Archive for December, 2009
Progressive Slot Betting
If know a little bit about slots, you probably know about the strategy to bet the minimum in order to make your money last longer. This is a good idea for most players, since most players want to play the slots for as long as they can and hopefully win a little extra money in the process. They aren’t looking to get rich.
If you are playing progressive slots, though, the strategy is different. The only reason to play progressive slots is to get rich. Your odds aren’t any better than winning the lottery, but it’s more fun than scratching off a ticket or writing a few numbers on a card. With progressive slots, you should always bet the maximum.
Yes, you read that correctly. Progressive slots are slot machines that are linked together to share a jackpot. In doing so, they have a much larger jackpot than traditional slot machines. There is another thing, however, that keeps the jackpots high: They rarely pay out. Progressive slots pay out far less often than regular slot machines, which is why you should only play them if you are playing for the jackpot. Understand, of course, that you are likely to lose all of your money for a shot at that jackpot.
But why bet the maximum? With progressive slots, even if you hit the correct combination for the jackpot, you only get the entire jackpot if you bet the maximum amount. Otherwise, you only get a certain percentage of the jackpot. Believe me, you don’t want to hit a progressive slot with a jackpot in the millions and only win thousands because you bet the minimum.
In order to get the entire jackpot, you must bet the maximum allowed amount. That means wager the highest denomination of coin and bet on the maximum number of lines. This means, of course, that your money will run out faster. Because progressive slots pay out less often than regular slots, there is a good chance that you will walk away from the machine having lost all of your money. If you play progressive slots you should do so with the understanding that you will probably not make any money. Instead, you are playing for the possibility of making a life-changing amount of money. If you are uncomfortable with that, stick to regular slots. Progressive slots are available at most casinos, both online and brick and mortar versions.
Roxy Palace Starts 2010 with New Tournament
Roxy Palace is starting out the new year with a bang by holding a new slot tournament. The promotion is the $20K Weekend Rebuy, which is a tournament played in the online slot Loaded, a Microgaming design. The tournament begins on New Year’s Day (um, that’s January 1, 2010 for the uninitiated) and runs throughout the weekend.
The tournament has a $20,000 prize pool (which you probably guessed by the name). The good news and bad news is that the pool is split among only three players. It’s good because it means each player wins more money, but it’s bad because it means fewer people will win. The first-place winner will earn $10,000, the second-place finisher will win $6000, and the third-place player will take home $4000. Not a bad way to start a new year.
There is a $20 entry fee to join the tournament, which gives the players 60,000 coins. Players are given 10 minutes to wager their coins and have a maximum wager of 500 coins per spin. Players can use the “continue” option to get another 30,000 coins to spend in 5 minutes or the “rebuy” option to get 60,000 coins to spend in 10 minutes. It costs $10 to continue and $20 to rebuy. Players can continue and rebuy a maximum of 4 times each.
For those who don’t know, Loaded is the popular hip hop-themed online slot, complete with lots of bling, fast boats (“I got a boat!”), some hot booty and tricked-out limos. Let me put it this way: If Lil ‘Wayne were to play online slots, this would probably be his favorite. I can’t think of a more appropriate game for a New Year’s celebration then. Just try to stay out of jail.
To play Loaded and participate in the $20K Weekend Rebuy, visit Roxy Palace online casino.
Slots Strategy
Slots are a game of chance, where there is nothing players can do to change the odds. Therefore, there is no real strategy, at least not in terms of a way to make more money. Whether you win or lose money is a matter of luck. This is because the odds are predetermined and the outcomes are chosen by a computer algorithm called a random number generator. However, there is still smart strategy in terms of how to get the most of your money.
Most people who play the slots are playing for the fun of the game. They want to sit down, take some spins, watch the animations, play some bonus games, and hopefully even get some money back in the process. They aren’t trying to get rich, which is a good thing, because the chances of that happening are microscopic. For these players, the best strategy is one that allows you to play for the longest on the amount of money you have. The strategy is to bet the minimum.
Betting the minimum allows you to stretch your money out farther and play longer. Most online slots are multi-line slots and allow you to choose how many lines you want to play. On old slot machines, they only had three reels and one payline, which was a horizontal line across the middle of the reels. Now you have countless options and can play multiple paylines. The more lines you play, the better your odds of hitting a winning combination. However, it also cost you more money the more paylines you play. Since the odds are in favor of the house, you are more likely to lose each spin than to win, which means that by betting on more paylines you will lose money faster in the long run. Therefore, to play for longer it is a good idea to bet on the minimum number of paylines allowed, which is usually one.
Online slots also often give you the option of betting in different denominations, ranging from a penny to big bucks. Again, the larger denomination you wager, the more you will win when you do win. You will, of course, lose more when you lose, though. Since the odds are such that you are more likely to lose than to win, it’s wise strategy to bet the smallest denomination allowed.
With slots, the more you risk, the greater your reward, so it all comes down to what makes you happiest. If a bigger payout upon getting winning combinations makes you happy, you should bet larger amounts. If you want your money to last longer, you should bet smaller amounts. It’s all determined by what would cause you to enjoy playing the most.
Maryland: You Want to Put Your Slots Where?
You gotta love politics. The people of Maryland last year voted to allow slot machines in Anne Arundel County. The thinking at the time was that they would be located at the local racetrack, Laurel Park, which is run by the Maryland Jockey Club. A state panel threw out the Jockey Club’s bid to host the slots, however, and have since been looking for a different place to host the slot machines. Where have they decided they should go? Well, a shopping mall, of course.
The state awarded a license to operate slots to Cordish Cos., developers based in Baltimore, and were awaiting the county council’s zoning approval. In December, the county council approved casino zoning for the Arundel Mills mall. So let me get this straight. The racetrack is a bad place for slots but a shopping mall is a good place? I wonder how that could be.
“We need this money,” council member Tricia Johnson told the council chamber before the decision. Right, of course. It’s about money. The county and state want revenue from the gambling, which is why they decided slots are a good idea. That’s not the only money they require, though. The Laurel Park racetrack was turned down as a host for the slots because their bid was not accompanied by a $28.5 million licensing fee. Cordish’s bid was. So it seems that the difference between a good location and a bad location for gambling is whether or not they pay big bucks for the right to host.
The council estimates that within a few years, the mall casino could generate better than $500 million per year. The state says that approximately half of the revenue would be used to fund education. If anyone actually believes that, they should look at every other time states have pushed for gambling as a way to fund education (including the Florida lotto).
The battle isn’t over. Anti-slot lobbies and the Maryland Jockey Club are fighting the proposal to put a casino in the mall. Most likely the casino will end up somewhere in Maryland, but where will have nothing to do with where is the best place for it. It will have everything to do with money.
Random Number Generators
Yes, people. Slots are random. It doesn’t matter if you think you see a pattern. You cannot predict what will happen next. There are plenty of people out there who want to sell you the secret to beating the slots, but all they’re really selling is a scam. There is no way to beat the slots. The odds are what they are and you can’t change that. The reason for that is that every slot machine, both online slots and those in land-based casinos, are controlled by a random number generator.
A random number generator (RNG) is a computer program that uses a complex algorithm to select a series of numbers. Those numbers are generated hundreds of times per second, including when the machine is not in use. Each number stands for a specific symbol on a specific position on a specific reel of the slot machine. Because of the random number generator, each spin is completely independent of the last, making any streaks simply part of the random process and therefore impossible to predict. Another thing this does is it gives the player the same odds on every spin.
What that means is that if you see somebody on a winning streak on a machine leave, there is no need to switch to that machine. If you see somebody leave a machine after a losing streak, that doesn’t mean it’s due. There is no situation that makes a slot more likely to hit than usual. Also, if you give up on a machine and leave it only to have the next person win, don’t feel like it would have been your win. You would have had the same outcome only if you managed to spin the machine at the exact same microsecond as that person, which is a statistical improbability.
You may be thinking that if the outcome of a spin is determined by an algorithm, you can determine the outcome if you figure out the algorithm. First of all, if you’re smart enough to crack the algorithm on your own, you are probably a rocket scientist or something. Realistically, the only way you could crack the code would be through some illegal means, such as stealing the RNG chip. However, even if you were somehow able to crack the algorithm, it wouldn’t do you any good. Since the RNG chooses numbers even when the machine isn’t being played, even if you determined the sequence you would have no way of knowing where in the sequence the machine is.
While there are such things as loose machines and tight machines, a machine has a preset payout ratio and the random number generator helps it achieve the proper payout percentage over the long run. No strategy you can come up with will change the odds in your favor. The odds of certain outcomes are the same on every spin. With that in mind, stop trying to beat the game and simply enjoy it. It makes playing the slots a lot more fun.