
Busting The Myths Behind Slot Gaming
The advent of technology has made slots even more accessible to the public. The idea of playing a slot machine has always been a popular pastime given that it requires little concentration or even skill. Players can constantly spin a reel and hope that their numbers and symbols come up. In a world of too much information, that sounds fun.
There’s something attractive about playing without having to set up a board or a set of cards.
As certain slot games gain traction, there’s always some whispers or so-called helpful hints that start to appear. These are usually pinned in the hope that it gives players an insight. Unqualified voices on the internet suddenly become almost the go-to source. Many of these claims turn out to be myths and that’s only natural when there are so many voices online.
The danger is that these myths take hold, and people will then take them at face value. That’s all very well, but it can’t work when there is no problem to solve. Slots are not role-playing games where the player can plot their way through a problem with online advice.
Are slots biased?
Slots are a game that relies on fortune. In real life, people are obsessed with the controllables. It is human nature to try and make something controllable even when it isn’t.
One of the most common misconceptions about playing slots online is that they are biased. The reality is somewhat different. Slots run on PRNGs or pseudorandom number generators.
This means that every spin of the reel is fair, independent and free from anything that happened before or after. Any other take has no evidence-based backup. Each spin has exactly the same odds as any other individual spin which is computed on a per spin basis.
This is crucial in debunking talk that the reels can work on hot and cold streaks. Recent research and reporting have shown that players believe that, at certain times, machines can be “due” for a payout. This could be based around patterns when a jackpot has been paid out and players assume that there’s nothing left. The phrase “cleaning a machine out” is an urban myth.
However, even if there is a constant lucky streak, this does not mean that the next set of plays will then be the exact opposite. Another erroneous belief is that playing reels in a manual or autoplay manner can affect the outcome. It is the player’s choice to do one or the other, but it won’t have any bearing on the outcome.
It is quite often the psyche of an individual that can make any theory seem real. There is no way of knowing what the next spin will bring.
Despite players looking at machines and trying to spot patterns, there is no official body of knowledge available on how to work out best odds in such a random game. There is no code to crack or way to game the system. Like spinning a roulette wheel and hoping for red or black, who knows where the wheel of fortune will land.
Are slots better to play in quieter periods?
Hot on the theme of high and low payouts, there is also the myth that slots are better to play when things are slow. It has been put forward that slot machines are better to play when there are fewer people playing them. Highs and lows in usage have no relation to high and low payouts. Physical machines would have to be opened up and have the chip changed to amend the odds.
Several casinos provide a loyalty card that follows a player’s journey and rewards them at times with certain competitions and bonuses. One certainty is that these cards do not reduce the chances of winning by affecting the payout at the machines. There have been wild claims that receiving one of these loyalty numbers will somehow mean a hit is taken out elsewhere to compensate for the benefits.
It is abundantly clear that PRNGs are the sole arbiter of what numbers come up rather than any other manipulated external sources. The slot machine does not know that a player is spinning with some kind of bonus money or benefits in kind. There is no impact on that set of plays.
Slot machines will survive the myths because they are still a source of leisure that players flock to. The simple known truth is that the odds in a casino are always slightly in favour of the house. That is not a secret when there is a business involved.
However, slot machines will still run at random. Life is a game of chance after all. People tend to like those odds too, so it’s best to run with it and not look for the negative.