A strategy for playing slot machines? It sounds crazy, but one certainly does exist.

There are three things you can do as a player to maximize your chances of winning and an additional fourth step to take which will not win you any more money, but will make it more fun.

Firstly, accept that the odds are you will not make any money and that there is not really any playing skill you can use that will change that. It is essentially down to chance.

Decide instead how much you are going to spend and if you get really ahead at any time, say by doubling your money, then quit. When you are out, do not go and get more money and try a "double or quits" strategy, because even if you do get back to quits, you will be very unlikely to stop there.

When you play, take things nice and slow. Do not under any circumstances use any auto play facility there might be on the machine you are playing on.

The next thing to think about is how to choose your machine. This will depend upon how much you want to spend. As a rule of thumb, if your stake for the session is less than twenty-five dollars, play machines that use quarters as units; if higher then play dollars.

If you are really broke, try to find machines that use nickels as credit units, there are still a few out there. Most importantly, try to find a casino where the machines are programmed to pay out a high percentage: this number is advertised and usually accurate. You should be able to find ninety-seven or ninety-eight percent payout machines to play with.

Now comes the really interesting part. You will read that every machine is completely random and you have just as good a statistical chance of winning with any one of them.

This is not true! A machine will be programmed to pay out a certain amount of dollars for every hundred dollars paid in, so it stands to reason that if you see someone playing a machine for a long time without winning anything, or without winning very much, then when they leave grab that machine because that slot is hot! Relax, buy a drink and take a walk.

It is bad etiquette to peek right over someone's shoulder but there is no rule against subtly taking a look, and it makes the whole fun experience last even longer too.

The final part of the strategy, the actual playing strategy, is very simple: max out! Always bet the largest number of coins that you can and also if you can pay extra for more reels or win lines to be included, then do.

It seems expensive but the reasoning here is that if you do get lucky enough to win a good line or a jackpot, your extra wager will massively – and disproportionately – increase your winnings.

Happy gaming, and do not forget to have fun!