Protecting Slot Cash

13 April 2021

By Frank Scoblete

No one wants to see their bankrolls hammered but unfortunately many aggressive slot players face such a prospect. Players need to exercise two aspects to their slot play to survive without taking regular beatings. The first is to have the proper strategy and know which machines to play and the second is to practice a serious form of money management.

There are many players who think that money management principles constitute an advantage form of play at slot machines and even at table games. This is not so. Money management concerns how one attempts to preserve one’s bankroll in the face of the house’s edge over the player. In short, how do you lose less?

Proper strategies and strong machine selection principles, while not advantage techniques at slot machines (except for the small percentage of banking machines that might still exist here and there – see my book Slots Conquest), can go a long way in reducing the overall hit on your money.

Interestingly enough, the ideas I am going to present to you will combine in one smooth way both money management and proper slot play and prediction – something rarely done in slot advice.

What machines should you pick to play?

I am going to go against the grain in my first principle of machine selection. Most published advice tells players to play maximum coin in the machines to get the benefit of the major jackpot payouts. Except for progressive machines and huge mega-money machines, full coin really doesn’t get you much more money than one coin. It just costs you a lot more.

That’s correct; one coin at a time saves you a lot of money over a lifetime of play. Just take something simple such as the traditional three-coin machine. If you play one coin you are sparing yourself almost three times the expected losses. Yes, the jackpot might not be as big on such a win but who cares? By reducing the hit on your bankroll by almost two-thirds, you have saved yourself a possible bundle of money.

By playing one coin you can still play for the length of time you desire but not spend such a large amount of money. That is a very good thing if you ask me.

Next, try to select machines that do not give you a bigger than normal jackpot. So if the jackpot on one coin in a traditional machine is 200 units and on two coins is 400 units and on three coins it is 600 units, the machine is not even giving you a small increase in the big jackpot hit. So that machine is totally perfect for the one-coin type of play.

Which machines not to play

If you take a look at the paybacks for the various denomination machines, you will note that various denominations have average paybacks of between 88 percent on the five cent and ten cent machines, all the way up to about 95 percent on $5 and more machines.

Now just wait on that. Would a progressive machine such as Megabucks give back as much as an in-house non-progressive machine when such large progressives have to withhold quite a bit of money to generate such a huge jackpot?

The answer is no. Progressives are at the low end of machine paybacks in their given denominations. If a given denomination is returning let us say 92 percent, the progressives may be returning only 86 to 88 percent. If you play the non-progressives you would then be getting better than its average payback of 92 percent.

So that means no progressives for us.

Take your time when playing

What’s your rush? You might note that you have a tendency to play faster the longer you’ve been at the machines. That is a danger many slot players face. Why such a rush? Slow down. The casino isn’t going anywhere so take a deep breath every now and then and don’t rush your speed.

Leisurely and relaxed is the style of proper play.

Handling your cash

Each session give yourself a certain amount with which to play in the machines. If you are staying at a casino for two days and your bankroll is $2,000, divide that in half. Each day you now have $1,000 with which to play.

On the day of play decide how many sessions you wish to play. If you decide on four then divide your $1,000 into $250 segments. If you are playing quarters (which you should be) then you have 250 decisions if you play 25 cents on each decision.

By playing eight decisions a minute, you will spend two dollars a minute. You can play almost two hours by just putting your $250 through the machine one time.

Once each coin has been played once, take a break and give yourself some time before your next session. Whatever money you have won or have left over after a session is to be put aside and not be used again on this trip.

And that’s it. Good machine selection and proper handling of money is the best way to go against those machines.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Visit Frank Scoblete’s web site at www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available on smile.Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, kindle, e-books and at bookstores.