Slot Machine Strategy: Calculating Odds
Modern slot machines are calibrated so that a player’s odds of winning are dependent on how the game is set up. The reels of the machine make a significant difference in that machine’s odds. Every stop on the reel corresponds to more than one stop as the wheel goes around. Symbols appear on the wheels more than once, so the actual odds of hitting a particular symbol are based on the total number of possible shapes on the reel.

Slot Machine Strategy: Hitting Jackpots
The top jackpot, or the most winning state on the online slot machines, is only possible once per reel. On the standard jackpot machine, the odds of hitting a jackpot are 1 in 64 as there are 64 symbols on a reel. When all three reels are considered in order to line up the odds necessary, the total likelihood is 262,144.

The higher the possible payout, the more symbols there are on the various reels in play. This makes the odds of actually hitting the jackpot far lower than they might be on the lower paying machines.

In addition to the larger reels making big jackpots harder, slot machines include blank spots right next to the jackpot symbols. There are multiple blank spots on the reel making it more likely that a player will earn nothing rather than winning the jackpot. Additionally, the close proximity of the blank spaces to the jackpot makes it feel as though the player just barely missed winning and he’ll be more likely to play again. Be mindful of your odds – not what appears to be correct.

Set a Limit
Before you get sucked into the fun of playing online slots, you should set your bankroll amount and be sure that you can stick with it. You don’t want to lose money that you can’t afford to lose. Using a separate bank account will help you do this without touching your regular credit cards or your bill money.

Check the Odds
A game might look flashy and fun, but always check the odds on the particular game you’re interested in. Each slot game is unique and if you’re playing a game that has low odds of winning, you’re risking more money than you should have to in order to be successful.

Bet the Maximum Number of Coins
When you bet, be sure you play on a machine where you can afford to bet the maximum amount each time. By betting as much as possible with each round, you’ll be sure to activate all of the play lines and bonuses which may result in more winnings, but should definitely result in more fun.

Check if a Bonus Is Worth It
You may need to do a bit of math to determine if a bonus is worth the wagering amount requested. Expect the bonus to always look good, but there are some times when you should just ignore it and save your money for more exciting play.

First of all, always test out slot games before deciding to put money into them; in order to do this, take advantage of the free play mode. There is no point in you putting your money in a slot game that you might not even like after all. Once you are on play mode, you should be off to evaluate the audiovisual characteristics of the slot game. You should try to pick up on the audio effects and notice if there is any music playing in the background. You should also judge if you like their graphics and animations and if they run smoothly on your computer.

The next thing is to evaluate the number of paylines because in some slot machines you might be able to choose the number of paylines and the number of coins per line, whereas in others it could already be predetermined. Make sure that you check the coin size range so that you know the minimum and maximum coin size and work out the maximum line bet and maximum total bet. If all of those characteristics have appealed to you so far, keep reading, otherwise start over with a new slot game.

Once you have decided that you like the general look of the slot game you should look at the pay table and the game rules (they tend to vary), there is usually an information button above or below the reels that provides quick access to this information. You should be looking at the payouts, the wild symbol, the multipliers and extra features that are offered, and whether scatter payouts are offered.

This is only the first part, come back tomorrow to check out the rest of things you NEED to know about online slot games.

“Fooooood fiiiiiiiight!” For anyone who’s ever lived in a dorm or eaten in a school cafeteria, those words might fill you with glee, or with terror. Yes they’re crazy, chaotic and very messy, but a good food fight can also be the perfect way to express your inner child. And now, at our Silver Oak online casino, you can enjoy all the excitement of a food fight without having to pay any dry-cleaning bills.

You know what some other words are that might fill you with glee? “Penny slots”. Our online slot machine Food Fight is a fun, messy, action-packed game that you can play for a penny a spin. You can also play it for more if you want, but even if you play one cent per spin, you still get a chance at lobbing some dessert around in the pie-chucking bonus round.

Like a typical slot machine, Food Fight is a five-reel slot machine where you try to line up as many identical symbols as you can on a pay-line. But it does have a couple little bonus tricks you won’t see on most slots.

When you hit all three parts of a sundae – cone, sundae and topping – the game will pause for a moment while they combine to form an ice-cream cone. When that happens you’re awarded a tasty scatter bonus.

Similarly, you’ll be looking for the three parts of a cherry pie – pie shell, pie filling and cherry – because that means you’re off to the bonus round! You’ll get to lob pies at a variety of characters, continuing to play until you finally miss. And each time you score a hit, you score a random number of free credits.

As mentioned before, you can play Food Fight for a penny a spin, or more if you want. You can play up to 9 lines, with each line playing for anywhere from a penny to $5, depending on what you want.

Want to play Food Fight, or any of our other 130+ games? Find them in the Games menu, or if you’re not already a player at Silver Oak, get started today:

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2009 is the Year of the Ox. And that means right now is a great time to shoot for a little luck with our brand new and extra ox-y online slot machine Year of Fortune. You’ll want to keep your eyes out for symbols like the Golden Ox and the Year of The Ox logo, because if you find enough of them you could soon be enjoying a fortune of your own.

Like almost all our online slot machines, you can play Year of Fortune for as little or as much as you want. In this game you always play all 25 lines, but you can make it a penny slot if you want, by just playing one cent per line. Maybe you’re feeling extra fortunate? Then play $5 per line.

As I mentioned, cross your fingers you see some of those Golden Ox symbols when you spin. They substitute for all other symbols except scattered logos and the God of Wealth (more on him later). And if you hit a winning combo that includes a Golden Ox, your prize is doubled. Hit 3 or more of those scattered “Year of the Ox” logos and say hello to the free games feature.

The feature gives you 8 free spins which is nice. But the really cool thing is that you play 88 lines per spin for your free games! And all prizes are doubled in any winning combination that contains a Golden Ox. You can also win extra free games during the feature.

And if you’re really lucky, you could hit the progressive jackpot. Unlike in a lot of our games, it’s not random in Year of Fortune. Hit 5 “God of Wealth” symbols on any pay-line and you win the big prize!

Want to give it a shot? Find it in the Slots menu. Or if you’re not already a player at Silver Oak, download our free software and you’ll be ox-ing it up in no time!

Come Sunday evening you’re going to have a difficult choice when deciding on your evening entertainment. Either you can play some games here at Silver Oak or you can watch the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. Of, if you’re good at multi-tasking, you could do both. Maybe play the Hollywood-themed online slot Big Shot while watching the real big shots pat each other on the back.

Personally I’m going to be watching for one reason and one reason only. I’m hoping that Kanye West will jump up on stage to grab the microphone away from Alec Baldwin and declare that Beyonce should have won the award for best actor in a comedic series. Hey, it could happen.

Of course, if tonight’s show is anything like last year’s, most of you will be doing anything but watching the three hour Hollywood love-in. Last year’s awards were about a half dozen viewers away from being the least-watched Emmy’s in history. This year might be a little more popular, if only because the very funny Doogie Howser Neil Patrick Harris is hosting. And, well, because everybody else will also be tuning in to see if Kanye can elude security and make his way into the auditorium.

It’s all going on tonight, live(ish) from Los Angeles. So I advise you to get playing your favorite online slot machine and turn on your TV right now. And keep your fingers crossed that Entourage doesn’t win any awards, because I’m kinda sick of that show.

Hundreds of years ago, Spanish conquerors sailed thousands of miles to get the rich gold and jewels from the Mayan people.  It cost the conquerors many lives and tons of money.

If only they had the Mayan Queen online slot machine, their lives would have been much easier!

Now you can embark on an adventure of your own searching for ancient Mayan treasure in this brand new online slot!

With 25 lines of action and bets from 5 cents to $5 per line, there’s plenty of treasure to find!

The Mayan Queen herself is the Wild Symbol in this game, and can substitute for ANY other symbol (including scatters!).  She’ll appear on the 3rd online slot reel and will expand to cover the entire reel.  As long as she is there, she will double any prize you win on all lines… not bad for an old queen!

The Emerald is the scatter symbol in Mayan Queen.  Land 3 Emerald symbols anywhere and you will get 6 free spins with the Mayan Queen Wild symbol covering the third reel for all of the bonus spins!  Having the Mayan Queen symbol there not only awards many more winning spins, but all of the prizes are automatically doubled!

If you are lucky enough to land 5 Temple symbols on any of the paylines, you will be rewarded with a whopping 15,000 times your original bet.  And if you get a Mayan Queen symbol as a part of the winning spin, it will double to huge 30,000 times your original bet!

Finally, the Mayan Queen online slots game has a random progressive jackpot that can be triggered at any time, awarding the huge progressive jackpot!

Ready to give the Mayan Queen slot machine a spin?  Click on the Play Now button below to download this game and over 130 other casino games, completely FREE!  Give it a try now!

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch and a friend in Vegas

If you’re here, chances are pretty good you love to gamble. So if you happen to be someone who also likes NASCAR, you better book your trip to Las Vegas ASAP. It was just announced that NASCAR will be racing down the Las Vegas Strip. Okay, maybe it won’t be an official “race”…but the ten top drivers on the circuit will be doing a nice fast cruise down the boulevard as part of the festivities around their annual dinner and awards ceremony.

The event will be happening on December 5th. I’m telling you about it now to give you lots of advance notice so you can book your trip early…or so you can be absolutely sure you don’t go anywhere near the place on that weekend. Hey, not everybody loves the stink and speed of cars driving really fast. Some people would prefer their visit to Vegas to be heavy on the cocktails and slot machines, and easy on the auto racing.

Oh and speaking of both racing and slots, did you know that we have an online slot machine that features both fast cars AND one of the coolest bonus features around? It’s called Green Light and you can play it right now in our online casino. That is, you can play it if you’re already a member at Silver Oak. If you’re not, it only takes a second to download our free software and get started. Just hit the blue button and that Green Light will only be moments away.

How many interceptions will Brett Favre throw as a Minnesota Viking? Will Michael Vick be welcomed back to the NFL, or will dog-lovers ensure he gets booed in every city he visits? Will the league be able to keep players from tweeting during games? There are many different questions in the minds of football fans right now, and many of them are about to be answered.

Sure there was a game the other day, but today marks the first Sunday of the NFL regular season. It’s the beginning of another season of football fans spending twelve hours every Sunday glued to their couch sucking back beer and pretzels. If you’re a football fan, it’s a day to rejoice. If you hate the game, it’s a day to find something else to do that’s more fun than watching the overpaid and oversized shuffle around a grass field for a few hours.

Either way, you should check out the gridiron-themed online slot machine Field of Green, right here at Silver Oak. If you are a football fan, fire up the slot machine to play during breaks in today’s on-field action. If you can’t stand the game, then you can ignore the theme of the slot machine and just concentrate on how much cash you could make while other people are wasting their day watching football.

And speaking of making cash, did you know we have 100+ of your favorite games here at Silver Oak? if you’re not already a player here, take a second to download our free casino software and start gaming now. Just hit the blue button and we’ll do the rest.

As you’ve already guessed, Tally Ho has a fighter pilot theme. The symbols are things like enemy planes, navigational maps and, inexplicably, women who look like stewardesses. I’m not sure many WW2 aircraft had beverage service, but what do I know? You’ll also be hoping to see a few Pilot symbols, which are wild in this game. Roundels (those round, target-looking things) are the scatter symbols and if you find three or more of them, you’re cashing in with a bonus game.

The feature in Tally Ho isn’t complicated, but it is enriching. You’ll receive 25 free spins, which is awesome enough. But to make it even better, all prizes are tripled during the bonus spins, and the feature can be re-triggered! This game also features a random, progressive jackpot that will make you happy enough to fly some loop-de-loops if you hit it.

Tally Ho also has all the usual bells and whistles that let you decide on your own gaming experience. You can play from 1 to 20 lines at anywhere from a nickel to $50 per line. It also has a customizable Autoplay function and Turbo Play that lets you play at your own speed.

Check out all the specific details on the Tally Ho game page. Or if you’re ready to take to the air and try your luck, then find it under Slots > Real Series Video Slots > Tally Ho in our game menu. If you don’t already have our casino software, download it now for free!

Taking place in the 1920s during the thirsty days of Prohibition, the show will document the evolution of Atlantic City from a quiet family resort on the New Jersey shore, to the hotbed of gambling and sin that it became (and still remains to some degree). Other famous characters of the time, like the gangster Al Capone, will make appearances on the show and it will apparently strive for an incredible level of historical accuracy in the sets and costumes.

Nobody can make that world as fun and exciting as Scorsese, so it will be a hoot to watch the new show. And if you’ve ever visited Atlantic City, it should be cool to see the early days of the town, just like it’s fun to watch Casino and see just how much Las Vegas has changed from the seedy 1970s to today.

Whether or not you’ve ever visited Atlantic City or Las Vegas, or even seen Casino, you’re going to have a great time playing in our online casino right here at Silver Oak. Be sure to try out some of our classic favorites like Roulette or Craps. Or go for a more modern gaming experience with the latest in online slot machines. Whatever game you love to play you’re going to find it right here!

Imagine digging a few holes in your backyard and uncovering two million bucks worth of lost viking treasure. Unfortunately for me, no matter how many random holes I dig, all I ever find are bottle caps and the occasional sewage pipe. So when I read about those lucky Brits I did the next best thing to finding a treasure of my own – I checked out the online slot machine Viking’s Voyage.

And I can honestly tell you, it’s way, way more fun than taking a shovel to the neighbor’s yard. I mean, when you have a slot machine that lets you hop in your longboat to go off pillaging and plundering, all while wearing a cool horned helmet, what more do you need? Besides the cool graphics and theme, Viking’s Voyage has lots of other stuff going for it too.

You can play at your own comfort level, from 1-20 lines per spin, and from a nickel to $50 per line. The game also features a random, progressive jackpot and, when you hit three or more scattered Longboats, a bonus game. That’ll give you 10 free spins, with the possibility of an extremely lucrative re-spin bonus feature if you’re really lucky.

So, feel like hitting the high seas and going for a voyage in search of plunder? Find Viking’s Voyage in the Slots menu, or if you’re not already a player at Silver Oak, sign up now!