As with professional poker players, making a living is also about handling the downswings; those times when you're on such a losing streak you're in danger of going bust and working out where the rent is going to come from. Finding the right slots is the first job of a pro, but making sure your bankroll isn't going to disappear is the next. Having run many casinos, there are a few ways we see people make a living playing slots, although it is a generally a low income living. You can become a jackpot Hunter and only play machines when the progressive jackpot.
Video poker is one of the best ways to make a living in a casino. That may seem impossible to the average person that only gives action to small casinos or the Las Vegas Strip. There are thousands of advantage gamblers in the world that make enough to support them from video poker play.
Basic Strategy Imperative to Learn
Learning the basic strategy of any video poker game that returns at or near 100% is the first step in making a living playing video poker. Our video poker section shows the best play for the types of five-card hands that are dealt in video poker. It is imperative that you not use these plays on machines that do not offer full-pay tables. Some of the moves will change if a full house or flush pay lower than the 100% games.
It is one thing to know how to play. Most casinos do not offer 100% games, and when they do, they are usually for VP games that are tougher to learn. It is nearly impossible to find one on the Las Vegas Strip. A couple of Atlantic City and California casinos offer these. Check out VPFree2.com to find out if the casino that you are visiting offers good video poker pay tables. If they do not, you should not expect to win unless you get lucky.
Getting Video Poker Comps
The Las Vegas locals market is the best place for quality video poker in the world. There are more than 100 video poker machines in Lad Vegas where the pay table returns more than 100% when five coins are wagered. Some games, like 10/7/5 Double Bonus and 10/6 Double Double Bonus, are offered in denominations as high as $1. Full pay Deuces Wild and Joker Poker are common up to the $.25 denomination. These machines also add 0.05% to 0.1% in cash back on the play when a rewards card is used.
It is possible to get mailers with more free play if you give a little action to other games on a visit. This is known as cover play and may help keep you from getting backed off. This type of play can generate offers that may otherwise be withheld.
The cash back is just a sliver of the overall return that can be added to video poker. Expert players know there are promotions that can return far more than a small fraction of a percent.
Many casinos offer point multiplier days. Players that pay attention to mailers or log into players club sites will see special days where more points are awarded. This can be anywhere from three times to 10 times the normal amount. The catch on point multiplier days is that they normally do not apply to the games that return more than 100%. Point multipliers do apply to games that return just under 100%. The goal for the video poker advantage player is to find a game like 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe at a Boyd Gaming property or Triple Bonus Plus and Not-So-Ugly-Deuces at a Station Casinos’ resort.
The points can be converted into comps at Boyd at full price or free play at two-thirds the value. Station Casinos points are redeemable for cash back. This requires a visit to the Boarding Pass players center. Free play may be claimed directly on the machine, except for the 100% games.
Some casinos hold drawings based on the level of play during the promotions period. This can be a few hours, a full day, or a week. Every so many points receive one ticket into a drawing with these promotions. Winners can receive free slot play, cash or big prizes like a car. Another form of promotion along these lines is hot seats. That is where an active player is declared a winner from the promotions system. These types of drawings are typically awarded every 15, 30 or 60 minutes.
These types of drawings and hot seat promotions are more common at smaller casinos. The problem is that sometimes there are few or no video poker games worth playing. Video table games are often a great alternative at casinos without quality video poker. Those devices often participate in promotions.
Progressive Video Poker Jackpots
Progressive jackpots are one of the better ways to advantage play video poker in markets where there are no full pay machines. Casinos in remote areas with little or no competition often offer progressive jackpots on a royal flush to entice players to give action to machines that are otherwise give poor returns. These do not always hit when they should and can run up well into positive expectation, especially when combined with other promotions. These can be few and far between.
A 7/5 Bonus Poker game with a progressive would require a royal flush progressive of just over $2,000 to return more than 100%. The same goes for 9/6/5 Double Bonus and 9/5 Double Double Bonus. These are the most common progressive jackpot games. Keep in mind that any jackpot of $1,200 or higher will generate a W2G tax form.
Video Poker Quality Not What It Used to Be
It was much easier for an advantage player to make a living during the 1990’s. That is because the pay tables nearly all returned more than 99% during that era. The reason for this is because sites like Wizard of Odds did not exist. Players had to learn video poker strategy on their own without the help of experts and computer programs.
Some casinos still offer these machines from decades ago. Many are found in Las Vegas. Downtown casinos like Plaza, Main Street Station, Fremont, California and El Cortez spread coins from nickels to dollars. Locals’ casinos like Jerry’s Nugget, Poker Palace, Sam’s Town and Railroad Pass also have coin games with great pay tables.
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Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. We've all heard the phrase, and probably scoffed at it. It's much easier said than done, and what if what you really love is playing slots? Playing slots for a living may have flickered across your mind once or twice before, but you probably have never really considered it as a viable option. Today, we're discussing if professional slot players really do exist, if it's worth it, and if it's even legal.
The Law Of It All
Professional gamblers do exist, although you'll usually find them playing poker or other games of skill. In the UK, it's not illegal to make a living from gambling, as that all depends on what you think a ‘living' is. When one person may be fine with making £100 a week and living off that, it's difficult to set any hard rules about what is ‘professional' gambling and who is a casual player. Because of this, it's also important to note that professional gamblers do not pay tax.
Making A Living Playing Slot Machines Machine
The Gambling Act states that all winnings from online or offline gambling are tax-free and the same rule applies to those who try to make their living this way. HMRC, in fact, do not recognize gambling as a taxable trade. So, so far we have an untaxable income doing something we love — sounds too good to be true right? Lets see how hard winning your way really is.
Advantage To Slots Players
As we said earlier, most professional gamblers opt for a game like poker as it requires skill and therefore they can have some control over the game. When it comes to slots, however, the closest thing we have to compare to a professional player is an advantage player. These are players who spend a lot of time looking for new deposit bonuses and then play with a strategy to maximize their winnings.
The strategy they employ is based around the casino's wagering requirements. The lower the wagering requirements, the better it is for the player. They will generally reach these requirements by playing machines with a low volatility. Low volatility slots keep your bank roll fairly stable, so you can spin through your requirements pretty speedily in order to claim the bonus cash. There are no guarantees of a profit in this strategy, however many players play as a team and pool their money. This gives them a higher chance of winning some cash.
It's a intelligent idea in theory, however many of the players end up being barred from the site when the casino realises what they're doing. Moreover, many casinos have started adding a clause to their bonus terms and conditions, explicitly prohibiting this type of play and refusing to pay out. Though this may be one way to make some money playing slots, it's not the easiest and it's also time sensitive. Once more casinos catch on to the strategy, then it's game over for these types of players.
Jackpot Hunters
Play A Slot Machine
Jackpot hunters are players who seek out progressive jackpot games, when the jackpot is just about to be claimed. They work out how often a certain jackpot slot pays out, how much it pays out on average and around what time it's usually claimed. Using this information, they can predict when a jackpot may be about to drop.
There are several websites that collate all this date for other players to use. Slots like Mega Moolah have a huge following and so it's stats are usually well known within the gaming word. Jackpot hunters, therefore, are more inclined to play lesser known jackpot slots. They may win less here, but they'll have less competion for the prize fund.
Repeated Winners
If you ever glance through a list of your casino's big winners, you shouldn't be surprised to see the same names appearing over and over again. This could make you think that these players are the professionals (or just really lucky), but in fact it's much simpler than that. The reason you see repeated winners at a casino is not due to strategy or a systems. Most of the time, these people are high stakes gamblers (or high-rollers). These kinds of players often win big playing slots, but they also lose often too. You need a very large bankroll to play in this way, and it can be difficult to get right.
If you do try to ‘go big' then it's important to find a slot machine with a high RTP and a high variance. This will give you the best chances of winning an amount that's big enough to live off, as opposed to small frequent wins.
Does It All Come Down To Luck?
If you're simply a slots player looking to increase your chances of winning, then any of the above strategies are good advice. However, if you're looking to making a living off slots, then it's probably best to reconsider. Slots are a game of luck, rather than skill, and therefore there is no way of ever finding a strategy that allows you to manipulate the game in your favor.
This means you can never be sure of anything when it comes to playing slots, and even with a wealth of research, resources and knowledge, you still won't be able to make a living playing slots. The uncertainty of slots is half their appeal, so keep playing them for entertainment. If you do want to become a professional gambler then perhaps look at a skill based game instead, but don't go quitting the day job just yet!