How to manage your bankroll when playing online slots
Watching your money when playing your favourite online slots
Playing slots is fun so It's easy to get carried away when playing. A single spin can quickly turn into 10 spins, 10 spins can turn into 100 and before you know it, you've been playing for hours!
This is all absolutely fine as long as you're well prepared and have a set budget and bankroll in mind, and the session played falls within the limits you set yourself. It's important to watch your money and stick to your budget and limits. Effective bankroll management will stand you in good stead.
In this guide we will offer tips for online slots bankroll management. Following our tips will prepare you well for your future online slots gameplay.
Bankroll management; set a budget before you begin playing
Setting a budget (for most things) often falls into that category of things in life we think of as ‘boring but important’.
And while we certainly don't want to come across as preachy, the team here at Slot Gods would be remiss if we didn’t share our knowledge and experience around good bankroll management when you're playing online slots.
Set a budget, stick to it
There are a number of ways to approach setting a budget – which can depend on how often you play. The important thing is to stick with whatever limits you set for yourself.
Occasional, casual play
Before you play, consider 3 things and set a target or budget for each:
- How much am I prepared to lose?
- How much do I want to win?
- How long do I want to play for?
And stop playing when you hit the first of those 3 targets.
Quit while you’re ahead
Stop playing when you’re winning!? Yes. When players are ahead in any form of gambling there can sometimes be a tendency to think they’re ‘on a roll’ and the wins will just continue. Bets and stakes can often get increased in all the excitement. Unfortunately the ‘roll’ doesn’t always continue (only rarely does it) and before you know it… pfft! Those winnings have gone.
Regular play
More regular players can also apply the above-mentioned approach to setting and managing a per session budget, but they probably want to look at the whole budget thing from a higher level as well. If you’re playing a few days a week or most days of the week even, you need to think about the bigger picture. How much am I spending each week or month?
Consider your net pay – weekly or monthly. How much of that are you willing to spend at your favourite slots until next pay day? How many days or sessions do you play each week or month? Start some planning.
Keeping the numbers simple for this example, let’s say:
- €/$2000 – net monthly income
- 10% – happy to spend/stake at slots
- €/$200 – slots playing budget
- 20 – the number of slots playing sessions a month, means a
- €/$10 budget per session
- Then, in each session apply the 3 targets per session approach
Separate your winnings
Ok, for argument’s sake let’s say you targeted an hour’s play in your first monthly session and stopped at that point. You ended up €/$31 ahead on the session. Nice one. Now, importantly don’t just chuck (metaphorically of course, in this digital age) your €/$31 winnings back in with your month’s online slots budget (which now stands at €/$190). When you get that €/$31 from the casino, put it somewhere else, a different account. Start your next session on that €/$190 balance with €/$10 to stake for the session.
The same applies if you’d had a net loss but came away with say, €/$6 from that first session. Put the €/$6 somewhere else. Start again on that €/$190 balance.
What you don't want to happen
Playing slots is fun, and we know it’s easy to get carried away with things when it’s going well. Be careful though:
- The fun dries up pretty quickly once you've exceeded your budget and you're entering your card details to top up your casino account again.
- It’s no fun having to stay at home when your friends are out because everything went last night when you were playing online slots.
- You don’t want to borrow money to pay bills or buy food because you spent that money playing online slots.
- You definitely don’t want to borrow money to gamble.
If you are worried about your gambling there is an abundance of tools and support materials at hand and organisations to reach out to. If you are concerned, have a look at our responsible gambling page.
Casino support measures
If you’re not confident you can set or, more importantly, manage your own budget then set a daily, monthly or weekly deposit limit on your casino account.
It should be fun
Like any other leisure activity, playing online slots should be fun. As well as setting and managing a budget for your slots gameplay, have a good think about where you want to play. There are great sites, good sites and sites you should avoid.
At Slot Gods we only recommend (or even talk about) slots that are licensed by recognised international regulators AND meet our very exacting, tough demands! All of our slot reviews examine games against a set of key criteria. Check out some of our reviews here:
Volatility
This is an important one. You want to pick a slot with the right volatility for you.
Volatility (also known as variance) refers to how predictable an online slot game is. Picking a slot with the right volatility is important, but not that many people realise it. What’s your attitude to risk? Do you want to play over a longer period or have a shorter, potentially ‘livelier’ burst of play? There are three distinct levels of volatility, each one suited to a certain bankroll or playstyle. They are as follows:
High volatility slots
High volatility slots are perfect for players that have a large bankroll to play with. This is because they don’t pay out very often, so you should prepare to watch your balance drain for a while before a big win comes along restoring it (and then some).
If you like the thrill of big wins and can afford to maintain long, arduous gameplay then go for these types of slots, if you only have a modest balance then medium or low volatility would suit you better.
Medium volatility slots
Medium volatility slots are unpredictable slots that could go either way. You could make 20 spins and win a small amount of money on almost every single spin.
On the other hand, you could make 20 spins and only achieve 1 or 2 decent wins in total. These slots might not have the win potential of high volatility slots, but realistically you should enjoy a fair few wins throughout the duration of your gameplay.
Low volatility slots
Low volatility slots are ideal for players that only have a limited amount of money to play with. It's not as likely that you're going to win huge amounts of money, but you should see some smaller wins come thick and fast, and you won't necessarily drain your bankroll quickly.
RTP (return to player)
If you want to stay on top of your game you should always take note of the RTP of the game you're playing.
RTP refers to 'return to player' which signifies the amount of money (as a percentage) that players can expect to receive back from a particular game over a period of time. RTP rates for a game are assessed on 100,000s of spins.
Most online slots have an RTP of 88%-97%, with the industry average, or norm, sitting at 96%. At Slot Gods we recommend that players don't play games with an RTP below the industry average, as they won't be getting a fair deal. The only exception to this rule is jackpot slots, which have a lower RTP to make up for the fact that a portion of the player's stake has gone towards building the progressive jackpot total, and not to the casino.
In addition to the above, it's important to be aware of games that have RTP ranges. This is when the slot site has the final say over the RTP of the game. So, despite being advertised as a game with an average RTP of 96.45% the site could be hosting a version of the game that has a much lower RTP.
The only sure-fire way to confirm the RTP of an online slot is to load it up and read the game rules or paytable pages, as the RTP should always be listed there.
It should be fun #2: playing with low stakes
You don’t need to be a high roller ‘splashing the cash’ to enjoy your online slots gameplay. There are a number of great penny slots that can be played at some of the most highly-rated slot sites. You will come across amazing designs, exciting features, engaging gameplay and, yes, a chance to win some top prizes – all at the lowest stake of just 1p.
The 5 most popular (and searched for) penny slots currently on Slot Gods are:
Knowing when to walk away
Just like everything in life, knowing when to walk away is incredibly important. ‘Quit while you’re ahead’ is good advice. These rules can apply to any form of gambling, whether that be online playing your favourite online slots, or in a physical brick and mortar casino in your local town.
Walking away up
It’s a great feeling walking away from an online slot or casino game with more money than you started with. However, in order to actually walk away from an online slot in profit, you're going to need to have some restraint.
It's easy to think that your luck will come in one big spell, but beware of gamblers' fallacy. Luck doesn’t last forever – if you've picked up some good wins and are happy, it's best to step back and enjoy your spoils.
Walking away down
Chasing your losses is the ultimate no no when it comes to gambling. Don't think about upping your bankroll and certainly don't think about raising the stakes. These are the sorts of actions that can start a domino effect that will see you down and out with a lot less money. Stick to one stake and your predetermined bankroll. It's much easier to wake up the next day after a small loss than it is after losing all your money.
See also set a budget before you begin playing advice at the start of this guide.
Wrong frame of mind? Fed up? Had a drink?
Online slots should be played for fun, never as a way to make money. There's a lot of joy to be had in taking on board all of the above advice, finding a new online slot that suits your gameplay style and bankroll and getting stuck into the action well-prepared.
You should never play online slots as a coping strategy, if you're stressed, unhappy or angry don't think a few spins will calm you down or clear your head. Go for a walk instead or talk to a friend or family member. Don’t play online slots and park your gameplay for a day or 2
It’s also worth thinking about some other factors that could potentially cloud your judgement when playing slots online, if you are or have:
- Been feeling particularly impulsive
- Been drinking alcohol
- Taken any drugs or medication
Online slots are a lot of fun as long as they're approached sensibly.
Final words
Occasionally an online slots player will land a fantastic, life-changing win. And there are plenty of ‘good’ wins to be had – wins that will pay for a holiday, a big new flat screen TV or fancy exercise bike. And of course thousands of smaller wins.
But it’s RTP that determines, over time, that the casino or slot site will always have the ‘edge’. So if you’re playing to win, you will probably ultimately be disappointed. But if you’re playing because you enjoy it – the classic games, the quirky games, the possible jackpot, the overall buzz and excitement – setting budgets and managing your bankroll efficiently will help.
A budget and well-managed bankroll will extend your online slots gameplay and give you control. Remember to play responsibly.