There is no doubt that online slots are popular. They are the only casino game that requires little in the way of skill. If you can tap a “spin” button, then you can easily play slots online and find it to be a fun activity. But have you ever noticed that many of the online casinos that feature slots usually make a big deal out of that? Well, that is partly due to the fact that the game is so easy to play, and if an online casino is seeking new members to signup and play, it is a smart marketing tool to lean on the slot games contained within that website. Then there is the matter of big winners. Have you ever wondered why you don’t seem to see a lot of news online about huge jackpot winners at online casinos? It makes one wonder if there is more hype than substance, but the reality is that the situation is a bit more complicated than just clicking a spin button. In this article, we will explore what those reasons are and learn about some big winners as well.
The Seven Top Reasons
Revenues in 2017 for online gambling were estimated at well over $45 billion. There are over 2,000 licensed online casinos and at least that many that are unlicensed and gamblers who frequent these sites do win real money playing the slots. However, there are some reasons why you don’t hear much about winners.
You May Not Be Able To Legally Access An Online Gambling Site
Depending on where you live, many online gambling sites have a list of restricted countries. These are places where the site is considered illegal and not only may not be able to access the site, if you can, you may not be able to register an account. Geo-location tools used by some ISPs will block these sites from specific states or countries that the sites are not licensed to operate. However, players are often not concerned about licensing and will play at these sites anyway.
Online Gambling Is Still New To A Lot Of Americans
A survey dating back to June 2016 indicated that only 3% of respondents had admitted to having gambled online. That was an increase of 1% from a previous poll on the same topic that was conducted in 2006. As interesting as that sounds, the same survey determined that roughly half of the Americans polled said they played state lotteries, and regularly. The only casinos that will report American winners will likely be state-sanctioned sites and not illegal gambling sites.
Players Generally Make Less On Slots
From a pure profit standpoint, slot machine games tend to be the least profitable for players. It makes sense because there is no logical reason why the house would fill their gambling site with slot games that payout all the time. Plus, depending on the integrity of the online casino, some of the slot games are poor knock-off copies of legitimate games using stolen software. This makes the slot games unreliable. Find safe games to play at LegitimateCasino.com.
Different Kinds Of Games Offer Different Results
Slot machines come in many different sizes and themes. But what makes them even more unique is that not all of them have the same volatility. Jackpots come out of player wagers and there is always a House Edge built into the payout system. Although legitimate slots use a random number generator which truly makes winning a random event, the RTP (Return To Player) rate, volatility, and popularity of a slot game are all factors impacting the payout results.
Big Wins Often Go To Regular Players
A survey determined that online gambling is more likely to attract middle-class Americans rather than the poorest or wealthiest. It also revealed that college students with a 4-year degree are more likely to gamble than their less or more educated counterparts. Professional gamblers typically go where the big money is and play blackjack or poker. Slot players have to spend a lot of money (play much longer) to see anything more than small payouts which get costly.
Slots Are Addictive To Play
We have already stated that slots are easy to play. That is also the reason why they are not easy to stop playing. Players who slip into that mind-numbing state just keep hitting the spin button thinking that the big jackpot is one, five, ten, twenty spins away. Plus, with themes and storylines taken from popular culture, television, and movies, online slot machines are designed to keep you playing for as long as possible and it typically works and works very well.
Winnings Are Hard To Collect From Online Casinos
The online payment systems used by some online casinos are filled with built-in hurdles meant to keep your money away from you. Various tactics will be employed ranging from unusually high wagering requirements (read the Terms and Conditions page of any online casino) to payout or deposit limits, delays of almost any kind, and it soon becomes too much work to claim winnings. That is what the online casinos are hoping will cause players to give up.
Are There Any Slot Winners?
Yes, there are. The Guinness World Record for the largest online slot win was claimed by Jon Heywood of Britain in 2015. His huge progressive slot jackpot was $18.3 million and came from the Mega Moolah slot game. The Dark Knight slot, which has since been discontinued due to a licensing matter, produced a $7.6-million win for an anonymous Australian gambler. Over $23.6 million has been won since January 2017 by gamblers playing the online slots at PokerStars Casino.
Final Thoughts
Yes, there are winners claiming huge jackpots at online slots. But the chances of you signing up, logging on and dropping a few credits into your favorite slot game, and walking away a multi-millionaire are pretty slim. That is not to say it will never happen, but you would have better luck playing your local state lottery or learning strategies to improve your poker or blackjack game. But for entertainment with the odd payout for fun, you can’t bet slots.
