Is there a simple strategy to always beat the Slot Machines? No. If you are a complete novice to Slots, don't be fooled by anyone into thinking that you can learn a technique to consistently beat them.
The good news is that through following a set of rules you can dramatically increase your chances of regular Slot wins.
Slot Machines and Basic Strategy
By law, all Slot Machines have to pay back a certain percentage of what they take in. This can vary from as low as around 70% for Fruit Machines in the UK, to as high as 98% in Las Vegas.
Machines with high percentages are known as "loose" and identifying and playing the loosest machines is important.
To show how it's important, lets look at the effect on playing $100 through two machines. One has an 88% payback and the other a 98% payback.
Times Played
98% Machine
88% Machine
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20
$100% $98 $96 $94 $92 $90 $88 $86 $85 $83 $81 $66
$100 $88 $77 $68 $59 $52 $46 $40 $35 $31 $27 $7
So, without any strategy or secrets, we can see that after putting $100 through a 98% payback machine 20 times, we are left with over $66. But, putting the same amount 20 times through an 88% payback machine we are down to $7. (In the UK, the payback percentage of each Fruit Machine is located in small print at the top of each machine. In the US, we have to use the Casino's floor plan to identify the loose Slots.)
Simply put, the looser machines mean longer play sessions, more wins and hence greatly improving your chances of being there for the Jackpot when it arrives!
