Is It Better to Stop a Slot Machine?

 A lot could be said about people by the way they play slot machines.

While the lazy type will let their bankroll go by as the 'Auto Play' feature does the hard work for them, the most superstitious ones will be all about feather-light touches or heavy-weight punched on the spin button.

And - how about the 'clever' ones? Those who swear that winning at slots is all about stopping the reels at the right time with the second hit on the spin button?

Those are the easiest ones to recognize. They are laser-focused on their game and their rapid-fire of button pushes is one of the most repetitive and well-timed movements in the entire casino.

That doesn't change on online slots, either. Although these players tend to consume the space bar of their keyboard and the left button of their mouse much faster than any other player on earth.

Why do they do that?

These players are sure that if you can stop the reels quick enough, you can control the outcome of your spin and decide what combination will be displayed on the screen.

In theory, it makes sense.

You push the spin button, see the reels move on the screen, quickly hit the spin button again to stop the reel-dance as soon as you see a winning combination about to come up.

So, is it better to stop a slot machine with a second push on the spin button?

No, it is not. While this might have been a difficult-yet-profitable trick to win as slots on very old fruit machines, stopping the reels will not help you take home any more cash.

In fact, it might lead to bigger losses. When you stop a slot machine by yourself, you reduce the 'time of spin' (TOS), making the game go faster.

Imagine this:

A slot machine takes about 10 seconds (on average) to complete a spin from start to finish. This is the 'TOS'.

If you stop the slot machine, you can reduce the TOS to three seconds.

Depending on the TOS, a 30-minute session can range from a minimum of 180 spins to a maximum of 600 spins.