How to Win at Slots Guide - Top Tips for Online Slot Machines

How to Improve Your Chances of Winning at Slots

This is the first part in a new series we are running on how you can get the most from your online slots play. We all know the odds are set against you with slot machines, but sometimes you can improve your chance of winning

For most players, slots are played as a form of entertainment, rather than a way to make money. So, just as you might go out to the cinema or for a nice meal on one evening, on another night you might want to settle into a bit of slot play and get the excitement and fun of the casino from your own home. Without doubt, though, slots are more fun to play if you win

This article will provide you with a few basic rules that will help you get the most from your slot play, whether that be by just getting more fun for your money, or whether it be that you get a better chance of winning a jackpot

Find a slot that pays well

One thing that quite a few players do not realize, is that some slots give you more wins than others - the rate of winning on a slot machine is known as the 'payback'

The slots in a Vegas casino could vary from as low at 80% right up to as high as 98%, depending on which machine you play

Now, in Vegas, the slots with the big paybacks are those which take $5 or $25 minimum bets, but online, you can find penny slots with big paybacks - this is a HUGE advantage to the online slot players

So, as an online player you need to first find the right casino and then you need to find the right slots to play at that casino

One of the most well-respected internet slots casinos around is Box 24 Casino (see our Box 24 Casino Review) which has excellent payback rates - you can find the rates when you sign-up and go to the 'help' section on the game itself (in it's own that is a vary valuable tip that you may not know!)

It is worth mentioning that sometimes people simply play slots for fun, rather than to make money. So, you might find a slot you love to play just for the entertainment, but has a low payback of around 90% - the important thing here is to appreciate that if you do win on a machine like that, it would be a good idea to then switch to a better paying game after hitting the win.

Play the best slot for YOU

Another thing that many people don't realize when they play slots is that different machines play differently - they pay out in different ways, which can have a massive impact on your experience. You need to find the right type of slots to suit your style of play

Some machines are designed to give out lots of small wins as you play them, so your money lasts a long time, but you do not stand a chance of a single big win. These are called 'low variance' slots

Other machines, pay fewer, but bigger wins. So, you could go through long periods without a win, but when you do it should be a pretty good one. These are called 'high variance' slots

Do you get frustrated by not hitting a win for a long period of time? - If so, then you need to find low variance slots to play so you can play for a long time and get slots of small wins along the way. You won't lose money quickly if you play low variance slots, but you are less likely to get that life-changing win

Or, are you online interested in big wins? - if that is the case, you need to find high variance slots to play. Playing this type of machine there is a danger that you may run out of cash before hitting a win, but if you do line up the right symbols you will get a handsome reward

So, how to spot the variance - the first giveaway sign is to look at the size of the jackpot - a big jackpot will in general play with a higher variance than the identical machine that is not hooked up to a progressive jackpot

The second giveaway sign it to look for a slot that has 'stacked wilds' or 'chained wilds' where if you line up a few of them in a row it gives you all sorts of inning combos that will add up massively. Of course, this happens only very rarely so you will need to be patient

So, in a bit more detail - those machines with a big jackpot prize, especially those attached to a progressive jackpot are high variance. The reason for this is that on every session, they need to keep back a bit to go into a jackpot prize pool, leaving less money for basic regular wins. So, you win less often, but if you were to win the big one, it would be really big

Low variance machines can be spotted by the very fact that they do not have a high top prize. This means that they don;t need to save up money for a jackpot and can pay it out regularly in the form of small wins - they pay out smaller sums more often

So, next time you play, ask yourself if you just want to make your money go further and enjoy playing for longer, or if the whole purpose is to go for that big win and on occasions, leave the casino with a big payout.

Finding a jackpot you can win

So, you now know that you should be looking for the right sort of machine to suit the style of play you like and also, that you need to look for machines that have a high payback rate. You may have decided you want to play a high variance jackpot machine. These last few tips will help you on the jackpot machines, especially if you prefer to play low stakes:

One thing that some people know, but many people do not know is that in order to win the jackpot you have to MAX BET

This is crucial to know, because if you don't max bet on a jackpot machine you really are throwing your money away and reducing your chances of winning - you may as well be playing a non-jackpot machine and getting the benefit of the regular small wins they provide

Look for a jackpot you can win without max bet

Although they are very rare these days, there are some machines still out there that do not require you to max bet to stand a chance of winning the jackpot.

These machines are more commonly found in land-based casinos, rather than online casinos

The way to find them, is more often than not, to look out for a 'random jackpots' sign or 'mystery jackpots' indicator. What this means is the jackpot is triggered completely at random, and doesn't need the right reels to line-up to get it

On these machines, the more you bet the higher the chance you have of hitting the jackpot, but you can still win the jackpot even if you play a single penny spin.

One last thing to look out for is the sneaky machines that require max bet, but not just max bet on one line, but max bet on all the pay-lines - this can make it very expensive to play and have a chance of winning the big one compared to other machines where you only have to max bet on one single line if you want that opportunity

Next Time, in Part 2...

In our next installment, we will go into a bit more depth about some powerful advanced ways to improve your winning. Some of these tactics have never been published before online and we are very excited to be bringing you this winning information