One of the coolest ways to play online slots is by competing in an ever-more popular casino tournament format: For just a little money (typically $3 to $10), slot players can “earn” a virtual bankroll of thousands of dollars to start. And after that, it’s time to take on maybe tens of thousands of others – who says slot games don’t require skill?
Below runs a simple primer of a few things you may and may not want to do next time you sit in front of the computer for some casino tournament action.
• DO know the rules and parameters of the casino tournament you’re entering. Yes, it sounds obvious, but the excitement of anticipation often causes players to just jump right in; well, you wouldn’t do that if that $10,000 in play money was real moolah.
• DO plan for a rebuy. Disappointingly, even in freerolls, the first go-around just isn’t enough to produce any wins or even get warmed up. So instead of wringing hands about whether to go for the rebuy, just figure the entry fee to be double what the posted amount is, so that way you’re set to pony up the second figure; hell, considering how much playing the slots normally costs, one entry fee and one rebuy probably costs much less than you might spend in the same amount of time on a standard video pokie. But...
• ...DON’T plan to make more than one rebuy unless you can afford it (or it’s a really big tournament, heh heh). Managing a bankroll is often about questioning diminishing returns; we say in a casino tournament – whether slot or video poker – that three entry fees *is* diminishing returns. The exception here might be something like the Grand Slam of Slots, which goes on for months. In which case, you should apply the following.
• DON’T put up two rebuys in one week.
• DO check the leaderboard – but you don’t need me to tell you this. The best feature of any slot tournament is the constantly-refreshing leaderboard: Beyond the adrenaline rushes of a win is the schadenfreude of seeing someone drop behind you. Or how that 500x coin payout jumped you way up the charts. On the other hand, though...
• DON’T become obsessed with it. This can get particularly painful if you’re on the bubble of the list of winners or if the tournament will soon be over, and every spin becomes an agonizing decision. Tell you what: If you’re that close, step back, because there’s someone else facing a similar decision and they’ll make the impatient one, won’t they? Well, you won’t.
• Incidentally, along the same lines, DON’T mess with your score if you think it’s enough. Sure, if you’re at, say, 103,536 points, the temptation to just blow the “odd” 536 and then quit is often overwhelming. You give in, however, and soon you may find that – oops – you’ve been playing a bit longer than you wanted and – oops – your position has dropped and – oops – now you’ve been passed. Et cetera. Just don’t. After a big win, stop.
• Finally, DO have fun. It says here that there’s no better way to enjoy lots of slot games cheaply and pointfully.