One of the most frequent questions I get asked by slot machine players is, “Should I play max credits?”
- Five Quick Hit symbols pays 10x the bet on any bet below max bet. So a 30 cent bet would pay $3 for five Quick Hit symbols, 60 cents would have $6, etc. However, if betting the max bet of $1.50, the win would be $18.11, which is a $3.11 additional premium over the $15 that would be the normal 10x pay. That’s a 20 percent premium in this example.
- No, the machine didn’t pay off more often because you were making the maximum wagers. And yes, you were ‘lucky’ that day. The max-bet belief stems from the many gambling machines, especially progressives, at which you have to bet the maximum amount allowable to hit the highest jackpot.
Years ago, anybody that had any knowledge about slot machines knew that you always play the maximum number of credits or coins. It was similar to video poker where you should never play without betting max coins because if you do, you won’t qualify for the bonus when you hit the royal flush. If you can’t afford to play max coins then you need to drop down in the denomination you are playing. In other words, if you can’t afford to play 5 credits on the dollar machine ($5 per spin) drop down to the 50 cent machine so you can play 5 credits ($2.50 per spin). This advice held true for slots as well because almost all slots offered a jackpot bonus.
Just in case you are new to playing slots Max Bet or Maximum Bet is the highest amount of coins or credits you can play in a single spin. For example most classic slots let you play up to three coins per spin — a max bet of three coins. This gets a bit more complicated with video slots — see below for details.
Let’s first take a look at why that advice was so important. If you didn’t play the maximum coins on those machines you did not qualify for the bonus the machine gave you for the jackpot. By not playing max coins you were not receiving the maximum payback percentage from that machine. As I’ve talked about in the past, every slot machine is set to payback a certain percentage of the money it takes in. This percentage is set over a long period of time so it doesn’t mean that if you put in $100 on a machine that has an 88% payback, you would win $88. That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense and wouldn’t be much fun. It is set for the long-term, but the casino is guaranteed to make money over the long haul on that machine.
By not betting max coins, you are lowering the payback percentage even more. Some slots have a low set payback percentage so you certainly don’t want to do anything to make it even worse. The best example is the large progressive Megabucks slot machine that I’ve posted about before. You should be shot if you are playing that machine without playing max credits. That slot machine already has a low payback, usually between 85–88%, and by not qualifying for the jackpot that payback is lowered even more. Not only that, but if you ever did hit the jackpot not playing max credits, you would probably want to jump off a bridge. NEVER play these games without max credits bet.
A common mistake that many people succumb to is when they are down to their last credits. Say they are playing a $1 Megabucks machine that requires three credits to qualify for the jackpot. They might put in $100 and when they get down to only $2 left, instead of going through the hassle of cashing out $2 or having to put in another $1 they go ahead and spin the reels with only 2 credits bet. DON”T DO IT. I’m saving you a life of psychiatric counseling if you ever hit the jackpot in this situation.
With the introduction of video slots things have changed dramatically. This advice is no longer viable for many machines. In fact, you want to do the opposite for any machine that doesn’t have a bonus jackpot. As a player you are better off playing one credit on a dollar denomination machine than 4 credits on a 25 cent machine. The reason is the higher denomination machines are usually set at a higher payback percentage. In essence, the proper play on slot machines has reversed. However, there are some video slots that do offer large progressive jackpots or bonus jackpots so for those machines the old rule holds true. Always play maximum coins on those machines or play another machine.
The bottom line is as a gambler you need to understand what you are playing. I know it’s fun to put money in a machine you’ve never played before and just hope for beginners luck, but if you do that on the wrong machine and realize you could have won the million dollar jackpot, you will never forgive yourself.
When this does happen people try to comfort themselves with the notion that the machine only let them hit the jackpot because they weren’t betting max credits. They tell themselves it would not have hit if they were betting maximum credits. That’s completely false. The RNG has no idea how many credits you play, and the RNG sequence for the jackpot is the same no matter how many credits you play. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news to anyone this has happened to, but as long as the machine uses a RNG it’s true.
When you are playing video poker games or slot games the general rule of thumb is that you should always bet the maximum amount that the machine will allow you to make. There are a few exceptions to this rule but we will explore those later in this article. For video poker games, the maximum bet is usually anywhere between 5 and 20 coins. For slot machines, the maximum bet can sometimes reach over 100 coins.
The main reason why wagering the maximum amount is smart is that most slot games and video poker games tend to offer bonus payouts or jackpots to those who do so. If you do not bet the maximum amount and you hit one of the jackpot hands or spins, you will not be rewarded with the jackpot prize. This is one of the worst feelings in the world and it is totally avoidable.
This bonus money adds a little bit of value to each spin and you will be missing out on this value if you fail to bet the maximum amount. Your goal as a gambler should be to scoop up as much value as you can so that you can gamble for longer and ultimately have more fun.
Common Excuses
There are a lot of common excuses that people have for why they are not betting the maximum bet each spin or hand. Most of these excuses are based on a misunderstanding or a superstition that can easily be debunked.
We will now take a look at some of these excuses and explain why they are flawed so that you can consciously avoid having these types of thoughts. The best way to maximize the amount of fun that you have per every dollar that you spend is to make the maximum bet and get the highest returns possible.
Excuse #1: “I Can’t Afford It!”
The most important thing that you need to do is make sure that you have a big enough bankroll to cover the maximum bet for a large number of spins or hands. If you do not have enough money to play the maximum bets then you should not be playing on that machine.
One of the best ways around this dilemma is to simply play at lower stakes so that you can comfortably make the maximum bet. If you are already playing on the lowest stakes that your machine has to offer and you still cannot afford the maximum bet, then you should try looking on different machines.
If the casino that you are playing in does not have any lower stakes machines then you are likely to find some at a different casino. There are many casinos that let you play stakes as low as 1 cent per coin, and if this is too much money for you then you probably shouldn’t be gambling at all until you get some more money.
Excuse #2: “I Just Hit a Big Score!”
Some people think that just because they recently hit a huge score that they should avoid making the max bets in anticipation of a cold streak. This way of thinking is based on the “gambler’s fallacy” which incorrectly assumes that if an outcome occurs more frequently than expected over a certain period of time that it will occur less frequently in the near future.
Max Bet Slot Machine Wins
The truth is that the random number generator which controls the outcome of each hand or spin has no idea whether you have won recently or not. Even if you are on the exact same machine where you hit a jackpot, the odds that you will hit it again on the very next spin remain the same as they were before you hit it the first time. Therefore, you should continue betting the maximum amount on every spin no matter what has happened to you in recent hands so that you can scoop up that sweet value.
Excuse #3: “I Want My Money to Last Longer!”
Some players have more than enough money in their bankroll to comfortably bet the maximum amount of coins every hand or spin but they avoid it because they want their money to last longer. In their eyes, this is the safe way to play but in reality, it is the wrong thing to do.
Max Bet Slot Machine
The funny part about this misunderstanding is that betting the maximum WILL make your money last longer in the long run. However, if we are talking about a timeframe of just one day then anything can happen so you should keep in mind that we are talking about a very large sample size of hands or spins.
The reason why your money will last longer if you bet the maximum amount per spin is that you will be losing less money per spin. The extra bonus money which you receive on your jackpot wins will give you more money per spin over the course of millions of spins which means that you will be losing slower.
Excuse #4: “I’m Not Lucky Enough!”
Out of all of the excuses on our list, this one is by far the silliest. Every player has an equal chance at winning in slot machines, and every player who knows the correct strategies for video poker has an equal chance of winning as well.
The only way to actually prove that you are somehow less lucky than everyone else would be to complete millions of spins and compile the data so that you can analyze it. Most people have not come close to playing millions of spins and are basing their luck off of a very small and meaningless sample size.
Whether you consider yourself a lucky person or not you should still make the max bet on every spin or hand. Even if you were less lucky than everyone else is, it makes sense to bet a little bit extra so that your average return per coin will increase.
Exceptions to the Rule
1. The Max Bet Is Higher Than the Bet Amount Where the Bonus Payout Becomes Available
Anyone who is a frequent video poker player will know exactly what we are talking about here. Most slot machines do not normally have any options that are higher than the bet amount where the jackpot becomes available to the player.
For example, if you are playing in a Deuces Wild game you might notice that the Royal Flush payout increases dramatically from 1000 coins to 4000 coins when you up your bet from 4 coins to 5 coins. However, some machines will allow up to 20 coins per spin and there are no more dramatic increases to be found between 5 and 20 coins.
If you happen to be playing on a machine like this, then you do not have to bet the full 20 coins every time. In fact, you don’t need to bet more than 5 coins per hand. There is no extra incentive to do so unless you simply feel like betting more money per spin.
2. Games With No Extra Bonuses
Another exception to the rule occurs when you are playing in a game where there are no extra bonus payouts for betting the maximum amount. These games are actually pretty scarce these days compared to games that offer extra bonus payouts for a max bet.
Due to the lack of a payout bonus for max bets, you can bet whatever amount you want to since the whole point of betting the max amount is to take advantage of the bonus payouts. There is no mathematical difference between betting one coin or betting the maximum amount of coins in these games.
We recommend avoiding these types of games if you are the type of player who likes to bet the maximum amount every hand. Your willingness to make these large bets will serve you better in games where there are bonus payouts rewarded to any max bets.
3. You Don’t Care About Winning
This might seem like a joke, but there are definitely some people who are so rich they don’t care if they win or lose. Some of them even enjoy the act of losing because it barely makes a dent in their bankroll and it makes them feel invincible. There are a plethora of alternative reasons why people don’t care about winning or losing slower, but we don’t want to turn this into a psychology paper.
If you are one of these particular human beings then be our guest and do not make the maximum bet on every spin or hand. This will ensure that you lose more money per spin in the long run, which is exactly what you were hoping for!
What to Remember
You should always make the maximum bet in a video poker game or a slot game as long as you have enough money in your bankroll. The only logical exceptions to this rule are when the specific game that you are playing does not offer bonus payouts on a max bet or if the bonus payout is achievable by paying less than the maximum bet.
Ignoring this rule is going to ensure that you do not get the maximum value out of every coin that you bet. Anyone who hates money will be happy to hear this, but everyone else should be excited about taking advantage of some extra value by making the maximum bet.
Even though the jackpots are rare, claiming this extra money from time to time will allow you to lose less money per spin over the long run. This contributes to the ultimate goal of having as much fun as possible while gambling by allowing you to play for more time per deposit, on average.
It does not matter if you think that you are an unlucky person, or if you think you already used up your luck by hitting a jackpot on a previous spin. The random number generator that decides the outcomes of each spin or hand in slot games and video poker games does not care about who you are or the results of your previous rounds.
The only control that you have over your fate, other than learning a proper strategy for the games that require one, is to make sure that you make the maximum bet for each round. By doing this you will give yourself a chance at hitting a jackpot while simultaneously knowing that it is the logical and mathematically correct play in the long run.
