There’s many places offering books on how to “beat” slot machines out there. I’ll just come out and say it, most are useless. Varying your coins, going to a machine someone has been playing without a payoff will not increase your odds as the random number generator in them means the odds of a big payout is the same each time you pull the handle.

The two things you can do to help your chance of a big win using a slot system. First is to check the pay table of the slot machine, some pay back 99% of the money put in, while others are much lower. Many times casinos that are off the main strip have much better payouts since they don’t have the enormous overhead of the mega-casinos. Also since they are off the strip they want to attract customers and do this to compete. Slot machines always have a table posted on them of what they pay out, always check this and compare. No slot system can help with a slot machine displaying a chart that shows a poor pay-out. Usually the lowest paying machines are right next to the highest and only people who check them know the difference. Most slot systems will warn you about the machines right by the doors too. Some say the slot machines by the doors are the best on the theory that casino owners want all the people entering the casino to see a winner in action. Others say never to play the machines closest to the entrance doors because the casinos know those are going to have the most people on them. People tend to go there first just out of laziness and the need for a quick fix.

The second thing you can do is to play multiple coins, which increases the jackpot considerably. Winning a jackpot of $1,000 when you could have had a $10,000 payout if you were playing three dollars per pull instead of $1 is just simple math. Playing the minimum as many slot systems suggest, isn’t a great idea since if you hit a jackpot it will be a lot smaller.

Some classify video poker as slot machines, and if you’re good at blackjack or poker those can help your odds, but always remember the odds are stacked against you in every game. You will lose over time no matter how good you are. Also in video poker the machines are random each time so card counting is impossible.

More on slot systems: In my opinion, your best bet is to find a casino off the strip that offers single zero roulette, which lowers the house odds substantially. Also single deck blackjack is great since it makes card counting very easy compared to the giant casinos who typically use at least 5 decks. Again you won’t be finding those in the main casinos, it will be ones out of the way who attract business with better odds than with a forty story pyramid.

Also keep track of your losses and wins since gambling losses are deductible up until they match gambling winnings. If you lose more than you win, that amount over is not deductible. You must keep track of the casino, date, type of wagers you lost/won on, and names of other people present when the bets were made. Of course you must then claim the winnings on your tax return as income. This can help reduce your losses further, and in combination with player friendly odds like single zero roulette or single deck blackjack your odds of making some money or cutting losses is improved.

No matter how great of a slot system you have, keep this in mind: Overall, the best thing to remember is that the odds are always against you, and to be able to walk away after a win or the casino will always get it back. Go into a casino with set rules of how much you’re willing to win or lose before you walk away. I’m a firm believer that it’s not the odds of the games that make casinos so much money, it’s greed when someone wins big and then keeps going until they lose it again. My friend went to Las Vegas, and on his second pull of a slot machine he won $2800. He came home with all of that money too, as he realized that was his lucky time and didn’t spend the rest of his time there putting the money back into the slot machine never to see it again. I don’t recommend slot systems.