Dumb slot strategies

I visited a friend's site the other day and he claims to have a large following which I don't doubt because he has good search engine rankings. But anyway I saw he had a section for tips on slots. I also have slot tips or slot strategies section so I went to read his choices for good advice on slots.

I first checked his tips and was pleased to see his advice was largely in stride with mine. Until we got to the strategy area of his site.

I admit that sometimes people may struggle to discover new and interesting angles to talk about games that in many cases were around when Rome was the city to beat and the Christians were still getting fed to the lions. Not a lot new to discuss once you know how to play the game correctly. The dice will always need to land 7 or 11 to be a winner coming out (Craps), you'll always need an ace to mate that ten to win black jack and in video poker the smart play will always be to throw away that 5 card flush and hold the 4 cards towards the royal ... etc.

So anyway I see where he has stretched out the basic money management rule for gambling at no-skill games such as slots from a few words to 5 pages. Oh that rule? Bet more when winning and less when losing. Of course it does get a bit more complicated if you get into detailed slot strategies revolving around how you bet, but that's the first rule to learn because its good advice that's easy to apply for even a novice.

 So that one sentence tip is turned into about 5 pages and one of them advised what he called the "steps system".  That was where the player on a 3 credit max machine will bet 1 credit and increase the bet to 2 credits the next time if a win comes this time. If the player wins 2 in a row they would increase the betting credits to 3 at a time until they lose a spin. Well its not that often you hit 3 slot spins in a row so he basically has them playing at one credit. That my friends is a dumb slot strategy.

Bad slot tips

I had just about given up totally because slot tips that don't advise playing at maximum bet are usually bad, when I saw at the very end of his article he announces you shouldn't use the "steps system" if the slot game pays anything extra on payouts if you bet the maximum. Well of course they do!  But to his credit he found 2 slot games with Microgaming powered casinos which don't pay anything extra for making a "max bet".

I started to click the window shut when it struck me that the two slot games he had supplied as being games you could use that steps slots strategy ....  just didn't pay anything extra for a max bet but the single bet only paid what a single bet would pay on a machine that DID pay extra for making the maximum bet.

To make a point out of this warning about dumb slot strategies and bad slot tips,  I first want to note that any machine worth playing will pay extra on the jackpots when maximum bets are made. If it doesn't pay extra find a different machine. Second please refer back to that age old rule of gambling: bet more when winning and less when losing. The online slots are set up to play right into that school of thought.

Only don't skimp on the max bet thing. Instead skimp on the credit values. In other words, bet max at $.25 a credit value instead of betting one credit on the $1 machine.

Move them credits up when you're having a good night and down when on a cold machine or those nights when your luck is not working and you're too stubborn to quit. At least that way you won't lose a ton of money just trying to entertain yourself.

Be patient. Live to fight another day. Then when the stars are lined up in your favor be sure to move those credit values up.

And you'll be so happy to see how much they allow you to change credit values while staying at the same machine. Jump from $.25 credits to credits worth $5, $10 or more. The range just gets my juices flowing because I know on those nights when I'm hitting that I am going to win a lot of money ... again.  I have had more than an adequate number of nice wins in my 8 or so years of playing and writing about online gambling and its virtual casinos.

Avoid those dumb slot strategies and slot tips that don't make any sense. Slot machine gambling is made for dummies and there is very little you can do to improve your chances of winning. It is really a matter of how you choose to do your banking  that has potential room for improvement,  (actually I didn't mean "you", I meant that is an area which can be improved upon where as there is nothing you can do to improve how you press the spin button), but that said, "you" may already be doing as much right as is possible. If you are walking away from the games on bad luck days and increasing your credit sizes on days you're winning, you're doing about all you can. The main thing is you gotta know when to quit. - Steve Briggs: www.bondedcasinos.com