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This meant that the machine had 10,648 possible combinations. But over the course of these plays the machine paid out 10,062 coins, for a nifty payout rate of 94.5 percent.

I’ll spare you the math on the more complicated modern machines. But here’s the bottom line: A machine with three reels and 32 stops per reel that can be played with either one coin or two coins per play has a total number of possible combinations of 32,768. But—and this is key—when it’s played two coins at a time, it pays out 31,231 coins for each 32,768 played, for a payout rate of 95.3 percent. When it’s played one coin at a time, it pays out only 30,431 coins for each 32,768 plays, for a payout rate of 92.9 percent. So for those of you who might think that the one-coin bet is automatically more conservative than the two-coin bet, take heed. Over the long haul, the two-coin bettor is going to do better.

As you can see, the number of possible combinations on the reels and the payout rate are not connected. It might seem that a simple old slot machine with only 10 symbols on a reel would be bound to pay off better than a modern machine with 22 possible stopping positions on each reel—but in reality the opposite is true.

It’s not the number of combinations that matters. It’s the rules by which the machine plays that matter.
That’s why it’s so important to read your machine before you start playing it. You’d be surprised how many rip-off machines get played all the time, despite the fact that they display, in clear, easy-to-read type, just how they’re going to rip you off.

Adding up all the payouts, you find that this simple three-reel machine with 10 symbols on each reel pays out only 756 coins for every 1,000 it consumes. That’s a payout rate of 75.6 percent—not very good for the player.

By the mid-1930s slot machines were already a good deal more complex—but the odds for the player were no better. In fact, they had grown a little worse.

The Mills machines made during the peak of the depression had 20 symbols on each of three reels for (20 X 20 X 20) 8,000 possible combinations. For every 8,000 plays, the machine paid out 6,010 coins. That’s a payout rate of 75.1 percent.

By the mid-1970s the odds for the player had improved a great deal. Let’s take a look at a 1975 Bally machine that had 22 symbols on each of three reels.

For you math buffs, this means that two horseshoes should come up a total of 250 times, 50 of them with a star and 200 of them with something else on the third reel.

Play online slot game. When three spades come up, the machine pays off eight coins. Three spades can be expected to come up eight times  out of every 1,000 plays. That’s the two times it appears on each reel multiplied by itself three times. So for three spades, the machine pays out 64 coins per 1,000 plays.

For three diamonds the machine pays off 12 coins. This combination is expected to come up three times per 1,000 plays for a total payoff of 36 coins. Three hearts pays 16 coins and is expected to come up  once per 1,000 plays— there’s one bell on each reel, so one is multiplied by itself three times—for a total payoff of 16 coins.

The most generous payout in the traditional slot machine is for three bells, which pays 20 coins each time it happens. Since there are two bells on the third reel, along with one apiece on the first two reels, three bells can be expected to occur twice as often as three hearts. The combination can be expected to occur twice per 1,000 plays for a total payout over that period of 40 coins.

To see how this works, let’s take a look at a very simple early slot machine, one with three reels and 10 symbols on each reel. The first two reels are identical. Each has five horseshoes, two spades, one diamond, one heart, and a bell. The third reel is different. It has two stars, two spades, three diamonds, one heart, and two bells.

The machine’s most frequent payout is for two horseshoes with something other than a star on the third reel, which pays out two coins when it occurs and should occur 200 times for every 1,000 plays Multi Spin Slots. We pick 1,000 plays because there are 1,000 possible combinations on the three reels (10 X 10 X 10).

That 200 figure comes from 5 (the number of times the horseshoe appears on the first reel) times 5 (the number of times the horseshoe ap-pears on the second reel) times 8. The 8, in turn, comes from the 10 spots on the third play online slots free reel minus the 2 bells, which, as we shall see, pay more.

So over the course of 1,000 plays, the machine pays out 400 coins because just two horseshoes come up. If that third reel does come up a star, the machine pays off four coins. Out of 1,000 plays, the combination of two horseshoes and a star is expected to come up 50 times (5X5X2; the 2 represents the 10 positions on the third reel minus the 8 positions that don’t have bells on them) for a total payoff of 200 coins.

Here are the typical payouts for various hands for a poker machine that accepts anywhere from one to five coins per play:

• One pair of Jacks or better (that is, one pair of Queens, Kings, or Aces) earns your money back no matter how many coins you play.
• A hand of two pairs will double your bet, no matter how many coins you play.
• Three of a kind triples your bet, and a straight quadruples it.
• A flush plays 5 to 1, and a full house 8 to 1.
• Four of a kind pays off 25 to 1, and a straight flush pays off at 50 to 1.

On multiple-coin machines remember that it’s always your best bet to risk the maximum number of coins per play, because the machine rewards the maximum play. In this case the reward comes when you’re dealt a royal flush on the machine. For a one-, two-, three-, or four-coin play, the royal flush pays off at 250 to 1. However, if you bet five coins and get a royal flush slots tournaments, the payoff is a tremendous 4,000 coins, or 800 to 1. In other words, if you play this machine and you don’t risk five coins per play, you’re passing up the chance to win the big bonus.

Some machines don’t pay for a pair of Jacks or better. On these machines you need to get at least two pairs before the machine pays anything at all. If you have a choice, for obvious reasons, play on a machine that gives you your money back for a high pair.

As a rule, the profit margin for the casinos on machines that don’t recognize a high pair as a winning hand are much higher than on those that do.

Video poker games are more interactive than straight-forward mechanical slots. Most poker games use the rules of draw poker, so after you’re dealt your initial hand you’re given a choice of which cards you want to hold on to and which you want to replace.

On a regular slot machine, when you lose you have no one to blame but the machine. If you lose at video poker, there’s a chance that things might have been different if you had played your cards differently.