Leaving a Losing Machine

There are a lot of slot players who won't leave a losing machine. Yet see them all the time. They'll gripe, curse and tell within eyesight about their bad luck, all the while continuing to feed coins into a slot which does nothing but eat coins or credits, with paybacks few and far between.

This pattern of play is the nemesis of the slot player. Winners turn into losers because they become stuck on the same machine. Losers dig bigger and bigger holes. I will show you a simple trick which will pull you off any slot which goes dead on you.

We will use No-Payback Pulls to limit our losses on any slot machine. A No-Payback Pull is a play on a slot machine where there is no payoff. It could just as easily be called a zip-pull or a nada pull. It is a play where absolutely nothing is returned.

In general, we are looking for a machine which pays out frequently. It is far more interesting to play on a machine which pays off more than less. We all like the sound of coins tinkling into a tray when we play slots and of course we often empty the credits after each payoff and play with coins. Play after play with only the normal slot sounds and no payback is indeed boring. It makes the machine feel like a one-way street where coins enter never to be seen again.

Perhaps more important than the sound of coins spilling out is the fact that when a machine is paying frequently, we know we are getting something for our money. One of our major objectives in our quest to win is to avoid losses. I know of no good reason to continue to play on a slot machine play after play with no paybacks.

No-Payback Pulls is defined as the number of pulls or play we will accept without any payback. Once we hit our limit, we are done with that machine.

Our number of No-Payback Pulls can be anywhere from seven to twelve pulls. Let's say we decide on eight pulls. Now we have an objective way of knowing when a slot is not giving us or payoffs often enough. We count the number of pulls or plays from our last payoff. If we hit eight pulls with no additional payoffs, it's hasta la vista baby! We change machines.

We will add yet one more weapon to reduce the prospect of losses. We will set a Loss Limit for each session of slot play.

Let's say you decide to use a 40-coin slot session. Your loss limit is the number of coins you will set as your maximum loss for this session. This loss can occur on the first slot you play on, or on the second or third slot in a session, but once you hit it, you need to decide whether to continue playing or to wrap it up and take a break. Say you are using a ten dollar session bankroll on quarter slot machines. You could set you loss limit at 50% of your session bankroll, or $5 in this case.

You are playing on a slot you have picked. You are counting pulls between paybacks using the No-Payback Pull concept. In addition, you will count up the number of coins you have after each round of play. A round consists of inserting all of the counts set aside for your slot session into the slot machine. A good tip is to always use coins rather than credits for slot play so that you can keep track of your rounds or play.

You will count the coins remaining after each round of play. If you lose half of your session bankroll you should then take a break.