't already know.
3rd Trick: If a Slot Machine Shows a Win, BET ONCE
By using these known strategies, yet another approach grew out of them. It's easy, simple, and quite inexpensive. And, it's completely counter-intuitive to what most slots players will tell you to do. But, because they feel this way is the reason why it works.
Slots players will tell you it is essential to check the machine's last play. If it shows a winner then, in general, skip that machine. Don't play it, is the general advice. I say phooey, but with a small caveat I'll pull from Winning Strategy 1.
My third trick is this: If a slot machine is showing a win, BET ONCE. However, avoid that machine if it's been played recently.
For this to work, if it is going to work, a slot machine showing a win needs to be idle for a while, and probably hasn't been idle if its chair is still pulled out. That the chair is even pulled out is a beautiful clue it was used relatively recently.
Why does this work? At some casinos that set up their slot machines to offer an initial taste, the first push of the button of a high limit slot machine will win either a 'small' nontaxable jackpot worth several hundred dollars or a more massive taxable jackpot over $1,200.
For example, I happened to be in the casino one Saturday evening, to take care of some tax paperwork having to do with winning a car the night before, and noticed that one of the $100 high limit slot machines was showing a $1,000 win. I didn't think much of such a small jackpot, as it was not even taxable, but it was something I noticed.
When I went back to the casino the next morning, I noticed that that same machine had the identical winning reel combination showing on it. To me, this indicated that no one had played that machine for just over one day.
At first, I didn't think much of it. But then, standing there looking at it, I got to thinking about my strategies. And, standing there thinking it through, I learned something.
Previously, my strategy was not to play any slot machine if it showed a win. But, I started to think, what if I was winning at one push of a button on machines that hadn't been played for some time? Was this perhaps a refinement of a known strategy?
As usual, theory metaphorically in hand, I decided to test it. I walked over to the $100 machine showing the $1,000 win, placed my player's card along with $100 in the machine, pressed the bet button, and immediately won a $5,000 taxable jackpot.
To date, this is the only time when I've won any taxable jackpot on a $100-denomination slot machine. Although, using this strategy at the same casino, shortly later I did win $500 with a single 1-credit bet on another $100 slot machine.
How Long Does a Slot Machine Need to be Idle?
One loose end with using this strategy is the question of how long does a slot machine need to be idle for it to turn into a winning slot machine via this strategy? The honest and straightforward answer is: I don't know. But, consider my observations.
I've found more slot machines are winners with this strategy if I attend the casino on a Saturday morning (especially after a busy Friday night) or mid-afternoon on Sundays.
That's because these are typically the most extended times when slot machines aren't played, and being idle for some time matters. But, how long does it need to be inactive, you ask? I'm still piecing together clues about this.
Another clue comes from Eric Rosenthal, from whom I have second-hand information. He knows someone he trusts from within a slots manufacturer who told him that slot machines reset whenever a voucher is printed.
That's interesting. If true, it means idle means no time at all. So, that information alone may be enough to tell you how long idle is – but I don't think so.
Why? Because I've seen 30 minutes work when an immediate next player did not. Other times, I've seen it work after it's been idle for hours only. Another area of uncertainty is maybe, more like probably, different casinos are set up differently.
But, I have put some effort into trying to figure this out. After some thought, one week later I went back to the casino and took handwritten notes of all the current spin reels showing on all the high limit slot machines at that casino.
Slightly over a day later, I went back to that casino with the intent of executing the usual strategy but brought extra cash with which to push the button once on any high limit slot machine still showing the same reel spin from the previous day.
Unfortunately, that day was a beautiful day in January with moderately high temperatures not seen in months. Somehow, for this reason, the casino and high limit slot machine room were incredibly busy.
I mention this because, when checking the reel spins on each slot machine, I found that ALL slot machines had been played. I then went ahead playing my usual strategy and, to my slight dismay, I didn't win a single time despite four immediately prior visits where I made 50-60% over the bankroll I'd brought.
What I learned from this confirmation, such as it was, was that it was the wins I had seen when using my unrefined strategy of 5 pulls then stop was occurring on slot machines which had not been played for a while. That is to say, I had been winning on idle slot machines.
So, during busy periods in the high limit slot room which, by the way, isn't necessarily the same times when the overall casino itself is active, I learned that I shouldn't use this strategy. Not then, anyway.
All I can say is, where casinos have set up this winning strategy, winning slot machines need to be idle for a while. This bit of information may not seem like much – but it's something once considered impossible which evidence now suggests isn't any longer.
And, being the savvy slots enthusiast I know you are, I expect you'll make the most out of it.
Play High Limit Slot Machines When Appropriate – Carefully!
Best Slot Strategy
So, let's continue to talk about getting the most out of my winning strategies. The whole point of these specific strategies is that they don't require much money to try out. Not to be too blunt about it, why wouldn't you try out inexpensive strategies in the high limit slots area?
I suppose I first noticed this myself at Seminole Brighton Casino in Florida in October 2019 and earlier at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in April 2018.
Only afterward did I think, while I'm here why don't I try out the winning strategies I've just figured out in the high limit slots area?
Unfortunately, this idea came to me only after I left both places. But, here it is for you. If you have figured out a winning slots strategy that appears to work at a casino, consider trying it in the high limit slots area.
This suggestion is especially valid if the specific slots strategy you've found to work outside of the high limit area doesn't require much bankroll to win. If only a small bankroll is needed, or if you're willing to risk a larger bankroll if it doesn't, consider one way to optimize your strategy – by bringing it into the high limit slots area. Carefully, of course.
For those who have read my blog article Seminole Brighton Casino Florida Trip Report Best odds in casino slot machines. , these follow up thoughts for using a working strategy on high limit slots should work quite well there.
However, for those who have read my blog article Easily Win a Little at Slots at Foxwoods Casino Connecticut, I'd caution against this approach there.
As Dr. Mike from the You Can Bet on That podcast very well knows (I was sitting near him at the time), you can win a couple of hundred dollars on a high limit slot machine there within the first few bets.
But, the problem is, you can do the same thing on a low limit slot machines. So, use the winning strategy I described outside of the high limit area to bet less for corresponding winnings. Your profit will be more substantial.
Summary of High Roller Slots Tricks
In review, I've pointed out the easy application of two past winning slots strategies, along with a new winning strategy, which would require only a few bets on a high limit slot machine.
From a high level, the three easy high roller slots tricks I've outlined are merely pointing out that the winning strategies you worked hard to uncover at the casino you frequent can be leveraged, perhaps even optimized, in the high limit slots area with relatively little risk.
Because, finding that a winning strategy which works is a huge accomplishment, for which you should be proud to have uncovered. But, don't stop with finding it, even if it was with my help. Your next step is, as always, to work closer to accomplishing your gambling goals.
If your gambling goal is entertainment, as with more slots enthusiasts, then getting a W-2G for having won a taxable jackpot would be exciting. I know my first W-2G was very exciting and, quite honestly, you never really get tired of winning them.
If your gambling goal is earning comps, then you'll undoubtedly earn players clubs point by making bets on high limit slot machines. But, more importantly, some or all of winnings received in the high limit slots area can be spent on low limit slots.
He claims they paid rent and bills consistently doing this.
I suspect this might be true, anecdotally, on a short-term basis.
But I think there's also some confirmation bias here.
My friend works a nine to five job, so he obviously wasn't confident enough in his ability to play slots for a living.
Conclusion
Is the advice you get from Professor Slots good advice for winning at slot machines?
Some of it is trite but true. He suggests you shouldn't play with money you can't afford to lose. He also suggests joining the players club at the casino.
But the stuff about how to win is pretty worthless. It's all anecdotal.
If beating slot machines was this easy, no one would have a job.
Introduction to High Roller Slots Tricks
This blog continues our journey of winning strategies for slot machine casino gambling. Here, I'll be explaining to you three easy high roller slots tricks. Now, please understand I'm not trying to turn you into a full-time high-limit slot machine gambler! Not at all!
As I'll explain, there are some very inexpensive slots winning strategies which can be applied to more than just low limit slots. They can also be rather cheaply used, with only a few bets, on a $1 to $5 denomination high limit slot machine.
The three tricks you should know about involve applying a few of the winning strategies I've already discussed, as well as a new slots strategy, winning strategy #6, I'll be explaining in full momentarily. Here goes!
This article has the following sections:
- Introduction
- 1st Trick: Use Winning Strategy 1 in a High Limit Slots Area
- 2nd Trick: Combining Winning Strategies #1 and #7
- 3rd Trick: If a Slot Machine Shows a Win, BET ONCE
- How Long Does a Slot Machine Need to be Idle?
- Play High Limit Slot Machines When Appropriate – Carefully!
- Summary
Keep Reading … or Watch Instead!
Or … Listen Instead!
Find my podcast wherever you listen to audio!
1st Trick: Use Winning Strategy #1 in a High Limit Slots Area
One interesting pattern I'd noticed at a relatively medium-sized casino had to do with a simple observation. At this local casino, I saw that I would win once when I first sit down, but not win again for some time.
This pattern recognition is a slots strategy I've mentioned before, explicitly Winning Strategy 1: Only Win Immediately and my Professor Slots podcast episode #23.
By using this approach, we can take advantage of a common practice found at many casinos, where they provide an initial winning taste.
The first dozen times I visited the high limit slots area at this small, local casino, I found it odd that I would win a jackpot during the first few pushes of the button. But, then, I would spend thousands of dollars without so much as another hit.
I don't mean I wouldn't have another taxable jackpot, but that I wouldn't win anything whatsoever. It just seemed odd. Or, put another way, it was statistically unlikely to be randomly happening so consistently and often, visit after visit after visit.
Mama free online. As an aside, don't worry too much about all the money I was spending. Unbeknownst to me at the time, each $100 spent these three months earned one more entry for the drawing of a car – which I would end up winning. I tell that story in:
As a second aside, the money I was spending was significant slots winnings from another local casino where I was consistently making quite a profit using Winning Strategy 7, the topic of my next blog article.
2nd Trick: Combining Winning Strategies #1 and #7
Let's back to the story of what I learned and how I learned it. At the time, I even struck up a conversation with one of the slot operators. In that helpful interview, I asked them when were people winning jackpots and on which machines were they doing it?
This slot attendant helpfully told me about a slots player who had recently gone from one machine to another winning about eight total jackpots in a row in the high limit slots area.
I found this other slots player's approach very intriguing, to say the least, and have since tried to employ my Winning Strategy 7 alongside playing each machine up to 5 times. By doing so, I've found that my annual return for this strategy alone resulted in a 150% profit over my original bankroll.
However, I'd only been using this strategy for four months since this casino opened, and felt I'd need to continue doing it for about a year to be convinced that it wasn't either temporary or due to having limited data.
Today, I see this as an error on my part, and probably a severe loss of winnings. Winning slots strategies exist, and you can find them yourself – if you can believe your own eyes.
The area most people get stuck on is this: They don't believe these strategies are possible, and it's hard to try it yourself they do when you've already convinced yourself it's impossible.
It doesn't help that most winning strategies are relatively new, and based on the latest casino technologies that started being installed in new casinos since 2012.
Getting down off my usual soapbox, and back on topic, I have found this combination of winning strategies to be the cheapest approach yet to slot machine gambling, while resulting in the highest profit margin.
Using it at my local casino required only $500 per visit and $250 in return on most visits without a taxable jackpot. But then there are the taxable jackpots won, which are more than a few of the typical jackpot winnings on high limit slot machines.
As I'm sure you understand, a single $4,000 taxable jackpot pays for many subsequent visits.
Again, so far, this is all further storytelling about the experiences which resulted in my discovery of Winning Strategy 1 and how to best use it in conjunction with another winning strategy I knew. But, next, I learned a strategy I didn't already know.
3rd Trick: If a Slot Machine Shows a Win, BET ONCE
By using these known strategies, yet another approach grew out of them. It's easy, simple, and quite inexpensive. And, it's completely counter-intuitive to what most slots players will tell you to do. But, because they feel this way is the reason why it works.
Slots players will tell you it is essential to check the machine's last play. If it shows a winner then, in general, skip that machine. Don't play it, is the general advice. I say phooey, but with a small caveat I'll pull from Winning Strategy 1.
My third trick is this: If a slot machine is showing a win, BET ONCE. However, avoid that machine if it's been played recently.
For this to work, if it is going to work, a slot machine showing a win needs to be idle for a while, and probably hasn't been idle if its chair is still pulled out. That the chair is even pulled out is a beautiful clue it was used relatively recently.
Why does this work? At some casinos that set up their slot machines to offer an initial taste, the first push of the button of a high limit slot machine will win either a 'small' nontaxable jackpot worth several hundred dollars or a more massive taxable jackpot over $1,200.
For example, I happened to be in the casino one Saturday evening, to take care of some tax paperwork having to do with winning a car the night before, and noticed that one of the $100 high limit slot machines was showing a $1,000 win. I didn't think much of such a small jackpot, as it was not even taxable, but it was something I noticed.
When I went back to the casino the next morning, I noticed that that same machine had the identical winning reel combination showing on it. To me, this indicated that no one had played that machine for just over one day.
At first, I didn't think much of it. But then, standing there looking at it, I got to thinking about my strategies. And, standing there thinking it through, I learned something.
Previously, my strategy was not to play any slot machine if it showed a win. But, I started to think, what if I was winning at one push of a button on machines that hadn't been played for some time? Was this perhaps a refinement of a known strategy?
As usual, theory metaphorically in hand, I decided to test it. I walked over to the $100 machine showing the $1,000 win, placed my player's card along with $100 in the machine, pressed the bet button, and immediately won a $5,000 taxable jackpot.
To date, this is the only time when I've won any taxable jackpot on a $100-denomination slot machine. Although, using this strategy at the same casino, shortly later I did win $500 with a single 1-credit bet on another $100 slot machine.
How Long Does a Slot Machine Need to be Idle?
One loose end with using this strategy is the question of how long does a slot machine need to be idle for it to turn into a winning slot machine via this strategy? The honest and straightforward answer is: I don't know. But, consider my observations.
I've found more slot machines are winners with this strategy if I attend the casino on a Saturday morning (especially after a busy Friday night) or mid-afternoon on Sundays.
That's because these are typically the most extended times when slot machines aren't played, and being idle for some time matters. But, how long does it need to be inactive, you ask? I'm still piecing together clues about this.
Another clue comes from Eric Rosenthal, from whom I have second-hand information. He knows someone he trusts from within a slots manufacturer who told him that slot machines reset whenever a voucher is printed.
That's interesting. If true, it means idle means no time at all. So, that information alone may be enough to tell you how long idle is – but I don't think so.
Why? Because I've seen 30 minutes work when an immediate next player did not. Other times, I've seen it work after it's been idle for hours only. Another area of uncertainty is maybe, more like probably, different casinos are set up differently.
But, I have put some effort into trying to figure this out. After some thought, one week later I went back to the casino and took handwritten notes of all the current spin reels showing on all the high limit slot machines at that casino.
Slightly over a day later, I went back to that casino with the intent of executing the usual strategy but brought extra cash with which to push the button once on any high limit slot machine still showing the same reel spin from the previous day.
Unfortunately, that day was a beautiful day in January with moderately high temperatures not seen in months. Somehow, for this reason, the casino and high limit slot machine room were incredibly busy.
I mention this because, when checking the reel spins on each slot machine, I found that ALL slot machines had been played. I then went ahead playing my usual strategy and, to my slight dismay, I didn't win a single time despite four immediately prior visits where I made 50-60% over the bankroll I'd brought.
What I learned from this confirmation, such as it was, was that it was the wins I had seen when using my unrefined strategy of 5 pulls then stop was occurring on slot machines which had not been played for a while. That is to say, I had been winning on idle slot machines.
So, during busy periods in the high limit slot room which, by the way, isn't necessarily the same times when the overall casino itself is active, I learned that I shouldn't use this strategy. Not then, anyway.
All I can say is, where casinos have set up this winning strategy, winning slot machines need to be idle for a while. This bit of information may not seem like much – but it's something once considered impossible which evidence now suggests isn't any longer.
And, being the savvy slots enthusiast I know you are, I expect you'll make the most out of it.
Play High Limit Slot Machines When Appropriate – Carefully!
Best Slot Strategy
So, let's continue to talk about getting the most out of my winning strategies. The whole point of these specific strategies is that they don't require much money to try out. Not to be too blunt about it, why wouldn't you try out inexpensive strategies in the high limit slots area?
I suppose I first noticed this myself at Seminole Brighton Casino in Florida in October 2019 and earlier at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in April 2018.
Only afterward did I think, while I'm here why don't I try out the winning strategies I've just figured out in the high limit slots area?
Unfortunately, this idea came to me only after I left both places. But, here it is for you. If you have figured out a winning slots strategy that appears to work at a casino, consider trying it in the high limit slots area.
This suggestion is especially valid if the specific slots strategy you've found to work outside of the high limit area doesn't require much bankroll to win. If only a small bankroll is needed, or if you're willing to risk a larger bankroll if it doesn't, consider one way to optimize your strategy – by bringing it into the high limit slots area. Carefully, of course.
For those who have read my blog article Seminole Brighton Casino Florida Trip Report Best odds in casino slot machines. , these follow up thoughts for using a working strategy on high limit slots should work quite well there.
However, for those who have read my blog article Easily Win a Little at Slots at Foxwoods Casino Connecticut, I'd caution against this approach there.
As Dr. Mike from the You Can Bet on That podcast very well knows (I was sitting near him at the time), you can win a couple of hundred dollars on a high limit slot machine there within the first few bets.
But, the problem is, you can do the same thing on a low limit slot machines. So, use the winning strategy I described outside of the high limit area to bet less for corresponding winnings. Your profit will be more substantial.
Summary of High Roller Slots Tricks
In review, I've pointed out the easy application of two past winning slots strategies, along with a new winning strategy, which would require only a few bets on a high limit slot machine.
From a high level, the three easy high roller slots tricks I've outlined are merely pointing out that the winning strategies you worked hard to uncover at the casino you frequent can be leveraged, perhaps even optimized, in the high limit slots area with relatively little risk.
Because, finding that a winning strategy which works is a huge accomplishment, for which you should be proud to have uncovered. But, don't stop with finding it, even if it was with my help. Your next step is, as always, to work closer to accomplishing your gambling goals.
If your gambling goal is entertainment, as with more slots enthusiasts, then getting a W-2G for having won a taxable jackpot would be exciting. I know my first W-2G was very exciting and, quite honestly, you never really get tired of winning them.
If your gambling goal is earning comps, then you'll undoubtedly earn players clubs point by making bets on high limit slot machines. But, more importantly, some or all of winnings received in the high limit slots area can be spent on low limit slots.
Finally, is winning take-home money your gambling goal? Well, you'll earn that money with little cash spent. If, as always, the casino you're at has been set up by their operator such that one or more of these approaches will work.
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By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC
