Casino Slots Strategy

What does it take to win at the online casino slots? Is there a strategy that can be employed that will help to turn the odds in your favour? These, and other questions will be answered as we move through this review that also aims to underline the process by which slots work.

While we cannot guarantee any cash wins moving forward, we’re sure you’ll start playing the slots with more confidence while gaining a better understanding of the systems behind the reels.

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Chance Your Hand

Firstly, before discussing any form of slots strategy, it’s important to understand that wins are paid out entirely at random. We have published an additional casino guide that goes into this position in more depth so please check out Online Casino Myths when you have a moment.

Essentially, all you need to know for now is that online slot machines employ a Random Number Generator (RGN) which means that on every spin of the reels, the symbols will land in a random order. It is impossible to second guess how the spin will end but, there is a system in place that will guarantee a certain percentage of slot wins over time and we will cover that in the next section.

There are ways in which you can approach casino slot play that can form part of a successful overall strategy but as far as wins are concerned, it’s important to understand that these are games of chance.

Understanding Payout Percentages

Our guide to online casino myths also covers the points relating to Return to Player. Frequently abbreviated to RTP, this factor underlines the percentage payouts that all players can expect over time.

For this example, we’re going to look at the Ted slot game which is one of the most popular slots here at Unibet. This title has a confirmed RTP of 95.805% but what, exactly, does that mean?

With a return to player percentage of 95.805%, Ted will, on average, return 95.805p for every £1.00 staked. That average is taken over a considerable number of games and the UK Gambling Commission states that 100,000 spins are needed to confirm an RTP.

Of course, it should be understood that this is merely an average and not a guarantee. You may go above or below the level or break even but these payout percentages are important to understand as part of your casino slots strategy.

If we look at Relic Hunters, which is an exclusive slot game to Unibet, the RTP is marginally higher at 96.37%. This may not sound like a great deal of difference but high level players, staking regularly will tend to look for slot titles with higher RTPs.

Bankroll Management

All casino strategies should pay close attention to bankroll management. Your ‘bankroll’ is the amount of money you have to play with at the casino and the way you manage it is crucial to enjoyment and potential success.

Starting with the basics, casino funds should be treated as a separate entity to personal finances. While casino slot play isn’t a business as such, funding and budget sheets should be used separately from household finance and, of course, you shouldn’t play with more than you can afford.

Having undertaken some calculations, you now have a set amount of money to play with and, for the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to assume you have £1,000.00. The question as to how much you should play with at each session is open for debate but many experienced players put the figure down at 10%.

Therefore, we’re now going in for a stint at the slots with £100.00. We will not go over that figure in an attempt to chase any losses so, if we have a particularly bad day and lose every spin, that £100.00 sum is ‘set in stone’ and we will not climb above it under any circumstances. This is an extremely important part of your casino strategy and to manage bankroll effectively, it really has to be adhered to.

Having identified that overall sum, we’re now going to split the session and identify a staking pattern. We have £100.00 and for the sake of this case study, we’ll divide that number by 200 spins at 50p per spin.

Now, we do understand that in the excitement of slot play it can be tricky to keep count of each spin as it goes by. You could use the auto spin feature in this instance but we accept that you may finish the session with, maybe 10 spins either side of that 200 mark.

Win or lose, we’ll stick to that strategy as closely as possible before logging off and walking away, ready to take on the slots another time.

Progressive Jackpots and Max Bet

This is a good time to remind players that in some games, you will need to apply the max bet in order to be in with a chance of the biggest prize. Unibet offer a number of games with progressive jackpots including Mega Moolah, MegaJackpots Cleopatra and Mega Fortune Dreams where a progressive jackpot applies.

We have a separate guide on progressive jackpots so please check it out if you’d like a refresher course but essentially, they work by taking a percentage of stakes that will see the jackpot climb until it is triggered.

In general, the progressive jackpot will only be available if the Max Stake option is used so keep this point in mind when calculating your bets at the slots.

Similarly, some machines have options to increase coin stake in return for additional bonus features. The slot machine developers at NextGen employ a ‘Superbet’ feature on some of their games which involves multipliers in return for higher bets. Over at Microgaming, there is a respin feature where certain reels can be held at a cost.

A small percentage of slot games offer this type of option but once again, if you see a slot with the potential to increase stakes in return for bonuses, you will need to include this in your calculations.

Keeping Track

We would also advise players to keep track of their online play and the profits and losses that are involved. Spreadsheets are very easy to use with Microsoft Excel and Google Spreadsheets among the most popular options.

The first, and most obvious benefit to this practise is the ability to spot winning and losing streaks and to keep on top of your casino finances. However, if used wisely, spreadsheets can also help you to spot useful patterns in your play.

Perhaps a certain slot game is leading to more regular returns over the course of play while another has produced very little in the way of rewards. Maybe your losses are occurring at certain times of the day. Could this be because you are tired and not making the best decisions?

Use a spreadsheet to identify any trends and you can deploy it as part of your casino slot strategy moving forwards.

Take Advantage of Offers

All online casinos like to incentivise customers by listing a set of offers and promotions. To discover the latest deals at Unibet, click on special offers at the top right of the homepage and the current schedule of promos will be revealed.

These are always subject to change but in terms of casino play, they may include bonus funds, free spins and refer a friend promotions. All of these can be used to boost bankrolls and give players a little extra when they head to the slots and for many, those offers form part of an overall casino strategy.

Naturally, you should check terms and conditions of these, and any casino promotion. The ts and cs will be specific to the offer in question but there are some general points that you should keep in mind.

Firstly, free spins can often refer to a specific slot game and you may not be able to use it on any title in the casino. Unibet rotate free spins offers quite regularly and at the time of writing, the promotion relates to the Pirates Plenty Battle for Gold slot.

Players should also check if there is a rollover attached to the deal. A rollover, also referred to as a wagering requirement, will ask the account holder to play through their bonus or profits a certain number of times before any returns can be withdrawn.

Keep terms and conditions in mind but remember that the value in offers and promotions can be harnessed to provide a nice boost to your casino slots strategy.

Over to You

Throughout this guide we’ve given you some useful tips on how you can maximise your enjoyment at the online slots while looking to gain some regular returns.

As we conclude, we would remind you again that these are games of chance with prizes allocated at random but by taking this advice on board, you can employ strategies that have worked for casino slot players in the past and, in many cases, continue to do so.

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