The gambling industry is one of the most profitable in the world. With the rise of online casinos which offer some advantages over land-based ones, it has become even more popular. Such an environment where there’s a lot of money involved and the stakes are high is deemed to have its own mysteries and secrets.

Many novice players make the mistake of thinking that slots are very easy to make money on. The apparent simplicity of these machines might convince the less experienced that a win is easy. Simply pull the lever (or press a button), cross your fingers and hope for the best. Unfortunately, this kind of approach won’t get you very far.

If you want to win regularly at slots, online or otherwise, you need to come up with the right strategy.  For this reason, we’ve put together a list of tips that will allow you to play your games systematically and help you capitalize on some lesser-known rules.

Management of Funds

Any gambler with a bit of experience knows that the first step is to determine the amount of money you can spend. It’s called setting a bankroll and it’s no big secret. But what many don’t know is that setting it is just one part of the job – the second is knowing how to manage it. You need to match your available funds with the actual cost of spins. So the second step is always to check the full betting range of slots you intend to play. If you start playing the one you can’t afford, your game won’t last more than 15 minutes.

Deposit & Withdrawal Research

Another thing you need to research is the procedure of deposits and withdrawals with the casino you’ve chosen. You should only visit the ones that enable you to make deposits via your credit cards or bank account since the involvement of a third-party system will always cost you more.

Some online casinos will go to great lengths making it very complicated to withdraw funds, so always check what those requirements are before you make any deposits.

The Trial Run

Now it’s time to choose the slots you’re going to play. There are all kinds of flashy and beautifully designed machines, but gambling is not a game where you should judge a book by its cover. Don’t hurry to make up your mind – many online casinos offer a range of free slots you can try out before you commit. Not only will a trial run help you narrow down your choice, but you’ll also be able to pick up some tricks along the way.

Knowing the Parameters

Another important thing regarding your choice of slots is game volatility. It’s a term used to indicate the amount of risk involved with a specific game, describing how much and how often you can expect to win. Although it’s not directly connected to a payout, knowing its parameters is crucial for setting up your game strategy.

The first parameter is the return-to-player percentage (RTP) and the machines are required to display it. It indicates how much of the betting rate you’ll receive over a longer period of gameplay. This return fluctuates around 90% in land-based casinos, but in the online ones, it’s around 95% or even higher. The reason why owners of online casinos offer a greater return to players lies in the fact the maintenance of virtual gambling sites is much cheaper.

The second parameter has no visible indicators since it’s something of a commercial secret but is easy to determine through the behavior of the slot machine during longer sessions. It’s called the dispersion of the slot and it shows the proportion between the size of the bet and winnings, enabling you to understand the risk better.

Winning will happen quite often in low dispersed machines, but the reward amount is small. The medium dispersed machines carry the same probability of scoring a small and a large prize. The winnings at the high dispersion slots are quite rare, but they offer the opportunity for an accumulated, massive jackpot.

Staying on the Safe Side

Our final tip deals with security. It’s crucial that you register only real player accounts with reputable casinos that are known for their safety. A simple way to tell if a site has a security certificate is by looking in the address bar and seeing if it has an extra “s” at the end of http (along with a little lock symbol).

This may sound like an obvious tip, but what many online casinos won’t share with you is that you hold an equal amount of responsibility regarding your security.  This is not some scam, just a simple fact that they can’t be held responsible if a third-party gains access to your computer and passwords. Many players overlook this detail and casinos simply choose to be silent about it, which is precisely why you must exercise awareness and caution.

The secret to winning at slots starts with careful bankroll management and well-researched deposit and withdrawal requirements. Combined with security awareness, these things guarantee that winnings will find their way to your pocket. When it comes to the game itself, taking machines for free spins and getting to know their volatility parameters is crucial for making the right pick and choosing a suitable strategy.