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Updated June 3, 2025

Before you head to a casino

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Set your budget

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a casino, so lock down your budget before you leave the house. We gamble with $2K-$3K per trip because we make slot videos. $2K = 20 slot sessions for us.

Your gambling budget should be however much you can lose without regret. That means money you don’t need for rent, groceries, etc. Not surprisingly, this is the exact advice financial advisors give to new stock market investors.

Visit an ATM

Withdraw cash from your bank’s ATM BEFORE your trip to avoid fees charged by casino ATMs ($5-$10).

The good news is that Bank ATMs aren’t as rare anymore in Vegas. If you bank with PNC, their ATMs are in every CVS drugstore. If you’re with Bank of America, the only ATM is in the M&M World. The closest bank branch is a Bank of America 2.7 miles away, Wells Fargo 4.7 miles away, and Chase 9 miles away.

Common Slot Questions

We’ve watched 100s of videos about slot machines. These questions pop up the most.

Nope.

There are three things you are always in control of when playing a slot: 1) where you gamble, 2) how much you bet, and 3) how long you play. We came up with the M.A.D. Method™ because it’s based on how we gamble (and win).

There’s (sort of) an exception. Some slots have a “Win Before” jackpot, which must be paid before reaching a specified amount. We avoid these slots, since we’ve watched too many people burn through hundreds chasing the jackpot 

ANECDOTE: Progressive jackpots must be paid out. When the Mirage casino in Vegas closed in 2024, they gave away tens of thousands of dollars from their progressive slots. That means that NO ONE EVER WON THEM. We were there. It wasn’t pretty.

Yes, on some slots.

While making a large bet doesn’t guarantee a jackpot, on some slots it will improve your odds.

A slot’s pay table is included in the instructions for that game, and we recommend reading them ONLY for that bit of information. It’s usually buried near the end.

Do we always read slot instructions? No, but we rarely bet the minimum.

No, but…

On some slot machines, increasing the denomination or multiplier can improve your odds. This is unique to each slot, not a blanket statement.

Slot hacks and tricks that appear on YouTube walk a fine line. While slot videos are “entertainment”, it’s easy to mistake them for advice.

If Warren Buffet started an “entertainment” TV show where he gave out “hacks” for picking stock market winners, the SEC might have something to say about it.

We recommend deciding how much you are willing to lose while you’re playing. For example, if we have $100 in a slot, we’ll decide after a few spins if it’s worth chasing a bonus.

Unlike stocks, there are no financials you can review to make an educated investment; it’s all guesswork. Because slots are a game of chance (by law), which means a “feeling” is just as valid as hours of observation.

Anecdote: We watched a man burn through at least two grand ($50 per spins) on Dragon Link. He wasn’t winning anything, not even a line hit. He didn’t look happy. After he left, I played the same machine and also lost, so I moved over a machine. I hit a $500+ bonus on the first spin.

Yes, a big one.

Class III slot machines (“Vegas-style” slots): Vegas-style slots are Class III machines. They rely on a Random Number Generator (RNG) which determines wins according to a pre-defined pay table. In states where it’s legal to gamble on slot machines, the minimum return (Return to Player, or “RTP”) is set by a gaming commission. For example, in Nevada the minimum RTP is 75%; in Louisiana and Mississippi, it’s 80%.

Class II slot machines: Many but not all tribal casinos use Class II machines, which are bingo games. Despite what the slot looks like, it’s bingo. You’re assigned a virtual “bingo card”, numbers are selected, and if you complete a pre-defined pattern, you win.

Many Class II slot machines are indistinguishable from Class III slots. On some slots, you will see the bingo card you’re playing; on others, it’s more subtle or non-existent. The RTP of tribal casino slots are unregulated and can be changed at any time, but it’s unlikely they would be set to pay less than a Class III slot if they want to stay in business.

Tribal casinos can also use Class III slot machines. From our own experience here in California, they are on par with pay outs from Las Vegas Strip slot machines.

Class I Games: “Class I” games are traditional Indian wagering games. There are no Class I slot machines.

They edit out losses. But, that’s okay.

Slot videos are meant as entertainment. Hollywood movies always end on a happy note. No one ever flubs a line or has a hair out of place. It’s with slot videos.

SlotBear videos are different because we focus on bonuses.  

We also try our best to be transparent about how much we spent to get a bonus AND what “method” if any we were using.

Our slot videos costs between $800-$1K to produce, so we have to take a chef’s “snout-to-tail” approach—we use everything in hopes that our videos will cover the expected 15% loss.

We’ve learned a lot from watching YouTube videos, but we’ve also been burned by bad advice. If you’ve ever attempted a recipe that you found on YouTube or TikTok, then you know what I mean. 

ALWAYS check that someone who gives advice, tips, or tricks DEMONSTRATES it working MULTIPLE TIMES on a real slot machine.

You can, but don’t get your hopes up.

Playing the exact same slot machine that a slot influencer won on is always an option, but it doesn’t guarantee you will be as lucky. 

I’ll admit that I did this when we first started gambling. I tracked down the exact same machine I saw Jackpot Judo playing at the Horseshoe casino, and tried it myself. I lost.

What you might consider instead is playing the same type of slot they played, the same game, and—most importantly—the same bet. 

Yes, a surprise (and a letdown).

The Return To Player (RTP) percentage can be significantly different from one geographic area to another. For example, the 25¢ slots in North Las Vegas have an RTP of 96.27% on average; the 25¢ slots on the Strip have an RTP of 89.34% on average.

Here’s the catch: RTP measures the return over the lifetime of the machine ON AVERAGE. Those two words at the end are important. If you go a casino and play a 25¢ slot with an RTP of 96.27%, there’s no guarantee you will get 96.27% back or even anything at all.

ANECDOTE: At Circus Circus in Las Vegas, we played the “guaranteed 97.4% RTP” coin slots. We literally got nothing back, not even a line hit. I’ll admit that we didn’t play for long because we got tired of losing, but no one else that was playing in that bank of machines was winning either.

American Casino Guide has an excellent listing of slot payback statistics by state.

FYI: Nevada requires slot machines to pay a minimum of 75% back (see image below), but most casinos pay back significantly more—often 90% or higher—because they all compete. 

Nevada required 75% return to player

Practical Considerations

  1. Always pack a lightweight sweater, sweatshirt, or jacket. Casinos can be frigid and temperatures can vary from area to area.

  2. Use the room safe. We always use it because we travel with a laptop. 

  3. Don’t flash your bankroll. While it’s fun to hold $10K cash in your hand, as soon as you take your selfie, stash it away until you can get to your room.