The gaming industry is big business in the U.S., contributing an estimated US$240 billion to the economy each year, while generating $38 billion in tax revenues and supporting 17 million jobs.
Slot games on such websites are a promo for the real games, which means that they may have a limited number of free spins and/or inbuilt ads. Additionally, such video slots may not work in your country, since the online casino, from which the game was taken, may be blocked by the jurisdiction of your country.
What people may not realize is that slot machines, video poker machines and other electronic gaming devices make up the bulk of all that economic activity. At casinos in Iowa and South Dakota, for example, such devices have contributed up to 89 percent of annual gaming revenue.
Spinning-reel slots in particular are profit juggernauts for most casinos, outperforming table games like blackjack, video poker machines and other forms of gambling.
What about slot machines makes them such reliable money makers? In part, it has something to do with casinos’ ability to hide their true price from even the savviest of gamblers.
The price of a slot
An important economic theory holds that when the price of something goes up, demand for it tends to fall.
But that depends on price transparency, which exists for most of the day-to-day purchases we make. That is, other than visits to the doctor’s office and possibly the auto mechanic, we know the price of most products and services before we decide to pay for them.
Slots may be even worse than the doctor’s office, in that most of us will never know the true price of our wagers. Which means the law of supply and demand breaks down.
Casino operators usually think of price in terms of what is known as the average or expected house advantage on each bet placed by players. Basically, it’s the long-term edge that is built into the game. For an individual player, his or her limited interaction with the game will result in a “price” that looks a lot different.
For example, consider a game with a 10 percent house advantage – which is fairly typical. This means that over the long run, the game will return 10 percent of all wagers it accepts to the casino that owns it. So if it accepts $1 million in wagers over 2 million spins, it would be expected to pay out $900,000, resulting in a casino gain of $100,000. Thus from the management’s perspective, the “price” it charges is the 10 percent it expects to collect from gamblers over time.
Individual players, however, will likely define price as the cost of the spin. For example, if a player bets $1, spins the reels and receives no payout, that’ll be the price – not 10 cents.
So who is correct? Both, in a way. While the game has certainly collected $1 from the player, management knows that eventually 90 cents of that will be dispensed to other players.
A player could never know this, however, given he will only be playing for an hour or two, during which he may hope a large payout will make up for his many losses and then some. And at this rate of play it could take years of playing a single slot machine for the casino’s long-term advantage to become evident.
Short-term vs. long-term
This difference in price perspective is rooted in the gap between the short-term view of the players and the long-term view of management. This is one of the lessons I’ve learned in my more than three decades in the gambling industry analyzing the performance of casino games and as a researcher studying them.
Let’s consider George, who just got his paycheck and heads to the casino with $80 to spend over an hour on a Tuesday night. There are basically three outcomes: He loses everything, hits a considerable jackpot and wins big, or makes or loses a little but manages to walk away before the odds turn decidedly against him.
Of course, the first outcome is far more common than the other two – it has to be for the casino to maintain its house advantage. The funds to pay big jackpots come from frequent losers (who get wiped out). Without all these losers, there can be no big winners – which is why so many people play in the first place.
Specifically, the sum of all the individual losses is used to fund the big jackpots. Therefore, to provide enticing jackpots, many players must lose all of their Tuesday night bankroll.
What is less obvious to many is that the long-term experience rarely occurs at the player level. That is, players rarely lose their $80 in a uniform manner (that is, a rate of 10 percent per spin). If this were the typical slot experience, it would be predictably disappointing. But it would make it very easy for a player to identify the price he’s paying.
Raising the price
Ultimately, the casino is selling excitement, which is comprised of hope and variance. Even though a slot may have a modest house advantage from management’s perspective, such as 4 percent, it can and often does win all of George’s Tuesday night bankroll in short order.
This is primarily due to the variance in the slot machine’s pay table – which lists all the winning symbol combinations and the number of credits awarded for each one. While the pay table is visible to the player, the probability of producing each winning symbol combination remains hidden. Of course, these probabilities are a critical determinant of the house advantage – that is, the long-term price of the wager.
This rare ability to hide the price of a good or service offers an opportunity for casino management to raise the price without notifying the players – if they can get away with it.
Casino managers are under tremendous pressure to maximize their all-important slot revenue, but they do not want to kill the golden goose by raising the “price” too much. If players are able to detect these concealed price increases simply by playing the games, then they may choose to play at another casino.
This terrifies casino operators, as it is difficult and expensive to recover from perceptions of a high-priced slot product.
Getting away with it
Consequently, many operators resist increasing the house advantages of their slot machines, believing that players can detect these price shocks.
Our new research, however, has found that increases in the casino advantage have produced significant gains in revenue with no signs of detection even by savvy players. In multiple comparisons of two otherwise identical reel games, the high-priced games produced significantly greater revenue for the casino. These findings were confirmed in a second study.
Further analysis revealed no evidence of play migration from the high-priced games, despite the fact their low-priced counterparts were located a mere 3 feet away.
Importantly, these results occurred in spite of the egregious economic disincentive to play the high-priced games. That is, the visible pay tables were identical on both the high- and low-priced games, within each of the two-game pairings. The only difference was the concealed probabilities of each payout.
Armed with this knowledge, management may be more willing to increase prices. And for price-sensitive gamblers, reel slot machines may become something to avoid.
The Buffalo animal-themed free slot game initially gained its popularity in the land-based casinos. When most of software manufacturers made the transition and brought the machine to virtual casinos, the online version became even more played. Players prefer to play free Buffalo slot machine games, which is available in the format of 5 reels and 4 symbols spinning per each reel. The machine is specific for its 1024 ways to win (fixed paying lines), and the changeable feature is the number of reels, while it is usually the other way around in video pokies.
| Buffalo | 10 | 50 | 100 | 300 |
| Eagle | 50 | 100 | 150 | |
| Tiger | 50 | 100 | 150 | |
| Wolf | 20 | 80 | 120 | |
| Elk | 20 | 80 | 120 | |
| A and K | 10 | 50 | 100 | |
| Q and J | 5 | 20 | 100 | |
| 10 and 9 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 100 |
How to play Buffalo slot machine
The design is not the most attractive feature of this slot. Buffalo is a casino slot game that couldn't be defined as a graphically high, and the symbols are 2D. There are many cutting-edge machines nowadays, yet again, bettors prefer the traditional classic Buffalo over many new free slots. There are many things tied to Buffalo theme in the world and many people like them due to size and strength – buffalo sabres or buffalo wild wings is an example. Some would like to see the buffalo grill menu or buffalo bisons running wild, but it’s all about buffalo slot machine review. Hopefully some American football Buffalo Bills team fans will find this buffalo slot machine for their liking. We have tried to see why:
Home Slot Machine Games
- The big number of winning lines is praised among players because it matches symbols in more than thousand ways. This, compared to slots with 20 or less lines, secures more paying combinations.
- Buffalo slots is a low volatility, penny slot. The bigger part of players are low / medium rollers, and this machine gives them the chance to bet between $0.1 and $100.
- The machine features free spins for its bonus. This is the most wanted additional game in the slot world and is not hardly triggered.
- The jackpot is 300 coins, one of the lowest jackpot amounts online. However, compared to the total bet amount, this is a fair number. Moreover, you can win it without even betting max; all betting values are eligible for the jackpot.
- The return-to-player is 94.85%
Coin Denomination and Betting Values
The changeable features here are Reel Cost and Bet per Reel. The cost of reels goes from x1 to x40. As you reduce it, the reels you are betting on will lower, too, until you are left with only one betting reel. The line bet can be set between a penny and $2.50. These two configurations result in the amount shown in Total Bet, which varies from max $100 to min $0.01. Remember that all the free spins, once triggered, pay the values based on parameters that you've set before the additional game started. The same goes for the Auto Spin option. An expert's advice is to bet one coin on a video slot that has multiple lines. In this case, 1024 lines are all in play, so it is enough to just set $1.00 total bet. This will, according to studies, lead to higher and more frequent rewards.
Buffalo Slot Machine Tips
The most important part is free spins. Most players prefer to play free Buffalo slot game among other casino entertainments exactly for this reason. You'll have much greater odds of activating them by making all the reels count (x40 cost) because this gives more space for 3+ scatters to show and match. Also, if you are playing in the free demo version, you'll begin with $500 balance. Don't start betting on the max $100 right away or you might end up the gameplay after only 5 tries.
Here are the list of properties that will serve as free tips that are necessary to achieve the minimum level of awareness for preventing troubles and bring winnings.
- Play / Stop – 'Play' triggers the spinning of the Buffalo's reels. Once the round begins, this button will change itself to 'Stop' and by pressing it, you'll stop the spinning before it automatically finishes.
- Win – The amount bellow 'Win' is the price you have won after a played round by landing a combo of symbols. All the payments found on the pay lines are added together, and their total amount is shown in this window. Once you press 'Play' again, the price will transfer to the total balance.
- Balance – Right next to the Aristocrat's logo, you'll see your wager shown in dollars that represent coins when you are playing for fun. Once your balance is insufficient, you can change (lower) the coin selection in the free play, or reload the game. Players for real money can increase their wager and continue where they stopped.
- Auto Play – The auto spin button is connected with 'Play'. It allows players to set the auto spinning after 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 times. Auto Play will stop once the Free Spins are triggered, or you run out of coins.
- Settings – This option opens a new window where you can check or uncheck Sound Effects, Ambient Sound, and Spacebar Spins the Reels. When you open the game, the first two configurations are checked by default. The third one is convenient for computer players when the spacebar can be used instead of the 'Play' button.
- Question Mark (?) – Here, you'll find five filters:
- Feature: Explains the scatter card and free games additions;
- Pay Tables: Shows the value and function of all the symbols, but only in the case of your stake being set at 1.00 coins;
- Game Rules: Additional info about special symbols, and the gameplay;
- Reel Power: Shows the reels (Xtra Reel Power);
- Instructions: Explains different buttons. The machine's history can be viewed from here.
Ordinary Symbols
In total, there are 13 symbols appearing on the 5 Buffalo's online slots reels. This is the most common number of icons in online slots, although here they are matched in 1024 ways from left to right. There are 11 standard icons provided in the table above.
When you play the free Buffalo slots game, the same-named symbol is stacked, meaning that it can show itself multiple times on one reel. It is even possible, especially with the help of Wild, to fill the whole screen with these symbols. As you can see, only it and 10 and 9 symbols are paid when 2 of them are matched. Others count only for 3+ of them found on a win line. If your total bet exceeds $1, these above-mentioned winning values will be even higher, and if it is less than $1, the values will reduce.
Bonus Symbols
Two extra symbols exist in the slot:
- Wild – Wild is present in almost every up-to-date video slot and is highly beneficial in the matching of symbols. This bonus card shown as a sunset acts as any available symbol excluding Scatter. During the regular play it appears only on the reels 2, 3, and 4, while in the free games, it will multiply the total payment by two or three times.
- Scatter – This icon triggers the additional bonus games if 3, 4, or 5 of them are landed. It is shown as a golden coin.
Bonus Features
Slot Machine Poker Games
The Buffalo slots machine don't claim the download or registration. Also, it lacks special features such as gambling option and bonus games. However the following ones are enough for players to win big, and even multiply their win by 27 times!
- Xtra Reel Power – This bonus gives bettors a chance to bet on the number of consecutive reels they choose (from the first to the fifth). Furthermore, the third horizontal row of symbols (counted from above) will be added to the gameplay. The total bet changes according to the number of betted reels.
- Free Spins – From the main screen, 8, 15, or 20 free spins can be activated depending on the number of scatters. Every round played during these spins is completely cost-free and can only bring benefit. Moreover, if only 2 scatters are found on the display during the feature, 5 extra free games are awarded.
Myths and Facts
Most players think that the Xtra Reel Power is applied to the 1024 lines. However, these two additions have nothing to do with each other; the first one, as above-mentioned, is about reels and their cost. If you wish to know why the Aristocrat company created exactly 1024 ways to win, simply multiply 4 rows on 5 reels (4 x 4 x 4 x 4) and the answer appears.
An interesting fact on the way to learning how to win Buffalo slot machine with own strategy, you'll see that it has a higher RTP percentage in the online version compared to land-based casinos (90% to 92%).
A myth about online video machines is that players will activate more winning combos if they bet on only $0.1. Though this is available at Aristocrat games page Buffalo online slot, consider the fact that every fair machine works by using Random Number Generator (RNG). Therefore, the odds are the same, no matter how large is the rollers' stake.
The Sequels and Similar Games
After the original version, Aristocrat created three more sequels! They are Buffalo Deluxe, Buffalo Legends, and Buffalo Stampede. As the new parts in the series were coming, we could see graphics and features improving every time. However, the software provided stayed true to the original and kept the trademarks through all the sequels. The last game differentiates the most, with a progressive jackpot, expanding reels, and free spin options added.
FAQ
📌 What Is the Buffalo Slot and Is It Available Online?
Buffalo is a popular land-based game that had a huge fan following. Its popularity led the gaming software developers to make a transition and bring this title to the online world. It tasted success here as well. The Buffalo slot is developed by Aristocrat and can be tried out on many of the licensed, reputed, and reliable gambling sites. It comes with 5 reels and 1024 ways to win. There will be 4 symbols spinning on each of the reels. This is an animal-themed slot that gives plenty of chances to gain big wins. The attractive features offered include free spins, wild and scatter icons. The gameplay is simple with high-end graphics, and 2D animal symbols.
📌 Can I Play Buffalo Slot for Free?
You can. This title is available on many of the reputed and popular gaming websites. Most of them provide this game in the free practice mode. This is suitable for all the players who are new to online casinos. You can check the gameplay and its features by trying out the practice mode. The biggest advantage is that you can check it out as many times as you want before playing for real cash. Once you get well-versed in it, you can always opt to place the real money stake.
📌 How Do I Play Buffalo Slot with Real Money on the Internet?
To play this game with real money to win some prizes, you need first to find out the online gaming website that has this in its portfolio. Once you locate the site, the next step is to sign up for an account. Choosing sites that offer an attractive welcome bonus for the new gambles is a good option to bet with less money from your pocket. After signing up, you need to deposit the money required and then you can start to set the reels rolling.
📌 How to Play the Buffalo Slot?
Before you set the reels rolling, you need to choose the bet size. This is done by pressing the menu button provided on the bottom of the game screen. Press game settings to adjust the reel cost and bet per reel. Use these arrow keys provided under each option to set the total bet. There is also an autoplay option. Choose the number you want to allow the reels to spin continuously. Once done, move to the main game screen and press the spin button to play manually.
Slot Machine Casino Games Free Download
📌 Where to Play Online Buffalo Slots for Free?
The Buffalo slots casino game is offered both in free and real money versions with no download at the renowned online gambling platform, Slotozilla. All bettors from around the world are welcome to visit the site; the slots here are free from download and depositing as long as players want to spin 'for fun'. Once they decide to move on to the real play, where coins start representing a real currency, primarily signing up is required. After this, by using e-wallets, bank transfers, or credit cards, customers need to place a wager and then choose to bet on a slot. Next to Buffalo slots machine that is free and no download, there are over 1800 machines filtered on the SZ's pages by their themes and types. Some of the all-time favorite casino machines are WMS's Zeus, IGT's Cleopatra, NetEnt's Lights and Starburst, iSoftBet's Rango, and more.