How to Manage Money Playing Slots – Complete Bankroll Guide

If you are a slots enthusiast, or online casino player of any sort, who wants to keep coming back for fun and excitement while gambling safely and responsibly, you need to have a slot money management system in place. Slot machines, in particular, are quite dynamic and without an effective money plan or strategy, you run the risk of exhausting your entire bankroll in just a matter of few unlucky spins.

In this slots guide, our Casinos.com experts will teach you practical ways to build your slot money management system. So you can maximise your profits while always gambling responsibly.

However, it is important to note that slot money management doesn't guarantee any winnings. Thus slots are a form of gambling, and as such should not be viewed as a sure way to make money.

Why is Money Management so Important?

Managing money while gambling has a lot to do with discipline and emotional control. You should keep in mind that gambling is fun and entertaining. However, losing streaks are just as big a part of the game as wins. So aim at having a good time and don't get overexcited or overwhelmed while gambling. Always set time limits and budget and remain in control of your actions while gambling. This, whether in a brick and mortar, or playing for real-money at an online slot site.

A slot money management plan ensures that you do not chance the money you cannot afford to lose. You should never play with your money that is meant to pay bills and carry out living expenses, thinking that you will just 'borrow' from your monthly budget. This can have a devastating effect on you and the people in your life. Therefore, setting time limits and sticking to a budget will prevent you from chasing losing or winning streaks.

Having a slot money management strategy and following a few simple rules will allow you to resist the temptation to take an unneeded risk. Hence, it will allow you to play slots for real money for a longer time, and give you more chances to incur winning streaks over the long run. Finding casinos with the highest payout rates is a good start and for your convenience, we have recommended three below.

How to Determine Your Slots Bankroll?

The first step for determining your slots bankroll would be to ask yourself questions that would regulate your game sessions. It is best to write these down on a piece of paper and keep them next to you while playing. So, you have a written commitment in front of you.

Here are examples of a few common questions you should ask yourself when determining your slots bankroll:

• How much time are you allocating for your entire slot session?
• How much money are you allocating for your entire slot session?
• What percentage of the session's budget would you be willing to lose?
• What is the largest amount you would be betting with in the session?
• What is the largest amount you would be betting on a single spin?
• In case you win, what percentage of your winnings will you be willing to re-bet?
• In case you win, at what amount will you stop playing?

Tips for Determining Your Slots Bankroll

Your slots money management system is personal and will depend on many factors. These include your financial setup, objectives for playing slot machines, types of slots preferred, slot bonuses and more. However, there are a few general guidelines and tips that you should consider when setting up your bankroll management strategy:

• Never bet with money that isn’t yours to spend: This is perhaps the best piece of advice on bankroll management a slot machine player can get. You should be expecting to take hits, considering that slots are games of luck and lady luck might not be smiling down at you for the majority of the time. Hence, you should treat gambling expenses as any other entertainment expenses and use only the money kept aside specifically for this purpose. Moreover, depending upon your gambling activity, you should create a daily, weekly, and monthly budget that sits comfortably with you.
• Set limits: Setting limits is another way to control and monitor your bankroll. There are several ways to do this. You could choose to play for a specified period, or play until you hit a predetermined target of winnings or losses.
• Slow down: The faster you play, the quicker you run out of money and into losses. You should take breaks, wait for the wins to finish loading on the screen before hitting spin, and in general slow down and reduce the sum you are risking per hour. Play one game at a time to stay on track. Also, you should treat every game as an isolated win or loss event.
• Use the coin denomination wisely: The size of your bankroll depends on the denomination you are placing bets with. Don't play on betting stakes that are too large. Smaller bets will allow you to risk less and play for longer.

Choosing Your Slots

Slot players need to look carefully at the slots they wish to play whether they are video slots (read our complete guide to video slots here), progressive jackpot slots or 3D slots. Understanding some key factors in slots will help you set up an effective slots money management strategy. Below, are some factors to consider when choosing the right slots for you.

Bonus Features

• Slots have various bonus features embedded into their mechanism. These include multipliers, free spins and other in-game features that can increase your chances to win. When considering slot money management, look closely at the slots bonus features.

Slot RTP

• Every slot machine has a set RTP (Return to Player) which is the percentage of total wagers paid out in winnings to players over the long run. The average market RTP for online slots is 96%. In this case, it means that the casino will keep $4 out of every $100 wagered on this slot, and pay out in winnings the remaining $96. Although higher RTPs are likely to yield more profits, it is important to understand that the RTP is a statistical return to all players over time. So it does not guarantee any wins to one player. Our article explaining exactly what RTP is should tell you everything you need to know and more.

Variance

• The slot's variance, also known as volatility, is a measure of how many spins out of the total spins will yield a win. High variance slots pay higher wins less frequently, whereas low variance slots pay out more frequently, however, their win amounts are smaller. Therefore high and low variance slots are considered high and low-risk slots respectively.

Bet Limits

• Each slot offers a range of betting limits. This will allow you to select how much you would like to bet on each spin in terms of coin size and paylines. Find slots with limits and options to fit your budget and money management goals.

Money Management of Progressive Slots

Progressive slots come with huge jackpot prizes, which grow with each wager a player makes. This, until one lucky player wins the jackpot, which is often a sensational prize worth millions of pounds. Unfortunately, the odds of winning a jackpot are very slim. So if you are interested in playing jackpot slots, you shall have a weekly or monthly budget allocated to these slots specifically. A few more tips include finding smaller jackpots with better odds, selecting progressive jackpots with a good base RTP and looking carefully at jackpot eligibility bets.

Money Management of Multiple Payline Slots

Slot paylines outline the winning combinations of symbols on the reels. Traditional slot machines use to have one payline across. However, today's innovative slots feature multiple paylines and hundreds of ways to win. Still, keep in mind that many times the RTP and odds will offset this seemingly-high winning potential. Furthermore, if not paying attention to your slot money management, you risk betting more coins per spin which might exhaust your bankroll.

Money Management of Mobile Slots

Most software developers have taken care to build the games with the very latest HTML5 technology that makes them optimized for mobile phones, tablets, desktops, and laptops alike. This enables punters to gamble at any time, from anywhere. The easy accessibility can lead to punters’ gambling activities reeling out of control. Players need to stay disciplined in terms of when and where they play, especially if playing slots for mobile.

Using Responsible Gambling Tools

Online casinos are required by law to provide responsible gambling tools that will enable you to set win and loss limits, timeframes and more. These can be used as an alternative approach to slot bankroll management. Self-imposed time and loss limits will keep you from wagering more than you intended to. A limit on the number of wins will also help you control your gambling activity after you have achieved your win goals and reduce your average loss.

Slots Money Management Conclusion

By now, you have realised the importance of a slot money management plan. Gambling is fun but as much as you will have winning streaks, losing streaks will also follow. Even if you have a budget, set up a management plan and follow it closely, there is no guarantee you will win. Therefore, you should always stick to budgets, play within time limits and gamble responsibly.