Make no mistake about it, both land-based and online casinos count slots as its most lucrative money makers. Unfortunately for casino gamblers, these are the same games they really enjoy playing. If a slots player has any intention of consistently walking away as a winner after playing slots, they need to understand they are walking into the belly of the beast.

As a point of reference, even the best and most lucrative online slot a player would find on an online casino website like Gclub will carry an RTP (Return to Player) percentage of around 96%. Translated, the house has an advantage of 4%. That represents a big financial mountain for a player to climb. Of course, that doesn’t mean that mountain is unclimbable.

To maximize the opportunity to win while playing online slots, there are three rules a gambler can follow: Scout for the best paying slots, bet the max and focus on playing progressive slots whenever possible. Let’s look closer at these rules.

Scout for the Best Paying Slots

Slot players will always be attracted to certain gaming themes and games that offer all kinds of bells and whistles. There nothing wrong with using these criteria to select a video slot as long as the gambler realizes such games don’t always offer the highest or most frequent payouts. Setting esthetics aside, there’s two ways to evaluate slots for value.

The first way is to compare pay tables. Of course, it’s important to compare apples with apples. If a player is comparing two games with 5 reels, 3 rows and 25 pay lines, the best value is going to come from the game that offers the best payouts on a consistent basis. If all things are equal, the player would want to consider the second way to detect value.

In the section above, the discussion focused on the RTP percentage. The rule is simple. When comparing two slots with similar formats, the game with the highest RTP represents the best value.

Bet the Max

Hearts have been broken when the reels lined up perfectly for the big payoff, only to find out the gambler neglected to bet the maximum amount to gain maximum benefit from the jackpot. If a gambler is unwilling or unable to bet the maximum allowed on every spin, they might want to consider playing table games like Roulette. While it’s harder to maintain one’s bankroll when playing a fast-paced slot game, the potential rewards compensate for the level of risk.

Play Progressive Slots

It’s no secret that progressive slots like Mega Moolah (Microgaming) and Mega Fortune (NetEnt) offer multi-million-dollar progressive jackpots on a regular basis. It makes sense for a slot enthusiast to play these types of games whenever possible. While the regular payouts might not entice, the opportunity to hit a like-changing jackpot is worthy of consideration at least on occasion.

There’s another rule of thumb a player should follow if they want to play winning slots. If a nice jackpot hits, put the profits away and play until the original stake is gone. After that, walk away a winner.