How To Tell If A Slot Machine Is Hot

Most people look at the vast array of casino slot machines and assume they are all alike. They see a handle, a coin slot, flashing lights and figure one is as good as another. However, in making this assumption, they fail to see a lot of valuable information to help determine if they should play a particular slot machine.

  • These are 5 reel machines and the reels are back lit have five back-lit reels. The reel-touch are similar in appearance to the S- 2000 many of the internal parts are the same. I-Plus – Typically you will find these as either a video slot or video poker. The Game King is an example of a multi-game machine built on the I-Plus platform.
  • Slot machines are big business in the gambling industry. You can win big money from a small bet – and they’re easy to play. The question we all want to know is: how to pick a winning slot.

Slot Machines do not have hot and cold periods even though most gamblers would argue that there are hot or cold periods. The truth of the matter is that this belief was born out of noticeable strings of bad luck or good luck resulting in several wins in a row or consecutive losses. Many declare the cold or hot cycles based on how they’ve done and then decide to continue or discontinue play on that belief.

Every single spin on a slot machine is random, independent of the previous result or outcome, not influenced by the size of the wager and not influenced by any event. Machines are not programmed to provide winning or losing sessions.

How could a slot give a feel of hot or cold if all spins are random?

How To Tell If A Slot Machine Is Hot Flashes

A slot could give a feel of hot or cold even though all spins are random since random data can still have what you would call a trend. For example, should you flip a coin 900 or a thousand times and record the result of every single flip, it is likely to find a grouping of several tails or several heads in the results data. This shows that just because an event is random it doesn’t mean it won’t have periods of repeating grouped results. In fact, if you’re flipping a coin you can’t expect the results to perfectly alternate as then it would not be random since the results would be predictable.
Slot machine only shows result cycles if you investigate the history of results over a long period of time and then decide to declare a string of wins or a string of losses to be classified as cycles. Yet, the terminology is, to say the least, misleading as it guides slot players towards believing that they can “sort of predict” the outcomes of future spin based on the past results, which is impossible with RNG technology.

The bottom line is that slots are not programmed to be cold or hot and all that counts is that they meet the required payout percentage indicated over many spins, which are more than a single player could play. It is inevitable that some slot devotees enjoy incredible luck with a slot, although attempting to predict the results while outcomes are based on an RNG is impossible.

When playing slot machines it’s not unusual to notice streaks of wins or losses. Many gamblers will refer to the slot as hot or going through a hot cycle when it’s paying, or a cold cycle when it’s not.

But Do Slot Machines Really Have Hot or Cold Cycles?

Slot machines only have hot or cold cycles in that sometimes there will be noticeable strings of good or bad luck resulting in wins or losses.

The problem is that many slot players will declare their machine on a hot or cold cycle (based on how they’ve done) and then decide whether to continue playing based on that belief.

That’s a big mistake.

As explained in our How Slots Work article, every spin of a slot machine is a random, independent event. Slots have no memory of past wins when determining the result of the next spin. Win or lose cycles aren’t programmed into slot machines.

How Can a Slot Feel “Hot” or “Cold” if Every Spin is Actually Random?

How To Tell If A Slot Machine Is Hot Enough

Because random data can still have trends. If you flip a coin 1,000 times and record the results, you’ll likely find groupings of several heads or tails in a row. Just because an event is random doesn’t mean it won’t have repeated or grouped results. In fact, flipping a coin and expecting it to alternate perfectly wouldn’t be random at all.

Plus the human brain is exceptional at spotting patterns (even when they don’t exist), and that leads to people thinking slot machines have hot or cold cycles. This is known as the clustering illusion.

The Bottom Line on Slot Machine Cycles

Slot machines only have cycles if you look back and declare a string of wins or losses to be a cycle. The terminology is misleading though because it leads slot players to believe they can predict future outcome based on past results, which is impossible with random data like slot machine spins.

How To Tell When A Slot Machine Is Hot

How To Tell If A Slot Machine Is Hot

Slot machines aren’t programmed to be hot or cold – all that matters is that they meet the programmed payout percentage over their lifetime (many millions of spins, many more than any one person could play). It’s inevitable that some players will experience seemingly impossible luck with a slot machine, but attempting to predict the slot’s random number generator results based on prior wins or losses is not a wise bet.

How To Tell If A Slot Machine Is Hot

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