When it comes to slot machines there are some key points to you need to master the perfect slot machine strategy. There are things that affect your performance, save you money and help you achieve success from the simple game of slots.

Craving a sizzling hot jackpot? Play Online Slots at our TOP 5 Casinos
CasinoBonusTermsSoftwareVisit
$1000Visit
$5000+ $10 FreeVisit
$3020+ $20 FreeVisit
4 $800+ $10 FreeVisit
5 Visit

If the slot machine is programmed to pay out 100 to 1, then it’s easy to see how the casino would make a profit in that situation. Of course, the payouts on slots are more complicated than that, but the math has been done, and the manufacturer and the casino know within a hundredth of a percentage point how much money they expect to make per spin. Jan 05, 2015  There are several ways of doing it, depending what regulatory jurisdiction covers them. There are 'Class 2' games that deliver a fixed and predetermined series of outcomes in random order, and there are 'Class 3' games that are completely random a.

  • Slots Strategy
  • Are Slot Machines Totally Random?
  • Is There a Trick to Slot Machines?
  • Is There a Slot Machine Strategy?
  • What is the Best Slot Machine Strategy?
  • How Do You Know When a Slot machine Will Hit?
  • +How to Win at Slots
    • +How to Pick a Winning Slot Machine
      • 1. The More Choice the Better
      • 2. Practice, Practice and more Practice
      • 3.Know Your Maker
      • 4. Beat Them At Their Own Game
      • 5. Experimentation
  • Summary
  • FAQ

Fantastic Casino Games that Pay – Learn Slots Strategy and Win Real Cash!

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of winning a yummy payout by playing online slots, let’s go through the basics all players should evaluate to be able to determine which online slots to play. This article will provide you with a detailed overview of how to win at slots and how to tell if a slot machine is ready to pay. Our expert team of passionate casino players will share their secrets to help you overcome any unexpected traps and challenges.

When you look for an effective slots strategy, make sure to check what types of games you should choose and how to choose the best machine in terms of your return on investment. Even though many players say that slots are games of luck, you will still maximize your chances of winning if you approach the game with a solid understanding of the process. Tune in and we will take you through it step by step!

Are Slot Machines Totally Random?

The short answer to this question is both “yes” and “no”. When you come to play any of the machines that are either within the casino or through our selection of demo games, you are faced with two types of algorithm which calculate and determines the winning outcome.

So, how does this affect your slot machine strategy? Knowing the facts, especially how a simple slot machine is programmed can play into your advantage. This, along with all the other areas of the slot will help to explain and to give you a clearer picture of the game to help you succeed whilst playing in some Vegas themed casino gambling for real money.

Breaking Random Myths

When it comes to any form of machine strategy, knowing the inner workings play a part in gaining knowledge and this, in itself, is an advantage. The slot machines are built with two forms of algorithm, the first is the RTP which means Return to Player. You will often find the RTP noted in the gaming description, for example, 96.5% RTP. This is a percentage-based program which only disperses money once the right percentage of money has been placed into the slot by all players, not just you. See this as the house edge and you get an example how big the gulf is with this edge.

The next algorithm is the random number generator, known as the RNG. The program for this is the fairest option of any machine to play because, this one is totally random and, therefore, dismisses the idea that all slot machines are somehow fixed.

Is There a Trick to Slot Machines?

The only important trick to any Vegas game, regardless of whether you’re playing online slots, video poker or enjoying a game of Roulette, is to know all the facts of the game first. This can be anything from the rules of play, through to knowing the odds of different actions.

When it comes to forming slot machine tips the order of knowledge is simple.

1. Do you know the rules of the game?

2. Do you know what the odds of winning are?

3. Are you able to budget your bankroll?

4. Do you know how virtual machines work?

Programmed

5. Are you prepared to lose when gambling for real money?

These are simple steps, but within each, a certain degree of awareness is needed to achieve wins from any online slot machine or other casino game.

Is There a Slot Machine Strategy?

So, do slot machine winning strategies exist out there? Certainly! Look at the casino bonus of free spins a simple enough option provided to the player, but what you have already gained is an advantage to win free money without having to use your own finances to capitalize on the bonus. Now, if you have two casinos, one offering 25 free spins and the other 100. Logic dictates you are going to go for the higher amount of spins because, with 100, your odds and chances of gaining any return are greater to your advantage.

So, from this, your strategy is to find the right casinos, offering the largest selection of free spin bonuses. But this isn’t just the end of the development, what about what games are eligible to play with this bonus. From this point, a player can stray into a seemingly endless path of strategical checks.

Here is a basic checklist for you to follow and below, in our next section, we’ll elaborate on what the best strategies are and mean.

Your Path to GloryProgrammed
  • Decide the type of slot you wish to play according to its RTP.
  • Practice playing games in Demo Mode first.
  • Find games with high paylines, bonus levels and most reoccurring wins whilst practicing.
  • Pick a casino that holds your preferred game and offers a slots bonus. (check bonus t’s&c’s).
  • Use your bonus to play the very games you practiced on.

This is a very basic process and there are way more complicated procedures to take on, which we will cover just after this next section of picking the best strategy.

Best Casinos to play Online Slots - 2019
CasinoBonusTermsSoftwareVisit
$1000Visit
$5000+ $10 FreeVisit
$3020+ $20 FreeVisit

What is the Best Slot Machine Strategy?

Let us now look at the slot machine strategies you can incorporate into your state of play. There really is no ‘singular’ best strategy, they each work in unison and never alone.

Our slot machine strategy is broken down into just 5 easy understandable sections which you can combine.

  • 1. Practice will make you a better slot player: Demo games are a valuable tool, ironic they are free to play. This is the starting point of any strategy you take on, to know the game you are playing, learning to find those machines, which the casinos hold, that offer players a better chance of winning on, over those programmed to be less effective.
  • 2. Why bother to pay and play? Basically, casino bonuses are going to save you a lot more money in the long run. If and when the opportunity arises to play with a suitable casino bonus, then take it. Having a chance of any free spins or free cash to play with, means you have a chance to gain free capital. Now that’s something you won’t find in Vegas.
  • 3. Strike whilst it’s hot: Casino’s will inform you through a winners table which games are currently paying out. Knowing which games are in a hot streak of form is beneficial.
  • 4. Progressive Wins: If you want to win the biggest jackpot prize, then the progressive jackpot slots are the ones to aim for. History has shown a very clear pattern, once a jackpot drops, another soon follows. Why? Because a lot of progressive slots are built using high RTP. Also, look out for daily jackpots. These forms of prizes have cash values which have to be won by a specific time or before a value is reached i.e. ‘5,000 jackpot to be won by 11 pm’ or ‘Prize to drop before 2,500’.
  • 5. Beginners luck. (the more complex strategy.) A false claim or true that it exists? For any new player looking to join an online casino, we can say with much confidence that you will land a ‘BIG WIN’ from an online slot within your first 50 spins of a game. Here’s how we know… The casinos are built with management tools implemented into gaming analytics. They will know what you as a player will pay on average, what type of games you play and a few more detail irrelevant to the idea of using this as a strategy. A new player has no past expense history with the casino, therefore, it cannot dictate your winnings based on the money put into the games. So, for all players, once played, this is what you do: Clean your cache on your device. Don’t play the same game for a month. During this time the casino will have updated the games cleaning them of faults. Proceed to the games and play again and always play and bet on new ones. This is a strategy that will yield must success.

Note: Every virtual based machine is essentially a slot machine game, the programming and algorithms are the same, the only difference is the face of the game’s presentation i.e. cards, wheels, dice and video poker. The active motion of any game is the same, a roll of the dice is the same as a rotation of a slot reel, and so on. So, these strategies work for all games in the realm of virtual machine formats.

How Do You Know When a Slot machine Will Hit?

So, how to tell if a slot machine is hot. As mentioned previously, some casinos will hold a winners table, this informs players, who the user is which won, how much they won and on what game. Other indications come from news stories which we hold on our site. We will inform you when the big progressive jackpots are won.

If we go back to the function of RTP, not many players know the concept of this factor and inevitably bet on whatever game looks to have a more appealing title or theme. Therefore, a good indication is within the menu of popular of favourite games. A large portion of these will be high RTP based games, hence the money going in will increase the percentage chance of a payout.

Another tip, which no other guide will give, is to study the menu layout. If one week a game is found halfway down the list and then suddenly top the next. This is a good indication that the slot has been updated to clean any faults and to remove bugs. This means its cache has been cleared and will play like a new game, void of your history. A simple way to test this is to check to see if the coin/chip value is the default value or the value you last played, which is not the default amount.

How to Win at Slots

Knowing which slot is best to play will come time. You firstly need to experiment with demo machine games. This is the risk-free way to know which slots are best to play and which ones are to be avoided before gambling for real money. Learn to lose and learn to beat the house edge,

How to Pick a Winning Slot Machine

1. The More Choice the Better

Pick slots that offer high payouts and bonus rounds and bigger pay line win features. Games with more chance better your odds. So, look for paylines above the average, which is 20 lines, avoid single pay line game. Get games with layered bonus rounds and with multi-jackpot rounds.

2. Practice, Practice and more Practice

Knowing which slot is best to play, will come time. You firstly need to experiment with demo machine games. This is the risk-free way to know which slots are best to play and which ones are to be avoided. If you lose there is no real loss and this goes for all virtual machines like video poker, blackjack and roulette.

3.Know Your Maker

There are indeed many software developers in the industry and each one wants to be unique and different. No two developers are the same and because of this, you’ll find two distinct ways casino games are made. You have providers making their game which are filled will frequent winning occurrences but pay small. Then you have providers with infrequent payback winnings, but when they do land, they are bigger. Learn about your makers within the free games of our site.

4. Beat Them At Their Own Game

You now know of RTP and RNG, but another thing to learn is the Volatility of a game, also known as the variance which is the risk level of the game. This leads back to the development of the game. The Volatility of the game comes as either High or Medium. The higher the percentage of the Volatility you will know that your payback will be smaller in frequency but higher in value. Knowing these technical aspects of the game allows you not to be lured in by catchy titles or concepts when the outcome of all is predetermined by the programming.

5. Experimentation

This is part of the practice process, but more in how you practice. So here are some tips to help you to begin experimenting.

  • Experiment with different wagering amounts you bet. Which values offer more frequent wins. Is playing lower wagers more beneficial than higher ones. Does alternating work? How about going up on each spin. Testing to see if patterns come about from tactical wagering and if the algorithm can be tricked is a big strategy. There’s a reason why all games have a default value, wink, wink!
  • Experiment with multiple paylines. Some games allow you to change the number of lines you can bet on. All games default to the full number, this increases your wager. But test to see if altering this is of benefit. See if you win just as much after 50 spins on 15 pay lines and you do with 20 paylines.
  • Experiment with two of the same games at once. Open a secondary browser so you have two of the same games on the screen. The first you play with no changes to the default setting, then second you test each area of the game 20 spins at a time to record your findings. If leaving a game in with its default settings yield more wins than changing things, then you know how to approach a game. You can also test the one that’s not left on default with autoplay, does autoplay affect the algorithm in a positive or negative way?

Slot Strategy Summary: Our conclusion and final words on the strategies surrounding the online slot machine

There’s certainly a lot to explore before gambling for real money, but effort and time really do pay off in the end and that is the key goal. Fast wins and big values take the necessary study to conclude these outcomes. For example, had you not read this, you may have opted for a game by a developer that purposely makes their games with low RTP, you may have become frustrated and increased your wagering value, which, in turn, effects the algorithm in a negative way and your losses therefore increase and your payback decreases.

We thank you for reading our guide, stick to the plan and now see the game in the bigger picture and we are more than confident you’ll succeed. The best of luck to you.


FAQ

💯 Is there a Slot strategy that works 100%?

No slot strategy will guarantee that from every spin made that a win will land, this is impossible because of how the games are programmed. What you learn from our strategy guide is how to manipulate the programming’s memory that effects how consistent you win on the slots.


🎰 How effective is practice before playing slots for real money?

Practicing on demo slot games is very practical and this is why it is one of the more important strategies. You will learn to pick your games more wisely and save money in the process. You can learn techniques about games, such as knowing what value spins yield more profit in return. It’s better to discover and learn whilst the games are free, rather than doing it with your own finances.


🍒 How are slot bonuses a strategy?

Playing slots is more a case of you against the other players out there that have the same access to it, rather than it being about you against the casino. What you get from bonuses is longer game time. The more money you have to play with or the more free spins you have could make all the difference between you landing a jackpot or some other player that can also access the same game.

Slots Machine with Strategy
Have you enjoyed reading this article? Go ahead and share it!
More...Less

We hope you found this guide interesting. In between trying to land your next big jackpot read another of our slot articles from the list below:

Wizard Recommends

  • €1500 Welcome Bonus
  • €100 + 300 Free Spins
  • 100% Welcome Bonus
In 'how slot machines works' you mention that the Random numbers (1 to 2+ billion) are drawn in a cycle to ensure each number is chosen once per cycle. Are you saying that the slot has a 2+ billion-element table that gets filled with all the possible numbers (over time)? Is this why a slot machine will sometimes hesitate (as if it's 'thinking' for a few seconds before allowing you to initiate a play... because it's filled the 'random number table' and is re-initializing it for another round? I have always wondered about these periodic (after maybe around 30-50 pulls) 'hesitations' that slot machines exhibit; because my observations are that the pay/take characteristics of a slot machine seem to change between these 'hesitations.' Frequently, I have seen a slot that was in a 'pay cycle' (for lack of better words) go suddenly cold after going through this hesitation. Conversely, I have seen cold machines suddenly start paying more after this hesitation occurs. Whatever! The exact reason for this 'pause' it seems clear the machine is re-initializing or re-loading something... I just don't know what it is.

No, the machine does not have a huge element table of over two billion elements. The random number generators choose each number once in the cycle using mathematical algorithms and do not need to keep track of which numbers were already chosen. Regarding the pause, it has nothing to do with how much it is going to pay. I think the game does some internal auditing from time to time. There is no such thing as hot and cold cycles with slot machines. The ups and downs are just normal random variation.

I play a machine in Atlantic city Called 'Reel Detectives'. I have read your informative article on how slot machines work and I have a good understanding of the programming behind them. what I don't understand is how on some days these machines will pay almost an exclusive combination of seven wins with no jackpots all day and yet other days it will pay jackpots all day with little to no seven wins.
If the machine is truly picking random combinations wouldn't the prize distribution be more random. It's as if IGT programmed the machine to have 'Planned Cycles' to make the game more interesting to play. I know your going to say that these are just random events, but it is extremely unlikely that a machine will only pay mid and lower tier prizes all day and omit the jackpot and vice-versa and do this over and over again. HOW are these WEIGHTED cycles explained? Also if you could point me to any books you recommend on the programming of slot machines I would appreciate it.

These are just random events. The laws of probability dictate that some days will be dry with a few big winners and others will have a lot of lower payouts. Most days will have a balanced mix and these days are always the first forgotten by the player. There is no switch the casino is throwing to alter the mood of their machines. I tend to think you're just remember what you want to in order to substantiate your theory.

Considering that a slot machines random number generator is fixed to supply the selected numbers to the virtual reel stops, and in turn are tied to the actual reel stops, is it not possible for the casino computers to swap non-winning stops to win stops, thus increasing the win percentage. This would maybe explain why all machines on some carosels seem to get hot at the same time, then all revert back after drawing a croud of players...just wondering...your site is a great information site...thanks

No, this does not happen. How much the slot machine pays is determined by a microchip called an EPROM, which is generally left alone. To change it, at least in Nevada, the casino would have to get permission from the gaming authorities. Even without permission, they would have to open up each machine and change the EPROM by hand.
I speculate that the reason for what you observed about all the machines on a carousel getting hot at the same time is due partially to chance, partially selective memory, and partially to a snowball effect where players will gravitate to an area where they hear a lot of winning and simply add to the number of wins because of more players.

Your explanation of virtual versus physical slot machine reels was most informative.
  1. Given the random number generator stops on a virtual Cherry say, how does the machine make the physical reel stop on a visible cherry? I mean technically speaking.
  2. Does this explain how pachinko machines from Japan can electronically alter payout percentages without altering the physical reel symbols?
  3. Suppose the machine decides its time for a BAR, the only BAR on the third reel, just as one passes the pay-line. Does it let the reel go one full turn and catch it on the next go-round?
  4. Suppose a physical reel stops on a paying combination by mistake, i.e. a symbol other than the virtual one pre-ordained. What happens then?

Thanks much.

Let me answer each question individually.

  1. It is just programming code that dictates to the machine that if the virtual reel stops on a cherry to make the actual reel stop on a cherry. There are actual notches on the reels which may help the machine to stop in the right place. If you peer through the glass at and angle you can sometimes see these notches. However, I am not an engineer and am not sure exactly how the machine knows to stop at just the right moment. It just take it for granted that it can.
  2. Theoretically, the casino could change the payout on a slot machine with just a remote control. The remote control could tell the machine to use any previously programmed virtual reels. Practically speaking, the major casinos need to get approval from the gaming authorities to change the payback of a machine. If they did get such authorization all a slot technician has to do is replace a chip inside the machine, known as an e-prom. This happens infrequently and would not warrant the expense of a remote control.
  3. It seems to me the reels spin at least several times before stopping.
  4. In the unlikely even that happened, then I think it would trigger a malfunction and the bet would be voided.
This happens to me 100% of the time: A slot will pay out normally to start and then after about a half hour’s consistent play, it will produce a declining win pattern, and an increasing lose pattern. Once I hit $20.00 in my account balance, the losing pattern will intensify to sometimes 20 straight loses in a row. (This is on a 5 reel, 9 line slot). I can almost sense when the slot goes into this 'mode'. I hardly think it is fair to flag an account due to prolonged play. Is this a programming ploy to prevent large wins that would normally come after consistent play on the same slot and to get you to make that next deposit?

I will say that for class 3 slots by major slot makers like IGT, Bally, and Williams do not resort to these sort of tricks. With respectable slot machines every play has the exact same probability of winning. If you don't believe me then why don’t you go from machine to machine playing each one for half an hour.

How often does a casino change the percentage on a slot machine?

Not often. Contrary to popular myth the casinos don’t tighten the machines on weekends or whenever it is busy. Here in Las Vegas the casinos have to fill out a form every time they change the percentage on each game. Most slot managers I have spoken with have a policy on what coinage is set to what return. I tend to think the most likely reason to change the percentage would a change in ownership and/or management, which do not happen often.

When playing video poker will it decrease my odds of winning if I put a $50 bill in, instead of $5 or $10 increments?

No. Neither the amount you put in nor the denomination affects the odds. The same is true of slots.

Wizard, what do you think about the new 'server based' slot machines currently being tested at Barona Valley Ranch? Apparently this technology allows the casino to instantly change the machines from their back offices - including the games offered, denominations, and.....the payouts! I think this is going a bit far. I mean what’s to stop the house from targeting certain players (like the drunk high roller) and making it tougher for that player to win? We all know the casinos can pretty much keep an eye on any player they want any time. Between the surveillance and now this technology it seems to give the house too much of an edge. Suppose a table player has a heated disagreement with a dealer or pit boss over a hand (which occasionally happens); now this same player goes to the slots and the house can extract revenge by making his machine pay out less??!! Of course they could 'favor' certain players too...which could be just as dangerous. I’m all for allowing the games and denominations to be changed, but shouldn’t the regulators be involved when it comes to payout percentages???

From what I hear anything you can configure at the machine you can configure remotely through the server. This would include the theoretical return percentage. However most casinos report that changing the theoretical return of a slot machine necessitates a lot of paperwork.

Even if it were effortless to move the slot machine return up and down, it strikes me as a conspiracy theory to think the casinos would do that on a player by player basis. Living here in Vegas, I hear all kinds of theories about the lengths the casinos go to in order to win, like pumping in oxygen and playing a subsonic mantra that says 'lose lose lose.' These are just urban legends. Most casinos correctly believe that if you give the player a good experience and a fair gamble then he will keep coming back. As they say, you can only slaughter a sheep only once, but you can shear it many times. (My webmaster, Michael Bluejay, who is a vegetarian, tried to get me to use this analogy instead: 'You can seize all of a sheep’s money only once, but you can force it to take you bowling many times.')

Wizard, what do you think about the new 'server based' slot machines currently being used at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas? Apparently this technology allows the casino to instantly change the machines from their back offices — including the games offered, denominations, and.....the payouts! I think this is going a bit far. I mean what’s to stop the house from targeting certain players (like the drunk high roller) and making it tougher for that player to win? We all know the casinos can pretty much keep an eye on any player they want to any time. Between the surveillance, and now this technology, it seems to give the house too much of an edge. Suppose a table player has a heated disagreement with a dealer or pit boss over a hand (which occasionally happens); now this same player goes to the slots and the house can extract revenge by making his machine pay out less??!! Of course they could 'favor' certain players too...which could be just as dangerous. I’m all for allowing the games and denominations to be changed, but shouldn’t the regulators be involved when it comes to payout percentages???

I asked a source of mine who works at one of the casinos that utilize this technology. Besides the Treasure Island, this technology is also used at casinos in California, Michigan, and Mississippi. Here is what he said,

'Nothing can be changed if there are credits on the game. The slot machine will always reject any changes sent when there are credits on the meter. In Nevada, the machine also has to be idle for four minutes prior to and following any changes. It’s also not completely transparent to anyone standing in front of the slot machine. A black window pops up that says ’Remote Configuration In Progress’ (or something like that).

Are

We mainly use ours to change the available denominations on our games. Similar to how table games will raise minimum bets on when the casino is busier, we will remove lower denominations on Friday morning and return them on Monday morning.'

How Are Slot Machines Programmed To Win

So, rest assured, that the slot manager can not tighten up a game on you just because he doesn’t like you. As long as you have credit in the game, nothing can be changed.

My wife and I are regular slot machine players, and have noticed that when a new slot machine gets into a casino, the 'good hits' or payouts from hits, or bonus games seem to be much more frequent. Once the game 'draws you in,' so to speak, then it seems like it shuts down, and the hits and bonus rounds are less frequent. Can a casino legally put controls on how much a machine hits or enters into a bonus round?

If you are implying the casino is changing the odds of the game while you're sitting there playing it, then I would say that is just a myth. To change the odds of a game, the slot maker would have to open up the game and change the EPROM chip. With server based game, where this can be done remotely, regulations require that the game be unplayed for a certain number of minutes before any changes can made.

How Casinos Control Slot Machines

If you are implying that the casino sets a slot machine loose for the first so many days, to draw new players, and then switches the EPROM to a stingier one, then I would disagree as well. That could easily be done, and legally, but I doubt it is. In my slot machine survey I found that any given casino was fairly consistent in how loose or tight they set their slots.

Since the introduction of server based control of slot machines, has anyone tracked the best day and time to play slots? This last year I have unofficially noticed slots appear to pay better on Friday and Saturday night and awful on Friday morning and all day Sunday/Monday. My understanding is that slot machines are now controlled via a main server and not individual chips manually inserted/replaced by a slot tech. I keep thinking the casinos are trying to encourage play when people come to town and take the money back on Sunday and Monday before they leave.

For the benefit of other readers, the way slot machines have usually work is that a chip inside the machine, called an EPROM chip, determines how loose or stingy the machine is. The vast majority of slots today still function this way. Contrary to popular myth, slots don’t achieve their desired return percentage by paying more when the actual return is too low and less when it is too high. Rather, it is just subtle changes in the reel stripping on video slots and the virtual weights on stepper slots. It is usually up to the casino manager which chip to put in. Some jurisdictions leave that decision up to the state. A common myth about these slots is that the slot manager can flip a switch in his office and cause any slot machine, or all of them, to pay more or less. The truth is a slot technician has to open up the machine and physically change the EPROM chips.

However, with the new generation of 'server-based slots,' the myth has potential to be a reality. Slots on this system can indeed be controlled remotely. The slot manager is now able to change the theoretical return, pay tables in video poker, denomination, as well as the entire game, in the comfort of his own office. Here in Nevada there are safeguards to prevent abuse of this power. The Gaming Control Board has the following regulation:

'The conventional gaming device or client station must be in the idle mode with no errors or tilts, no play and no credits on the machine for at least 4 minutes. After this time, the conventional gaming device or client station must be disabled and rendered unplayable for at least 4 minutes. During the time the machine is disabled a message must be displayed on a video screen or other appropriate display device notifying the patron that the game configuration has been changed.' — Technical Standards for Gaming Devices and On-line Slot Systems 1.140

Slot Machines Are Programmed Not Random

So the slot manager couldn't tighten up the game you’re playing just because he didn't like your polka-dotted hat. However, in theory, he could loosen or tighten every machine that wasn’t being played. To finally get at your question, would he loosen and tighten the slots like a yo-yo depending on the time of day or day of the week? On my forum, I argued that would be bad business, but many who submitted comments disagreed with me. To help argue my side, I asked Nick Dillon, Executive Vice President/Assistant General Manager at the Barona Casino in San Diego County about it. Here is what he wrote back.

'The concern with SBG (server-based games) is that the manufacturers and most casinos are looking at it mostly from a cost savings (less slot techs/labor needed to convert games, etc) perspective. At Barona, we really only want it if it proves a true value to the player. We have approximately 80 units on the floor that we began testing a couple of years ago. We are not yet at the point where we can say there is a true benefit to the player. We have tested many aspects of these games but have never raised/lowered the hold based on time of day, day of week, etc. We have, however, tested some other things. One is changing the minimum denom based on day of week (penny during the week moved to nickel on the weekend, for example). The idea being the same as table games whereby the denom (table minimum bet) moves higher when demand is peaking. This maximizes revenue. However, we found that was not the case with our test (likely because tables are limited and full capacity during the increase, but slots generally are not, and because a “penny” player can actually be a “dollar” player regardless of what min denom he is playing). We found more dismay from guests that were used to finding their preferred game/denom and that it was now changed. We also tested changing only the default denom from penny to nickel. This is the denom that shows on screen when the game is idle. The majority of players may not be aware of multi-denom and play the default the majority of time. Again, we found no real difference in revenue.

As evidenced by our Loose Troop and Manufacturers Best programs, best blackjack rules, loosest video poker, no ATM fees, etc. we truly believe the player deserves the best gamble he can get. We feel that providing the longest play time for the dollar is the best strategy we can employ. There is no need to play with hold percentages and adjusting them 1-3 points either way for a day or two. Of course, a Strip property may feel differently as they only have a limited amount of time to win the money.

We are hopeful that we can help push the manufacturers to continue to develop SBG in favor of the player. We are hopeful that a player can put his player card in and his preferred games, denoms, etc will appear for his enjoyment at whatever device he sits. There are so many opportunities for this to be a great product for the player, which we believe will be good for our casino and the industry. If cost savings also come, great, but that should not be the main focus of a product like this.' -- Nick Dillon

In conclusion, I think you are safe playing server-based slots. If you don’t believe me, keep an eye on the video poker pay tables. If you don’t see those going up and down on a daily basis, chances are the slot returns are being left alone as well.

This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas.