12 Tips to Playing and Winning on Casino Pokies n’ Slot Machines

Slot machines are the most loved games on the casino floor. However, not all players know all the insider tricks of the trade so to speak, making small mistakes may just cost you a fair bit of dosh over time while playing.

Here are 12 common mistakes slot players often make in their quest to beat the slot machines and the casinos.

Tip 1. Just Don’t Play Slots – WTF !

The first and probably the biggest mistake most players make is choosing to play a slot machine in the first place when visiting a casino. Ok that sound sort of bonkers but slots are the worst bet to have on the casino floor due to the return to player percentages and the rate of bets that you can have while playing. Although, the house advantage is relatively low, slots have an incredibly fast pace of playing that turn into big losses after many hours of playing.

Players are always attracted by the quick bets and big money that can be won with a press of that spin button. The average house edge of a casino slot is 10% or a bit less, which means that you will be likely to give up 10% of all your bets to the house over a long-term.

However, if you play slot machines all night long, even this low percentage will not save you from losing a lot of bucks over time. There are about 1000 bets over an hour in a regular video slot and the thousands of tiny losses added up can cost you a lot of cash in a long run of gaming.

A good alternative to slot machines would be video poker, or other casino games that play a bit slower. Let’s say you have 100 bets over an hour in a video poker machine. This will end up costing losing less money even if you are an awful video poker player your probably still going to be in front.

So, when entering a casino try to avoid slot machines right from the get-go. But we all know that you probably only go to a casino for the slot machines so all the above is not going to make any difference ?

Tip 2. Fish Ass Casinos – Tight As – Avoid

When a casino is set tight as a fish’s bum, it means that the percentage of player return is very low and your chance of hitting winning combinations is reduced. They are pretty much not going to let you out of the casino with any money in your pocket, tight casinos are generally casinos that have all the fancy exterior and interiors that make you feel like you are in a palace, with luxurious designs, dazzling night illumination and they are incredibly imposing in size.

They are usually the ones who are a tad on the mean side when it comes to paying out to the players. These opulent casinos cost many millions of dollars to be built and with all the décor, free shows and bling you are the one that will likely pay for their upkeep if you choose to gamble at them.

These casinos have a high house advantage, meaning that they get up to 15% from your bets. The main strip of casinos in Las Vegas is where most tight casinos are found. They were built with a lot of money, and now the players are those who will pay the costs on this prime road of real estate.

Generally, winning in tight casinos is possible but it’s less common that at the casinos outside the strip area. If you move away from the Strip, you will find many better loose casinos whose return to player is around 95%.

So, if you want to lose as little money as possible play at the loose casinos like at Sam’s town as just one example. Also, the Las Vegas and Reno airports are places with the tightest slots in possibly the world, so you will be better off if you avoid them totally.

The slots in the airports are set as tight as possible so visitors leave town with just the shirt on their back. Just remember it’s ok to be a tourist in the big casino areas no matter where you are in the world, but always remember to have a spin where the locals always hang-out and play as that’s where you will have a better chance of winning a few bucks.

The smaller the casino or pokies gaming lounge = the more chance you have of walking away with a few bucks in your pocket.

Tip 3. Take a Break – Chill Those Fingers

Overplaying is a sign of players who just don’t know when to take a break and it always ends up badly for their wallet. Constant non-stop playing slot machines is a sure way to lose your money over time.

As mentioned before, slots have a fast rate of playing with a thousand bets per hour possible. It’s especially bad is when the bets are high, adding up even more to the loss you may have.

Avoid playing with no time limits so you manage to keep your time spent in front of slots in moderation. Overplaying is a sign of casino addiction, and it is extremely bad, but if you cannot give up to it, switch overplaying to safer casino games, where this addiction will not cost you so much.

Again, video poker has a slower pace of playing and it can be used as an alternative to slots. Even if you overplay video poker, you will not lose as much money. Blackjack is, also a good option and has less bets per hour than a slot machine.

Tip 4. Playing “Brand Name” Pokies – Avoid

Many players choose to play pokies that are inspired by iconic entertainment names, given their high level of attraction, which can turn out to be a huge mistake that will cost them.

These types of slots are called participation slots. In a participation slot its maker and the casino operator share revenues from the game. Generally, these slots have fancy graphics, stunning animations, and they cost much more money to make and license.

Participation slots are branded to famous TV shows and movies, such as: Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Friends, Austin Powers, Avatar, Ellen, Jurassic Park, Sex in the City, American Idol, and many more. The slot developer and casino may have to pay part of revenues to the franchise owner.

In this way, the high costs and the need to share the revenue leads to reduced payouts for players and a high house advantage. These participation slot makers can claim around a whopping 10 – 15% from your stake, which is way more than an ordinary slot.

Ordinary slots are not attached to any brands, having no extra costs of production and using simple symbols like in the game of Buffalo and the likes of is probably your better bet. The house edge of an ordinary slot is around 10% or a bit less.

So pretty much if the name of the slot has something to do with TV show, movie or entertainer than you might be best just to walk on by it as your only paying for the entertainment value and not value that the game may provide in terms of cash.

Tip 5. You Need a Rewards Card – Really

Most casinos have a registration desk where player cards are given out free of charge. Many players avoid getting one as they just won’t spend 5 minutes to sign up, which is a big mistake.

In special needs of the loyalty card are slot machine players. Playing slots can cost you a lot of money over time win or lose. By getting a player card you can at least compensate yourself a little for the lost money with bonuses and perks that you can claim with the card.

Casinos put a big value on slot players, as they bring them in a lot of revenue and slot players make up a large share of the entire revenue base for the casino. Therefore, they do not want to lose their regular players to other casinos.

They offer the card to entice them into continuing spending their money on the games in their casino. Generally, you can get some nice goodies, free parking or comps for racking up some points on your loyalty card.

Slots machine are the most played games on the casino floor around the world. However, not all players know the mistakes they are probably making with each spin of the reels. Making regular mistakes may just cost you a fair amount of money over time.

Tip 6. Pokies Promotions – Pay Attention

Since slot machine players bring in a lot of money to the casinos bottom line, they are extremely valuable to the casinos. Therefore, casinos have a variety of promotions that aim to entice players into playing when they have some freebies on offer.

If you have a player card, do not forget to check your email for new promotions to benefit from them. Sometimes casinos can come with a multiplier of your rewards points, ranging from 2x to 10x, other times it can be a free tournament with generous prizes of offer.

Gift days are, also a type of promotion, where you receive gifts for a certain number of points accumulated. Some casinos go even further to providing exclusive hotel offers, free drinks and dining credits. No one loves to play slots and lose money so some of these offers may soften the wallet pain a little.

Tip 7. Progressive Jackpot is Low – Avoid

Progressive machines are widely used by casinos as you know. A progressive slot is a machine that includes a jackpot that’s usually linked to several machines. The jackpot increases as the players bet and at a certain point it will go off, then the jackpot becomes smaller.

As a rule, the best odds are when the jackpot is high. Therefore, you must check the jackpot meter constantly and see when it might go off. There are slots where it is sort of known by regular players when the jackpot will hit, an average hit level so to speak. In slots with the so-called mystery progressives the jackpot is guaranteed to hit.

They even show you the range, in which it will do it. In this way, you can look when it gets to a high number within the range and start betting for reaching bigger wins. Sometimes, it is not obvious when the meter will hit, requiring from you some skill and experience in calculating the possible number at which it will go off.

If the progressive keeps getting high forever, learn how high it can get on average and play when the jackpot shows a number that is about right to pay-out. Playing when the jackpot is low is normally (some exceptions) a big mistake of players that leads them to losing a lot of money.

Therefore, if you want a better chance of winning bigger prizes, you should bet only when the progressive is at its highest possible point or a wee bit below the level. This is not an exact science as if it was, we would all be rich like the casinos we play at ?

Tip 8. Over-tipping on Hand Pay-outs

If you win $1200 or more in the USA, you may need to pay a tax. You will need to complete a W-2G “certain gambling winnings” form for the IRS. The amount you choose to tip when receiving the hand pay remains up to you.

You already supplied the casino with a fair wad of money. Therefore, you should keep your tipping amount in moderation. The recommended tip ranges from 0.50 % to 2 %. You already have done the casino a favour, by playing its games and putting your money into the machines, so over tipping on jackpots is a thing not necessary at all.

Choosing not to give the casino any tip will make you look cheap. Thus, keeping it between 0.5% and 2% depending on your win size would be the best option for you. Many players may disagree with his opinion as some do not give any tip at all on hand pays as they have been tipping other staff already for drinks and cocktails.

Many countries just don’t tip normally like in Australia and New Zealand it just does not happen and they don’t need to pay any tax on winnings.

Tip 9. Leaving the Machine Ready to Pay

The next mistake refers to so called banking style slot machines (not very common). Banking machines are slots that have a meter that accumulates points or slices while you play. When the meter hits, you are rewarded with different kinds of prizes.

As you put coins in the meter, you are guaranteed with certain bonuses, and features, later. You can be granted such prizes as slices of a pie, or credits in a coupon book or something similar. A mistake some players make is to leave the slot machine before the meter gets hit and generates these bonuses accrued already on the game.

The high state of the machine is considered the point where the meter has almost accumulated the required number of credits and is ready to reward you. So, before leaving the game make sure to win the feature.

Also, you can benefit from this mistake, when it is made by other players. If you roam around the casino floor and see which of them are banking machines. Look at the meter, and if it is abandoned in a high state, you can start playing enjoying the features generated by another player.

If you do not want your coins to be made use of by others, keep staying at the machine until the machine goes off with those accrued rewards and then leave.

Tip 10. Leaving Credits or Money in the Slot

One of the most frequent mistakes made by slot machine players is leaving the money in the machine, as they walk away. This mistake can go to the benefit of casino trolls that roam around the casino floor, trying to find abandoned machines with some cash or credits left in them.

Thus, before leaving the casino, make sure to take back your money from the machine, by clicking the cash out button. Sometimes, the credits remained are not many, but other times it can be a significant amount.

This is the perfect chance for trolls to hit the cash out button for your money. In this way, you should always take care of your cash, and not forget to withdraw it when you leave the machine no matter how small it is.

Tip 11. Play Pokies Anytime It Suits You

Many people say only play when it’s busy in the casino, to be honest it really does not matter what time you play be it 10 on the morning or 10 at night. The pokies machines really don’t have a setting that says only pay-out when many people are playing them.

Ok more progressive (smaller level) slot pay-outs do happen when more people are playing but you stand the same odds to win compared to any other time like when they are not so busy. I have chatted with casino floor staff and cocktail girls about this and they confirm this to me.

Personally, I like to play when the casino is not so busy as I can always get on my favourite machines and grab a drink much easier. So just don’t make a point of visiting your local casino in the busy times because you think you have a better chance of winning big – cos you don’t.

Tip 12. Looks Like You Need to Admit Defeat

Well for a bit anyway, If all of these above tips don’t work well the bad news is you got to stop playing them for a while, yep just take a break from playing slot machines as they just don’t like you that much.

Take the dog for a walk, read a book or take up another interest you may just never look back ? after you have had a chill from the games you may want to have another crack on them, but always stay in control of your gambling and only gamble with what you can afford to lose and never bet with cash on credit.

Winning on the slots tips Summary

Ok that’s are 12 tips to beating the slots n pokies machines and the casinos at their own game, normally there is just winner and that’s the casino. But if you follow our guide you will bet an edge and this may be just enough to get you into the slot winners circle.

Get your hands on that big cheque

Yes it can be done, it happens all the time with some lucky player holding onto one of those big cheques with all the fat zeros – good luck!