If you want to try your hand at a fantastic selection of slot games, including games such as Starburst, Deluxe Blistering 7s, Starburst Galaxy and Big Bass Splash, then check out what range of slots and casino offerings you can find at bet365 Games and bet365 Casino!
However, to enjoy any of these slot offerings, or the thousands more available on the sites, you should be fully aware of some of the slot game myths, half-truths and strange beliefs people hold as true.
And in this post, we will also debunk the slot game myths and explain why they are not true – even if it seems to logically be the case that it is!
So let’s get cracking by tackling our first slot game myth!
This myth is as old as time itself. I’ve even seen people online claiming to be ex-casino employees who ‘know the tricks’ to adjust how much a slot pays out.
How a slot pays out is determined by its pay table and one other key piece of programming. A Random Number Generator (RNG). It is the outcome of running the RNG that determines what sequence of symbols appear on the reel.
Each RNG has billions of possible combinations, a smaller percentage of which will be winners and a higher percentage losers.
This RTP and volatility for the software is set by the game manufacturer, not the casino. Furthermore, most reputable casinos use a third-party checking service such as eCogra to ensure that a slot plays as it is stated. Part of that process is ensuring that casinos cannot alter the RTP or volatility of a slot game at will and that customers get a fair, secure and safe game to play.
This is another slot game myth that is based on inanimate objects, such as slot machines, being able to track how much money it takes, how much it pays out and how often it has paid out and to whom!
Slot games do not track their income, winnings or when or who has won the prize. They are governed by the outcome of the RNG.
So what that means is that you are as likely to win big money playing your first ever spin on a slot game, as you are your 100th spin or 1000th spin.
We’ve seen many sites advertising their slots as being ‘hot’, which in slots parlance means that it is a game that is paying out more than you would expect it to normally. The aim of listing these games is to attract people to play them in the belief they will stand a better chance of winning.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. Your chances of winning are not dependent on a slot being hot, but are the same for every spin.
This slot game myth stems from a misunderstanding of how randomness works. For example, take a coin toss. Landing heads should occur around 50% of the time, as should landing tails. But over a run of millions of spins of the coin, you may find a sequence where you spin heads 10 or 15 times in a row.
This is what happens on a more complicated scale with slot games. There may be spells in a slots life when it does pay out more often, but there will also be spells when it does not. However, the outcomes of previous spins do not affect future spin outcomes.
If hot slots are not really hot slots, then the same can be said for cold slots! These are the games that have not paid out as much as expected and so they are viewed as being ones to avoid as they are out to just take your money from you.
As we explained for hot slots, this isn’t the case as it is just a statistical anomaly.
In fact, you could argue the opposite. If a slot is ‘hot’ then to balance its RTP it is more likely to be ‘cold’ in future. Similarly, if a slot is ‘cold’ then it may need to be ‘hot’ to get close to its RTP over its lifetime! Slot game myths don't always make sense!
Many slot gamers assume that the RTP (Return to Player) percentage for that slot means that this is the amount of their stake they should get back when playing a session on the game.
For example, the Epic Joker slot at bet365 Games has a RTP of 97% – so players assume if they spend £100, they can expect to get around £97 paid back through winnings.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. The RTP percentage is calculated based on the lifetime of the slot, across millions and millions of spins. This will include all the huge jackpot and big money prizes it will pay out, as well as the mid and low-value wins too.
A single session on the slot is far too volatile to allow the RTP to impact your chances of a return. Some sessions, you can win a lot more than the RTP suggests, in others, it will be a lot less.
If RTP percentages are commonly misunderstood, so too is the volatility of a slot. Many slot gamers think that volatility refers to the total amount of money a slot is likely to pay out. A low volatility slot pays out higher amounts, a higher volatility slot pays out a lesser amount.
This slot game myth is a good example of not quite understanding the term. Volatility does refer to paying out customers, but it is nothing to do with the total amount paid out.
Instead, the volatility of a slot refers to how a slot is likely to pay out its cash prizes.
It is therefore entirely plausible to have two slot games, (both with the same RTP, a very similar reel set up and prize list) play very differently to each other because one is a lower variance slot, and the other is a higher variance slot.
For points 6 and 7, you can check out bet365’s full explanation of both RTP and Volatility by following the previous link.
This slot game myth is linked directly to point two and the belief that a slot game will only pay out once a player has spent a certain amount on the game, or has played a certain number of spins.
While this may appear to be the case with many slot games, it is a myth. Slots are controlled by a RNG, as we have explained in the opening point in this post. The RNG does not know how many slots you have played, how much you have spent or indeed how long it has been since you last had a win.
Each spin you play on a slot, whether it is your first spin, tenth, hundredth, thousandth or ten billionth, has the same chance of landing a win as the other. How many spins you have played previously or how much you have spent on the game do not factor into the process.
There is a prevalent slot game myth (or half-myth) that a casino will put a limit on how much a player can win when using Free Spins awarded by the site to play one of its slot games.
In some cases, this may be true in as much as the casino may say a free spins promotion has a maximum cash out value of say £50 or £100 for the player, once they meet any wagering requirements.
However, if your free spins come without any wagering requirements or any maximum cash out limit imposed, then you have as much chance of winning a high-value prize with your free spins as you do playing for a standard spin.
That’s because the game cannot differentiate between a Free Spin and a standard spin once the RNG is processing the spin. The RNG still operates under the same rules and percentages as a standard spin when revealing the results of a free spin.
The triggering of slot bonus features, such as Free Spins, Expanding Wilds and Prize Selection Games is often a bone of contention with players. Many feel that they have to spend vast amounts before a game will allow them to play a bonus game. This is a typical slot game myth.
This is not true as the RNG once again ensures that each spin is random and has the same chance of triggering a bonus mode within that slot game.
Sometimes you can get lucky and trigger a bonus game two or three times in a relatively short session, other times you can play for a while and not trigger a bonus feature at all.
As with all things on a slot, it is entirely down to chance and the machinations of the RNG!
Many people believe that if a slot pays out a very large prize, then it will not pay out again for a very long time. This belief is especially prevalent in players that play progressive jackpot slots.
However, it is also easy to disprove. The famous Mega Moolah slot offers a jackpot prize fund of at least a million in your chosen currency and it often grows to far more than that.
Obviously, there have been lengthy periods of time when the jackpot has not been won. For example, the Jackpot was not won once between October 2015 and June 2016.
Yet, on the 22nd May 2017, the jackpot was won twice in the space of five hours, and a month later, the jackpot was won twice on the 19th June too.
Other quick wins include the 19th and 20th April 2018, 5th and 6th of March 2019.
So as you can see, the evidence shows that a big jackpot win does not necessarily mean that the game will not pay out big again for a while. That big value win may come much sooner than expected!
We hope by busting these slot game myths you can now explore the wide range of slots available with a good understanding of how the games work and an appreciation of what your chances are of landing a win on your favourite slot of choice!
Always remember to gamble responsibly.
Check out bet365’s Safer Gambling page for more details.
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