Here’s a variation on a few questions we’ve had in the past about what’s best when playing within a bank of machines:
Does working your way around a bank of the same slot machines after getting a bonus on one machine improve your odds of getting a bonus on the next machine… or should you stay on the one you just won on?
Rich A.
Neither outcome will be any better than the other in the long run – it’s really up to you and what you want to do.
This is because since each machine operates independently, and any outcome on a slot machine is possible on the next spin regardless of what came before it, it ultimately won’t make any difference if you stay put or move around.
It seems like most players like to move around, if our recent poll on Brian Christopher’s YouTube page is any indication. About two-thirds of players like to move around, with another 22 percent sometimes moving around. Only 14 percent tend to anchor at a machine consistently.
The odds of a bonus, presuming each machine in the bank is the same game, is going to be the same, and the payback of each machine in the bank is almost always going to be the same. With those two things aligned, each machine is going to be identical in opportunity.
There is one exception to this, and that’s if what you won was a progressive, and now the machine you’re on has smaller progressives than the machines around it in the bank. Since the odds of winning that progressive will be the same, why not play for the biggest one, so if you’re going to win it, you get the most you can from it?
This scenario isn’t always one that comes into play – more and more games have linked progressives, although some machines don’t link all the progressives – but it’s a factor that a player should review.
So ultimately it’s a neutral decision, and therefore do what you enjoy doing, moreso than worrying about payouts, because it’s not going to make a difference in the long run either way.
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