So, what is the goal?

[Mentholdan]

For me, playing slots is winning a few quid while having fun, with the added bonus of maybe hitting a nice payout in the base game and a huge payout in the bonus game. But here's the thing, if you don't hit a nice base game win or get a bonus very early on, you're just chasing money hoping to break even. Basically the fun has gone out of it pretty soon after you started. If you keep chasing you can very quickly get yourself in the crapper. We all play for fun and to get a buzz but essentially we all do it to win money. Playing slots is a marathon not a sprint but a fast start can give you a massive advantage. I found that a hell of a lot of times I lose to begin with, then claw back to levels and so on and so on but I just can't seem to get my nose in front. 

[BlindHaze]

I’m with you on that. £2 play can get pretty expensive very quickly and you can lose £100 in a matter of minutes with no action. In my richer days it was always good to get a good win early on as it gave me a bit more playing money! Although unless the game is compensated and you can spend all day in the pub with an eye on the fruity (I could manage that in my younger days!), you’re not going to win in the long term, but a nice 3 figure win once every so often was a nice bonus.

I think it’s time to quote the late, great Lemmy Kilmister and say ‘the pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say!’.

[Nemo]

I tend to play to try and double up my money when playing online - but have found a lot recently where as you say you do not get a bonus or base game win then you are chasing straight away, at which point if I have been playing too long then I tend to call it a day at evens. If I am playing on pub fruits or FOBT then I just try and set a target depending on how much I am prepared to put in. If I put in £100 then I think realistically a £50 profit is fine to walk away with (not that it works like that!!)