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Indicators Of High Variance Online Slots

Indicators Of High Variance Online Slots

Added: October 25, 2017

New players often choose online slots on the basis of the themes they like. Or they simply wager on the latest games released. But after you have been playing slot machines for a while you will begin to discern a difference that is not immediately apparent. Some online slots deliver really big wins but at infrequent intervals. These are referred at high variance or high volatility online slots. Low variance online slots pay out much more often but the wins are of smaller amounts. Expert players are able to assess their risk taking propensities and find suitable slot games. The variance of online slots is never specifically declared and needs to be assessed based on other known parameters. This article describes some indicators of high variance of online slots.

If you are at the top of the risk-return level then you should go for progressive jackpot online slots, because these are the most volatile. A portion of every wager adds to the jackpot amount, which keeps on increasing till the jackpot is hit. All progressive jackpot slot games do not have the same variance. Higher reset levels and higher average hit amounts indicate higher volatility. One of the most volatile progressive slots is Mega Moolah. It rests at $1 million and has been paying more than $6 million per hit on an average. But it hits only five or six times a year.

If you are interested only in the fixed payout video slots you should look for the other indicators of volatility. Three of these are discussed in this article and you will need to look at all three before making your assessment. The simplest indicator is the number of paylines. The general rule is that the fewer the number of paylines, the higher will be the variance. This is explained using the 5x3 structure, which is the most common. With all pays there are 243 paylines. But you also have video slots with 9 paylines, which cover only about 4% of the possible outcomes and hence deliver wins less often. Slots developers have to offer larger payouts to compensate for this.

The second indicator of high variance comes from the payout table. If one combination pays out a big amount and the others pay much smaller amounts then you can expect high volatility. In low variance online slots the payouts will tend to be comparatively clustered together.

The bonus features can also indicate volatility. The payout potential may be huge, for example with large number of free spins, or big payout multipliers or fixed wild reels. Such feature will not trigger very often, but when they do you will hit it big.