Slots paying out more at a specific time of day is an enduring urban legend. Is there a mechanism or program within slots that increase your chances of hitting the jackpot? Is everyone bound to get a big payout at night or in the afternoon? Let us clear those questions by knowing the best time to play slot machines.
Is There a Time When a Slot Will Hit
Slot machines do not follow the time, making the notion of the best time to play slot machines for higher payouts as an urban legend. Where did the claim by many that slots have better payouts at night, morning, afternoon, or the twilight hours? This is simply due to confirmation bias among casino patrons.
Imagine a person taking a single belief to be the truth after considering other people’s stories that support this belief. They will not consider other stories that will not support this belief or will turn it false.
Let us imagine someone named Bill who regularly visits a casino on a Friday and plays the same game. He read on the internet that Double Jackpot of Bally Technology is incredibly loose during the start of the weekend. After his tenth visit to the casino and having spent $500,000 in total wagers for more than two months, he finally got a big $200,000 payout in one night.
With that one incredible night, Bill joins those who say Double Jackpot becomes loose during Fridays. Never mind the amount he lost during those other Friday nights of playing the game. Bill will always stick to the belief of a high payout chance on Fridays and will continue playing at the same time of day.
When someone looks for the best time to play slot machines, they will find players saying Double Jackpot hits during Fridays. Bill will also add to the belief with his account, making the story believable for other players. Unfortunately, there are no specific times when slots tend to hit frequently.
How Slots Uses Time to Generate Results
While slots do not track the time, certain games use a clock to come up with the results. Every digital slot uses a random number generator system (RNG) to know if your next spin is going to win or not. If it does win, the slot will use the system to know what kind of payout you get for every spin.
Common random number generator (RNG) systems will give you one of the different set results such as 1 to 6 of six-sided dice. However, regular RNG can be predictable, allowing a significant number of people to find a pattern and gain a large edge over the house. This is where a PRNG system comes in.
PRNG systems use a complex mathematical formula to create unpredictable results. This kind of result is the one you would get from rolling an actual dice or coin in real life. What is missing in an RNG algorithm is entropy, a real-world factor that influences the result. In real life, entropy would be the roughness of a dice surface or room temperature.
As a way to incorporate real-world entropy onto its results, PRNG uses a seed or key-value from certain sources that are affected by various factors. Seeds or key value is the source of a slot’s result and it carries multiple possible numbers when it goes through the system’s complex math equation. It is important to note that a single seed can have more than one result, many of which could be a loss or win.
PRNG systems draw its seed from the state of the hardware it is running from. One of these sources is the system clock itself while others will take it from the number of keyboard strokes. For the sake of security, hardly any software providers will disclose how their games create their seed.
Can Players Spin the Reels at a Specific Time to Improve Their Odds?
Going back to what was said about slots using “time” to determine its result, this is simply the clock running within its hardware. However, this does not mean that a favorable seed will appear at a specific part of the day. PRNG systems use the “state” of the clock, which takes in various factors apart from just time such as the signal and LED output.
When you play a game that uses the system clock for its seed at a specific time, you are likely to get a different seed even if you always spin the reels at that exact moment. Even if you can get the same seed for each spin, you can still expect a large number of results out of it.
There is no specific time when slots can boost a player’s chances of getting a large payout or even the jackpot prize of a specific slot machine. There have been people trying to crack the PRNG through modified software that reverse-engineers a game’s PRNG. This software, usually installed on their phone, tells them the best time to play slots machines to get a favorable seed.
Those who are attempting to attack the PRNG will likely get in trouble with casino security. Casino surveillance and security AI systems can spot someone looking to crack a slot based on their bet amount and delay in spinning the reels.
Let us look at the brighter side: your odds of winning a large payout are the same no matter what time of day you are playing a game. You have the same chances of taking home a progressive slots fortune at 10:00 am and at 10:00 pm. This gives you more freedom on when is the best time to play slot machines.
Factors to Determine When to Play Slots
With the payout factor set aside, here are the factors to consider when choosing the best time to visit casinos for their slot machines.
Fewer Crowds
Very few people want to be around the gambling floor while it is full of casino patrons. Not only is there little space to move around without having anyone get into your personal space, but you are also less likely to play your favorite slots. Crowds tend to occupy the most popular slots on the floor, such as progressive jackpots, skill-based mini-games, interesting win clips, and high RTP games.
Weekday mornings and afternoons are the best time to visit casinos while avoiding the crowd. You can expect a casino floor to be nearly full on Friday evenings and weekends. Be aware of the end or middle of any month. People who have just gotten their pay are likely to spend a good chunk of their disposable income on their favorite slots.
Free Spins Promotion
Never pass up on anything free, including slot free spins and bonuses. Nearly any online casino offers a set of free spins when you deposit on a specific day.
With one example casino, a deposit of at least $30 around that day will grant you 20 spins. Higher deposits of $80 will grant you 80 spins while $160 can reward you with an insane number of 200 spins.
Casino Events
When you are not a local in the area of a casino you plan on visiting, you want to make the most out of your trip as much as possible. This includes participating or attending any major casino events happening within the venue or near the establishment.
If your favorite band or singer will be holding a concert or if a major boxing match is going to happen, those are the best time to play slot machines at a casino outside of your town. It also pays to book in advance. This allows you to attend a casino event on a date when there are few people on the casino floor.
Your chances of winning a large jackpot or payout on your target slot games are always the same at any time of day. Taking into account other factors such as the casino crowd, promotions, and events can help you find the best time to play slot machines.
