Choosing Between Loose Online Slot Machines

When determining the number of possible outcomes that a slot machine can potentially produce, it is not enough to count the number of symbols and reels on the machine.  One thing that many players overlook are the spaces between the symbols, which slot machines often land on.

Therefore, if one is looking at a slot machine with three reels, each with 12 symbols and two blank spaces between each symbol, then the number of possible positions on each reel is thirty-six. To calculate the total number of possible symbol/blank space combinations on a single pay-line, you would multiply the possibilities of each reel by one another.  In this case, it would be 36 x 36 x 36 = 46,656.  In other words, the mathematical odds of one hitting the highest jackpot symbol combination is 1 in 46,656.  Much better than the lottery, but still a long way off from playing blackjack.

However, a thing to keep in mind (which is what most dedicated slot machine players do) is that the random number generator of the machine is the luck-generating factor - that can be a players best friend.  The random number generator is what ultimately decides when a machine pays out the winning jackpot, which in turn, is governed by the payback percentage programmed into the slot machine. 

Therefore, it is in a players best interest to seek out machines based on their payout percentages.  Those machines which typically have higher than average payouts are referred to as loose, and are many times deemed as high hit frequency machines.  If you are seeking out the large progressive jackpots, the high hit frequency machines are not what you want to be playing.  These machines pay out winnings more often than other machines, but the payouts are smaller.  This payout percentage can still be just the same as the payback on a bank of slot machines which pay out less frequency, but when they do, pay larger sums.  It is all about the payout percentage.

The best slot machines to play when seeking bigger jackpot winnings are those that still have high payout percentages, but have a lower hit frequency than the other loose machines.

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