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Best Slot Strategy – How We Play Slots!
Let’s start with the obvious: Long-term, the only winners are the casinos, as the odds are in their favour.
On slots, this is reflected through the Return To Player (RTP) percentages.
For example, the best-paying version of Book of Dead will pay out 96.21% back to the players in the long run, which makes the online casino´s margin 3.79%.
For every 100 wagered, the casinos will keep 3.79 when calculated over billions of spins.
But nowadays, most slots are released with various RTP configurations, so while one casino might let you play BOD on the best RTP version, another offers its players the 91.25% version, which increases casinos’ profits further and decreases your chances of winning – but more about this later.
So why do we play casino slots?
Because it’s fun, and although the long-term odds are stacked against us, it is still possible to win money.
What is the best winning slot strategy? Our 12 Golden Rules
This Best Slot Strategy article will examine the 12 Golden Rules of playing slots. Be advised that a guaranteed winning slot strategy does not exist, but there are multiple ways to increase your odds of winning.
We will show you examples and explain what you should avoid, as well as what you can do to increase your chances of winning.
There is no one way or magic cheat code to guarantee wins when playing slots, but knowing and applying these Golden Rules will set you off on the right track.
Let’s go!
Golden Rule 1: Always play online slots instead of land-based slots
Playing in brick-and-mortar casinos has some positives, like the social aspect and the feeling of visiting a luxurious environment or watching other players gamble.
However, playing slots in land-based casinos is not one of them. The reason is that the payout (RTP) percentages are much lower on these slots due to various reasons tied to the higher costs of running the operation.
Operating an online casino is not cheap (or easy) either, but the costs involved are fewer, and the offering is more significant as these casinos are not tied to a certain amount of space.
While the casino floor, for example, can accommodate 150 – 1,000 slots, an online casino can easily offer players more than 3,000 slots.
This then affects the RTP percentages offered on slots. While land-based casinos often offer players a long-term return of around 80% – 90%, online casinos can offer up to 96% RTP on most slots, and even up to 99% on some slots.
We have done some calculations to show you the effect of a higher or lower Return to Player.
Based on a starting balance of £100 and a stake of £1 per spin, we can determine per RTP configuration how many spins it will theoretically take (excluding variance) before you run out of funds.
How many spins does it take before your balance dips below £1?
| RTP | Number of spins |
| 96% | 2,475 spins |
| 94% | 1,650 spins |
| 92% | 1,237 spins |
| 85% | 660 spins |
| 80% | 495 spins |
It is good to realise that these calculations are based on theoretical losses per spin. In practice, results will differ significantly due to the slot’s variance, as you will have many losing spins and some winning spins. However, taking the variance out of the equation, you can see enormous differences between the RTP settings.
On top of all this, you can generally find more slots online that offer higher wins than in brick-and-mortar casinos when excluding jackpot slots.
Golden Rule 2: Always play high RTP slots
Playing slots online is better in terms of RTPs, but there is more to it.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, most online slots are released today with various RTP configurations, and online casinos can then freely choose which version to offer their players.
Some casinos are generous and offer players the best-paying versions of specific games, but most offer players one of the lower RTP versions to increase their profits.
Do your homework and check your casino’s version by loading the game and checking the rules. If it’s a poor version, find a high-RTP casino offering better value.
Remember that the higher the RTP is, the more spins you will get on average from your deposited amounts.
More spins equal more chances of hitting wins, triggering bonus games, and lengthening entertainment time.
Check our slot reviews on CasinoWizard.com to see which RTP versions are available and where to find online casinos offering the best ones.
We have researched for you so that you can focus on playing with the best odds.
Some examples of popular online slots and the available RTP versions:
- Sweet Bonanza: 95.50% | 96.60%
- Starburst: 90.05% | 92.05% | 93.05% | 94.05% | 95.05% | 96.09%
- Gates of Olympus: 94.50% | 95.50% | 96.50%
- Legacy of Dead: 84.55% | 87.56% | 91.51% | 94.51% | 96.58%
- Sugar Rush: 94.50% | 95.50% | 96.50%
- San Quentin xWays: 94.11% | 96.03%
- Big Bass Bonanza: 94.02% | 95.67% | 96.71%
- Reactoonz: 84.51% | 87.50% | 91.49% | 94.51% | 96.51%
- Wanted Dead or a Wild: 88.42% | 92.33% | 94.55% | 96.38%
- Razor Returns: 88.83% | 90.55% | 94.49% | 95.40% | 96.55%
- Book of 99: 99%
Golden Rule 3: Avoid jackpot slots
Playing jackpot slots like Mega Moolah or Dream Drop jackpots like seen in Piñata Popper Dream Drop can be a lot of fun as the millions at stake can bring a lot of excitement.
However, like in the case of a lottery, the big win only happens to a lucky few.
Also, as a big chunk of the RTP is dedicated to helping the jackpots grow, the slot’s regular gameplay becomes less appealing, as there is less money that can be paid out in free games, multipliers, features, etc.
For example, a slot like Money Train Origins Dream Drop offers players a 94% RTP, but about 12% of all bets go into the Dream Drop Jackpots, leaving about an 82% RTP for regular payouts.
So, feel free to try a jackpot slot if the Mega Jackpot reaches crazy amounts and you feel lucky, but playing regularly on jackpot slots is a bad idea, as your money will run out faster.
Golden Rule 4: check the max win probability
One crucial factor to determine whether a slot is worth playing is the max win probability of that slot.
Most players are blinded by the maximum wins that slots offer, but fail to check what the actual odds of them winning said jackpot are. Did you know that on most Play’n GO slots (such as Book of Dead), your odds of landing the max win are 1 in a billion spins, and sometimes even less? You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning twice than of landing the max win.
And did you know that your odds of landing the 30,540x max win on Quickspin’s Big Bad Wolf Megaways are 1 in 100 billion (!) spins? That juicy max win does not sound so appetising now, does it?
When playing slots, aim for a max win probability of under 1 in 5-10 million for a slot offering a max win of 5,000x to 10,000x the bet. Even when the max win amount is much higher, you should aim for a max win probability of 1 in 100 million, or lower.
After all, what is the point of having a max win if you, in reality, will never land it?
Sadly, not every provider discloses the maximum win probability for their slots, but many do (for example, Pragmatic Play, Play’n GO, and Quickspin). Check our slot reviews for more information regarding the max win odds of a slot.
Golden Rule 5: Use solid money management
Apart from being aware that playing slots long-term is a losing proposition due to the setup and the odds, the other crucial rule includes a proper money management strategy for slots.
Playing slots should be entertaining and fun; keeping it that way requires setting some boundaries.
How much time do you want to dedicate to playing slots, and what amount are you prepared to lose?
Decide these limits and then stick to them at all times. To help you further, you can use the online casinos´ tools after you have set up your account.
Golden Rule 6: Use the “Hit and Run” strategy
Firm and clear goals also apply to “Hit and Run” strategies.
A common mistake many players make is continuing to play after a big win, which can lead to losing all their winnings and their deposited balance.
To avoid this, you can set up some clear goals.
If you, for example, decide to deposit £100, how much would you like to win to feel satisfied?
Your target might be £200, £300, or even £500. Whatever your goal is, the trick is that if you reach the beforehand decided threshold, you stop.
You don’t continue playing or change the game, but stop playing and go and do something else. The target has been achieved, and you move on.
The casinos rely on long-term RTPs, and the longer you play, the more the casinos will win in the long run. So do yourself a favour, set a goal, and log out if you achieve it.
Golden Rule 7: Avoid playing Crash Games
Although Crash Games can be quite exciting and novel, they tap into the fear of missing out (FOMO), which often causes players to keep letting the multiplier go up, keeping them from cashing out while they have established a profit.
Crash Games are games in which players are at a higher risk of “Tilting,” taking bigger risks, and desperately trying to recoup losses.
Golden Rule 8: Don’t fall into the sunk cost trap
Just because you “invested” a lot of money into a slot doesn’t mean you are about to hit it big.
At the heart of each slot lies the Random Number Generator, which produces random outcomes for each spin. As a result, a slot is never “due” or “hot”; each spin has the same odds of losing and winning.
Golden Rule 9: Use the “Go big or go home” strategy
For a higher chance to succeed with a “Hit and Run” or “Go big or go home strategy,” avoid low variance slots and go for the riskier medium to highly volatile slots.
Why?
Because low-volatility slots like Starburst might give you more entertainment time, they don’t pay out big wins as the max win caps are low (Starburst can pay up to 500x the bet size used to spin).
On the contrary, highly volatile slots and high max win slots like Tombstone RIP (300,000x), Tombstone Slaughter (500,000x) and Vegas Megaways (172,310x) can pay out massive wins.
These games are risky and have the disadvantage of being able to slash your bankroll into pieces quicker than less risky slots, but occasionally they can pay out hefty amounts.
Eventually, you need to decide if you want longer entertainment time or jeopardise some of that for the possibility of hitting a big win instead.
Golden Rule 10: Never play the Martingale system on slots
You probably have heard of the Martingale system, where you start with a smaller bet and then double that size after each loss until you eventually win.
This strategy is often tried in Roulette games, where it is used to bet on either red or black, high or low, odds or even.
However, this strategy is not recommended for Roulette games and not for slots either.
Why shouldn’t you use the Martingale system on slots?
The Martingale system does not work on slots because payouts are not linear, so you can win 100x the bet on your 5th spin or only 1x the bet.
Let’s look at an example:
| Round | Bet | Outcome | Total result |
| 1 | 0.50 | Loss | 0.50 lost |
| 2 | 1 | Loss | 1.50 lost |
| 3 | 2 | Loss | 3.50 lost |
| 4 | 4 | Loss | 7.50 lost |
| 5 | 8 | Won €14 (28x base bet) | 1.50 lost (15.50 – 14) |
The 28x base bet win might seem like a nice outcome on the fifth spin; however, we see that we are still losing when adding the total bets into the mix.
Although you will eventually hit some wins on a future spin, applying the Martingale strategy to playing slots is terrible, as it doesn’t work.
In this example, you would start the new round with a 0.50 bet while already being on a 1.50 loss.
This system is therefore not recommended as you can’t rely on it.
If you insist on trying out this system anyway, try it on a low-variance slot to slightly decrease the variance.
A low variance slot that isn’t ancient is Finn and the Candy Spin.
Fun fact: early Elk Studios slots allowed players to activate Martingale-inspired betting patterns. These “betting strategies” would, for example, increase the stake after a losing spin. Players quickly learned these betting strategies did not help their chances of winning, and the option was eventually discontinued.
Golden Rule 11: Play slot tournaments, where possible
Always check if there are any slot tournaments you can opt into before you start playing your favourite slot. Participation is always free, and you might win some cash, bonus money, or other prizes just by playing in the casino. Slot tournaments are a great way to increase your bankroll without extra risk.
Golden Rule 12: Use casino bonuses to your advantage
We have determined that playing slots is a losing proposition, as the odds are against us.
It’s fun, and there is a chance of winning (even massive amounts), but in the long term, the casinos will be the only real winners as long as players continue gambling.
However, one factor can level the playing field to some extent and even, in some cases, put the player in an advantageous seat – Casino Bonuses.
Playing with a bonus adds an extra amount to your balance, and you play with more money than you initially deposited.
This gives you extra ammunition and chances to win big as you have more money. Using your standard stake, you can increase your normal bet size or spin more times.
Benefitting from playing with a casino bonus requires a mathematical and disciplined approach from the player, where he only takes bonuses that are EV+ (or you need to get plain lucky). We have described how to do this in detail in our article How To Beat The Casino By Using Casino Bonuses.
But remember that this approach eventually bans players from casinos or gives them a bonus ban.
Although this sounds like sweet music, not all casino bonuses are created equal, as some are better than others.
Some bonuses might even be plain horrible, as the wagering requirements are so high that it is almost impossible to clear them.
