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.
Betting the max on slots is not always the right move
By John Grochowski
- High Limit Dragon Link Happy and Prosperous Slot Machine $50 Max Bet HANDPAY JACKPOT My EPIC COME BACK EVER Part-2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn-fbB.
- Should You Always Bet Max On Slots? Published by Paige October 4, 2020 Categorie(s): Casino News, Gambling Strategies. Probably the most common tip for slots is to “always bet the max” to get the biggest payouts.
Beyond those examples, though, max bet is usually just a proportionally higher win or loss compared to a lower bet. So if min bet is 30 cents, and max bet is $3, you can expect a 10x win. 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.
For decades, players have been told that, when it comes to slots, they should always bet the max to get the best payback percentage. That’s still the case on most three-reel stepper slots, and on a small percentage of video slots.
But getting the highest payback percentage isn’t the only goal of slot play. It’s also important to protect your bankroll and avoid betting money you can’t afford to lose. Like other casino games, slot machines have house edges built in through math, and bigger bets bring bigger average losses.
That’s no different than in blackjack, where the vast majority of us who are not card counters will lose more money if we bet $25 than if we bet $15, and more if we bet $10 than $5. It’s the same deal on craps, baccarat, roulette, three card poker or anything else – average losses are lower when you bet less, and lowest if you don’t bet at all.
Of course, we’re not going to skip betting altogether. The winning times make it all worthwhile, and the fun built into modern machines at least gives us a day’s entertainment when the wins don’t come.
Instead of asking “Should you bet the max?” it’s usually better to come at it from a different angle. The question can be, “When your bankroll can’t stretch to the max, should you choose a different machine?”
The answer to that question depends on the type of game.
THREE-REEL NON-PROGRESSIVE
The reason you get a higher payback percentage for betting the max on such games is that a max-coins bet brings a disproportionate jump in the top jackpot.
For example, a one-coin bet might bring a top jackpot of 1,000 coins, which rises to 2,000 with a two-coin bet. Instead of a proportionate rise to 3,000, the payoff jumps to 5,000 with a three-coin bet.
Betting only one or two coins will lead to a lower overall payback percentage. How much lower depends on both size and frequency of jackpots.
There’s no way for a player to know the jackpot frequency designed into the odds of the game. However, we can make up an example to show you the effect.
Our hypothetical game has the paybacks listed above, and the jack- pot occurs an average of once per 20,000 spins. Assuming a three-coin bet, then per 20,000 spins you wager 60,000 credits. At 95 percent return – on the high end for dollar machines – your return is 57,000 credits, with 5,000 coming from the jackpot and 52,000 coming from other spins.
Now assume a one-coin bet, making the total risk 20,000 credits. Your average return is 1,000 credits for the jackpot and 17,333 credits on smaller pays – one third of the 52,000 you get on small pays with max bet.
That’s a total return of 18,333 credits. Divide that by your 20,000- credit risk and multiply by 100 to convert to percent, and you get a 91.3 percent return. A two-coin bettor also gets that payback percentage.
That 95-percent game becomes a 91.3-percenter when you bet less than the max. However, your average total loss of 3,000 credits when you bet max drops to 1,167 credits when you bet one credit at a time.
A player on a limited bankroll may find it worthwhile to accept the lower payback percentage and bet less than the max on three-reel step- pers. However, note that the 91.3-percent return takes the payback into normal range for quarter machines. Betting the max on a quarter machine usually will be as good a play on a percentage basis and a better play on a dollars-and-cents basis than betting one coin on a dollar game.
The bottom line is for players on a budget, betting less than the max isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s even better to drop to a lower coin denomination.
THREE-REEL PROGRESSIVES
The situation is similar to three-reel non-progressives, except that a big- ger share of the overall return is concentrated in the progressive jackpot. Let’s take the dollar machine above and make it progressive. Now lining up three jackpot symbols brings you 1,000 credits if you bet one credit, 2,000 if you bet two and a progressive pot if you bet three.
The money to fund that progressive pot has to come from somewhere, and where it comes from is you. A portion of each bet is added to the pot. The tradeoff is that you get less in smaller pays.
Let’s say you get one percent less in smaller pays and that money goes to the progressive pot instead. Then instead of the one-coin bettor getting 17,333 credits in smaller returns, he gets 17,160.The overall payback for a one- or two-coin bettor drops to 90.8 percent. If smaller pays are reduced by two percent, the overall return drops to 89.9 percent, and so on.
On a dollar game, the return to a one-coin bettor quickly drops below the normal return for betting the max on a quarter machine.
In a nutshell, if you have a big enough bankroll and want to chase the big jackpots, go ahead and bet the max. But players on a budget should avoid short-coin play on three-reel progressives. If you can’t afford to bet the max, change machines and pick either a non-progressive machine or a game at a lower coin denomination.
VIDEO NON-PROGRESSIVES
Best Bet Slots
It’s always worth checking the pay tables to make sure, but video slots in the usual five-reel configuration almost always have proportionate pay all the way up the pay table. There is no bonus for betting the max. The payback percentage is the same regardless of whether you bet one coin per line or bet the max.
The situation gets a little trickier if side bets are required to activate game features such as pick’em bonuses or free spins. If you don’t make the side bet, you’re left with a game with no bonuses. We have no way of knowing the payback percentage on such games if the bonuses are not in play, but aren’t the bonuses why most of us play video slots in the first place?
On most non-progressive video slots, there is no penalty for betting minimum coins. One-coin-per-line customers can enjoy to their hearts content, while those who want to take a shot at multiplying winnings can bet more if they wish. However, if a side bet is required to activate bonus features, players whose budgets won’t stretch to the extra bet should choose a different game.
VIDEO PROGRESSIVE
There have been video slots with progressives that give a big jump in the top jackpot with a max bet, just like three-reel progressives. However, these are rare. Should you find one, the situation is the same as on three-reel games: If you don’t want to make the required bet to be jackpot-eligible, choose a different game.
The most common video slot progressive formats have multi-tiered jackpots, with levels named mini, minor, major or grand, or bronze, silver, gold, platinum, or some other combination with names corresponding to jackpot sizes.
The smallest are designed to occur frequently and might be only a few dollars. These are rapid-hit jackpots, there to hold your interest and keep you involved in the game. The top level can be hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
Two common formats for multi-tiered progressives are mystery jack- pots and separate-bet jackpots.
In mystery jackpots, all players are eligible for the same jackpots, regardless of how much they bet. Those who bet more will win more frequent jackpots, because the bigger bets give them more chances to push the jackpot up to the mystery trigger. However, that’s offset by the bigger risk of bigger bets.
On video progressives with side bets, you must make the extra bet to be eligible for the progressives. With the frequent-hit small pays being an important part of keeping you in the game, you want to be eligible for the progressives.
If you’re playing video progressives with mystery triggers, there is nothing wrong with making minimum bets per line. However, if a side bet is required, you should either make the extra bet or choose a different game. Too much of the game’s fun and payback is tied up in the progressives to play without jackpot eligibility. If you need to conserve bankroll, choose a game where the extra bet is not required.
New slot machine players are going to find a lot of advice for beating the slots. Have a healthy skepticism when a slots expert tells you they know how to beat the slot machines. Among the games in a casino, video slots (in general) have a high house edge. Besides finding gaming machines with high jackpots and a low house edge, no skill or strategy is required to play slots. That means you can’t expect to increase your odds of winning in most situations.
Read through the advice below to optimize your chances of winning at slots. None of the advice assures winning sessions. Instead, it helps you stretch your bankroll, so you enjoy playing the slots longer. Also, the longer your bankroll lasts, the more chances you’ll have of hitting the big jackpot every slots player wants.
Use a Slots Card
Upon entering a live casino, sign up for a slots card. This provides comps and cashback, which automatically lowers the house edge by a bit. Never play a spin without using your slots card. In an online casino, accept the highest slots bonus and play according to the terms and conditions until you meet the wagering requirement. Once again, this lowers the house edge on online slots.
Make Max Bets
Look at the payout chart on a slot machine to determine how jackpots are paid. On many slot machines, the 5-coin bet pays out a higher percentage on the top fixed jackpot. For instance, a 1-coin bet might pay $200, a 2-coin bet might pay $400, a 3-coin bet might pay $600, and a 4-coin bet might pay $800. You might expect the 5-coin bet to pay $1000, but many slot machines pay out $1200 or $1500 in that case, trying to convince bettors to make the max bet.
If the jackpot increases a bigger percentage with a maximum coin wager, then it makes sense to make the max bet on a slot machine. If the bet size is too high for your tastes, then lower the coin denomination and make a max bet at that level. Of course, if there is no additional jump between the 4-coin and 5-coin bet, then you can wager a single coin and max out the coin denomination to the bet size you like.
Read the RTP Information
If an online casino or land-based casino publishes its return-to-player information, read through the RTP percentages to find the video slots with the best RTPs. Return-to-player or expected return is the percentage of a theoretical $100 you expect to see returned to you. It is a theoretical percentage based on probability, so an RTP of 95% does not assure you’ll be paid $95 for every $100 you put in the machine. You might lose $50 or you might win $150, or you might win a progressive jackpot and go home rich.
The point of the RTP percentage is to give a player an idea of their expected return. If two slot machines sit next to one another and one has an RTP of 93% and the other an RTP of 95% (and both have similar jackpots), then it pays to play the game with the higher percentage. Over time, this leads to you maintaining a higher percentage of your bankroll.
Money Management Techniques
Read about bankroll management techniques. “Money management” or “bankroll management” is a series of steps you take to lock on winnings when good luck happens and limit your losses when a bad streak occurs. These do not assure that you’ll win, but it optimizes your bankroll.
Maximum Bet On Slot Machines
Players should know three core bankroll management methods: percentage betting, win goals, and loss limits. Learn to calculate your bankroll and divide this into percentages. Then bet between 1% and 5% of your bankroll on any given hand, depending on your capacity for risk. This limits the amount of your stake you lose on any given session, keeping you playing for longer throughout your vacation. It is a given that people go to the ATM machine or credit card when they lose their whole bankroll — which means you spend more than you intended. The point of percentage betting is to assure your bankroll last through your whole trip, so you never have to replenish.
What Is a Bankroll?
“Bankroll” is not defined as your entire bank account. It isn’t defined as your discretionary spending budget or the money you have earmarked for entertainment expenses. Instead, it is a part of your discretionary spending cash and entertainment budget which is set aside specifically for gambling. In this case, a bankroll is less than your entertainment budget.
Once you have your bankroll figured, divide this into easy to understand percentage. If you have a bankroll of $1000, then divide this into percentages. These are simple calculations, but you should have an understanding of 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and 20% of your bankroll. In the earlier example, 1% would be $10, while 2% would be $20. 5% would be $50, 10% would be $100, and 20% would be $200.
Now that you have these, decide whether to bet 1% to 5% of your bankroll. Most experts suggest betting no more than 1% to 2% in order to maintain your bankroll throughout your casino trip or online slots session.
Setting a Win Goal
Next, set your win goal. This is the amount of winnings you set as your goal for any given slots session. If you have a win goal of 10%, then your win goal would be $100 for any given slot machine sessions. As soon as you hit that goal, you walk away from the slot machine — no matter what. A win goal is a hard-and-fast rule, because it locks in winnings. One of the biggest mistakes players make is losing back their winnings, because they think they’re on a hot streak.
Setting a Loss Limit
Even more dangerous is trying to win back cash you just loss. To protect against this tendency, set a loss limit. Once again, make this your hard-and-fast rule. Typical loss limits can be 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% — though 20% means you could lose the entire bankroll in 5 slots session. 10% to 15% is a good middle ground. Once you’ve lost that amount, walk away from the slot machine under all circumstances. The slots game is not “due” to pay out, so step away from the machine and clear your mind.
Win goals and loss limits guard against gambler’s fallacy. Gambler’s fallacy is the idea that the law of averages assures or weight the odds in your favor. Slots use random number generators and every spin is entirely separate from the previous spin. Losing the last spin does not make it more likely you’ll win the next spin. The odds stay the same, no matter how many wins or losses in a row you’ve had.
Avoid Progressive Betting
For that reason, avoid progressive betting systems like the Martingale system, D’Alembert system, Fibonacci system, and so on. Betting experts have used computer simulations to track the progressive betting methods against flat betting (same bet each spin). Flat betting beats all of the progressive betting schemes over 1 billion spins.
Progressive betting seems like it’s working, because it leads to a lot of small winning sessions. The problem is that it also has a handful of huge losing sessions which wipe out all the wins — and then some. You can’t beat the house edge with the Martingale system, however it might look to the naked eye. The Fibonacci numbers are incredible, but they are not a magical way to beat the casino.
The reason progressive bets are bad is they increase the size of your bets (in some systems exponentially). If you start with $5 or $10 bets, a streak of bad luck has you betting hundreds of dollars on one spin. That’s busts your bankroll and leads to a “risk of ruin” — meaning you’ll lose your whole bankroll if you hit a bad luck streak. No matter what you read online, flat bets are better.
Take Breaks for Rest and Refreshments
Play when you are at your best physically and mentally. Don’t play when you’re tired or sleepy. Don’t play when you’re hungry or thirsty. Take frequent rest and restroom breaks. If you get bored, take a break and walk the casino. Play another game to change up the betting pattern.
Should You Play Max Bet On Slot Machines
When you are rested and engaged, you won’t have distractions that might lead to bad decisions. The idea is to have fun, so if anything is causing you to lose focus on the entertainment aspect of the game, walk away and save your bankroll.
Don’t Go on Tilt
Max Bet Slot Machine Wins
Tilt is a concept in poker where a player makes decisions based on emotional responses instead of solid strategy. It can cost a player a lot of money if they make bets based on anything but rational decisions. While going on tilt is not a concept in slot machine gambling, every game of chance has a personal component.
Max Bet Slot Machine Wins
In short, don’t play when you’re agitated. Take stock of your inner thoughts. If your ego or anger is causing you to make irrational decisions, take a deep breath and calm down. If that doesn’t work, walk away and clear your head. It stinks to lose a series of bets, but what stinks more is to lose a series of bigger bets when you’re trying to make up for lost bankroll.