Slot machines, by their very nature, exhibit an exceptional amount of variance. Some players seem to strike it lucky over and over, while others can go hundreds of spins without a single win. This aspect of slots can be frustrating, but it’s also a big part of what makes it so darn fun to play. You never know when you’ll hit the big one, and you want to keep playing until you do.
Of course, this makes gamblers feel as though SOMETHING is influencing the outcome. They do not want to accept that randomness, by its very nature, has false patterns and trends that emerge from time to time. Gamblers want this to be the reason why they experience losing streaks, rather than because of something outside their control. Gamblers who make excuses are the worst, and sure there are a lot of them.
Are you ready to hear something lame? These excuses are some of the worst ones you’ll hear whenever they have some reason why it’s not their fault they lost. Gamblers beware, don’t say any of the following unless you want to sound like a sore loser when you’re spinning the reels.
Excuse No. 1 – The Casino Has Changed the RTP
This is one of the first things gamblers assume when they start losing lots of money. The RTP is a function of your win rate, so if your win rate suddenly drops that must mean the slot machine’s RTP changed, right? Wrong. The casino doesn’t ever change the RTP in the middle of playing, mostly because they don’t have that much control over what the RTP actually is.
True, some machines have variable RTPs. This can be interpreted to mean that the value changes in accordance with some factors that the casino uses, such as the time of day. But the range of values only changes with the bet size, which is something you have complete control over. The casino won’t mess with the RTP in the middle of a gaming session, because that will cause more headaches and bad publicity than it’s worth. Gamblers are always searching for patterns and logic in slot machine outcomes; somebody will notice that a statistically significant shift in payouts or win rates happened.
The laws and protocols in effect make it so that casinos have to adhere to certain criteria before they can change the RTP. For example, in Nevada, a slot machine has to be untouched for four minutes before any changes can be made.
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Excuse No. 2 – This Just Isn’t My Lucky Machine
This is gambler superstition talking. It’s understandable as to why this is; gamblers are human, and humans instinctively look for patterns and order in everything, even when it doesn’t exist. If you get a machine that starts to pay out a lot, then it’s tempting to want to claim it for yourself. You can’t actually do this, but some players are aggressive about staking out their claim. This has the added effect of giving them something to blame if things don’t go their way – they just say that they didn’t get their lucky machine.
A Random Number Generator (RNG) determines the outcome of each spin. This is not deterministic, since it is in no way influenced by the results that came before it. If your machine is giving you the results you want, then you’re just a lucky bloke whose luck can run out at absolutely any time.
The only sliver of truth to gambler superstitions is that machines can have different payouts. Some machines really do have better or worse odds than the average, and you’ll want to stick with a machine that pays out more than the house average. This isn’t a product of anything other than how the machine was originally programmed.
Some slot machines that payout more have a catch in that they don’t offer you other benefits or goodies. This is a way of evening out the house edge in exchange for offering better odds. Depending on how you bet, you might find that it’s still worth it to play them. But if you want to score that big win, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Excuse No. 3 – All Online Slots Are Rigged
This excuse is just lame, but in a way it’s understandable. It’s a lot more difficult to trust code you can’t see rather than a physical machine you can touch with your hands. Because online casinos work behind the scenes, it’s easy for players to think that something nefarious is going on outside of their view.
The thing is, online casinos are extremely regulated to stop this from happening. Legitimate online casinos are required to obtain licenses from the regions in which they operate, and these are not easy to obtain. Furthermore, casinos typically don’t develop their own games – they get the rights to use games developed by other developers for that purpose.
Casinos would be taking a massive amount of risk if they tried to swindle their customers. Not only would their name and reputation be destroyed, but they would also face a crushing amount of retaliation and penalties from angry customers and regulatory bodies.
This is not to say that it doesn’t happen. Betsoft once tried to avoid paying a player a full jackpot, and Amigotechs was caught trying to rig the results of an online poker game. The important thing to draw from these events is that they do get caught. Betsoft and Amigotechs received withering criticism for their actions, and to this day their reputations are still tainted from the scandals.
That being said, scandals aside, we truly do believe that this is one of the very worst online slots excuses around. When you lose at slots, it’s easy to think that the world is against you, but slot game makers and casinos simply have too much to lose that rigging games against players isn’t worth the hassle. Think a slot game is rigged? Well, it’s time for you to think again, as it certainly isn’t the case.
Excuse No. 4 – The Slot Is Running Cold
There is no such thing. What you are observing is a purely random chance in action. RNG, or Random Number Generators, determine the outcome of every spin. They are not deterministic, and any streak that happens is purely coincidental. Hot and cold theories regarding slots have been around for generations, with it being impossible to pinpoint where these tell tales even started. But, what can be said about the supposed hot and cold nature of slots is that there isn’t any truth to it – the games just don’t work like that.
What is true is that random chance causes false trends to emerge from time to time. It is possible to win or lose a bunch of times in a row, but this is completely normal. These are not destined to happen, nor can any external factors influence their formation or longevity.
If you want to win lots of money, you’ve got to pray to RNGesus and hope for the best. Sometimes it’s your lucky day and you take home lots of money. Other times you lose everything. Neither instance is your fault – it’s just destined to happen.
The only things you should pay attention to are RTP and win frequencies – these do determine how often you win and lose.
Excuse No. 5 – I Wasn’t Betting Big Enough to Win
This is an easy trap to fall into because you’ve got to bet more money to win more money. The problem with this line of thinking is that it assumes there is a link between how much you bet and how often you get to win.
True, your payout is a function of how much you bet. But the odds don’t actually change when you change your bet size. The only time it matters is when you’re trying to qualify for a certain size jackpot, or you want to get some bonus feature that requires a lot of paylines. When this happens, bet as much as you need to meet the threshold.
However, slot machines will actually tell you if this is the case. Don’t assume that it is, because then you’ll just spend a bunch of extra money for nothing. The rules and info screen on the machine will tell you if this is the case and its accessible right on the front screen.
Slot machines like to take advantage of ignorant players who don’t read, so don’t be one of those suckers who just assume that’s how things work. Make sure you know if your slot machine actually varies payouts with bet sizes before you commit.
We really must issue a strong word of warning to anyone that is believing that you have to bet huge to win at slots. Don’t fall for it, as wins can happen at any time and at any wager level. Ramping up the wagers in a desperate attempt to win isn’t going to end well.
Excuse No. 6 – This Slot Must Have Already Paid Out Big Today
This goes back to the earlier points we made. The outcomes of slot machines are not deterministic – what happens before does not affect the outcome after. The odds of a slot machine hitting the jackpot are exactly the same with each spin. That’s it. There is no delay system in place that’s trying to spread the wins out.
It’s tempting to think that a slot machine has to run cold after a jackpot. After all, they need to maintain their RTP, right? Except for the payout frequency of a jackpot is already included in its calculations. It doesn’t “throw off” anything in a machine’s payout for that to happen, because it’s programmed to happen sooner or later.
Believe it or not, it is actually possible for jackpots to hit twice in a row. It’s just very rare for it to happen. All outcomes are determined from RNG, and nothing more. There’s no hidden counter that forces jackpots to pay out after a while or to withhold wins after a big payout. The only time you can ever predict with some degree of certainty when a jackpot is supposed to hit is when you play a slot machine that has a bonus accumulator. These have to payout before a certain point, so it might be worth trying your luck with those.
Excuse No. 7 – Everybody Loses at Slots and Nobody Wins Big
We get it – bad luck happens. Every gambler goes on a losing streak now and then, and it’s not a statement on you if it happens. Slot machines are deliberately designed so that the outcomes are totally unpredictable, adding an element of suspense to the outcomes.
What gamblers falsely assume, however, is that slot machines are rigged to make this happen. This is simply not so – slot machines are totally random and do not change their odds from one spin to the next. Slot machines are designed to be winnable because they want you to come back for more. If slot machines were just money pits, nobody would give their money for them. It’s good business for the casino to give huge payouts now and then.
Variance is a necessary element of chance-based games. It’s what makes playing these games exciting each time you spin the reels. Sure, sometimes you’ll lose the entire 100 dollar bill you put in. It sucks when that happens. But it’s also possible that you’ll win a bet that multiplies your earnings by three or more orders of magnitude. When that happens, your whole life can change in an instant. And THAT is what keeps you coming back to spin the reels one more time.
The true life-changing jackpots have astronomical odds of hitting. But you don’t need to win an eight-figure sum of money to live well – just five figures is enough to make a big difference in your life. And if you do manage to strike one of these huge wins, you’ll immediately forget about all of your previous losses. This is true even if your jackpot doesn’t manage to cover what you lost because your dopamine receptors are firing on overdrive when you’re basking in the glow of a huge win.
Excuse No. 8 – I Wasn’t Really Trying
Oh boy, this line is a classic and we have heard it spoken around the world thousand times over. There are many out who there who believe that playing slots and related success all comes down to the amount of effort you put into every spin. Sorry to burst the bubble of any players that do believe this, but it couldn’t be any falser. The line of “I wasn’t really trying” only serves one purpose, to protect a sense of broken pride.
We get it, losing at slots sucks. This is especially true if you find that your spins just keep coming up empty. That being said, there should be no shame about it, everyone loses at the casino at one point or another. It is just part of the gambling experience in many ways. Nobody wins every spin, so don’t suddenly think because you’ve started playing slots that you’ll be an exception to the rule.
If you want our advice, next time a spin comes up short, simply suck it up and move on – don’t reach for this poorly placed excuse.
Excuse No. 9 – I Can’t Win When You’re Around
It isn’t just card and slot games that get played at a casino – oh no. There is another type of game that arguably gets played, even more, the blame game. The idea that somebody (or something) encompasses bad luck and can impact another player’s performance is just as preposterous as it sounds, but you would be stunned how many people buy into it and actually use it as an excuse for failure when spinning the reels.
The idea of a good luck charm has been around for thousands of years, but the idea of someone being bad luck (or a jinx) seems relatively new. The concept of this is usually to just blame someone for losing at the tables or reels, likely because that player was already losing. But there is another way in which this excuse is used. It’s to blame somebody else for your good performance at the casino turning sour.
Honestly, the whole idea of telling someone that you “can’t win when they’re around” is silly. Yet, you’ll often see people at the tables in Las Vegas pushing friends and family away, because they feel that’s the only reason why the wins have suddenly stopped happening. The truth is if someone shows up at the tables and you start losing, all it is a coincidence and nothing more, so make sure you check this excuse at the door.
Excuse No. 10 – The Game is Too Complicated
Ready for us to blow another excuse wide open? Here it goes. No slots games is ever “too complicated”, this might sound like a blanket statement, but it’s a fair statement at the same time. The truth is that almost all slot games feature a selection of the same features, so while you can tweak your gameplay approach, luck is always going to be the determining factor – no complications required.
Blaming a game for the reason you aren’t successful is simply another lame excuse that doesn’t hold any water. Like a poor workman will blame his tools, a bad casino player will always blame the game in front of him.
Want our advice? Learn the rules of slots better and the common features and gameplay options and you might just find yourself using this excuse a lot less
Forget About the Excuses!
It’s easy to let your emotions get the better of you when you’re playing for long periods of time and start losing. The thing you’ve got to remember is that slots are fundamentally random – there is nothing guiding the results, and losing streaks are destined to happen now and then.
Gamblers love to make excuses for why they lose because it makes them feel as though what happened could be blamed on some third party. Blaming the casino or other players is a common way of coping with losses, even though there’s no basis for doing so. This is especially important to understand when you’re dealing with RNG. This stands for Random Number Generator and is the basis for determining all slot results. All slot machines are coded so that the result of the spin is determined almost instantly once you spin the reels. Nothing else influences the outcome, regardless of what you may think.
Slot machines are tested extensively and regulated by multiple different agencies and bodies to ensure their fairness. You’re not being scammed or ripped off, nor are casinos trying to make up for somebody else winning big before you. The odds of hitting the jackpot remain the same no matter what. Once you understand that there’s nothing influencing the outcome, you can start to get serious about winning at slots. Don’t get mad – get even. By following good strategies and tips, you will see a significant improvement in your odds of winning.
