What Is The Secret To Slot Machines

Slot machines are systems with three reels (today all slots are released with five reels) and with picture symbols. The first machine appeared at the beginning of the last century and was in its essence a hybrid, where the game element functioned together with a device which produced chewing gum. And so there were the famous 'strawberry' machines. Sometimes you just get a gut feeling that says, “This slot machine is cold, walk away,” or “This slot machine is on fire, I need to stick around.” Despite all the slot machine secrets or rules you might follow in casino, sometimes letting your intuition overrule everything is the best call. Knowing how slot machines work is the first step to learn the best slots secrets and tips to improve your chances to win. Despite the popularity of these games, slots are not easy to beat both when you play them on the best online casinos and at land-based slots rooms.

Here’s the hard truth: casinos are designed to suck money out of your wallet. You may win some cash occasionally, but the casino always comes out on top. These smart casino businesses have carefully designed “traps” that lure you in and keep you playing for hours. Did you know that the sounds of the slot machine and the bonus games psychologically make you spend more? Ha! Well, it’s about time players wised up to these tricks employed by the casino industry. Only then can you truly make a bucks from playing at mobile casinos.

1. Sound Effects

Now, who would’ve guessed that sound impacts your gaming style? An experiment by the University of Waterloo shows that sound fools your brain into thinking that you have won. Besides providing a more enjoyable experience, sound also makes players overestimate how much they’ve won. If you’re not careful, these sneaky noises may cut into your ability to manage your bankroll. Of course, the clever slot makers exploit this fact; today’s slot games have about 400 sound effects! There’s the “ping” when you hit the spin button, the thematic background music, the build up, celebratory music; all of which add up to a stellar experience.

The software provider NetEnt employs this tactic most professionally. This company tasks an entire team with programming the music that accompanies its slot games. This music is also played dynamically according to the outcome of the game. Get a bigger win, and the sound amplifies. If you are close to a win, the music seems more anxious. You can get a glimpse of the musical magic in the video of Starburst below, which is one of NetEnt's most popular slots.

2. Bonus Rounds and Mini Games

The slots scene is saturated with bonus games. There are so many different iterations too – pick one out of three, go around a board, spin the jackpot wheel, match two symbols. The best games integrate these diversions very well too and write them into the storyline of the game. I love them, along with many other slot players. I would keep playing a slot game with the sole aim of triggering the mini-game. These features are designed to hold our attention and keep us playing.

However, some of these games are more fun than they are profitable. Do check the paytable before playing – some mini games pay out a paltry 1-5x multiplier. A slot designer also revealed on reddit that, in some cases, the result of the bonus game would have been decided before you made your choice. How rude! It is simply how the software provider controls the payout percentages for each slot, and consequently, their profit margins. The lesson here is to never let mini-games shift your focus from the slot itself. You will never win the jackpot or strike it big from these features.

3. Near Misses

You know the frustration that comes about with near misses. You’ll score two out of three “jackpot” symbols needed to win the prize. Annoyingly, the third symbol would land just above or below the payline. Sometimes, these near-misses happen really often. Regular humans like you and me would hit spin again. To me, near-misses indicate that a win is due soon. Of course, my logic is flawed and mobile slots are completely random.

An outcome like this is psychologically arousing – it activates the same areas of the brain related to winning. In fact, it is even more exciting than small wins, as our brain anticipates the possible jackpot win when the first two symbols fall. Researchers at The University of Exeter discovered that these events even encourage slot play. Volunteers who were exposed to a higher frequency of ‘near misses’ would continue to play their mock slot machine. In comparison, volunteers who were exposed to a random likelihood of near-misses were three times less likely to continue playing. Moral of the story: treat near-misses the same as you would treat a loss.

4. Perceived Skill Involved

Take control of your winnings! Nudge the reels or gamble your winnings

Features such as “nudge” and “hold” buttons create the perception of skill and the illusion of control. The player thinks that they are affecting the outcome of the game. You should know better, since slots are based wholly on chance. Like mini-games, these features are designed to divert your attention. If you would actually like to control your winnings, you’d be better off playing actual skill-based games like poker or sports-betting.

The “gamble” feature is even more dangerous – it invites the player to chance his/her winnings on a game of coin toss. Win the toss and you’ll double your winnings, pick wrongly and lose all your winnings. The odds are 50/50, so which do you choose? I always recommend taking home the cash. Of course, a game of coin toss every once in a while is supremely fun!

5. Losses Disguised as Wins

Losses disguised as wins (LDW) is even more arousing than wins!

This is the meanest trick in the book. Some slot games disguise losses as wins. Take this example: you bet on 15 paylines at 10p each, spending a total of £1.50. Two of these paylines result in a winning combination, rewarding you with £0.90. The screens flash excitedly to celebrate your win. There is celebratory music too!

If you do the maths, you have actually lost 60p! Events like this happen even more frequently that you think, especially in games that allow you to wager on multiple lines at once. You should always keep an eye on the amount you’re spending per spin, so that your bank balance doesn’t diminish faster than it should.

6. Frequent Wins but Small Payouts

Only 26p?!

Most slot games have a high win probability and very frequent payout intervals, but very low payout figures. This is because players like instant gratification. Proper big wins only occur once every 20 spins or so. Now, this aspect of the slots software is not random. Software developers actually hire specialist gaming mathematicians to design their slot games; it is perfectly legal to tweak the odds of different types of wins occurring.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this concept 'flow'. It arises when there is a perfect balance between stress and reward. If you aren’t rewarded often, you’ll get frustrated and stop playing. But if you get too many small wins, you’ll get bored. When challenge and success is balanced, the result is emotionally intoxicating. While it seems counter-productive to spend all your time playing small-win games, you won’t blow your bank balance too quickly. You won’t win much either, but this kind of fun is well-suited towards casual players.

I hope that this article has opened your eyes to the design process of slots. At times, it may seem like players are fighting a losing battle against these conniving casino men. From another perspective, you can appreciate how complex the slots industry has become. It has moved away from being purely about money and has evolved into a kind of entertainment. Always keep an eye on your bank balance and most importantly, have fun!

During its existence, the Austrian company has managed to accumulate a large number of developments, which set it apart on the background of other providers. Novomatic games are popular in the sphere of online-casinos. The company creates poker slots, electronic tables for blackjack, baccarat.

But first of all Novomatic is a company, which creates slot machines and offers its players a lot of features and capabilities.

What is so special about Novomatic slots? Each game is developed by professionals, it means they are experts in the sphere of psychological technologies of neuro-linguistic programming.

Let's start with the basics and consider how slots are created in Novomatic company. Slot machines are systems with three reels (today all slots are released with five reels) and with picture symbols. The first machine appeared at the beginning of the last century and was in its essence a hybrid, where the game element functioned together with a device which produced chewing gum. And so there were the famous 'strawberry' machines. Bananas, strawberries, cherries and plums - it all are gum flavors. When three identical symbols were lined up in one line, the machine gave out a gum with the taste of the corresponding fruit.

This idea got its continuation when cartoon characters are begun to use to create slot symbols. And here began the problems with the game elements: no one understood which symbol is a bonus, and which one does not carry much value. As a result, a concept, which is still relevant today was introduced.

It involves the using of elements from a deck of cards: Tens - 10, Jack - J, Queen - Q, King - K, Ace - A.

What Is The Secret To Slot Machines Real

The letter symbolism was not introduced by slot creators in order to simplify life for themselves at all (many players mistakenly believe that it is much easier to draw a letter). Thanks to the letters, the player has an understanding of where the valuable symbol is and where it is not. Any modern online casino playing system uses images as bonus symbols.

Color coding technique is used in order not to get confused in symbols, (each letter is colored in its own color). They are the same in most of the slot machines of this Austrian slot producer, so the player subconsciously perceives them as a whole. This means that Novomatic games program players even with color.

The “Novomatic” company colors the letter symbols as follows: 10 - crimson, J - blue, Q - green, K - red, A - gold.

This color coding system is considered the standard for “Novomatic”company, which they rarely depart from.

Many players probably know the game of the Novomatic company called “Book of Ra”. It demonstrates the concept of encoding the form and content of symbols. It has already been told that each letter has a certain color. The older symbol (scarab beetle, figurine and pharaoh), which launches a free round. It has a more expressive structure than any other simple element.

Book of Ra symbols

Bonus symbols are different from the standard ones with more elaborate appearance. Specialists from various spheres are involved in the development of slot machines in Novomatic company.

Everyone who played in the slots of the Novomatic company‚ surely noticed, that the slot machine occasionally makes a sound, which causes associations with the bell at the school. This is a signal of winning. It is worth noting, that modern versions of games offer an improved sound scheme in which recognizable features have been preserved, but at the same time a peculiar gloss was added.

Video Slots of Novomatic company offer simple audio coding:

• sounds of an official nature;
• context-related sounds.

The first group is universal. For example, the ringing transfer of the won coins on the deposit and the ringing trill notifying of a winning. The sounds are quite sharp themselves. A new casino gaming system (generation of upgraded Deluxe slot machines) has a softer sound. It is explained by the fact that previous versions of slots were intended primarily for game rooms, where it is usually very noisy. New slots created directly for online casinos.

Soviet academician Ivan Pavlov used no melodic sounds during experiments on animals. He proved, that you can leave a trace in memory and link it with the context with the help of a sharp sound. As you may have guessed, the Novomatic company took over the experience of this scientist. It's all about the involved neural networks (for example, viewing clips is more enjoyable than listening to music, etc.).

As for the second group, here the casino connects software sounds with specific events:

• 3 letters or 2 images - sharp sounds;
• ordinary symbols - sharp sounds, slightly longer than the previous ones;
• 2 older symbols - short sound;
• 5 usual letters - melody, ending with a tonic;
• 5 bonus letters - melodious trill, longer than the previous one;
• 4 or 5 bonus symbols - melody playing for five seconds.

Thus, the player associates the size of the prize points with sound. This technique was borrowed from the cinematograph. By the way, casino encodes its software not only with the help of sounds: it uses also an animation for it. Winning combinations are accompanied by distinctive animations with various special effects.

Slot Machines Secret

Summarizing all the above, let us note, that Novomatic company takes the creation of its slot machines very seriously.