Slot Machine Button Sequence: Does It Affect Your Odds?

Whether you’re playing offline or online slots, the outcome is always determined by a random number generator (RNG), and there’s no way to alter the outcome.

You can’t influence the RNG regardless of which buttons you press before, during, or after a spin.

What are Slot Machine Buttons?

While you can’t improve your chances following a specific slot machine button sequence, those buttons still impact your experience.

Here are some of the slot buttons you will encounter on online and offline slots:

• Spin: The spin button is usually the biggest and gets the reels in motion.
• Bet Max: Instantly sets the maximum wager.
• Auto-Play: Programs automatic spins. You can set a budget or spin count, and the game will spin independently.
• Turbo: This button speeds up the gameplay.
• Nudge: A classic, old-school button that nudges the reel up or down. It is rarely seen in online slots, but some games use a random nudge feature in combination with Wild Reels.
• Buy Bonus: Some of the best slot machines let you unlock the bonus for a multiple of the stake, usually between 50x and 100x. You don’t need to keep spinning for those Scatter/Bonus symbols and can jump straight to the feature.
• Chance-Booster: Increase your chances of landing the main feature at a cost (often just 50-100% more).
• Stop/Cash-Out: Often found on slot cabinets, this button stops the reels sooner or lets you cash out an amount collected thus far. Although it adds a level of player interaction, it doesn’t change the RNG.
• Paytable: Usually displayed as an “i” icon on online slots, the paytable contains info on the symbols, payouts, rules, and features. Slot cabinets usually display this info on the game screen.
• Volatility Setting: Some slot developers incorporate volatility options so the player can choose between low, medium, and high volatility.
• Stake: The stake button either contains a sliding scale full of wager options or uses plus and minus icons to adjust the bet.

Can Anything Change the Outcome in a Slot Game?

Technically, slot buttons can change your odds, but this only applies to options like Chance-Booster and Buy Feature, which come at a cost.

Certain taps, timing, or slot-machine button sequences don’t influence the RNG that governs outcomes.

The RNG works by constantly running through a series of random numbers. When you hit the spin button, it settles on a number sequence tied to a specific outcome. This is then shown on the reels.

The same is true for both online slots and physical slot cabinets. Electromechanical slots, which have been around for many decades, use mechanical and virtual RNG reels. The latter calculates a fair outcome and then signals it to the mechanical reels, which show that outcome to the player.

Incidentally, this is where “reel tilt” comes in. It’s a malfunction that occurs when the signaling breaks down, and the player sees a different result from the actual one. Reel tilt voids the result, but there have been instances in the past where players have been led to believe they have won a jackpot due to reel tilt, only to end up with a few bucks.

Is There an Ideal Stake for Slot Machines?

The RNG in slot machines doesn’t change based on the stake. Some players argue that games feel less generous when they increase or decrease their stake, but slots are not designed to pay more or less based on the player’s bet.

There is an exception, though.

Progressive jackpot slots require the player to place a qualifying wager or change the jackpot odds based on the wager size.

Whether you wager $0.50 or $50, you can win the jackpot on most progressive jackpot slots. However, the developers want to incentivize those who wager more, so the odds improve as the stake increases.

Think of it in the context of a lottery. You only need one ticket to win; every player has a chance, but your chances increase if you buy more tickets. With progressive slots, increasing your stake won’t impact your odds in the base game, but it will give you more “tickets” for that grand prize.

All other payouts are relative to the stake, so payouts are listed in multiples (such as 100x, which pays $100 for a $1 bet and $10,000 for a $100 bet).

Summary: Slot Buttons, Sequencing, and RNG

Hitting slot buttons in a certain way or order won’t change the outcome, but some games contain buttons that will instantly unlock the bonus or increase your chances (for a cost), and others let you change the volatility.

Knowing how these slot buttons work is essential if you’re playing online or offline slots, but they’re not hiding any secrets and can’t be manipulated. RNG governs everything, and there’s no way to change that.