What You Didn't Know About Slots Odds

What are a slots game’s odds and how is it calculated? Can casinos change the odds of a machine without telling us? Read on to find out more on slots odds.

Slots Odds

What are a slots game’s odds and how is it calculated?  Can casinos change the odds of a machine without telling us?  Read on to find out more on slots odds.

Lets start off by saying that since every machine is regulated by a computer chip called a random number generator, it would be really difficult for the casino to change the odds of a machine.  The casino would have to alter the chip, which contrary to some stories you might have heard, does not and cannot happen in strictly regulated areas. 

Likewise, slot odds or slot machines don’t get looser the more one plays them.  This is because the RNG creates an irregular sequence of numbers.  This means that equally random numbers are chosen each time the reels spin – and a player therefore always has exactly the same opportunity of hitting a jackpot each time they play.  A machine is never "ready to pay" at any set time, but it is the luck and timing of spinning the reels at exactly the right millisecond that the right random number sequence is generated.

A slots machine only has 1 virtual stop that corresponds to the actual reel’s top jackpot. For a machine with the value of thirty-two to process Random Number Generated sequences, the chance that the jackpot image will land on one reel is 1 in 32.  The slots odds for all 3 jackpot symbols to line up on all 3 reels, would be 32x32x32 = 1 in 32,768.

A Spotlight on Slots Odds

Slot machines that pay larger max jackpots have an even larger amount of virtual stops, thereby decreasing your slots odds of winning.  What this actually means is that the slots odds of hitting a symbol combo aren’t based on the number of actual stops on the reels, which is unfortunately what many slot players believe.

Payback percentages often range from 90% to 97% in highly competitive gambling markets like Atlantic City and Las Vegas.  Players have good chances of finding better slots odds and looser slot machines than normal in these areas, because of the large amount of competition and the strict regulation laws that require a min payback for each slots machine,

And while slot machines used to be programmed so that the blank stops above and below the jackpot symbol would correspond to more virtual stops than other symbols, this is no longer allowed in well regulated gaming jurisdictions like Las Vegas.

Gaming regulators need to test slot machines’ random number generators, because it determines the actual slots odds.  They must ensure that it is paying back a min percentage of cash that are deposited into it.  A slots machine with a 95% payout percentage should be paying out 95 cents for every $1 deposited into it.