Slot machines definitely don’t pay as frequently as the average casino game. You’ll win far more often with a game like blackjack or roulette versus slots.
However, you don’t necessarily have to settle for wildly inconsistent results when playing slot machines. Instead, you simply need to know what to focus on to find games that pay more frequently.
Hit rate is the most-important stat for determining how often you’ll win with a slot machine. I’ll discuss more on what his term means and why it’s so critical in the following post.
What is a Slots Hit Rate?
Hit rate refers to the frequency at which you’ll win a prize of any type in a slots game. Even if a slot only pays 0.5x your stake for a particular round, that still counts as a hit.
Simply put, a higher win frequency means that you’ll be hauling in more payouts. A slot with a 30% hit rate, for example, will deliver a greater quantity of prizes than one with a 22% rate.
What is the Average Hit Rate?
The average win frequency for slot machines is somewhere between 25% to 27%. If you’re on a game that pays out around a quarter of the time, then you’re dealing with a common hit rate.
Of course, some slots deliver prizes at a much higher or lower frequency. The most volatile slots often have win frequency around 20% or lower. Meanwhile, less-volatile games can have a hit frequency of 35% or higher.
A higher hit rate doesn’t always equate to lower volatility. Generally speaking, though, it means that you can look forward to more-consistent wins. If you’re somebody who’s really bankroll conscious, then you’ll appreciate a steadier stream of payouts. You can better sustain your bankroll with more prizes coming in.
Where Do You Find Win Frequency?
Developers list hits rates within the info screen. The info section is often marked with an “i” on the betting panel.
You simply select the “i” and scroll until reaching the game stats. Assuming the hit rate is available, then you’ll eventually find it here.
Not all slot machines offer a win frequency stat. You’ll have no idea how often you can expect to win in these cases. Therefore, you simply have to hope that the given developer lists a hit rate. You might even only stick with slots from developers that provide this information.
Why is a Slots Hit Rate Important?
Win frequency is important for a few different reasons. Below, you can see why you’ll want to pay attention to this stat when it’s available:
Shows How Frequently You’ll Win
With an even-money bet in American roulette, you can expect to win 47.34% of the time on average. At this rate, you’re winning close to half of your wagers.
Slot machines don’t pay at anywhere near this frequency. However, you can expect more-consistent wins by targeting higher hit rates. Some slots do feature win frequencies that are over 35%. While this figure doesn’t quite equal American roulette, it’s not terrible in the overall scheme of gaming.
In contrast, slots that only pay out around 20% of the time will keep you waiting on wins. You’ll suffer many empty non-paying spins at this rate.
Helpful for Bankroll Management
You’ll have a hard time maintaining your bankroll if you can’t pick up consistent wins. That said, high hit frequency helps you better sustain your slots funds.
Of course, not all of the wins coming back to you will be worth more than your original stake. However, anything is better than nothing with slots payouts.
More Wins Are Exciting
If you keep spinning the reels and coming up empty, then you’re going to get bored quickly. That said, more-frequent wins keep the entertainment factor higher.
Slots that pay at a 30% to 35% clip ensure that you’ll be collecting plenty of prizes. In turn, you’ll get to see more winning animtions.
Contrast this to slots with lower win frequency. You might go for several spins or more without picking up a payout, which gets tiresome when it happens repeatedly,