A reader e-mailed me with her take on playing video slot machines.
“I like to cover all the lines, although I can’t afford to bet $3 or $5 at a time on a ‘penny’ slot machine. I can’t bet 25 coins a line, but sometimes I’ll bet five a line. On a penny machine with 20 lines, that means I’m betting a dollar a spin.
“If I can find the same game on nickels, though, I’ll move to the nickel game. Betting one coin on 20 lines on nickels is the same as five coins on 20 lines on pennies. Sometimes the same game that has 20 lines on pennies has only nine lines or 15 lines on nickels, and I adapt. But I figure that nickels pay more than pennies, and as long as I’m betting the same amount, I might as well take advantage of that.”
It is true that payback percentages usually increase with coin denomination. Quarter games return more of your money than nickels, and nickel games pay more than pennies. That isn’t the case on every game in every casino, but it’s a reasonable assumption for starters.
As long as you’re covering all the paylines and making sure you’re not decreasing your chances of going to a bonus event, there’s certainly no harm in betting the same amount on a higher denomination machine. Don’t increase your bets —- staying within your bankroll remains tip No. 1. But if you bet five coins per line on a penny video slot, you’re playing the percentages if you bet one coin per line on a nickel version of the same game instead.
John Grochowski, Gaming
John has been writing about casinos and casino games since 1994 through his weekly syndicated column that goes to newspapers and websites, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Denver Post and Casino City Times. He’s a regular in magazines specifically for gaming players, including Midwest Gaming and Travel and Southern Gaming and Destinations, and in the casino industry trade publications, such as Casino Journal and Slot Manager. John is the author of six books on gaming, including “The Slot Machine Answer Book” and “The Video Poker Answer Book.” If you are interested in his past work or simply want to ask a gaming-related question, please e-mail him at casinoanswerman@casinoanswerman.com.
That makes perfectly good sense. I’m gonna use this when I play in Tunica September 6th thru 9th!
Things that make you go, “Hmmmmmmmm, that makes sense.”
I would just like to win sometimes, so I can go back.
Havn’t been in 2 years.
If you spend $3 a roll on a penny machine why not spend $3 a roll on a dollar machine for a chance of a better pay out?
I have found it true that the higher the denomination the more often you seem to win. Could be, though, that the winnings are so much higher that you think the jackpots are huge. Don’t forget how much money you feed into the slot. Of course you always play the max of each machine you can afford.
I rarely play $25.00 or higher but I have won Deuces Wild Poker (4 deuces) but I try to play at the end of my session on those big machines because I know I’m leaving soon and need to tally my play so I dont go home empty.
I find that I win more on penny machines than any other denomination, love it…..And Gold Strike has always been wonderful to us, lots of comps…..