Slots: Do the maths (part 1)
It is important when waiting for big wins to know exactly how big your win could actually be. Many players make the mistake that when they hit a losing run and lose quite a bit of balance, they chase far too quickly and too hard trying to recoup their losses. Or after a big win they can get too greedy hunting a massive win. These mistakes can lead to the player burning through their bankroll on a very short time unless they get very lucky.
The size of a big win on slots can vary greatly. On some slots the biggest typical very big win can be x100 of your stake whereas on other slots a x1000 win would be the top end with x100-200 not all that uncommon. But when playing slots you shouldn’t be aiming for the top end wins, rather aim for a regular size big win. These are typically x50 to x100 of your stake.
We have drawn up a very simple table as an ‘at-a-glance guide’ for you:
| Stake | x50 Win | x75 Win | x100 Win |
| 0.09 | 4.50 | 6.75 | 9.00 |
| 0.10 | 5.00 | 7.50 | 10.00 |
| 0.20 | 10.00 | 15.00 | 20.00 |
| 0.25 | 12.50 | 18.75 | 25.00 |
| 0.30 | 15.00 | 22.50 | 30.00 |
| 0.40 | 20.00 | 30.00 | 40.00 |
| 0.50 | 25.00 | 37.50 | 50.00 |
| 0.60 | 30.00 | 45.00 | 60.00 |
| 0.75 | 37.50 | 56.25 | 75.00 |
| 0.80 | 40.00 | 60.00 | 80.00 |
| 0.90 | 45.00 | 67.50 | 90.00 |
| 1.00 | 50.00 | 75.00 | 100.00 |
| 1.20 | 60.00 | 90.00 | 120.00 |
| 1.25 | 62.50 | 93.75 | 125.00 |
| 1.50 | 75.00 | 112.50 | 150.00 |
| 1.60 | 80.00 | 120.00 | 160.00 |
| 1.75 | 87.50 | 131.25 | 175.00 |
| 1.80 | 90.00 | 135.00 | 180.00 |
| 2.00 | 100.00 | 150.00 | 200.00 |
| 2.25 | 112.50 | 168.75 | 225.00 |
| 2.50 | 125.00 | 187.50 | 250.00 |
| 3.00 | 150.00 | 225.00 | 300.00 |
| 3.50 | 175.00 | 262.50 | 350.00 |
| 4.00 | 200.00 | 300.00 | 400.00 |
| 4.50 | 225.00 | 337.50 | 450.00 |
| 5.00 | 250.00 | 375.00 | 500.00 |
It certainly helps to keep in mind what you are dealing with so you don’t over-reach yourself. If you have lost €100 in a session at stakes between €0.25 and €1.00 it is tempting to start playing at €2.50 per spin when in actual fact a x100 win at €1.00 per spin would clear your losses.
It is important also to factor in your bankroll. Let’s say you deposited €500 and only have €100 left it is not wise to start playing at €4.00 per spin to try and recoup the lost €400. It is advisable to play smaller stakes to try and chip away at the big loss rather than blow the remainder of your bankroll in one final glorious attempt to hit the slot big.
Slots: Do the maths (part 2)
Knowing the averages and percentages about slots is an important part in deciding your strategy. We have already talked about the big win values in part 1, now we are going to talk about the numbers of spins between big feature wins and setting up your bet size. Basically what your expectations could be, all things being equal (ie not counting for long winning or losing runs).
For the purpose of this article we are going to design a slot machine of our own which will be a simplified version of some the major feature based slots by the major software providers.
The top end feature win from this slot is going to be 300x stake with the normal big feature win being 100x stake and the lower feature wins being in the region of 20x to 50x stake. We are going to give this slot a 100% RTP so the numbers are easy.
First of all we’ll list the average number of occurrences of the feature wins relative to the top end win:
300x = 1
200x = 4
100x = 10
75x = 20
50x = 30
30x = 40
20x = 45
Outside of the feature rounds we’ll go with an average RTP of 50%
So what we get is a total of 7200x stake in feature wins. To get our slot machine to it’s overall RTP of 100% then we need to multiply this figure of 7200 by 3 = 21600.
So what then are the odds of us getting a feature win of any sort?
1 in 144 spins!
The odds of getting a feature win of 50x stake or better?
1 in 332 spins!!
The odds of getting a feature win of 100x stake or better?
1 in 1440 spins!!!
Now obviously the above is a theoretical slot machine with theoretical payouts, RTPs, features, etc. But you can apply the theory to your own favourite slot machine, or one that you play thousands and thousands of DEMO spins on whilst taking notes. You should be able to get a pretty good picture of that slots’ averages.
Keep these figures in mind so that you can manage your own expectations and also manage your staking sizes.