VP player needs advice on slots

Occasionally I like to step away from the vp machines and try something where I don't need to focus so hard. Also, I'm taking Jean Scott's advice to play a bit of slots so the casino thinks I'm not totally ripping them off. But I have to admit the myriad of slot machines and their glaring lights and sounds is numbing. Any advice for slots that are relatively sedate and don't require much in the way of thinking? I've really only played WOF on occasion but would like other options. I'm not looking to break the bank, just kill some time, so something with more frequent smaller payouts is preferable to draining my bankroll in the first 20 minutes. Oh, and along with giving the name of the slot, maybe how to play it would be nice - this is a pretty foreign area to me!

fredo

Wheel of Fortune is good. It's relatively sedate, doesn't eat your money too fast and is pretty easy to understand. The various triple 7 slots work well for the same reason. I also like the Star Trek slots for sheer entertainment value, but be warned, even at pennies it will eat your cash in no time!

Edward

I don't post much on this board because I love playing penny slots & find video poker somewhat monotonous & boring. The secret to winning on slot machines (at least the 1 cent variety) is to play maximum coin. I have very seldom come home with less money than I started with by always playing the maximum. If you can't do that at least make sure you always PLAY ALL THE LINES! The money is made on penny/nickel slot machines in the bonus rounds. If you aren't playing all the lines, then you will really lose out on the big wins. It is not uncommon to win $800 + on a penny machine in the bonus round alone. I have won that amount & much more every week. About a month ago I won $3200 on a"Buffalo" penny machine ($4 per spin). The machines I avoid are the 3 reel 25 cent machines. Those will really drain your wallet in a short time. I really don't have a favorite machine, but I do like "Quick Hits" &" Hoot Loot". I also try to avoid machines that don't have at least 20 play lines. I prefer 30 or 40 lines but will play 100 line machines but at that point I try to stay at $3 or $4 per spin. I won't play max coin on those machines.

I receive more comps than I can possibly ever use & have fun playing also.

Hope this helps.

Hi Fredo,

Maybe you can check out the listing in the ACG book about what percentage return ranges are available with the different games and then go with the game(s) which offer the highest possible range of return.

Also, I have heard that if you are going to play at any kind of machine that you should at the very least have one coin in on each line. This is so a bonus round becomes available.

RecVPPlayer

I play VP and BJ almost exclusively, but will occasionally play some slots just for fun and relaxation when I don't want to think, never to try to win much. Here's some random advice:

1. If you're a VP player, you probably won't want to be playing really serious money in a slot machine, the EV is always a lot lower than the crappiest VP. I'll put Franklins in a good VP machine all the time, but usually $5s or $10s in the slots.
2. Almost everyone agrees that in a multi-line machine it's much more important to cover all the lines than to play a few lines for multiple coins.
3. There's no way to determine how "loose" a slot machine is, unlike in VP. You can't just go by playing for a few spins, either, the variance is much too high and it would take maybe 100,000 pulls to really get a gut-level sense. Of course, you know about how slots are never "due" to hit, etc. There's probably also not much to the notion that the loosest slots are at the ends of banks, near high-visibility areas, etc.
4. You can get a notion of the volatility of a machine, by looking at the top jackpot. If it's huge, that's where most of the EV for the machine is, and it will be very volatile. If it's more modest, it will be less so, in general (think JoB vs. DB). On the video slots, maybe you can watch for a while and see if people get modest bonus rounds fairly frequently, or very high-yield bonus rounds fairly rarely, but again, it's hard to eyeball anything and know, since the variance is so high.
5. You're gonna get comped like crazy if you play a lot of slots. There's a notion that some casino computers will identify you as a "slots player" even if you have $5000/d coin-in playing good VP and $20/d playing slots; I haven't had that experience, and I think those days may be over.
6. Don't worry about "easy to understand and play" slots, they're all pretty easy and you can't make a mistake (by law, there can't be a skill element; not sure exactly how this law plays out, but I don't think you can screw up by not understanding what the choices are in the bonus round, for example).
7. You should probably just find a machine that you enjoy; that's the major thing for me. Maybe the newest, trendiest machines are tighter because of supply-and-demand, maybe they're not. But just find something that you like.

Thanks all - like I intimated, I'm not trying to make a killing in slots - just while away the time and let my brain rest. I'll be happy if I break even while racking up some comps (hopefully).

Jon: good point about there not being a skill element. That makes me feel better about plopping myself down in front of all those lights, bells, and whistles.

fredo

One previous poster stated:
"I don't post much on this board because I love playing penny slots & find video poker somewhat monotonous & boring. The secret to winning on slot machines (at least the 1 cent variety) is to play maximum coin. I have very seldom come home with less money than I started with by always playing the maximum "


This is just not reality. Over the long haul,you will NOT come with all your money most of the time,not with penny payback at anywhere from about 82-90%! I'm sorry, mathematics doesn't lie...furthemore, if the comps are so good ,doesn't it follow that the casinos realize that slot machines provide much greater profit, and thus can pay for greater comps?
You don't always get your biggest wins in bonus rounds...quite often you can get a really good win by lining up matching symbols or "multipliers" on a line .
Most people find a machine they like,and play at least one credit on every line for starters. Bob