How Slot Machines & Coin Slots Work

Slot machines are the most popular games in any casino, but a lot of people do not have a clear
understanding of how they work. In fact, some people have an out-and-out misunderstanding of
how they work, while others are more than willing to take advantage of the gambling public’s
ignorance in such matters.
The purpose of this page is to explain in some detail how a slot machine works. Once you
understand the actual inner workings of the game, you might find yourself less (or more)
attracted to this type of game, depending on your temperament. Slots can be a lot of fun, but they
are extraordinarily profitable for the casino for several reasons, not least of which is how they
operate.
If online slots were rigged, then you can guarantee that all of them would be closed by now. It is
one of the biggest concerns people have when playing online, and it is why we only recommend
reputable casinos here at VSO. The top gaming jurisdictions such as UK, Malta and Gibraltar
ensure that fair and secure gaming requirements are in place, and this gives each person the same
percentage chance of winning.
Return to Player (RTP) is the factor that decides how much the slot pays out. If the slot has an
RTP of 96%, then for every $100 that is gambled, the slot will payout out $96. This is regulated
and independently tested to make sure you have a safe environment to play it.
We want all our readers to make the right decisions when it comes to playing games online, so
follow our recommendations and eliminate any risk of encountering rigged slots.
Early slot machines were mechanical (think coin slots), but they still used a random number
generator, in the same sense that a roulette wheel, a deck of cards, or a pair of dice are also
random number generators. Modern slot machines use a computer to generate random numbers,
and these determine the outcomes of the game.
The important thing to remember is that the results are truly random. The game does not work on
any cyclical basis, and slot machine jackpots do not become due. Slots do not get hot or cold,
either. They only seem to, and only then in retrospect. It is not something you can predict, any
more than you can predict with any degree of certainty what the next card will be when dealing a
deck of cards.
This is true of every casino game, in fact. The casino gets its edge using math and large numbers.
Every bet on
every casino game offers a lower payout than the actual odds of winning.
For example, in roulette, the odds of hitting a specific number are 37 to 1. But a bet on a specific
number only pays off at 35 to 1. It does not take a genius to figure out how the casino makes its
profit in that situation, does it?
The reel is the image that spins in the front of the machine. It has multiple symbols on it, and if
you line up certain combinations of symbols, you win money. The less likely it is to line up a
particular set of symbols, the higher the payout on that combination.
For decades, these reels were large metal hoops, but now that slot machines are powered by
computers, they are more often just images on a video screen. Even in the case of slot machines
with actual reels, the outcome is determined by the random number generator inside the
computer.
Reels can stop on a symbol or on a blank space between those symbols. On early slot machine
games, each symbol would have an equal chance of coming up, but now that computers are
running the show, the odds can be convoluted. You might have a cherry on a reel that comes up
on average once every 50 spins, while an orange might come up on average once every 5 spins,
or any other combination you can think of.
The more stops you have on a reel, the easier it is to offer large jackpots. For example, if you
have a game with 10 stops on each reel, with an equal chance of landing on each stop, then your
chances of winning any combination are 1/10 X 1/10 X 1/10, or 1/1000. If you have a payout
larger than 1000 units, you are losing money on that game.
Suppose you have a slot machine game with 10 symbols, but one of those symbols is special and
only comes up once every 100 spins. The odds of getting 3 of that symbols are 1/100 X 1/100 X
1/100, or 1/1,000,000. You could theoretically offer a payout of $1 million on that combination
and still break even over the long run. Casinos love that kind of action, and so do players.
Another symbol might be programmed to come up half the time, so your chances of hitting that
symbol might be as low as ½ X ½ X ½, or 1/6. If that pays out at 2 to 1, the casino still makes a
significant profit, but the player feels like she is winning on a regular basis.
Every modern slot machine is designed with a par sheet which specifies the weightings for each
stop on the reel, including the blanks. That par sheet makes the odds and the house edge for a
slot machine game a known quantity—for the casino. Gambling companies keep these par sheets
secret, though, so players never really get a clear idea of what the odds, the house edge, or the
payback percentage is.
This is a mathematical prediction of how much money the machine will “pay back” over an
infinite number of spins. For example, if a machine is programmed to have a 97% payback, over
enough spins, the average should come close to winning $3 out of every $100 put into the
machine. Casinos distinguish between the theoretical payback percentage and the actual return
on the machine, but you can count on one thing. Slots are immensely profitable for the casinos.
Works Cited: How Slot Machines Work - Real Facts About Casino Slots (vegasslotsonline.com)