5 myths about slots that prevent you from winning

Myths about gambling are born in the excited imagination of players who seek to increase their chances of winning. Facts confidently refute these myths and prejudices, but it’s not the intellect, but emotions often lead the players, so myths are more alive than all living. These myths and superstitions often overshadow the fun entertainment and interfere with the thrill. We must be able to distinguish the real facts and the invented ones. That’s why, we asked three experts to tell about the most popular myths and decide how true they are.

Myth 1. Imagine the situation: you finished the game, your place was taken by another player and he immediately won a jackpot. This win should have belonged to you!

Not true! Inside the slots, a computer chip is responsible for the Random Number Generator (RNG) . RNG constantly selects random numbers even when nobody plays the machine. These numbers correspond with the stopping of the reels, which show the winning or losing symbols that you see after stopping the reels. When you press the spin button or throw a coin, the RNG selects the numbers. If you stayed close to the machine, the least likely is that you stop the RNG in a specific nano-second to display the same combination of numbers. The machine generates a couple million numbers in a second, and their selection occurs when the start button is pressed. Thus, you could get a big win by pressing the start button in the same microsecond as your lucky opponent. It’s almost impossible. After playing for several hours in a row, you had thousand chances to guess the necessary numbers.

Myth 2. The casino makes manipulations in its slot machines (conjure with programming).

It is important to understand that computer chips, which lay the percentage of winnings, are in the heart of all gaming machines. To change the percentage of payments, you need to make changes to the chips, but this cannot be done without documentation. Furthermore, access to the slot games is not provided to the casino employees themselves as the games are on the servers of the manufacturer’s company. Despite this, these games are tightly controlled and they are regularly checked for reliability. Your winning series can only be the result of luck. Online casinos also work transparently, otherwise they will quickly lose their players. All machines in online casinos are programmed to win, so luck depends on your perseverance and zeal.

Myth 3. It is possible to determine the loose slots.

According to this myth, it is possible to discern when the hold percentage is larger for some games and smaller for the others. In reality, there are no independent means to confirm whether the marketing claims as to the loose slots are really true.

In 2012, a study was held by Anthony F. Lucas and A.K. Singh, professors at UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, and it found out that it is impossible to determine the slots that have different hold percentages. The only conclusion that was made was that the players could consider the outcomes of some number of single trips.

Myth 4. Slots can adjust themselves on the basis of your winnings and losses

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Olaf Vancura, the vice president of gaming development for slot maker Mikohn Gaming (part of IGT) and other gaming firms and an engineer with advanced degrees in physics, told that it is impossible for slots to do this.

“I guess the No. 1 myth is that slot machines keep track of wins and losses and will compensate to get to a win,” Olaf said. “But in the U.S., this is illegal. Slots aren’t allowed to make adjustments. They cannot and do not. Each win is a separate event.”

Myth 5. You win less on celebrity-based slot machines

Olaf told that there is some basis in this myth, as you are eager to pay more for the thing which has a brand. As celebrities, movies and TV shows attract people more, this kind of slots could have a hold percentage of 12% while a non-celebrity ones have only 10%.

Mystique of slots

Most people do not understand the internal work of the slot machines, so they can easily explain the loss or gain, guided by false logic. False explanations go from one to the other. Most myths and anti-concepts are harmless, but they can cause your disappointment and spoil the fun of gambling.

“We don’t always want to dispel all the myths because there’s a mystique around gambling,” said Steve Walther, senior director, Marketing & Product Management at Konami Gaming. “The machine can’t be controlled from any external source. But the player has to approach the machine at just the right time and push the button at just the right time. So there’s got to be a bit of luck involved in that, and that is all controlled by the player.”