Online Slots Tips - The Smart Way to Play Slot Machines

Follow This Guide to Reduce the Online Casino’s Edge

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Slots that Offer the Best Chance of Winning

The slots with the best chances of winning are the ones with the highest return to player (RTP) percentages and the lowest volatility.

RTP is the percentage of all bets placed on the slots that get paid out as winnings. The norm for an online slot is to have an RTP between 95% and 96%. However, you may find slots that have anything between 92% and 98% as their RTPs. 

Volatility, on the other hand, says something about the frequency of wins on a slot. The lower the volatility, the more wins you can expect. 

However, what’s important to know is that a high RTP and low volatility will give you more wins, but that doesn’t mean that you win more long term because the RTP is calculated based on millions upon millions of spins and is accumulated for all players.

Low volatility means frequent wins, in general. You’ll win often, but typically, these will be small wins. A low volatility slot will usually keep your account balance quite stable. You will not have big drops, and you won’t have big increases. 

All of this being said, these are only general guidelines, and there are exceptions. You can be lucky to win big even from slots with a low RTP and low volatility. It’s all about luck. 

Genie_s Riches Return to Player

Find the RTP of an Online Slot

The RTP of a slot is mentioned in the game information or within the paytable. In some cases, it will say RTP, and in other cases, it will say return to player. 

To find the RTP of the slot, simply start by opening the game. Then, go to the game information, which is often shown with the icon ‘i’. The RTP will then be listed somewhere on this page, usually towards the bottom. 

If you can’t find the RTP in the game information, head over to the paytable. This is where you can see what each symbol pays as well as which features the game has. If the RTP is listed here, it’s usually together with the paylines or on the last page. You can also consult our online slot reviews, as the RTPs of all games are listed here.

Choose the Best Slot RTP Casino

While on the topic of RTP, it’s worth mentioning that many online casinos have the same RTP for all games, but that is not true for all casinos. Often, game providers make several versions of each slot with different payout rates. 

Some casinos will choose to offer the highest RTP version for their players, while other casinos choose a lower RTP. So, choosing the best slots app is just as important as choosing the right slot. You will have a better chance to win at some casinos than at others. 

Find the Volatility of an Online Slot

The volatility is a bit trickier to identify. Some game providers have noted if the volatility is low, medium, or high. If they have, you find this listed within the game information or in the paytable. Typically, where you also see the RTP percentage. 

Far from all game providers list the volatility, however. If they don’t, you’ll need to try to figure this out yourself. It won’t be an exact science, but you can make a pretty good guesstimate by looking at the paytable. 

Buffalo Bounty Bonus Feature

Here are some guidelines for determining a slot machine’s volatility:

  • If the smallest win you land is very small, that’s a sign the slot has low volatility.
  • If the smallest win you can get is close to your bet, the volatility might be high, meaning you’ll always win a decent amount as soon as you get a winning combination. 
  • Slots with many symbols and fewer reels typically have high volatility. This is because it will be trickier to land a winning combination. 
  • Slots with very good bonus features, like high multipliers or expanding wilds, will normally have higher volatility. This is because these features are made to give you a huge win, which does not happen very frequently. 
  • “Normal” bonus features like wild symbols don’t give a much bigger win, just more of them. This is why this is often the bonus feature found in low-volatility slots. 
Buffalo Bounty Paytable

Progressive Slots for Long-Term Play

A progressive slot is not a good choice if you’re looking for quick wins. These are slot machines made for rewarding players for playing for a long time. 

Progressive slot games are slots where you’re collecting something to fill up a progress bar over multiple spins. It can take anything from 50 to many hundreds of spins to fill the bar. Then, once the bar is filled, you get a bonus.

The bonus you’ll get will either be triggering the normal bonus game in the slot or a special bonus. Typically, it will give you some extra bonus features so that you have the chance to land a huge win. 

It’s all about playing many game rounds to get to the big bonus, but you’ll also get normal game wins. However, what’s important to know is that the big bonus is made to be able to give a big win. 

This will also be calculated for in the game’s RTP, meaning that you might not win as much on your normal spins. You might also be unlucky with the big bonus. If you are, you have played a low-paying slot for a long time and not gotten much in return.

So, as far slot tips go, you should avoid progressive slots. The exception is for players that have a big bankroll and want to play for a long time. 

Playing With High Bets

Players who play with high bets are often high rollers, and this player segment tends to like high-volatility slots. These are games where you won’t win often, but when you do hit that right winning combination, the win can be huge. 

Of course, you might also be unlucky and not get that big win and thus lose your bankroll quickly. This is why playing high-volatility slots should only be an option for players that are not risk-averse. 

If you play slot machines with high volatility with a high bet, our tip is to limit your playing session. When you get that big win you’ve been waiting for, don’t keep on playing to get another one.

Cash out your winnings because that one big win is likely to have put you in the green.

Playing With Low Bets

If you want to play for a long time, a low bet on a low-volatility slot is a good option. You can get lucky with a big win, but most likely you’ll just keep your balance more or less stable. 

Not all players are looking only for entertainment; some want to have a good chance of cashing out some winnings. If you’re a player like that, very low bets or playing on penny slots might not be advisable. 

The problem with low bets is that moneywise, the wins you get won’t be significant. You might get a win of 200x your bet, but that won’t be much in terms of dollars and cents. 

If you don’t get big monetary wins, your balance won’t make big jumps either; this makes it unlikely that most players will make a withdrawal of winnings. 

Most players withdraw based on how much money they’ve won, and this requires a big win. With very low bets, $5 might be considered a big win, but a $5 increase in your balance is not likely to tempt you to cash out your winnings. 

Use Your Free Spins & Bonuses

To get the most from your deposits at online casinos, you need to use the bonuses you’re offered. If free spins or match deposit bonuses don’t really matter, you should take advantage of both. 

Any bonus that will increase your bankroll will give you a greater chance to win long-term. More money to play with means that you can play more game rounds or increase your bets. This means that you’ll have a greater chance of landing a big win or winning more when the big win hits.

BetOnline Bonuses & Free Spins

Why a Match Deposit Bonus Is Better Than Free Spins

If you get to choose between free spins and a match bonus, go for the match. A match deposit bonus will give you more money as a bonus, and it also has other benefits. 

Free spins are bound not only to a certain slot machine but also to a specific bet. The bet with which you get to play your free spins will be the minimum allowed in the game. This means that you can’t expect to win a huge amount of money from a free spins bonus. 

A match deposit bonus allows you to play whatever slot machine you prefer so that you can pick your favorite. You can also play with whatever bet size you prefer, only limited by the maximum bet terms of the bonus.

Given the option to choose the best slot for payouts as well as the volatility, match bonuses are excellent. You can play as you normally do, just with more money. 

But before you claim a bonus at an online casino, please read all their bonus terms. If the terms are poor, our top slot tip is to not claim the bonus. Rather find another casino that offers better terms so that you can get the most from your slot spins. Consult our rankings for recommendations.

Clear the Wagering Requirements

Bonuses, whether free spins or match deposit bonuses, come with wagering requirements. Before cashing out winnings from your bonus, you need to turn over your bonus a given number of times. 

Typically, the wagering requirement is 35x the combined value of the bonus and deposit. This is set at the casino’s discretion, so check the terms before accepting the bonus. 

Wagering 35x the amount you got might seem a lot, but if you’re smart about it, it’s not too tricky. What you need to do is simply choose the right slot to play on. 

A slot with low volatility is always the best choice when wagering a bonus. You should also play with a fairly small bet. We’ll suggest playing with bets equal to 0.5% of your bonus balance. 

This way, you should be able to play at least 200 game rounds. That’s usually enough to negate any losing streak in low-volatility slots. With this slot machine strategy, you have a good chance of clearing your wagering requirement.

What you should not do is play high-volatility slots. These slots are not made for you to win long-term, which is needed to wager through a bonus. 

Online Slots Tips to Help You Win

Before we tell you about our top online slot tips to win, we want to clarify something: slots are games of chance, and as such, it’s impossible to increase your chances of winning. That is, on a per-spin basis. 

What you can do is implement some simple strategies to increase the chance to win long term. It might not work every time, but for sure, it will give you a better chance to come out on top. 

Playing online slots is much more fun when you use the following online slots strategy tips:

Tip 1: Have a Clear Bankroll Strategy

Managing your bankroll properly is the most important thing if you want to increase your winning chances on slots. Your bankroll should dictate which slots to play and which bets to play with. 

Bets vs. bankroll determines how risky you can play. If you have enough bankroll to pay for some hundreds of spins, you can take the chance and play a high-volatility slot. 

You might just get lucky and hit a big win. Alternatively, you can increase the bets on your favorite slot.

If you’re unlucky and your bankroll starts to dwindle, you can lower your bets or play a less volatile slot. Should your bankroll recover, you can go back to more high-risk slots and play again when aiming for a big win. 

However, the most important thing when it comes to bankroll management is to predetermine how much you’re willing to lose. Because when playing slot machines, you should always be prepared to lose the money you have in your casino account. 

Never bet on the fact that you’ll win, and never play for money you can’t afford to lose. Once you’ve lost your bankroll, if you do, stop playing for now. Never fall for the temptation of chasing your losses.

Tip 2: Play for Fun to Nail Down Your Strategy

Before you start playing slots for real money you should practice a bit. You can do this if you play online slots for free. While using demo money, you can try the game and see all bonus features and, therefore, estimate the winning potential. 

Since your bankroll management and strategy will depend on the slot you play, you need to know the slot. Play a hundred spins for free and try out your strategy. This lets you assess the volatility and other aspects of the game. 

Once you’re comfortable with the slot and your strategy, you can easily switch to real money play. 

BetOnline Game Selection

Tip 3: Cash Out When You’ve Reached Your Session Goal

Before you start playing at an online casino, you should identify what your goal is. Start by deciding how much you want to gamble for. Then, decide if you want to play just for entertainment or if the goal is to win. 

If you want to play just for the fun of it, choose the best strategy for this by playing low-volatility slots. 

If you want to play to win, decide how much you want to win. A good goal is to double the money you deposit or to win perhaps $50 or $100. Then, once you reach this goal, cash out and end your gambling session. 

Other good goals might be to play for 30 minutes or maybe one hour. Once you’ve done that, you’ll cash out whatever you have in your casino account. 

The important thing is that you decide on what the goal is and stick to it. Never just keep on playing for hours without a goal in mind. That’s a sure way of gambling away all your winnings. 

Tip 4: Play Responsibly and Take Regular Breaks

It’s easy to get carried away when playing slots. If you lose a lot, it’s easy to think that the next big win is just a couple of spins away. If you win a lot, it’s easy to think that you just want to win a bit more and believe one bigger win will do it. 

Chasing losses and big wins quickly lead to spin after spin and hour after hour disappearing. Likely, even your account balance will evaporate. 

To avoid getting caught up in the moment, it’s important to take regular breaks. Go for a walk, cook some food, or even watch an episode of a TV show. Anything that breaks you away from the casino for a bit will do. 

The reason why it’s important to take breaks is so that you can come back with a fresh mindset. Perhaps after a break, you’ll find that the winnings you got will be sufficient and choose to cash out. It’s a reason why a well-known responsible gambling slogan is, “Take time to think.” 

Tips for Winning Progressive Jackpots

If you have your eyes set on a progressive jackpot, there are two tricks you need to follow because a progressive jackpot is the only slot game that offers a strategy to help you win. 

Normal strategies and tips for winning on slots apply, but there are also additional ones for jackpots. 

Rags to Witches Jackpot Slot

Tip 1: Increase Your Bets

Interestingly, progressive jackpot slots are the only ones where game providers outright say that larger bets increase your winning chances. This does not apply to normal spins in the base game, but only the jackpot bonus game.

Progressive jackpots grow thanks to player contributions, and the higher your bet is, the more you contribute. The fact that you contribute more is the reason why you’re also more likely to trigger the jackpot. 

This goes for progressive jackpots only, not fixed-rate jackpots that are a multiplier of your bet. In progressive jackpots, all players, regardless of the size of their bets, have the chance to win the same amount of money. 

So, the players that bet the highest bets will win a smaller bet multiplier, but they will also have a greater chance of triggering the jackpot. 

Tip 2: Play at the Opportune Time

Some progressive jackpots go on for months without anyone winning them, so it keeps growing and growing. There is absolutely no telling when it will drop. However, if the progressive jackpot pool been growing for months, logic dictates that it will be won soon. So, the time to bet on it might have come. 

Other jackpots have to drop on a regular basis, be it daily, weekly, or monthly. In these slots, it’s possible to optimize the time when you should play on it. 

Take a daily jackpot as an example. If it’s getting close to the end of the day and no one has won it, you know you have a good chance of winning it. Someone has to win it before the end of the day, and the time is running out. There is no better time to bet on a progressive jackpot than when the time for it to drop is running out. 

FAQ

Is There a Trick to Win on Slot Machines?

Yes and no. There aren’t any tricks you can use to win on a per-spin basis. However, there are some strategies you can use to increase your long-term winning chances. Playing slots with high RTPs and choosing your preferred game volatility are two tricks. Then, proper bankroll management can also increase your chances of winning in the long run. 

Which Slot Machines Pay the Most?

The slots that pay out the most are slots with a high RTP percentage. However, the volatility of the slot will also play an important role. Low-volatility slots will pay out more frequently, while high-volatility slots will pay out bigger wins. 

Can I Increase My Chances of Winning on Slots?

Yes, you can increase your chances of winning on slots in the longer term. Implement the right slot strategy according to your bankroll and how big the risks are that you’re willing to take. You can read all about which considerations you need to take on this page. Our online slots guide also has further reading on the workings and strategies for slot play.

Are Online Slot Machines Rigged?

No, online slots are not rigged as long as the casino uses a fair random number generator (RNG). That being said, all slots are made to pay out less than what players put into them. In order for you to win, other players have to lose. Use the slot tips on this page to increase your chances of ending up on the winning side.

Which Casino Game Offers the Best Winning Chances?

The casino game with the best winning chances is blackjack. Slots, on the other hand, can pay out much more than blackjack on a per game round basis. Thanks to the features of slots, you can win many thousands of times what you bet. This is not possible in blackjack or most other casino games due to how the paytable of the game works. 

Can I Win Real Money on Slot Machines?

Yes, as long as you play for real money, you can win real money on a slot machine. If you play with bonus money, you will need to complete the wagering requirements before you can cash out your winnings. Once the bonus money has been converted to real money, you can withdraw real cash from your slot winnings.

How Can I Win the Jackpot on a Slot Machine?

Winning a jackpot is not easy, and for fixed-rate jackpots, there is no trick to it. For progressive jackpots, there are two tricks that can help you win. The first is to play with a high bet, and the second is to play at the opportune time. Read more about this further up on this page. 

Which Online Slots Have the Best Odds for Winning?

The slot machines with the best odds of winning are slots with a high RTP percentage. Typically, online slots have an RTP of between 95% and 96%, but you can also find slots with RTPs as high as 98%, or as low as 92%. So, always check the slot’s RTP before you start playing. 

Do I Win More if I Stop Spins on a Slot Machine?

The short answer is no. If you let a spin play until it stops on its own or stop yourself, it will make no difference. The result of a game round is decided as soon as you start the spin, and the rest is just gimmicks. Players who claim that they win more one way or the other are just superstitious. There is no way to influence the result of a game round while playing slots.

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