Hit Frequency

The ratio of hits to spins a slot machine allows. Hit frequency is also known as hit rate.

Return to the slot machine terms main page.

The hit frequency is one way players decide if a particular slot machine is the machine they want to play on. The hit frequency tells you how many losing spins you'll have to sit through to experience a win -- at least on average. Slot machine with a high hit frequency will have more winning spins.

Players will warn against gimmicky slots. Gimmicky slot machines are slots with an extremely high hit frequency, but which don't pay out very much. Players notice the many winning spins and think the machine is a hot slots game, but in actuality, gimmicky slots aren't paying out much at all.

Few player want to bet $1 and receive $1.25 in return. That registers as a hit when figuring out hit frequency, but so does winning $5,000 on a spin. So when looking at hit frequency, players need to look at the pay out percentage of the machine as well as the jackpot size.

Taking all these factors in, players can find slot machines with a combination of entertainment factor and possible profitability. Most players prefer to play a slot machine which allows higher jackpot possibilities, so they don't have to sit all day to win a few dollars here or there.

Still, hit frequency can be an important factor in attracting a player to a game, since a player also doesn't want to routinely sit through 10-15 losing spins in a row before having a hit.