Slots lessons

The lessons in this track

1. 2.1Reels, lines and what a spin costsThe big number on a slot machine counts credits, and a credit is not a dollar. Here is where the panel says what one credit is worth, and how to work out what your next press takes.About 17 minutes
2. 2.2Return to player: twins that aren'tTwo machines can carry the same glass, land a prize just as often, and still give back different shares of everything staked — and the share is printed on neither of them.About 16 minutes
3. 2.3Hit frequency and volatilityHow often a slot machine pays and what a spin on it costs are two different numbers, and an evening at the machine shows you the first and never the second.About 21 minutes
4. 2.4Virtual reels and the near missWhy the big symbol keeps coming to rest one row off the pay-line — and why that is the machine’s map rather than a sign that anything is close.About 23 minutes
5. 2.5When the lights flash for a lossA machine can pay you eight credits for a spin that cost nine, and light up as though the evening had turned; the payout minus the spin cost is what settles whether that spin gave you anything.About 19 minutes
6. 2.6Bonus rounds: who pays for the extra spinsThe extra spins take no new bet, and the spins in front of them are where their money came from.About 23 minutes
7. 2.7Jackpots and progressive metersThe figure climbing on a sign above a row of machines is money those machines have already taken, and the arrangement of symbols that empties it is counted in years of play rather than in spins.About 24 minutes
8. 2.8Due, hot, cold and the stop buttonWhat people do when an hour at a machine has given back next to nothing — and what the last ten games actually tell you.About 21 minutes
9. 2.9Electronic table gamesSome casino floors run blackjack, roulette and sic bo on terminals instead of tables: the same games, read off a screen instead of a sign.About 20 minutes
10. 2.10Staying in charge at a machineTwo things at a slot machine are yours to set: how much money, and how long. Everything else was settled before you pressed anything.About 16 minutes

What this track is for

Every figure in these lessons is worked out when the page is built, by the same engines as our tools, or comes from a source quoted on the spot. More on how we verify.

Nothing here is a way to win. The course explains what each game costs to play and what the rules on the table actually change, so that the money you take in is a decision and not a surprise.

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