Discover the Best Time to Play Slot Machines and Win Big
Since the very beginning, slot machines have been the subject of speculation by players. From wanting to cheat the machine to figuring out the best time to play slot machines, they have tried it all. Needless to say, there still isn't a definitive answer to any of these questions.
It all comes down to how slot machines are designed and how they're supposed to work. In theory, there is no best time to play slots anywhere in the world. But in our research, we found all kinds of theories floating around, claiming to give the best payout possible.
In this post, we're going to go deep into the matter. We'll try and objectively understand what is the best time to play slot machines and why. At the end of the day, nothing we say is credible unless we can prove the why.
So let's just do that.
First Things First: Slots are Completely Random
Before you can dive into the research of when is the best time to play slots, we need to get some facts out of the way. Yes, these are "facts" and not our opinions or what other players believe.
The mother of all facts when it comes to slot machines is that they're completely random. If you look into the history of slot machines, you'll know that even the machine Charles Augustus Fey designed had a mechanical RNG.
RNGs also happen to be the backbone of modern-day gambling. All slot machines across casinos have electronic random number generators that are independent of anything except for the seed. And there is no way for the players to know what the seed is.
The bottom line here is that no matter what the theories say about the best time to play slot machines, there is no scientific reasoning backing them up.
Best Time to Play Slots: Does the Season Matter?
Let's start with a macro view of the best time to play slot machines at casinos and zoom in from there. Many players believe that there are seasons to these machines. Here are the top seasons according to popular beliefs.
The Holiday Season
In countries where land-based casinos are prevalent, the holiday season tends to be very highly regarded. Shops offer massive discounts, businesses run promos, and casinos offer higher payouts.
It makes sense because casinos witness the highest traffic during the holiday season. The season is primarily during Christmas and New Year's Eve. During this time, people are generally in a better mood and they're likely to spend more.
As a result, the overall prize pool increases along with the chances of hitting larger payouts. It's unclear whether casinos deliberately reduce the house edge at this time or not but most players agree that they've won more during the holiday season compared to other times of the year.
Summer Time
The same countries that celebrate Christmas and New Year also celebrate the summer holidays with a blast. Hence, summertime is often considered the second best time to play slot machines.
Interestingly, the cause and effect of summer is the opposite of year-end holidays. Instead of visiting the casinos, people tend to spend more time with their families, usually on vacations.
To compensate for the lack of foot traffic, casino operators launch various promotions during this time. These can be no deposit offers, free spins, and various cashbacks.
It's natural human instinct to be drawn to promotions and it's part of the reason why they work so well. Many players have seen larger payouts from slot machines during summertime.
Best Time to Play Casino Slots: Time of the Month
Just like players are fascinated about the best season to play slots, they have tried different times of the month to figure out the best time.
Most players in this pool agree that the end of the month is the best time to play online slots as well as physical terminals. While the actual reason is unknown, it's widely believed that it has everything to do with their payday.
Most companies pay their employees at the end of the month or at the beginning of the next month. Thanks to the sudden influx of money, or at least the hope of it drives players to visit casinos more often and spend on slots.
When is the Best Time to Play Slot Machines at a Casino: Weekdays or Weekends?
A common theory among casino players is that slot machines pay more during the weekends. The reasoning behind this belief is the same as other times we've already discussed. More players visit casinos during the weekends which means the prize pool and the number of spins increase.
If you consider casino payouts a numbers game, the chances of you hitting a jackpot or at least a large win is greatly increasing during this time.
Another school of thought strongly believes that weekdays are a better time to play slots and win big. The justification behind this belief is the lack of competition. Theoretically, if there are fewer players, the payouts should be larger for the available players.
But this theory is based on the notion that payouts at casinos are uniform and they're spread between the available players. But the definition of slots and how they work don't support this case for slot machines.
Is Day or Night the Best Time to Play Slots?
We started with the best season to play slots and we've narrowed it down to the time of the day. Just like all the other cases, there are 2 different schools of thoughts with their own beliefs and justifications.
If you factor in the competition, you'll perhaps prefer daytime for your casino adventures. Most players are at work, at least during the weekdays. This means there are not many people to claim the payouts around, giving you the edge you need to win big.
The other group of players strongly believes that the best time to play slots is nighttime because the prize pool is much larger compared to daytime.
At the end of the day, it comes down to when you're more comfortable playing the game rather than following what other players are doing. Gambling is supposed to be a luck-based activity and we recommend that you keep it that way.
The Morning After a Big Night
Although not one of the top theories, a lot of players believe the morning after a big night at the casino is the best time to play slot machines. This big night can be the last night of the weekend, the last night during a holiday season, or any other time when a lot of players are more likely to play slot machines and spend a lot of money on them.
As a player, your goal is to find machines that didn't pay well the night before. In other words, slots remained cold. This might be a bit tricky to find on your own.
A clever hack would be to ask a casino employee and offer a big tip. As they monitor players all the time, they usually have a very good idea of where the high-paying machines are and which ones didn't pay the night before.
What is the Best Time to Play Jackpot Slots?
Both progressive and in-game jackpots are amazing additions to the casino paradigm. Especially, progressive jackpots often boast over a million dollars in total prizes which can totally change your life!
As you'd expect, there is an ongoing debate regarding when is the best time to play jackpot slots.
Let us add some fuel to the fire.
Let the Jackpot Grow Big Enough
In our opinion, you should wait till the progressive jackpot grows big enough before you play it. This way, you can make peace with the money you spend on this game. For example, if you're playing Mega Moolah by Microgaming, you should aim for $1 million and higher. This game is known all over the world for its million-dollar payouts!
We're suggesting this approach based on the time that has elapsed since the last payout. The longer a machine goes without paying, the more likely it becomes to pay. And if you want the prize to grow large enough, it automatically means the machine hasn't paid in a while.
If lady luck decides to smile upon you, it can change your life forever.
When Hot Drops are About to Expire
Game providers often launch "hot drops", also known as "drops & wins" at certain casinos where players can win jackpots every hour, every day, or every week. If you want to participate in these tournaments, we recommend waiting till it's about to expire.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the machine can't have paid already. All you have to do is find a machine that hasn't paid and opt-in a few minutes before it expires.
Again, keep in mind that there is no guarantee you'll win the jackpot. What you're essentially doing is increasing your likelihood of landing a jackpot.
When is the Best Time to Play Online Slots?
Unlike most land-based casinos, online casinos are 24/7 and they accept players from many countries at once. As a result, there is no best time to play online slots based on the number of available players at any given time.
The best you can do is use our tips to play slot machines when it comes to online titles. There are thousands of games to choose from and they're spread across hundreds of online casinos all over the world. So, it shouldn't be hard at all for you to find some hot slots to win big.
Final Thoughts
Based on what we've seen and found in research, there is no definitive answer to what is the best time to play slot machines question. Different groups of players believe in different theories and act on them.
What we suggest is that you learn how to play slots properly before looking into these theories. After that, keep exploring different casino floors and see what works best for you. The best time to play slots in Vegas might be nighttime while daytime could suit Atlantic City better. You just never know.