Seasoned slot players tend to look up a game’s hit frequency along with its RTP and variance to know if they can profit from it. These data can tell you how often you will get a win for a set number of spins.

What’s Hit Frequency ?

Hit frequency is the percentage of wins within a set number of spins. If a slot has a hit frequency of 20% and you spin the reels 500,000 times, for example, you can expect to win 100,000 times. Another example is PG Soft’s Dragon Legend which has a hit frequency of 30%, which can grant you 30,000 wins out of 100,000 spins.

With the hit frequency, you can determine the number of chances to receive a return on the game. Games with a higher win frequency and RTP rate result in a sizable payout after spinning the reels several times. You can also use the hit frequency data of a slot to know how many spins you need before you can get a win, which is useful for high variance slots with a medium RTP rate.

Hit Frequency vs. Payback Percentage

Slots people have lots of jargon and it can be a little unfriendly at first. It’s easy for people new to slots play or new to gambling in general to mix up the concepts of hit frequency and payback percentage.

When we talk about payback percentage, we’re referring to the percentage of bets paid into a game that are later paid back as winnings, over time. A game’s hit frequency and payback percentage are two different ways of looking at similar statistics. While the payback percentage gives you a sense of a game’s relative cost, its hit frequency tells you something about how volatile a session playing that game will be.

A slot with a low hit frequency is bound to have high volatility, meaning you’ll be risking more money to chase larger payouts. The opposite is true of slots with a high hit frequency – those hits are guaranteed to be worth less, but they cost less to chase as a result.

Common Hit Frequencies in Slot

Remember, those hit frequencies are not just limited to getting a match. Below are the various hits or wins you can get from any slot.

Symbol Matches

Every slot machine wins are usually about matching symbols within a payline. Before there were even digital slot cabinets or online titles, symbol matches were the only means of winning among mechanical slots.

For games with multiple pay lines, all slot symbol matches done in any bet ways are counted. This includes a minimum of three symbols on one line for 5×3 reel slots with 50 bet ways. Scatter symbols that players can match no matter where they are on the reels are counted for this category if they reward you with cash payouts.

Cluster pay games where you match symbols adjacent to each other are another form of this slot hit frequency. As long as there is a means to clear symbols on the screen, this mechanic fits the “match symbols” category.

Bonus Feature

A slot bonus feature is usually a different mode or stage outside the reels. This feature can be an interactive game where players are given two or more choices to win cash prizes. A good example of this is Hangover Video Slot’s Pick a Box feature from IGT, where you win bonus payouts and win multiplier.

Bonus features are not just tied to a different mode or game outside the base game. Some appear in the regular game, such as bet multipliers or free respins. NetEnt’s Twin Spin has one of these bonus features where two to five reels will have the same symbols.

It is important to note that maximizing your bets to take advantage of a bonus feature is one way to beat slot machines. Knowing the hit frequency of the features lets you know if a game is worth risking your bankroll just to trigger the feature.

Slot Free Spins

While we can easily categorize free spins as part of a bonus feature, there is a wide variety of them to make this a different slot hit frequency type. Free games are a regular feature among modern slots that you can earn by matching scatter symbols.

To further market this feature, games such as Microgaming’s Thunderstruck include a bet multiplier with its free spins. Other games also bolster their free spins feature by adding more wild symbols, a progressive multiplier, and a chance to win more free games. Remember that triggering or earning free spins are what counts for this slot hit frequency.

Jackpot Chance

Jackpot slots reward players with a massive payout if they are lucky enough to trigger this rare feature. This type of slot hit frequency depends on the type of jackpot offered by the game. Expect a low hit frequency for progressive online slots since it is rare for any player to win either of its jackpot prizes, including the highest possible payout. On the other hand, local jackpots have a much higher hit rate since these have fixed payouts.

Triggering a mini-game to get a chance at winning any of the jackpot prizes is counted for this hit frequency category. This includes matching scatter symbols or a random trigger within the base game.