I read an online article recently, it’d probably been around for years, referencing strategies for online slots. While that’s not quite the oxymoron you might think it is, the headline caught my eye and I spend a few minutes reading. Soon enough I started chuckling to myself, because the author’s “strategy” talked about how much easier it was in the older days, where one could benefit from using magnetic devices and drilling holes in machines. Funny, I always thought that was considered “cheating.” I suppose if your idea of strategy ends up with a broken hand, fat lip and lifetime ban, have at it.

Many of you have undoubtedly heard or put into practice more generally accepted methods of slot machine “strategy.” For the most part, I just can’t get behind the idea. You want a smart strategy, it has nothing to do with the machines themselves – all it has to do with simple self-control and money management. Set monetary limits for yourself within a certain time period. Like all forms of gambling, but slots especially due to the speed, ease and repetition, can be deceptively addicting. You can be sitting at one for an hour without winning a single pull. Eventually, I guarantee you the little voice in your head will start telling you the machine is “due” or “warming up” (neither are true), and you convince yourself to stay until the big jackpot comes. Or until you realize you still need money to eat dinner that night.

However, in the interest of conversation, here’s a strategy that many have implemented in numerous different ways (and in an episode of Full House!) since the inception of the game of slots. It’s commonly referred to as Play and Run. I will say there’s little I agree with here, except for the strategy’s dependence on the player not allowing gut feelings to sway their commitment. What you do here is assign a certain number of pulls to each machine, or a number of dead pulls (ones where you win nothing) before moving on to a new machine. What you’re looking to do is maximize the number of slot machines you gamble on and, thus, increasing your probability of hitting a “hot” machine.

Of course, the odds don’t change from machine to machine or pull to pull at any casino, including The Bellagio. I’ve actually read so-called experts say you never end on a win…that you don’t want to walk away from a “hot” machine, which is surefire way to give the casino back everything you just won. And hey, why don’t you pump another quarter into that progressive slot while you’re throwing money back at the house? I’m sure the casinos appreciate it, and that incorrect line of thinking.