As many website owners do, I occasionally look at the data around what people are searching for when they find my site. One highly ranked question I don’t think I’ve ever addressed is a simple one: Is it better to play one slot machine or move around?
STATUS: Ultimately, it’s your call – no harm, no foul either way.
This is one of those things that tend to get wrapped into beliefs around slots that can encourage people to do one thing or another, but ultimately it won’t matter. For instance, some players will say to move on from a “cold” slot or stick to a “hot” one as it’s paying. (They might say the same but calling them loose or tight.)
Ultimately though all these definitions relate to what a slot has been doing, and not what a slot will do. The outcome of the next spin is not dictated by what’s come before it, thanks to the random number generator (RNG), so whether you stay on a machine or move on really is going to be more about what makes you feel good or not.
Gambling is in itself an emotional ride, and so if you’re feeling beaten up and want to move on because a game is failing to pay, or want to stick with it because you’re having fun, that is really your call. Conversely, that means you don’t have to get up from a machine that just paid well, because it could pay well again.
The one exception to this is if you keep playing a machine and shoveling more money in because it hasn’t been paying and therefore is “due” to hit. Because of that RNG, it’s not any more due to hit than the previous one, ten or 100 spins before it. And at that point you’re letting your emotions carry you away, chasing losses, and that can be dangerous.
It’s better to set a loss limit and move on if you’re not seeing a game pay out, than keep hammering away hoping for something to change. While it certainly could, it also could not, and that will just be even more emotionally damaging.
Makes perfect sense. If only my better half could understand. RNGs rule. Nothing else matters. Accept it and have fun dealing with it.
I have a question. It seems to me that when I insert my Players Card, the machines do not pay as well as if I do not insert my players card. It is as if there is an algorithm that identifies a player with a playsrs card, and determines that this is a player with a card, and he or she is already hooked. So don’t pay him or her well. Whereas if the algorithm notes that there is no player card in, we, the machine will grant wins to hook the player into coming back. Is there anything to my observation?
Hey John – it’s a common misconception that the players card can have any impact on slots – rest assured that the use of one or lack of using one has no impact on the payouts. More here: https://www.knowyourslots.com/can-players-cards-or-hosts-impact-your-slot-payback/