Does Time of Day Affect Slot Machine Payouts?

We’ll look at the prevailing myths around the time of day affecting slot machine payouts, and what determines outcomes in a regulated betting sector.

How do slot machines actually work?

Contrary to common misconceptions, slot machines in physical casinos or slot-style games on mobile apps make use of a Random Number Generator (RNG). This system produces multiple combinations of numbers every second, whether a machine is in use or not, meaning that as soon as a player hits ‘spin’, a random outcome is cycled.

The use of RNG systems means that each spin is unique and not influenced by whether a slot machine has just paid out or has not had a jackpot out in hours. The Gauteng Gambling Board ^[1], for example, states that slot machines have as much chance of successive wins as they do of recording a string of losses.

Likewise, Play Slots South Africa highlights the compliance, testing, and certification of machines as proof that operators cannot legally manipulate outcomes.

Slot games and Return to Player explained

In addition to considering RNG and broader probability, operators licensed in South Africa are also required to offer games with a long-term theoretical return, known as Return to Player (RTP). RTP is a metric of how much a game will pay back over a large number of spins, but it is still bound by probability and does not guarantee that a player will receive a specific amount in a session.

The National Gambling Board ^[2] provides oversight over the betting sector, and casino games are required to be tested and regulated, which can make some times of day feel ‘luckier’ than others. Just because a slot machine has paid out a jackpot at a specific time, such as 10 pm, that should not suggest that this is a better time to play, as this only proves that an outcome happened then.

Why do bettors believe time of day matters in slots?

The belief in slot machines being influenced by the time of day is often driven by confirmation bias, where players tend to remember wins over losses. This can be demonstrated in a hypothetical example of a player winning big late at night, causing the player to correlate that success with timing.

Confirmation bias can result in a player remembering jackpots in specific circumstances and failing to count all their losing spins that came before. In reality, the time of day can affect how a person plays slots, as well as the setting and how busy a casino is, but it does not make payouts any more likely.

South African bettors should also use only licensed operators, meaning that verification is more useful than predicting the ‘best’ time of day to gamble.