Popular Slot Machine Myths

Slot machine myths can range from innocuous to ludicrous. Let me start this one by sharing the story of Behar Merlaku, a Swiss national who “won” a 43 Million Euro jackpot while gaming on a slot machine in 2011 at a little known casino, in the non-descript Austrian town of Bregenz. Did Merlaku do something special? Did he consciously pick that particular slot machine for his throw of the dice? Was he privy to some special knowledge about how slot machine gaming works? Or was he simply an extremely lucky ducky?

The fact is most people who try their luck on slot machines, do not really understand how they actually work. A whole omnibus of unsubstantiated slot machine myths has built over since the time these gaming novelties first showed up on the casino scene in a big way. There are theories galore on when to play a particular machine, and when to avoid it. Here are the most popular slot machine myths doing the rounds in casinos across the world.

The Most Widespread Slot Machine Myths

1. Avoid slot machines that have seen a big jackpot recently: The premise of this slot machine myth is that the machine will not be due to hit a big number any time soon. Although from the house’s point of view, it does make sense to curb outflows after a big hit on one of its machines, but the winning machine itself is not affected by this gaming thought process. The odds of winning with the very next strike on it will remain the same as it was the first time it was pulled.

2. Root for machines that have not seen much payoff action in a long time: This is an inverted extension of the same slot machine myth as the previous one. Slot machines are never mathematically due for a big jackpot. In fact, prolonged losing streaks may lead to even longer ones.

3. The loosest slot machines are always placed near the casino aisles: This is probably the most widespread of all slot machine myths. Of course, not all machines inside a large casino are configured to yield the same payout percentage. But their positioning on the floor of the casino depends on a much wider range of considerations than just showcasing winning strikes to as many gaming customers as possible.

4. The payouts are lowered with greater foot fall and usage: This cannot be done even if the house wants to, because altering the configured payout percentage requires it to open each slot machine up and replace internal hardware, something it will never do in the plain view of the customers.

There is a lot to research and learn on slot machines and you can actually improve your chances of hearing the machine ring. So, don’t rely on hearsay for better gaming chances with slot machines. Find out more before you try your luck. You can begin with my blog post on the Tips and Tricks for Slot Machine Gaming.