Our Strategy Guide to the Do’s and Don’ts of Online Slots
As we have touched upon in other articles, there is no such thing as a slot strategy which is guaranteed to lead to a win. There is no one law of playing online slots that Canadian players have to stick to, either. In lieu of any real slot strategies, all Canada Online Casinos has to offer you is very good advice. Make no mistake about it, though, if you implement the advice given on our slot strategies pages, you will stand a better chance of walking away with a win, even if we cannot guarantee a multi-million-dollar prize at the end of it.
The best thing about our tips and tricks, or do’s and don’ts of slot gameplay is that you can implement as many or as few of these pieces of advice as you wish. Of course, the more you memorise and utilise, the better your odds of winning are. With that said, let us take a look at what CanadaOnlineCasinos.com recommends you to do when playing slots online.
Examine the Bet Requirements for Progressives
It is tempting to dive straight into playing a progressive jackpot slot. The amount of money which can be won can leave you salivating. However, before you start splashing the cash, make a note of how the jackpot is won. Does the game require a maximum bet to bring home the bacon? How is your chosen progressive jackpot slot’s top prize triggered? In a slot which features multiple jackpots, can you win any of those prizes with any size stake, or do you have to wager the maximum stake to be in with a shout of winning the big tamale?
Ultimately, you should find a slot which has a randomly triggered progressive, where any stake (even the smallest) still gives you a shot (even if it is not as likely as a larger stake) of winning the top progressive prize. It might sound crazy, but these games do exist. NetEnt’s Mega Fortune is a fine example of this. After all, one Finnish player once won over $20 million with a bet worth the equivalent of $0.25.
Don’t Look for Patterns
You should never look for patterns in slots. Variance and volatility suggest that patterns do exist, in that low variance games pay frequently, and highly volatile games do not. However, just because a highly volatile game hasn’t paid out for a while does not mean that it is due. Never look for patterns like this as you will only end up disappointed and frustrated. Slots are run using RNG (random number generator) algorithms. When a win occurs, it does so for the most part at random, and certainly not because you have spun the reels so many times.
Always Play Games with Fewer Symbols and More Paylines
You should always look for slot games which feature fewer symbols than their counterparts. The more symbols a game has, the greater the chance of one of them being useless and getting in the way of you landing a win. This also applies to special symbols. You don’t want to see a scatter icon which offers cash prizes, and another one which triggers bonuses. It is better if the same symbol does both. What’s even better than that? Scatter wilds. These are symbols which act as both scatter symbols and wild symbols, thus eliminating one more pesky symbol from the reels.
At the same time, the more paylines you play with, the greater your chances of success. Sure, the value of the prizes may drop a touch in games which features plenty of paylines, but you do have a much better chance of success, and isn’t that what you are after all along?
Beware of Variance and Volatility
You should always beware of variance and volatility. In short, highly volatile games pay bigger prizes, but less often than low variance slots, which offer regular wins but they are worth smaller sums. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the number of paylines has anything to do with volatility.
You might think that the MegaWays games pay frequently because there are thousands of paylines to win on right? Wrong. Most MegaWays games are highly volatile games. How is that possible? The developers have designed them that way.
Always check the variance and volatility of a game before you play. You can do this by reading Canada Online Casino’s slot reviews or visiting the slot developer’s website.
RTP Is a Factor
Keep an eye on the RTP, or return to player rate in slot games. This roughly tells you how much a slot will pay out to players in the long-term, and we mean the long-term. Avoid any games with RTP rates which are lower than 94%, and ideally, stick to slots with an RTP of 96% or higher. You can find a game’s RTP rate either on its paytable, in a slot review, or by visiting the developer’s website.
Maintain Control of Your Budget
Never raise your stakes wildly in slot games. In some slots, there can be multiple volatility levels, and these can be determined by the amount you wager. You might just adjust the game’s volatility level unwittingly, not to mention bust your balance when playing. Always try and play with the same stakes throughout if you are new to online slots. In time, you will know when to increase your bets. Experience will help you know when it feels the right time to do so.
Overusing the Gamble Feature
While not as common in slots as it used to be, the gamble feature is still present in some games. The gamble feature in slots gives you a 50/50 chance of success at best. It is tempting, but ultimately, you are best off avoiding this feature. If you do insist on using it, only do so when you’re gambling small wins. Never trigger the gamble feature if you’ve just pocketed a big prize. It is simply not worth the risk. Consider the gamble feature the slot equivalent of blackjack’s insurance bet.
Avoid Buy-a-Bonus Slots
Many slots offer you the chance to buy a bonus feature right from off. This sounds ideal, right? Why waste time spinning the reels when you can trigger a free spin feature immediately. Just note that it is very costly to do this in the long-term. In fact, if you were to do so three or four times, and win practically nothing, you will have easily spent the same amount (if not more) as you would if you’d have triggered it normally. Worse still, you could have picked up many wins along the way before you naturally triggered the round.
Some developers lower the prizes in buy-a-bonus rounds, and some even lower the RTP rate in base games, and only raise it in the features because of this mode. Some developers even cut down the number of features in a slot, specifically to get you to buy them instead! If you want to avoid games which have had their RTP rates, prizes and volatility levels tampered with and lowered, then just avoid games with buy-a-bonus features.
Always Study the Paytable and Play for Free
Lastly, before playing any slot online for real money, do these two things: study the paytable and play the slot for free. The paytable should tell you everything you need to know about a game. Whether you can win with two symbols on a line or three, what the RTP rate is, what kinds of special features there are, how to win a jackpot and more. Once you have the inside track on a slot, try playing it for free, too. Only with these two methods completed can you really know whether a slot is worth your time or not.
