Slot machines don’t get hot or cold except in retrospect, and neither do video poker machines. The random number generator is blissfully unaware of what happened on the previous result. It has no way of seeing that it just paid out a royal flush and therefore shouldn’t deal one for 40,000 more hands. They do the same thing as a video screen—communicate to the player the result at which the computer’s RNG has arrived. Tips from Attendants Many players still feel that a slot attendant or other floor person who is in one location all day can tell them which machines are “hot”—in other words, which machines.

Telling when a machine is “due to hit” is the Holy Grail of the slot world

How To Tell If A Video Poker Machine Is Hot Springs

By Frank Legato

It’s one of the most-asked questions among slot players: Which machines are due to hit? Or, how do I tell when a machine is due? Or, which machines are the best to play, right now?

These are not only among the most-often questions asked in letters to this and other player magazines; they are questions asked at casinos across the country, to slot attendants and floor managers: “Where are the hot machines?”

Despite all that has been written about the workings of the modern slot machine, there is still a prevailing notion among players that these questions can be answered—that attendants can give you a hot tip on a machine that’s about to hit; that some outward signs visible on a slot game can show that a machine is close to a jackpot.

Helping this notion is the wealth of “slot system” trash available on the Internet and elsewhere, offering “visual clues” to when a game is “about to hit.”

The Internet “systems” are all scams, and the notions about machines being “due” are misguided. The reason is that a slot machine’s computer is constantly selecting new results—results that have nothing to do with what the machine did three spins ago, four hours ago, for the past week or for the past year.

It all comes down to our old friend: the random number generator. A slot machine’s computer contains what is basically a digital duplication of physical reels. Before the early 1980s, the probability of hitting jackpots, and their likelihood on any give spin, was tied to how many symbols and blanks—known as “stops”—were on each physical reel. The old electro-mechanical slots had 22 stops on each reel. By logging the symbols that landed on each reel, it was possible to perform calculations that would give you the odds of a jackpot landing on a given spin.

That all changed, however, with computerization of the process. For casinos, the problem with physical stops was that the odds of hitting the top jackpot could only be as long as the number of stops on each reel would allow. The use of a random number generator allows “virtual” reels—a computer simulation of reels containing as many symbols as the programmer desires. Numbers in the program represent each stop on each reel. If the programmer wants a low-paying or non-paying symbol—say, a blank—to appear more often, it is duplicated in the program so the random number generator selects it more often.

Thus, instead of 22 stops per reel, you may have 60 stops, hundreds of stops—as many as the programmer wishes, while staying within the odds limits set by the state. This is why odds can no longer be calculated through a formula involving the number of symbols on physical reels. The 22 symbols visible to the player no longer represent the slot machine’s probabilities. They display the symbols that can lead to combinations, but there is no way for the player to know how many numbers correspond to those symbols. The more of them the computer considers there to be on a reel, the more likely it will be selected by the RNG.

The All-Important RNG
The random number generator in a slot machine is just what the name indicates—it is a software program that generates numbers at random, from the list of numbers entered to represent each reel stop. The RNG generates more than a hundred sets of numbers every second, and it generates them continuously, even when the slot machine is idle. This is why each result is independent of every other result on a slot machine. The random generation of numbers is continuous, and no one sitting at a machine can predict which of the numbers the RNG will have generated at the instant you push the spin button.

When you push the spin button, the computer takes a snapshot of the numbers generated that instant by the RNG, and translates it into a reel result. An instant before you push the button, the RNG is generating an entirely different set of numbers; an instant later, yet another set. No one looking at the slot machine can predict the number it will choose next.

This is why a slot machine can never be said to be “due” to hit a jackpot. It is also why those systems you find on the Internet will never work.

One system circulating the Internet says that one can watch for “patterns” on the reels of a traditional-style slot machines for clues as to when the next spin will be a jackpot, and adjust your bet accordingly. Another actually tells the player to watch the reels on a traditional slot machine for wiggling. Bet a single coin until you see the reels wiggle, then bet the max because the wiggle means a jackpot is coming.

These gimmicks are all nonsense. No “pattern” formed by symbols in the pay window—an “X” formed by bar symbols, for instance—is indicative of what will come next. And, “wiggling” reels may mean that the slot machine is old and in need of repair, but nothing else. The physical reels are only there to do what the computer tells them to do. They are display mechanisms. They do the same thing as a video screen—communicate to the player the result at which the computer’s RNG has arrived.

Tips from Attendants
Many players still feel that a slot attendant or other floor person who is in one location all day can tell them which machines are “hot”—in other words, which machines are about to pay off. They will throw the employee a tip to identify a hot machine.

It is a waste of money. Even if a certain machine has been paying off all day, this is no indication it will continue to pay off tonight. A slot machine’s cycles are not predictable.

The only thing an attendant or floor person can give you is historical information. The sole place this historical information may be useful on a slot floor is a progressive bank—one that has been in place in the same location for a long time. The useful historical information an employee can give you here is the level at which the progressive jackpot has hit on that game. If it is substantially above that, other players who are familiar with the link will give that bank of slots more play than normal—the “jackpot fever” phenomenon. Jackpot fever pushes more coins through the game. With more changes for one of those machines to generate the winning combination, it is more likely it will hit.

More likely, but not guaranteed. And that is the vital part of my message: Even if a progressive is higher than ever before, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s definitely going to hit soon. It could go higher, and even higher—and wait until well after your bankroll is gone.

Although video poker can be the best game in the casino, many players reduce it to a slots-like gamble by consistently making huge mistakes. Most players don’t understand how you can improve your odds in video poker, and therefore they sit on the machines and dump their money as a result.

This article is going to lay out the ten most common video poker mistakes that are costing you money, and will also teach you how to correct each mistake.

Mistake #1 – Not Playing Five Coins

It is ridiculous that players still mix this one up because it is such a simple fix. If you look at any video poker pay table you’ll notice that royal flush payouts are huge for five coin bets. In fact, they are actually too big if you look at the one coin, two coin, three coin, and four coin bets. Most royal flushes pay out 250 coins for a one coin bet, 500 coins for a two coin bet, 750 coins for a three coin bet, and 1000 coins for a four coin bet. However, the five coin bet pays out 4000 coins for a royal flush.

Since the five coin payout is proportionally larger than the payouts for smaller bets, betting five coins actually increases the return of the game and decreases the house edge.

Mistake #2 – Not Joining the Slot Club

This is another no brainer that people screw up all the time. Every casino you play at (both online and offline) will likely offer some form of a slot club. These slot clubs award cash back for playing slot machines and video poker, and base the amount of cash back on how much play you put through the machines. If you run the numbers you’ll see that you usually get anywhere from 0.25% to 1.25% cash back.

That doesn’t seem like much, right? However, when you’re talking about the extremely low house edges in video poker, a couple of percentage points can make the difference between a losing machine and a winning machine. The slot club is always free, so make sure to get your card before playing.

Mistake #3 - Playing the Wrong Games

This is another foolish blunder that costs video poker players time and money. Video poker, unlike slots, allows you to calculate the exact expected return on any game you play. With that sort of information, you can always figure out which video poker machine pays the highest. If you can easily figure out what machine pays best, why would you play anything else? We don't understand it, but people are always sitting on lower paying machines every time we walk into a casino.

Check out our listing of video poker games to find the highest paying machines.

Mistake #4 - Using Incorrect Strategy

This mistake is often committed by the players who commit mistake number three. Most players don't realize it, but playing with even a slightly incorrect strategy can cost you 1-2% off of the maximum payout percentage. And if you're using a strategy that isn't even close, you'll be at least 5% off of the max return.

With all of the odds and information available online, any player can find a solid strategy chart to use for almost any machine type. In fact, we have free video poker strategy charts on our site for over half a dozen games. All you have to do is print them out and head to the casino, and you'll be at a near-perfect level of play. If you can't find a strategy chart here for the game you are playing, check out our listing of video poker tools to see if any other sites offer the strategy you need.

Mistake #5 - Not Bankrolling Properly

Another huge mistake that newbies as well as seasoned players commit is not playing with an adequate bankroll. Even if you find a game that has over a 100% return, you still have a great likelihood of going bust if you don't have enough money on hand. Royal flushes are few and far in between, and if you go a few months without hitting one you can find yourself in a huge rut, and even possibly broke.

The more mild games like 9/6 Jacks or Better aren't so bad, but the extremely volatile games like Double Bonus and Progressive 6/5 JoB can really put a hurting on your bankroll if you have a cold streak at the machine. A good rule of thumb is to have a bankroll equal to at least three royal flushes for the level you're playing. If you're a professional player and rely on your video poker income, you'll want much more.

Mistake #6 - Following Hunches

I can hardly begin to explain how many video poker players I know who follow their heart instead of the cold hard numbers. One player I know refuses to break up a full house in Double Bonus when he has three Aces because 'you should never throw away a guaranteed hand.' Even after I explain to him that the three of a kind Aces has a higher expected return because of the potential quad Aces payoff, he won't hear it.

This also comes into play when players start believing machines are hot or cold, or that you need to play them a certain way or tip a certain dealer or drink a certain beverage to have a good session. When it comes to video poker the numbers are the numbers, and the only way you can move them when using hunches is in the house's favor.

Mistake #7 - Losing Focus

Let's face it - what kind of man likes to turn down a cute girl in a short skirt offering him a free cocktail? Or stroll right by a craps table with forty players gathered around it and a shooter on a hot roll? Casinos are houses of temptation, and being able to avoid temptation separates a winning video poker player from a losing video poker player.

A few other pitfalls that can suck in a weak-willed player:

• Playing flashy, new, cool, but -EV games just because you want to.
• Getting drunk at the casino.
• Playing high stakes to impress others, even though you don't have the bankroll.

Mistake #8 - Quitting Early

This mistake doesn't actually lose you any money, but it'll make you miss out on money that you could have won (and in my book, that is the same as losing money). When you find an amazing promotion you need to hammer it.

It's only a matter of time before the casino wises up and pulls the promotion, so you need to do everything you can to play as many hours possible while you have the edge. I'm talking 12 hour shifts and alternating with a partner to cover the machine while you're gone. Winners always get it while the gettin's good.

Mistake #9 - Taking Too Many Shots

Sure, every once in a while you are going to find a game that is a little bit outside of your bankroll, but has a great promotion that you are dying to play. It doesn't hurt to figure out your risk of ruin and take a quick shot to see if you can get lucky, but you should only do it once in a while and when you know you can recover if you miss.

If you're continually taking shots at machines that are out of your bankroll, you will go broke at some point - the numbers will make sure it happens.

Mistake #10 - Not Practicing Online

Nowadays there are so many tools available to video poker players it is almost overwhelming. There are calculators, pay table analyzers, strategy programs, and more that are all available for free or pretty close to it. Also, there are tons of online casinos and other websites that offer free video poker machines for you to practice on without spending a dime.

How To Tell If A Video Poker Machine Is Hotline

You need to take advantage of these opportunities if you want to become a consistent winner. I personally practice online at Bovada Casino, because you don't even have to make an account or download any software - you just start playing.