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Payout percentages are the most commonly used form of differentiating slot machines, and the most often used form of advertising slots by the casinos. Many casinos offer "98% payback slots " or some other high number as their payback percentage. This is most often thought of as "98% of the total amount of money deposited into the machine will be returned to the player". People tend to think this means if they play through $100, they should expect to have $98 come back to them. This is a bit of a fallacy however, because the return percentage is a theoretical one based on an infinite timeline. This means if you were to keep playing the slots game forever, you would eventually have made back 98% of what you put in. Most people don't usually play long enough to hit a big jackpot however, and winning that jackpot is part of the calculated 98%. This means if you play and don't win big, chances are you're actual return percentage will be significantly lower.
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What do I mean by traps? I mean slot machines that aren't entirely up front about what they offer you. The biggest trap by far is the full coins trap. There are many slot machines in Vegas that advertise great payback percentages and amazing jackpots, but they also advertise themselves as 'quarter slots ' or 'nickel slots ', which is a little misleading. The majority of these machines require you to play multiple coins in order to be eligible for some or any of its available jackpots. Many of them require that you are playing the maximum number of coins possible on the machine in order to be able to win the jackpot that probably convinced you to play it in the first place! So be very wary, you may find yourself in front of a machine that has three cars lined up in a row making you think you've won the grand jackpot, but no lights will flash, no sounds will erupt, if you only played one coin.
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There are many, many myths around the Internet trying to convince you that the casinos in Las Vegas have masterminded the way they place their slots , with loose slots more visible than tight slots . You will undoubtedly read about how slot machines near the isles, on raised carousels, or near the entrances and exits pay out more and more often than other slots in the casino. The logic is based on the idea that the casino wants any winner on a slot machine to be seen by as many people as possible, convincing them to play too. While this may be a fairly logical assumption, it seems as though if it was true once in the past, it sadly no longer is. Recently Michael Shackleford of the wizard of odds has done some fairly systematic tests of casinos around Vegas and found no difference between the payouts on machines located randomly, and those in previously though of 'loose' spots.
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A payline is a 'line' on slot machine reels on which symbols must line up on in order to win. Some slot machines have only 1 payline, some have 3, others
have 5, 9 and even 15! Generally speaking, you must pay a coin to play each line on a machine, but have the option of
not playing all available lines.
So, on a 3 line machine, you can play the center line for one coin - the center line and the line above it for two coins - or all 3 lines for 3 coins. If
you don't play a specific line and a winning combination comes up on it - then you don't win.
Classic slot machines have 3 reels and only 1 line - a horizontal payline that goes through the middle of each reel. You may be able to wager more than
one coin per spin on these games - but the amount will apply to wins on the same payline. (You win more by betting more, but your chances of winning stay the same)
Other 3 reel slots often have three paylines, one in the middle, one above it, and one below it. Betting 1 coin activates the middle payline, betting 2 coins opens up 2 paylines, and
3 coins plays all 3 lines on a spin.
5 reel slot machines typically have quite a few paylines, from 5 to 15. These paylines aren't necessarily straight lines - there's diagonal matches and lines
that actually bend. How the lines go differs from machine to machine, but the lines should be marked clearly on each game.
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