In life, it generally pays to be at least a little sceptical of just about everything you hear. Keep a little salt shaker in your pocket, and remember to take a grain with every new piece of information you come across! In the world of online pokies, as with many other fields of information, there are plenty of myths to go along with the facts. Today we fill our pockets with salt grains, and discover the facts and fabrications that exist regarding online pokies.
All Online Pokies Are Designed to Never Pay Out
We can understand how this myth might arise. Disgruntled customers are always more vocal than satisfied ones, so you’ll find plenty of stories online about how an online pokies site took all of someone’s money and gave none back.
This does happen to some people, unfortunately. However, it is simply a reality of the online gambling and online casino trade! In order to exist, casinos must make money, which means they cannot pay out more money than they take in. Because the games are randomised (although programmed to give out a certain percentage of takings in winnings to players), some people will lose money and some will win.
Check for the eCOGRA (E Casino Online Gaming Regulatory Authority) payout percentage certificate on site - this is a sure sign that the online pokies at a particular casino have been independently reviewed for fairness.
You’ll Win Lots If Your Machine is in a ‘Pay Cycle’
The myth of ‘pay cycles’ and ‘take cycles’ has persisted since slots were first introduced. In order to bust the myth, it helps to understand how online pokies and pub pokies alike are programmed.
The numbers 1 to 1000 (or some other number, depending on the exact system) are each assigned to a particular symbol. Where the nines, tens, jacks etc might be assigned to 100 of the numbers each, the wild card symbols, the free spin and special symbols might each be assigned to 10, 5 or just 1 of the numbers. A random number generator picks a set amount of numbers, some ‘whirring’ graphics are added, and your spin is generated. The number of paylines you have enabled analyses the combinations generated to see if they match against the predetermined ‘winning’ combinations, and voila … we have either a winner or a loser.
With randomly generated numbers with pre-assigned values, it just isn’t possible o program ‘cycles’ into online pokies!
The Lever is Luckier Than the Push Button
As adults, most of us now realise that luck and magic are what you make for yourself … they are not administered by spirits who arbitrarily prefer it when you pull a lever as opposed to pushing a button!
If you’re playing pokies in the pub and prefer the novelty of the lever, use it. But it certainly doesn’t increase your payout rate!
‘Bet’ and ‘Double or Nothing’ Are Tricks to Cheat You Out of Money
In fact, the ‘Bet’ feature on your online pokies game is one of the safest bets you’ll ever make. Not many pokies have a 50/50 chance of paying out! And remember, the Bet feature is as random as the actual fall of the reels.