Strategy Tips For Winning More at Online Pokies
Generally, winning at online pokies is all about getting lucky. Pick a game and hope that the RNG falls in your favor. While that’s generally true, there are a few things you can do to help you walk away a winner more often. Here are a few strategy tips to help you win more often at online pokies.
The Higher the RTP – The Better
The biggest mistake made by online pokie players is playing games without checking the RTP. The RTP, or Return to Player, tells you how much a game is expected to pay out over time. Games that pay out 95% will pay .95 out of every $1 to players over time. This doesn’t mean that the session you play will return 95%. You may lose your entire stake or you could triple it. But over a million spins, the casino will win .95 out of every $1 wagered.
Your goal is to pick a pokie with the highest RTP possible. Online pokies generally have RTPs starting at 95%. That sounds good, but those games are usually the worst to play. Your best bets are games above 96.5%. If you can find games with higher RTPs, then go for it. On occasion, you will find RTPs as high as 99%, but they are rare. The 96.5 to 97.5% RTP is the sweet spot for online casinos.
Old School Pokies Strategy Does Not Work
If you’re a bit older or have read pokie strategy from 20 years ago, you probably think that machines get hot or cold. You probably also think that you should jump around from machine to machine to try and catch the hot machine.
That’s no longer a valid strategy. Pokies now all use random number generators that make each spin unique. Machine don’t “build up point” or go on random pre-programmed hot streaks. Think of it another way. Put a piece of red confetti in a box of white confetti and take it to the top of a building. Can you guess the exact spot that the red piece will land? Of course not. That’s how modern RNG technology works.
Jackpot Pokies Will Cost You Money
A game with a progressive jackpot seems like a good gamble. You can win thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars with these jackpots. However, most jackpot games are going to have extremely high variance. Variance helps you determine how frequently you can expect to win from a slot game. A low variance game will have a lot of small wins, but few big wins.
Medium variance will give you a mix of small wins and the occasional big win. High variance pokies will give you a few wins but you have better long-term odds to hit big. Generally, high variance games will result in a lot of losing sessions before hitting a big winner.
Jackpot pokies are the highest variance of all pokies. If you play them, expect to lose more often than other pokies.
Lower Your Stakes
The last tip we will give will make more sense when you think about it. If you have a bankroll of $100, will you have a better chance of winning playing $1 per spin or .25 per spin? Normally, you’d say $1 per spin because the prizes are greater. However, you will play fewer spins than you will at lower stakes.
When you play at lower stakes, you help to reduce the overall variance of your bankroll. You also give yourself many more chances to hit a big win. At $1 a spin, you have 100 spins. At .50 per spin, you have 200 spins. That’s double the chances of winning.
While prizes at reduced stakes will be smaller, a smaller win at reduced stakes is better than losing at higher stakes. The more you play, the more chances to win. Give yourself more chances to win by playing at lower stakes.