Maximum Bet Techniques

 In this article, we’ll be taking a look at playing different kinds of slot machines, including multipliers, buy-a-pays, progressives, and multi line, as well as examine when it’s best to bet maximum coins.

According to gambling expert Steve Boulrie, there are 2 different types of multipliers we need to compare. We’ll start with the straight multiplier. With this game, whenever you bet an extra coin, your payoff is raised proportionally. As an example, on a 2-coin machine, let’s say that for your first coin bet, the jackpot pays 800 coins. Then, your second coin would double the jackpot to 1600 coins. So on this kind of machine, even though you’re risking more money when you bet 2 coins, you really aren’t getting any benefit for it. Therefore, it would be best to never bet maximum coins on a straight multiplier.

Modified Multiplier

The other type of machine in this category is called a modified multiplier. With this machine, there is some increase in the payoff, but only for the top jackpot. As an example, on a 2-coin machine, let’s say that for your first coin bet, the jackpot pays 1000 coins, and for your 2^nd coin, rather than doubling it to 2000 coins, it’s raised to 2500 coins. So in essence, the machine is paying you a bonus of 500 coins for making the maximum bet. As another example, let’s say you’re on the 3-coin machine, and for your first coin bet, the jackpot pays 4000 coins. And for your séance coin it’s double to 8000 coins. On the third coin, instead of tripling to 12000 coins, it’s raised to 15000. The machine is paying you a bonus of 3000 coins for making the maximum bet. So is it a good idea to play maximum coins in modified multipliers? Well, it’s debatable. For Boulrie, he would say no because even though the machine is paying you extra coins for making the maximum bet, it will only pay the tonus if you hit the top jackpot, and the chances of that happening are very slim. However, if you’re the type of person that would get upset if you hit the jackpot with only one coin bet rather than getting the extra payoff for betting maximum counts, then go for it. But keep in mind that the extra payoff is minimal when calculating the overall payback percentage on that machine.

Buy-a-pay machines

Next are buy-a-pay machines, with the first coin activating winning symbols such as bars. With your 2^nd coin, you activate another set of winning symbols such as the 7s and blazing 7s. With the next coin, it may activate another set of winning symbols or it may just act as a multiplier. So is it a good idea to be maximum coins on these machines? Well, the answer here is yes, and no, as it depends on the pay table. Yes, you always want to bet enough coins to activate a new set of winning symbols, because that will increase the overall payback percentage. However, you need to look carefully at the pay tables. Sometimes when you bet an extra coin, it will only work to double the payoff on some winning combinations. In this case, the answer would be no. You would not want to bet any extra coins. You would only want to be enough to activate the extra winning symbols, says Boulrie.

Progressives

Next comes “progressives.” And these machines have a jackpot that is not a set amount. Instead there is a meter on the machine that shows the jackpot that is growing. On progressives, you always want to bet maximum coins to be eligible for the jackpot. If not, you’re just filling up the jackpot for someone else to win. While we’re talking about progressives, we want to give you some tips for playing 2 particular types of progressive slots. First is the standalone slot, this refers to a situation where you have several of the same slot machines within a casino. Each machine has its own progressive jackpot. If you look at 3 of the exact same progressive machines, one may have a jackpot of $1,877 dollars, another at $1,965 dollars, and a third at US$2,263 dollars. Now does it matter which machine you play? The answer is yes it does. You want to play the machine with the highest jackpot because the odds of hitting that jackpot are portably the same on all 3 machines. So with standalone progressives, always play the machine with the highest jackpot and always play maximum coins, added Boulrie.

Wide area progressive

There is also the wide area progressive. Twos is where a large group of progressive slot machines at numerous casinos are linked together. An example of this is Nevada’s mega box; the jackpot starts at 10 million dollars and builds until someone hits it. These 1-dollar machines are located at more than 125 casinos throughout the state and they are linked together by computer. Of course you’ll always want to play maximum coin on these machines, you may also want to devote a small percentage of your bankroll to playing them because the paybacks are much lower. In Nevada, the average 1-dollar slot returns around 95% while the average 1 dollar megabucks machine returns 88%.

Multi-coin slots

Multi coin slots are mostly the low denomination machines such as pennies and nickels. With these machines you can choose how many lines you want to play, sometimes as many as 90 or more, and you can also choose how many coins you want to bet on each line. Additionally, many of these machines will offer a bonus round where you can pick up free spins or extra payouts. Keep in mind it’s the bonus rounds that help to boost the payback percentages on these machines. So the answer here is to make sure that you’re betting enough to be eligible for these bonuses.

In Summary

Boulrie noted that most of the times you don’t have to play maximum coins to qualify for a bonus round; all you need to do is bet one coin and use each pay line. Other times however, a machine may require you to play 1 coin on each line plus make an added bonus bet to qualify. The only way to know for sure is to look at a machine’s pay table to see what kind of bet is needed to activate the bonuses. Another opinion is to ask another player who is familiar with the machine if they know what’s required.

Remember if you don’t bet enough to qualify for the bonus round, you won’t be eligible for the extra payouts. For Boulrie, slots really aren’t the best game to play in the casino, but they are by far the most popular, and hopefully this information will help to make your bankroll last longer so you can have more fun when you play.