It takes some time to learn how to play blackjack, craps, or video poker properly, but they have the lowest house edge. The simplest games, like slot machines and keno, have the highest house edge. But notice the simplest games have the biggest jackpots. That's why people flock to them. House advantage of slot machines While machines can be programmed to pay out at higher or lower odds, a typical average house advantage for slot machines is. Roulette remains one of the most popular casino games, but it carries a high 5.26% edge for the house. The house edge on slot machines goes as high as 17%; for keno, it is a massive 25%. House advantage simply means the profit or rather what the casino earns from a player’s wage or bet. The house advantage is what keeps the casino in the game. It is obvious that if all the casinos never had an advantage over the player then we wouldn’t have a single casino in Atlantic City, Las Vegas or any other casino for that matter. While this can vary, the standard deviation on slot machines are very high. Guide to House Edge The reason that the house edge is relative to the original wager, not the average wager, is that it makes it easier for the player to estimate how much they will lose.
Real-money slots have a built-in advantage for the casino. This is called house edge, house advantage or hold percentage. It tells you how big of a percentage of your bet the casino wins on average. For example, if you were to bet $1 at a time with a 5% house edge (common for dollar slots), you'll lose $0.05 out of each bet on average.
The keywords being 'on average' since it takes thousands of spins until a game's true hold percentage shows. You won't lose that 5% on every bet; you either lose the bet (which happens more often) or get a winning combination that could be as much as a jackpot. But when you sum all the outcomes over thousands of spins, you should arrive at a figure close to 5% in a game with 5% house edge.
Slot machines have a high house edge when compared to most casino games, and although a game like Keno has a distinctly higher house edge, we lose more money at slots (suggesting similar bet sizes) because we play slot machines much faster.
One way to calculate a slot machine's house edge is to subtract its payback percentage from 100%; the problem is, casinos rarely share payback or house edge figures for individual machines.
It's slightly easier online, where many online casinos publish monthly payouts (see online payout comparison), however, payouts only tell you the actual return to players (which can be influenced by someone winning a jackpot, for example) so we still have no idea about a casino's theoretical return. (eCogra-approved casinos publish payouts online.)
Slotland- a well-known no-download casino - promises a 2% house advantage while Loco Panda promises a 2.5% house advantage - these are the highest advantages that I've found. (Both accept USA players.)
And even if we know a casino's overall payouts, we still have no idea about house edges for individual machines, although reading Which Slot Machines to Avoid will help you find the machines with the lowest house edge (or 'highest payback').
If you happen to find house edge percentages for individual machines online on some information-based website, be careful. In most cases online casinos can easily change the percentages - and eventually they will - therefore I don't recommend trusting those percentages especially if they're even a few weeks old.
Besides, in many cases an information website has pulled a casino's payout percentage from one single (good) month, making it look like the casino has extremely high payouts, which brings in more advertising money.
Having access to payback figures on individual machines at live casinos would be extremely rare - I doubt you can find one casino in Nevada doing that. At least I've never seen one.
I've also written about blackjack house edge.
Back to Slots Terminology.
Editor’s Note: This column is excerpted from Frank’s new book Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines.
This chapter will show you specific machines that can actually give the player an edge over the casinos at slots. These machines have been discovered by Jerry “Stickman” Stich, a columnist for Casino Player, and have been put through extensive computer studies and casino play. Stickman analyzed the minimum bankrolls that are needed for each machine, and also figured out which machines are most volatile—that is, which machines have the greatest swings between wins and losing streaks.
The machines I’m about to describe can be considered “banking machines” because they build up redeemable credits, objects or multipliers that are not wiped out when one player leaves the machine and another player replaces him. In fact, you will need these other players to play these machines in a negative mode so that the banking credits build up for you.
This is because at a certain point the “accumulated bank” causes the machine to become positive for any player who plays the machine from that point onwards. In short, more money will come out of the machine from that point than goes in the machine. This is when you want to be playing it.
Now let’s get the obvious question out of the way for the dreamers in the land of slots. Yes, while some of your wins can be fairly big, most of them will be modest. But every win is a reason to smile, because you’ll be doing something very few players have ever done—getting an edge over the casino at the slot machines.
Keep in mind, you can also lose, since even a machine in positive mode can take your money if you’re unlucky. In poker, it’s called a bad beat; you have a great hand, and still lose. But overall, if you play these machines the way you should, more money will flow from the machine than you put in.
The advantage slot machine is similar to progressive slot machines in the sense that something builds. It’s not a jackpot dollar amount, though. Instead, something else builds. It could be coins, hats, gems, fruit or even firecrackers.
On these machines, the pool of items builds when a special symbol or some combination of symbols appears on the reels. This can be one particular symbol, a combination of symbols, or even the absence of symbols (sometimes called “blanks” or “ghosts.”) For example, if a cherry appears in one of the nine positions that are visible on the reels, a cherry might then be added to the corresponding section of a pie. Each different machine that uses this type of format has its own criteria.
Once a certain combination of symbols appears, or a section of the collection area is filled, a bonus is paid that is proportionate to the number of hats, gems, fruit, or whatever symbol that’s been banked. For example, a diamond is added to one of three columns corresponding to the reel that contains a diamond. When a column is filled with diamonds, a bonus of 10 credits is collected and the column is emptied.
The more things that are in the collection, the better chance the game might be positive. And this chapter will show you which games can become positive as well as when they become positive. It will give you the best method to play them and let you know how much money you should have available once you decide to play a given advantage machine. A proper bankroll is absolutely necessary to give yourself the best chance to win.
Once you’ve identified a slot machine that has a positive expectation, there are certain rules you must follow to maximize your wins. The following rules for play are not suggestions – they are requirements.
Here goes:
Here is one such advantage-play machine from the book:
S&H Green Stamps
This is probably the most widespread of advantage slot machines. As you play, whenever a green stamp appears on the reels it will be added to your “book.” The stamps have a multiplier (1X, 2X, 5X) that multiplies the number of stamps that are collected. It takes 1,200 stamps to fill a book. Once a book is filled, you are given the option to continue collecting, or play the bonus games.
If the game has 600 or more stamps in a book, the game is positive. One stamp is displayed in the book for each 100 stamps collected, so look for six stamps. Six stamps is one row, or half a book. The actual number of stamps is also displayed near the books.
Play 25 lines at one credit per line until you play the free games. This amounts to 25¢ a spin for a 1¢ machine, 50¢ a spin for 2¢ machines and $1.25 a spin for 5¢ machines. Once you fill a book (1,200 stamps), you will be given a choice to play free games or to continue filling another book. Play the free games! DO NOT continue filling another book.
Your minimum bankroll must be at least 2000 credits. This amounts to $20 for a 1¢ game, $40 for a 2¢ game and $100 for a 5¢ game.
Most S&H Green Stamp games have a feature where you can immediately stop the spinning by hitting the spin button. Take advantage of this feature to minimize the time spent playing this game. The faster you play, the better for you. Get your winnings and leave.
This game is fairly volatile. You will tend to have many smaller wins and losses with occasional fairly large wins and losses. Don’t let a losing game tempt you to stop play before you collect the free games.
Frank Scoblete’s newest books are Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines, featuring advantage-play slots; and Casino Craps: Shoot to Win, which comes with a DVD showing unedited controlled throws. Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players and Beat Blackjack Now are all available from Amazon.com, or at your favorite bookstore, or by mail-order by calling 1-800-944-0406. You can also call that number for a free brochure.