Since 1887 people have been putting their coins in the slot, pulling the handle
and hoping they are going to be the one to win the jackpot. Charles Fey is the
man we have to thank for this popular game. Charles Fey built the original slot
machines by hand in the basement of his home and then rented them to local
casinos in San Francisco, so not only was Charles Fey the inventor of
slot
machines he was also the first proprietor.
The original slot machines had different symbols on the reels than you see
today; the images were hearts, diamonds, spades, bells, horseshoes and a star.
The first slot machine was called The Liberty Bell. The original slot machines
were operated with nickels. They worked basically the same as today's slot
machines; you deposited a nickel in the slot, which would release the handle for
the player to pull down. When a certain combination of symbols appeared the
players was warded with coins.
Charles Fey teamed with the Mills Novelty Company in 1907 and updated his
Liberty Bell slot machine. They introduced the Mills Liberty Bell slot machine.
It had a cast iron case and cast iron feet with toes, later the feet were
replaced with ornate decorated feet. The Mills Novelty Company then introduced
the Operator Bell in 1910, which varied just slightly from the Liberty Bell.
The Operator Bell had a gooseneck coin entry and had fruit symbols on the reels.
This also had a cast iron case. In 1915 the Mills Novelty Company introduced
slot machines with wood cabinets bringing an end to the cast iron slot machines.
During the 1930's the Mills Novelty Company began making additional to slot
machines. The slot machines were referred to as "silent bell" because they were
much quieter; they also had double jackpots to double player's chances of
winning. The slot machines also started being designed with themes there was the
Lion Head, War Eagle, Roman Head and Castle Front. The themed designs were quite
memorable.
Slot machines gained quite a bit more popularity in the 1940's when Bugsy Siegel
furnished his Flamingo Hilton Hotel with them for the wives and girlfriends of
the high rollers.
Slot machines were originally made with three reels and some still are, however
today's slot machines you see in casinos typically have four or five reels. The
bad side of that is the more reels the more difficult your chance of winning the
jackpot.
For a long time there was a certain way
of pulling the handle down on the slot machines to win the jackpot, this has led
to modifications made on the slot machines. Today the majority of slot machines
are electronic and computer controlled, thanks to this cheating is pretty much a
part of the past. This easy game and the chance to win a big jackpot make it
quite appealing to everyone.
A Slot machine has
three spinning
reels
with 22 positions per reel marked with symbols. Each time a spin is made, the
three reels come to rest randomly with a selection of symbols showing in the
game window. Certain combinations of symbols in the game window result in
payoffs. The payoffs for the different winning combinations are shown in a
window at the top of each Slot machine.
For some machines, like Rags to Riches you need to click on the Payout Table
button to view the Payout Table.
Uk
betting casino Slot machines operate like
Slots
machines found in the casinos throughout the world. The only difference, which
is greatly favorable for the player, is that you can switch your coin value from
$0.25 to $5 without changing to another machine!
Players interested in
online Slots, get involved in the game, usually, because online Slots rules are
simple, easy to understand, and fun, more than most online casinos games' rules.
Online Slots rules are very simple, and can be understood through detailing the
game's development.
Paying for Slots - In online Slots rules,
either a virtual coin is dropped in the coin slot, or a wager is entered by the
player. Bets can be on 1, 2 or more coins, and up to 10 coins, usually. The
Slots coins may come in a variety such as $0.5 or $5 per spin.
After you insert the coin, a button or
lever on screen is used, in order to make the slot machine reels spin. The
computer generates random numbers that consist of the Slots' score.
Whether you win depends on how the slot's
reels stop. Online Slots rules state that you win, if you get the same
symbols/numbers lined up in a row, displaying one of the combinations listed on
the slot machine table.
Progressive Jackpots - These are slot
machines that accumulate the previous players' coins, thus making the jackpot
larger. The first player to hit the winning symbols, wins the entire jackpot.
Online Slots rules for payoffs differ
according to the online casinos visited, but most payoffs range from 96-97%.
This means that out of 100$ players place in the Slots, 3-4$ are taken by the
online casinos, and the rest are given as prizes to Slots players. The more
serious online Slots tournaments and games offer even higher rates, in order to
attract players.
The larger jackpots of online Slots,
sometimes offer huge rewards, that rise to sums of hundreds of thousands of
dollars, and even millions.
Today's' slot machines are a wonder of technology,
working off custom designed computer programs that randomly select numbers and
winning combinations. The odds and winning percentages are set by the
manufacture and are calculated simulating the millions of spins made with
computer.
Slots are basically
mechanical devices that use 3, 4, 5 or more circular reels or varying sizes. The
reels are marked or painted with symbols and or numbers. The most common symbols
being Cherries, Bars, the Jackpot Symbol, and then of course there is the Number
7. Themed slot machines are increasing in popularity, and trade off a themed
game such as Tomb Raider, or the American Flag and get painted red, white and
blue.
There are a number of different kinds of slot machines
that a player must be aware of before he can implement a winning strategy.
Three Reels vs. Four Reels
- Everyone knows it is easier to get 3-of-a-kind than 4-of-a-kind, and much
easier to line up 3 matching symbols or numbers than to match up 4! Players
should therefore look for 3 reel machines when playing.
Progressive Slots
-
These Slots are usually 4-Reel machines, offering open-ended
Jackpots that increases in value after each pull, on every machine that is
linked in a group. The Top Jackpot is only won if the player has bet the maximum
bet or played the maximum number of coins for that pull, and all the winning
symbols line up in order on the pay-line. These Slots do not
pay out very often. Player wanting to play should pick a slot whose Primary and
Secondary Jackpots are at a high level.
2-Coin vs. 3-Coin
Machines -
On a 2-Coin slot machine, the 2nd-coin
play will pay a whole lot more than just double the 1-coin Jackpot for the Top
Jackpot (perhaps even the Top 2 or 3 Jackpots!) ie: Playing on a 2-coin machine,
the Top Jackpot payoff is three 7's, paying $1000. Playing only 1 coin, the same
3- 7's pays only $400 . The 3-Coin machine will show much higher payoffs for the
top jackpots with the three coins played. However,... 3-Coin machines might look
much better in their payoff than 2-Coin machines, but this is not the case as
players also need to be more to get this, and so also end up
losing more! Warning: Players must know the Golden Rule when playing progressive
Slots: whatever slot is being played - play the maximum number of coins. If a
player hits the jackpot and only bet 1 coin on a 4-coin machine...
think
about it....
One Payline vs. Three
Paylines -
The payline is usually the marked
center line in most Slots. Winning symbols or numbers must line
up on this line and this line only to make up a winning combination. However,
some Slots play with 3 paylines - top, center and bottom of the
screen - and any winning combination falling on any of the paylines will pay
out. Players should therefore look for machines with multiple paylines to
increase their chances of winning - by even getting double and triple payouts
when winning combinations happen on a top and middle payline, for instance! The
payouts are not large though, and the Top Jackpot is only paid out when a
winning combination is lined up in the correct order on the bottom, or third
payline. Three-Payline machines are also usually 3-coin machines, making play
more "expensive", and then some Slots have 5, 7 and even 9
paylines - basically meaning that players must play up to 9 coins a pull to be
eligible for the Top Jackpot. But...hey... it's fun. Then again, there is
another little rule : stick to playing 2-Coin, 3-Reel, 1-Payline
Slots.
Double-Up Symbols
-
Many Slots are
now also making use of fabulous Double-Up symbols on their reels! These symbols,
usually a circle or a diamond in a circle, and with the words "Double" across
them, inform the player that the payoff has now doubled and that the symbol can
be substituted for any other on the reel. Casinos obviously do not carry many of
these Machines and when they do, the Machine is usually in the murky somewhere
of the casino and surrounded by bad machines.
This is a typical three
reel Slot machine, designed in the same way similar multi-payline machines work
in the casinos. The paytable for this game is as follows.
|
Center Payline |
Pays |
|
Three bars |
5000 |
|
Three cherries |
1000 |
|
Three plums |
200 |
|
Three watermelons |
100 |
|
Three oranges |
50 |
|
Three
lemons |
25 |
|
Any two cherries |
10 |
|
Any one cherry |
2 |
|
There seems to be always 22 actual
stops on each reel of a Slot machine. The following table shows the symbol on
each stop as well as the weight.
|
Weight Table |
|
Symbol |
Reel 1 |
Reel 2 |
Reel 3 |
|
Cherry |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Plum |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Watermelon |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Orange |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Lemon |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
Blank |
5 |
5 |
8 |
|
Bar |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
Blank |
5 |
5 |
7 |
|
Cherry |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Plum |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Watermelon |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Orange |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Lemon |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
Blank |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Total |
64 |
64 |
64 |
|
There are two interesting things to
note at this point. First notice that the first reel is weight the most
generously and the third is the least. For example the bar has 4 weights on reel
1 and only 1 weight on reel 3. Second notice the high number of blanks directly
above and below the bar symbol. This results in a near miss effect.
Most of the symbols occur twice on the
reel, and the blank 11 times. The following table shows the total number of
weights of each kind of symbol.
|
Total Weight Table |
|
Symbol |
Reel 1 |
Reel 2 |
Reel 3 |
|
Bar |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
Cherry |
5 |
4 |
2 |
|
Plum |
6 |
4 |
3 |
|
Watermelon |
6 |
5 |
4 |
|
Orange |
7 |
5 |
6 |
|
Lemon |
8 |
6 |
6 |
|
Blank |
28 |
37 |
42 |
|
Total |
64 |
64 |
64 |
Given the two table of weights and the
paytable it only takes simple math to calculate the expected return. Following
are the specific probabilities of each paying combination. Note that each
virtual reel has a total of 64 stops so the total number of possible
combinations is 643 = 262,144.
- 3 Bars: 4*3*1/262,144 = 0.000046
- 3 Cherries: 5*4*2/262,144 = 0.000153
- 3 Plums: 6*4*3/262,144 = 0.000275
- 3 Watermelons: 6*5*4/262,144 =
0.000458
- 3 Oranges: 7*5*6/262,144 = 0.000801
- 3 Lemons: 8*6*6/262,144 = 0.001099
- 2 Cherries: (5*4*62 + 5*60*2 +
59*4*2)/262,144 = 0.008820
- 1 Cherry: (5*60*62 + 59*4*62 +
59*60*2)/262,144 = 0.153778
The average return of the machine is the
dot product of the above probabilities and their respective payoffs:
0.000046*5000 + 0.000153*1000 +
0.000275*200 + 0.000458*100 + 0.000801*50 + 0.001099*25 + 0.008820*10 +
0.153778*2 = 0.94545 .
Thus for every unit played the machine will
return back 94.545%.
Here are 9 tips to help you
increase your chances of winning at online Slots.
1. Set your bankroll
As slot machines are a game of chance set your bankroll in advance when it's
gone it's gone its easy to get caught up in the excitement of playing online
Slots but be disciplined.
While you should have loss cut off point have a profit one to so you can quit
while you're ahead and enjoy your winnings.
2. Know Your Machine:
There are many players who play and then realize they have not played the right
amount of coins for best payout, don't make this mistake.
3. Go for highest payback possible
It's a game of chance; so, get the biggest payback you can when playing online
slot machines.
The player has a far better chance of winning on online
Slot
machines when payback percentages are bigger.
Online casinos payback between 75 - 97%.
Look for casinos that have online
Slot machines with payouts of
97% - Its simple these machines payout more, so your chances of winning are
greater.
4. Play maximum coins at all times
Payback percentages on online
Slot machines are calculated to
include jackpot amounts.
Jackpots, are only paid on maximum coins played and that's the incentive to play
maximum coins
As online Slots are a game of chance your after the jackpot,
that's the fun of it all and some of these jackpots can be life changing so play
maximum coins and dont miss out.
5. Don't play online progressive
Slot machines on a small bankroll
Payouts on progressives are much lower than on regular slot machines, as the
jackpots and chances of winning are much less.
These machines payout million plus jackpots, so you should not play them if
you're just after a bit of fun as they consume bankroll quickly, dont payout
often - those jackpots have to be paid for!
6. Single pay line machines Are Good
If you have small bankroll, these online
Slot machines are less
expensive to play.
You can play for longer and you still have the chance of winning a jackpot as
well so great for casual players.
7. Play only two coin or three coin machines
Your money will last longer on a two coin max online
Slot
machine, than on a three coin max machine.
You will be able to play and have the thrill of pursuing the jackpot for longer
- Keep in mind it's the thrill of playing for the jackpot that attracts people
to Slots.
Ok you might not win but you will have a lot of fun and that's what online
Slot machines are all about.
If you don't want to just have fun and really want to have fun then there is one
online Slot machine you can play where if you play with the
correct strategy the odds are in your favor
Discover Video poker!
8. Play Video Poker
They are online Slot machines that if you play correctly you
can win, as you can put the odds in your favor by playing with strategy.
Not only can you get the odds in your favor, you also get great visuals and an
engaging game as the graphics are so good.
Each machine has its own optimum strategy and if you play with it and there are
plenty of pre printed cards on the net for you to use as reference and play
correctly and you can end up making consistent profits over time.
