Slot Machine Sites
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Today, I’m going to answer another reader question which I received recently by email. It comes from Sarah in Scotland who wants to know “Are slot machines rigged?” I’ve copied the email directly below with her permission.
Dear GamblingSites.org team,
I’m Sarah McKeown, and I’ve been a long-time reader of your blog. I’ve found lots of interesting content over the years. I even won a healthy jackpot after playing one of your recommended jackpot slots.
However, I’ve been keeping a record of my bets versus my wins, and I’ve noticed that no matter how many big wins I have, I always end up losing it all again over the long term. Can you tell me if slot machines are rigged? Can casinos fix slot machines to make sure players lose?
Any insights you can share with me would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sarah McKeown
Sarah, I’m going to answer your questions directly. 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. Let’s begin!
Are Casino Slot Machines Rigged?
I guarantee you that if you walk through any Vegas casino, or any casino in the world for that matter, and ask every slots player if they won, the vast majority of them will tell you no.
It’s difficult to understand how this could be the case unless slot machines are rigged. And if they are, how in the heck is that legal? Are casinos actively keeping slot machines rigged so that you can’t win? If so, what about all those stories of players who won huge jackpots?
This can all seem rather confusing, but it’s not. The simple answer is that the vast majority of players lose, and a few lucky players win. Each machine is programmed to pay out less than what’s put into it, ensuring that the casino makes a continuous profit over the long run. This could be anything from a 2% advantage on the best slot machines, to a 10% or greater advantage on some of the big-money jackpot slots.
So, in a nutshell, casino slots are rigged to make sure the casino makes a profit, but that does not mean you can’t win on any given gaming session.
Gaming commissions would never allow casinos to run games you can’t win, nor would it be good for business. Players would soon figure out that the games were unwinnable and would stop playing.
Let’s take a closer look at how slot machines work. This will help you understand that while the house always wins, you can win, too.
How Slot Machines Are Rigged
Understanding how slot machines are rigged requires you to understand how they work. Each slot has its game odds, but they all use a similar method of paying out jackpots. Here are some important things to know about slot machines.
Understand Slot Machine RTP
RTP is an acronym for “return to player.” If you read slot machine reviews, you’ll usually find each game has a specific RTP published by the developer. For example, on NetEnt.com, you can find the RTP of Starburst and other games.
RTP is a percentage.
For Example:Based on Starburst from above, the RTP is 96.09%. What does this mean in terms of money, jackpots, and wins and losses? It means that, for every £100 bet on these games, players win back £96.09.
It’s important to remember that this does not mean you’ll make back £96.09 for every £100 you bet on Starburst. It means that the casino returns £96.09 to all players spinning the reels at every casino which offers Starburst. This includes all of the small wins and losses each player wins on every spin. In the long run, the casino will make £3.91 on every £100 bet on that game, regardless of what happens in the short term.
Hopefully, this concept of RTP helps you understand how slot machines are rigged in favor of the game developers and casinos but are not rigged in absolute terms. You can win when playing slots, but you can’t win in the long run.
Understand Random Number Generators
Even though the house has a built-in advantage on slot machines, it’s clear that some players do win massive jackpots. Just take a look at this story about a British soldier winning a record-breaking jackpot from a £0.25 spin.
Lots of players wonder when the best time to play slot machines is, which slots are “loose,” and all sorts of other questions. They hope that figuring out the answers will help them win slots more often, but the truth is that this is all a waste of time.
Slot machines decide when to pay out in accordance with a Random Number Generator (RNG). Believe it or not, it’s possible for a slot machine to pay out a jackpot on two spins in a row, although it is unlikely. A Random Number Generator is a piece of software which spits out billions of numbers per second, and if it happens to spit out a number associated with a jackpot, you’ll see the high-value symbols line up across a payline and you win.
There’s no way to manipulate RNGs. You can’t cheat online slot machines no matter how hard you try. Some smart players note that RNGs can’t be truly random since humans create them, but for all reasonable and practical purposes, you can’t manipulate them.
Perhaps, someone will someday spot a pattern in the apparent randomness by using a quantum computer to crunch numbers. But until then, just assume they’re random.
While the slots developer can control the RTP via programming, it can’t control the RNG. There are third-party games testing organizations such as eCogra which test RNGs and verify that they are fair. This doesn’t mean all slots developers play fair, but big names like Microgaming and NetEnt do.
How to Win at Slots — Tips and Tricks
Now that you understand how slot machines work, and how they are rigged without being unfair, it’s time to turn the tables on the casinos. I’ve learned a lot about slot machines throughout my career as a player, and I’m going to share my best tips on how to win slots more often.
Pick Slot Machines With a High RTP
One of the first and most obvious tips is to select high RTP slot machines. These games pay back the most to players in the long run, so you’re better off playing them even if the jackpots are smaller.
Best Free Online Slot Sites
Very often, the jackpots are smaller. Since the casinos have less risk to deal with when a smaller jackpot is involved, they can afford a higher payback percentage to players. It makes sense, doesn’t it?
So, which slot machines have the highest RTP? Here are five to get you started.
- Blood Suckers by NetEnt – 98%
- Rags to Riches by Cryptologic – 98%
- Good Girl, Bad Girl by Betsoft – 97.8%
- Kings of Chicago by NetEnt – 97.8%
- Wolfpack Pays by NextGen – 97.8%
Those slots have a variety of excellent bonus features, decent jackpots, and higher than average RTPs. If you want to get the most bang for your buck as a long-term player, it’s wise to play them.
Pick the Right Volatility for Your Bankroll
There’s a top-notch article on slot machine variance and volatility here. If you want a more detailed breakdown of what they are, check that out.
Slot machine volatility is important to understand because it will tell you which slots are suitable for your bankroll. Volatility indicates both how often a slot should pay and the average size of the payouts.
- Low volatility slots pay smaller amounts more often.
- Medium volatility slots pay decent amounts fairly often.
- High volatility slots pay less frequently, but wins are more explosive.
If I had a smaller bankroll, say £20, I’d start by playing a low volatility slot such as Starburst. I find that it’s a good slot to build your bankroll with. Once I double up, I usually switch to a higher volatility slot with bigger payouts which occur less frequently.
Managing your bankroll effectively is about the only slot machine strategy which works. Therefore, knowing the volatility of a game is useful information.
Use Free Spins With Low Wagering Requirements
Most online casinos offer free spins bonuses for new players. Lots of them also offer free spins to loyal players who spin slots daily or weekly.
I’ve learned the hard way that not all free spins bonuses give me an advantage. Sometimes, the wagering requirements are so high that the bonus is a liability. This is especially true if it comes with predatory terms such as that I can’t withdraw my deposit until I meet the wagering requirements. Yes, such bonuses exist, I’ve seen it all over the years I’ve been playing!
There are other free spins bonuses you will want to take. They’ll give you a chance to beat the house with its own money and have these characteristics.
- They won’t require excessive minimum deposits.
- The wagering requirements will be low, around 20x or less.
- You’ll be able to keep all of what you win when you wager the bonus.
Free spins with low wagering requirements are available at lots of top UK casinos. There are even casinos with no wagering requirements, and they’re especially popular in the UK market.
Final Words
Thanks for writing to me with this question, Sarah. It’s given me a chance to cover lots of ground with regards to slot machines, and I hope that it answers your question. Are slot machines rigged? Yes, the house has a mathematical advantage which you can’t alter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win.
Beating slot machines is a case of picking the right games, managing your bankroll effectively, and getting lucky. Don’t forget the last part! Luck is essential. There’s no effective way to beat the slots every time. Happy spinning, and don’t forget to pick up a casino bonus before you begin!
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Do a search on the internet for “the best slot sites” or “online casinos with the best slots.”
You’ll get over 160 million results. With that many choices, It can be a frustrating and confusing experience for anyone looking to play at casino sites with the best slots.
While Google and other search engines may list millions of results for “slots sites online”, the listings on these search engines never take into account the factors that make a slot machine casino among the best online.
Here are our picks for the best slots sites online:
- Bovada
- Cafe Casino
- Ignition Casino
- Red Stag Casino
- Silver Oak Casino
- Slots.lv
We base those picks on a significant amount of research.
What Makes One Slot Machine Website Better (or Worse) than Another
With all of the choices that players have today for online slots casinos, it can be easy to just pick the first one that pops up in a search. But a question that needs to be asked before trusting this company with your money is: what makes this the best online slots casino for me?
The answer to this question is a complicated one because it can be subjective. A person may like the way a certain site looks. Another may like a bonus offer that the site offers. Still another may like the types of slots offered.
In any case, there could be dozens of reasons why a person likes a certain casino.
But are these personal preferences the only thing that should be considered?
The answer in most cases is no. Personal preferences should only play a small fraction of the reason chooses slots sites online.
When choosing the online slots sites that you wish to play, you should consider a number of factors that relate to the money you’re spending, the information that you provide to the website, and your overall enjoyment.
Online Casino Reputation
Reputation means everything.
It’s not just true in finding the best online slot machine sites but in any business.
Many people will look up reviews of businesses before patronizing them. This is quite common when someone is thinking of trying a restaurant they’ve never eaten at previously. If you were to research a restaurant on a review website such as Yelp and saw that the customers gave poor reviews and said such things as they had poor service and the food made them ill, would you still want to try the restaurant? In all likelihood, you wouldn’t.
The same is true for an online casino. While there’s no Yelp to help casinos with the best slots, sites like onlinecasino.info and casino.org provide reviews of many online slots sites to help you understand their reputation as well as other factors.
The sites that have the best reputations are the ones that have been around for many years and have subjected themselves to some type of local jurisdictions and have been issued licenses by a gaming authority. Other factors may play a role in the reputation of an online slot machine casino as well.
Online Gaming License
Among the traits that make a casino or slots site among the best and safest is where and how they’re licensed. A site that’s totally disreputable won’t even bother with licensing and place their website services in a jurisdiction that doesn’t require any licensing.
Most reputable sites will be licensed by a governmental agency. The most common and reputable authorities include:
- Alderney Gambling Control Commission https://www.gamblingcontrol.org
- Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/finance-gaming-and-regulations/remote-gambling
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission https://www.gov.im/categories/business-and-industries/gambling-and-e-gaming/
- Kahnawake Gaming Commission https://www.gamingcommission.ca/
- Nevada Gaming Commission https://gaming.nv.gov/
- New Jersey Casino Control Commission https://www.nj.gov/casinos/
- UK Gambling Commission gamblingcommission.gov.uk/
All of these licensing authorities have among some of the highest standards when it comes to the licensing of online casinos and slot machine websites. These commissions regularly assess that these sites are following rules and regulations set forth by the commissions. These commissions also have set up ways that consumers can report problems with the casinos licensed under them and have these issues investigated and addressed in a prompt manner.
Not all online gaming licenses are equal, however. Licenses issued under that Government of Curaçao are no more than a business license that anyone can obtain. Curaçao has no infrastructure to handle complaints or investigate casinos that are acting in bad faith. This isn’t to say that casinos licensed out of Curaçao are unscrupulous, simply that the licensing authority doesn’t have the same safeguards as others that have been mentioned.
Customer Support Availability
The best online slots casinos have multiple ways in which a customer can get help when needed. This is true for any business.
For many players, this boils down to personal preferences. Some players like the ability to call someone and talk on the phone. Some are fine with the ability to simply email customer support. Others may like an interactive chat for help.
When seeking out an online slots site to play at, you need to look at when they offer for customer service. Most sites will show their options on the main page of the site. Factors you should consider are:
- The hours that customer service is available
- The methods in which you can contact customer service
- The country the casino is based out of (for time zone and language purposes)
One of the big trends in customer service for online casinos in the last few years (as well as other businesses) is the use of bots or automated chat response systems. While these are designed to provide users with the quickest responses, they’re not always the best.
As a rule of thumb, before depositing any money at an online slots casino, try out their customer service. Ask questions of them that you may have. See if the options for customer service work best for you.
Casino Software Reputation
The casino software industry has been steadily growing for the last 2 decades. A majority of online casinos buy software packages from an online casino software supplier. These suppliers offer customizations to the casinos based on their needs. This is why you can go to an online casino and possibly see a slot machine that’s featured at another online casino. This is similar to walking into 2 different grocery stores and seeing both sell Pepsi.
For the most part, an online slots casino will only feature one software provider’s games. Among the most popular and most respected software companies are:
- Real Time Gaming (RTG)
- Playtech
- Microgaming
- Aristocrat
- Interactive Gaming Technology (IGT)
- NETent
- Novomatic
- Next Gen Gaming (NYX)
- Betsoft
These companies offer not only safe software but have a reputation for keeping up with technology. For example, many games from a decade ago used a technology called “flash” and many casinos touted this technology by advertising “flash” games. As time passed, the major players in the internet browser industry realized that flash had limitations and even some security concerns, so they moved away from supporting it. In the next few years, it may not be supported at all. This was a major concern for many online casinos and software companies took note by upgrading the technology that conformed to the new browser specifications and provided a smooth transition to the new experience for customers.
Reputable software companies are concerned with the player experience. They look for new technologies (such as games involving virtual reality, mobile gaming, and 4k and 8k video displays) and they look for the most secure ways for a player to enjoy the games so that they don’t have to worry when providing a casino their personal information.
Number and Variety of Games Offered
Some online slot casinos offer only a handful of games. And this can be attractive to some players. But the online casinos with the best slots offer a wide variety of themes and types of games.
Some of the types of online slots that the top slots sites offer include:
- 3 reel slots
- 5 reel slots
- 6 reel slots
- 7 reel slots
- Progressive slots
- Mobile slots
- Multi-pay line slots
- 3D slots
- i-slots (interactive slots)
While these slots may not be available at every online slot casino, most will have a majority of these types. Some may have some not listed for you to try.
To get an idea of the different types of slots that can be played online, a number of people have posted videos on sites like YouTube and Twitch to give a unique perspective of how the games work. One such YouTube channel that streams live online slots play is JimboCasino. The videos usually last about 30 minutes and give the player an idea of how a casino bonus will play out in an online slots casino.
Casino Bonuses
When playing at the best slot websites, players should take into consideration the bonuses that the casino offers.
The most common bonus offered is a welcome bonus. In this type of bonus, you’re either matched dollar-for-dollar (or whichever currency you use) or you’re matched by a percentage of the money you deposit when opening an account up to a certain amount.
For example, a website like Café Casino (cafecasino.lv) offers a 500% welcome bonus up to $5,000. That means that for your $5000 investment, you’ll receive $25,000 to play with.
But casinos offer other bonuses too. For example, some offer reload bonuses that work similarly to the welcome deposit. These deposits are matched either dollar-for-dollar, by a percentage, or in some cases a flat amount (a minimum deposit is usually required).
Other types of bonuses that slots machine casinos offer include referral bonuses, bonuses for playing on certain days, VIP bonuses, high-roller bonuses, and tournament bonuses.
Bonus Terms and Conditions
While bonuses are great and can provide a lot of extra money to play with, they always come with strings attached. This is for their protection. In the offer from Café Casino, it wouldn’t make sense for them to give a player $25,000 for only depositing $5,000 if the player could just take the money and run.
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By accepting a bonus, you’re accepting the terms and conditions that accompany that bonus. In the case of Café Casino, by accepting the bonus, you agree to the following:
“The deposit plus bonus amount is subject to a 35X playthrough requirement as well as a max cash out of 10x the value of the deposit. Any winning above the 10x deposit amount, based on the bonus code will be forfeited upon cash out.
Some games contribute towards playthrough requirements; however certain games may have a greater contribution than others. For more information please view our wagering contribution chart.”
So in order to take advantage of the deposit bonus, a player must play the slots 35 times. Also, the player agrees to forfeit any winnings that are higher than 10 times the deposit. So in the case of a $5,000 deposit, the maximum that a player can withdraw is $50,000, no matter how much they win.
So it’s important to be aware of the terms and conditions of any bonuses that are accepted. If a player doesn’t want to accept the bonus terms, they’re welcome to deposit their money and decline any bonuses which will eliminate the bonus restrictions, although the casino may have limits on how little or how much can be withdrawn at one time.
Player Loyalty Programs
Player loyalty programs for online casinos are similar to comp points in a land-based casino. A player usually needs to sign up for the rewards program and once signed up, the player receives points for every dollar spent. These points accumulate into prizes and cash that the player can use to put towards betting. In most cases, there’s no fee to join a loyalty program.
Overall Average Payouts
The payback percentage for a slot machine game is determined by 2 factors:
- The prize amounts
- The probability of winning those prizes
Most slot machine games have a payback percentage in the 75% or higher range, which means that–on average–you’ll win back 75 cents every time you bet $1.
Your goal when choosing an online casino is to find a site with higher-than-average payback percentages.
But as luck would have it, I’ve done the hard work for you–the 6 slots sites listed here all have payout percentages of 95% or more on average.
Online Slot Tournaments
No casino can claim to be the best online slots sites without adding an element of fun to the gameplay. That’s why many conduct tournaments for players.
These tournaments allow players to pay a flat fee to compete against other players. Instead of winning money with each spin, the players accumulate points. Tournaments provide an opportunity for players to play slots without losing money on each spin. They also allow the competitors to win small prizes such as casino swag during the tournament. The real payoff, however, comes in the form of the prize pool. The prize pool is based on the number of players that have entered the tournament. The casino usually pays out a percentage of the entry fees collected to the top point accumulators.
Conclusion
Best Online Slot Machine Sites
Finding the best slot websites can be a trying experience. Using the criteria listed here in this article can help you make smart decisions regarding where to play. If you’re looking for a quicker way to determine where to play, browse through our website. At onlinecasino.info we’re staffed with researchers and players who have been playing at online slot casinos since the mid-1990s and have decades of experience in the industry.
Slot Machine Sights
Our researchers have tested all the websites we list to provide players with only the best online slots casinos using the criteria mentioned as well as their personal knowledge of the industry.