Many people enjoy slot machines for various reasons, from sheer fun and enjoyment to winning big money. However, the inner workings can be complex for newcomers; here we explore how do slot machines work and dispel several myths regarding how these games function.
Traditional slot machines relied on physical reels to display symbols and determine results, with these reels typically featuring various combinations of images or blank spaces that corresponded with different payout lines on more advanced machines. When these lines lined up to form a win they would earn credits according to their paytable for that machine. Modern machines may still utilize spinning reels but most often the winning combination of symbols is determined using an internal Random Number Generator within a computer system.
Early slot machines only had three physical reels with ten stops each, which limited your chances of hitting specific symbols, forcing jackpots to remain relatively small. Manufacturers responded by developing electronic control systems which increased the number of stops per reel to provide larger jackpots; modern machines can boast anywhere from 30-50 symbols on each of their reels!
Modern manufacturers utilize “weighting” as another method to increase your odds of hitting certain symbols, by decreasing their frequency but increasing their odds when they do appear on a payline. This creates more exciting games but can still be frustrating as a single high-paying symbol escapes your grasp time after time.
Once you’ve placed cash or, for ticket-in, ticket-out machines, paper tickets with barcodes into the slot machine, a random number is selected and spun to reveal its outcome. Either if there are matching symbols present then winnings are distributed or else it displays an announcement saying no winnings exist.
Some players mistakenly believe that switching machines after winning a large jackpot is a smart strategy (the machine may “due” for another strike soon), however this is simply not the case. The RNG always selects hundreds of random numbers each second regardless of who is playing a machine; every fraction of second that a player delays before pressing SPIN affects the final result; therefore the same machine cannot ever hit twice for equal amounts in succession.