The web is loaded with miraculous suggestions on how to win money with online slots, or worse, using terms and algorithms that are indecipherable to most mortals.
Let’s make things clear from the start. Our advice can easily be put into practice, and if you do we can’t guarantee that you’ll win more, but we can guarantee that you’ll lose less and enjoy yourself more and for longer when you play slots online.
Find The Most Profitable Slots
The RTP calculates how much of the total bet of each game returns to the average player’s pocket; the remaining part is what is known as the house edge. Imagine that of 100% of the bet, the player recovers on average 97%. Then the house advantage is 3%.
Most slot machines have an RTP of between 92 and 98.5%. At first sight it may seem little difference, but if you look at it from the casino’s point of view, the profit goes from 8% to only 1.5%. The house has 5 times more chances to win, which obviously are subtracted from yours.
When comparing slots to choose the one that pays the most, thinking in terms of advantage can be a bit cumbersome, and that’s where the RTP database comes in, comprising a huge list of slots available at Spanish casinos.
You can sort them according to their RTP percentage or, to make it easier for you to locate those of your trusted casino, also by provider. In addition, you may see other games with the same or more advantageous RTP while you’re finding the title you like.
The next step when you have seen a few slots with an interesting RTP, is to test them by playing for free with the demos in our catalogue, and inspect the details of the game on your credits. Because although the RTP is important, other aspects such as volatility are also important in discovering a loose slot.
What are loose slots?
Loose slots are online slots with features considered particularly favourable to players (saving the casino advantage). They are called so in opposition to the so-called “tight slots” that have lower RTP and high variance index.
The two characteristics that define loose slots have nothing to do with their functions, number of reels, theme or bonuses. It’s not that they are particularly fun or exciting to play: they simply exceed 96.5% RTP and have a low or very low variance index.
You can find slots of this type in the catalogues of all software suppliers. They are present in any of the Spanish online casinos with a license, and paradoxically they are not always the most demanded ones. Only the most informed players use this type of data to select the machines on which they bet their money.
Guide To Betting With Real Money: Choosing Slots
Now that you know what you’re up against and what your goal is, let’s see how to choose the slots that pay the most at the casino. We will analyze step by step the available games with their pros and cons, so you will know where to start.
When you access the gaming platform, you will find a huge amount of claims and slots available: most popular slots, with higher jackpots, novelties… so much information can be overwhelming and lead you to choose with no other criteria than the brightest or best advertised game.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to carry out exhaustive research by analysing all the games one by one. Just go to the Slots Section of the casino and pay attention to these three things:
- The rate of volatility or variance and the percentage of RTP of each game.
- Progressive boats.
- Your mood at every moment.
- Volatility and RTP in slot machines.
These two characteristics are what determine how often a slot machine delivers prizes, how big those prizes are, and the total balance of winnings for the player at the end of the game. They will be very useful when determining the type of game sessions you need to develop to get the most out of a slot.
Both are reflected in the credits or the instructions of the casino about the game, but while the RTP is a concrete data that the Spanish casinos with license are obliged to show by law, the volatility is something that you will have to deduce yourself.
It’s a bit of an elusive information: you can read our slot machine reviews, in which we explain the dynamics and rhythm that characterizes each title (frequency of wins, bonuses, amounts per reward…) or interpret the level of variance of each game yourself.
To get a reliable idea about the volatility of a game you will have to look at things like:
- The difference between prizes from 3, 4 or 5 symbols.
- The function of the special symbols.
- The bonus games.
- The machine’s free circulation rounds.
If you would like more information on this subject, we explain how to find out which variance index is best suited to your way of playing in our article on variance and volatility in slots.
With regard to the RTP, the easiest and quickest way is to enter the name of the game in our RTP database, but if you prefer you can also find it by entering your casino and clicking on the game instructions, or even after logging in.
To find the RTP percentage of a slot machine, just take a quick look at the last page of credits, after the screens with the paylines. The figure usually appears at the end of the warning text in case of a game malfunction.
Progressive Jackpots
Titles with progressive jackpot on the network are one of the main claims of online casinos. They consist of a cumulative jackpot that is collected from all the rolls carried out on a single title by players from the same casino and operator, sometimes even internationally.
Every jackpot starts from a minimum amount that can have very little to envy with any other non-cumulative jackpot. But as time goes by and more and more players’ contributions are added, it can grow up to astronomical figures.
The success of progressive slots is based on the possibility of winning a mega prize, but often their RTP is low and their volatility very high. That means that the playing sessions are usually, if the statistics are met, less lucrative for the players.
For a newcomer to the world of online slots, jackpot slots may seem like the best option for winning money in a hurry. And often this idea is complemented by the belief that the more you carry the jackpot, the more likely you are to play.
Of course the possibility of taking the jackpot is always there, but it is only one in thousands (or rather hundreds of thousands). You should know that to get a good performance with this type of machine you need to have a strategy that includes:
Patience, because the more volatile the machine, the more runs in a row without any kind of prize.
Play slots for fun
All the above advice works from a rational point of view, but the emotional weight in our decisions is much greater than we think. The RNG device that marks the operation of each slot machine, is responsible for making them reliable (not tricked) but also unpredictable machines.
Never forget that gambling is a matter of luck, and the casino always has the advantage. It’s true that you can maximize your chances of success by choosing a slot and adapting your way of playing to achieve the highest performance, but these two conditions never disappear. There is no foolproof strategy.
Everyone has a bad day from time to time, and when that time comes you should ask yourself why you bet on slots. The fun lies in the gambling process: winning is a part of that process, but not the only objective. Stop playing when it is no longer fun.
Stop for a moment and check your mood: many players use slots to try their luck while relaxing, but when you’re angry or sad you make irrational decisions, which will invalidate all the tricks to get the most out of it.
