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I always thought it would be interesting to look at when to bet big on a game that’s as close to the opposite of blackjack as I could think of. When should you bet big on slot machines?

Quite frankly, I have several opinions and lines of thinking related to how much you should risk when playing slot machines. And the conclusions I’ve come to are about as different as the conclusions I came to when discussing blackjack as you could ever imagine.

You Should NEVER Bet Big on Slot Machines

Compared to other casino games, real money slots have the ability drain your bankroll fast. Not only do slot machine games have the highest house edge in the casino, but they also practically force you to put more money into action per hour than any other game.

Betting big on slot machines basically guarantees that you’ll lose a lot of money.

The average slot machine in a competitive casino destination probably has a house edge of around 7%. It could be higher than that depending on the machine. You’re not able to determine how big the house edge, is though.

That’s because the payback percentage is based on the probability of winning multiplied by the amount you stand to win. You do this for all the possible combinations, and you have the payback percentage for the game. Subtract that from 100%, and you have the house edge for the game.

How the Payback Percentage for Slot Machines Works

Let’s look at a simplified slot machine game, slots probabilities, and how the payback percentage for the game is calculated. Let’s suppose the pay table looks like this:

• Three fruit symbols result in a 200 for 1 payout.
• Any two fruit symbols plus any other one symbol results in a 25 for 1 payout.
• Any one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols results in a 5 for 1 payout.
• Any combination without a fruit symbol but with a bar symbol results in a 1 for 1 payout.

Now, let’s say that there are 2,500 possible combinations, and you can achieve the following combinations in the following number of ways:

• You have eight ways to get three fruit symbols.
• You have 16 ways to get two fruit symbols plus any other symbol.
• You have 32 ways to get any one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols.
• You have 128 ways to get a bar without any fruit symbols.
• Every other possible combination results in no payout.

What are the probabilities of achieving each result?

You determine that by dividing the number of ways of getting that result by the total number of possible results:

• Getting three fruit symbols is a probability of 8/2500, or 0.0032.
• Getting two fruit symbols plus any other symbol is a probability of 16/2500, or 0.0064.
• Getting one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols is a probability of 32/2500, or 0.0128.
• And the probability of getting a bar with no fruit symbols is 128/2500, or 0.0512.

To get the expected value for each combination, you just multiply the probability by the payout:

• Three fruit symbols is worth 0.0032 X 200, or 0.64.
• Two fruit symbols play any other symbol is worth 0.0064 X 25, or 0.16.
• Getting one fruit symbol plus any other two symbols is worth 0.0128 X 5, or 0.064.
• Getting a bar with no fruit symbols is worth 0.0512 X 1, or 0.0512.

Add all those together, and you get an overall expected return of 0.9152, or 91.52%.

This means the hypothetical slot machine I described has a house edge of 100%, 91.52%, or 8.48%.

But What Does the Casino House Edge Really Mean?

The casino house edge is a statistical prediction of how much you’re going to lose on the action that you place. For example, if you bet $100 on a game with a house edge of 8.48%, you’re expected to lose an average of $8.48.

But this is a statistical average. As you can see in the example above, you can’t lose $8.48 on a $100 bet on this machine. You can lose $100. Or you can win an amount of between $100 and $20,000.

It’s a long-term expected average per bet, what you can expect after thousands of repetitions. This is what the Law of Large Numbers is all about. In the short term, with anything that’s random, you never know what’s going to happen. You might win a lot or lose a lot. On a single spin, you’re looking at the ultimate example of the short term.

But the closer you get to an infinite number of repetitions, the closer your average results will get to the statistical expectation.

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At 10 slot machine spins, you’ll almost certainly get closer to that 8.48% expected loss rate. At 100 slot machine spins, the probability of getting close to the statistical expectation goes up even more. And so on at 1,000 spins and 10,000 spins.

How Long Does It Take to Get Into the Long Run With a Slot Machine?

The average slot machine player makes 500 spins per hour. That’s the same thing as 500 bets. Contrast this with the average number of bets per hour at various casino games:

• Blackjack might result in 60 bets per hour depending on the number of players at the table.
• Craps might result in 100 rolls per hour, but depending on your betting strategy, you might not be placing a new bet on every roll. If you base it on decisions per hour, you might be looking at just 30 bets per hour.
• Roulette might result in 60 spins per hour, and if you’re only placing one bet per spin, you’re only looking at 60 bets per hour.

If you notice, the number of bets per hour at a slot machine is greater than the number of bets per hour on any table game by a huge margin. The fastest of these table games is craps, but you’d need to be placing a new bet on every roll of the dice just to make 1/5 of the number of bets you’d make on a slot machine.

What Does This Mean to the Amount of Money You’re Expected to Lose on Slot Machines?

The casinos calculate a game’s predicted win for the casino by multiplying the average hourly action by the game’s house edge. The hourly action is just the product of the average bet size multiplied by the average number of bets you make per hour.

But suppose you’re betting $3 per spin on a slot machine. That means you’re putting $1500 into action per hour. And if you assume a 6% house edge, you’re looking at a predicted $90 per hour loss rate.

That’s a huge difference.

What Happens to Your Average Hourly Loss Rate on Slot Machines When You Start Making “Big” Bets?

Okay, so suppose you decide to cash out your 401k and play the high roller slots at your local casino. Let’s say these games have a max bet of $100. How much money are you expected to lose for an hour of this kind of action?

$100 X 500 spins is $50,000 in action.

With a 6% house edge, your expected loss in an hour of play at this rate is $3000. That’s a lot of money to lose on just an hour of entertainment. Sure, you could get lucky and have a big winning session. But the longer you play, the more likely you are to lose, and the more money you stand to lose during that losing session.

It’s Okay to “Take a Shot”

One of my professional poker mentors explained to me that it’s okay to occasionally ignore strict bankroll management requirements in poker if you want to “take a shot.” The idea is that you’re willing to risk a relatively large amount of money on a big gamble.

This doesn’t mean buying into the World Series of Poker every week for $10,000, if that were even possible. It does mean that it’s okay to save $1,000 a month for a year to be able to take a shot at the final table next year.

It’s okay to place a single big bet on a slot machine on the outside chance you might get a win.

Most people, though, treat slot machines like Lay’s potato chips. They can’t eat just one potato chip, and they can’t just make one slot machine spin.

Conclusion

When should you bet big on a slot machine game? The short answer is, almost never. The house edge is too high, and the number of bets you’ll make per hour multiply that amount exponentially. And the more bets you make, the likelier you are to see the statistically expected results.

If you want to bet big on a slot machine, limit yourself to a single big bet. If you’re really aggressive, set some arbitrary number of spins as your target.

I once played a game for $100 per spin for just 10 spins. I won $6,000 that session, so it went okay.

Had I stayed at the machine for a couple of hours, though, I would have almost certainly have given all that back to the casino and then some.

Online slots are among the most generous games when it comes to betting options.

These options are great for when you want to either play for a high or low stakes. However, you may be conflicted on which route to go.

• With high stakes, you have an opportunity to win bigger prizes.
• Meanwhile, low stakes allow you to stretch your bankroll further and get more entertainment.

If you’re stuck on what size of slots bets to use, then you should check out this post.

I’ll discuss the normal online slots betting range, the case for placing higher wagers, and the argument for making lower bets.

What’s the Normal Online Slots Betting Range?

A slots game’s betting range can vary based on the following three factors:

• Coin size (stake size)
• Paylines
• Coins per line

The coin size lets you change your stake per payline. If you use a $0.05 coin on 25 lines, for example, you’ll be risking $1.25 per spin.

Almost every slot allows you to change your coin. Therefore, you should become very familiar with this option.

Some games let you use more than one coin on each payline. For instance, you may be able to put anywhere from 1 to 10 coins on each line. The majority of slots offer fixed paylines. A 30-line game, for example, will force you to use all 30 lines.

However, some slots do allow you to adjust this option. You may be able to change the number of lines from 1 to 20, for example.

More and more modern games only offer a stake range. This format features fixed paylines, or variable Megaways, along with a bet slider that goes left (lower) or right (higher).

Considering the different factors, the average betting range for an online slot can vary greatly from one case to another. Generally speaking, though, the average slot lets you wager between $0.20 and $100 per spin.

I’ve seen games that feature minimum wagers as low as one cent and maximum bets as high as $1,000.

In these cases, betting a small amount would entail risking between $0.20 and $1 per round. On the other end of the spectrum, high rollers could wager between $10 and $100 per round.

The Case for Betting More

You should never force yourself to risk too much if you don’t have the bankroll. Assuming you do have the necessary funds, though, then you might consider a bigger bet for the following reasons.

Win More With Stake-Based Prizes

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In the past, many online slots featured progressive jackpots that take small amounts out of each bet to fund the top prize. The same games and jackpots still exist today.

However, the majority of games produced today base their top payout on your stake amount.

Here’s an example on how this works:

• You wager $2 per spin.
• The game’s maximum payout is worth 10,000.
• 10,000 x 2 = 20,000
• You have an opportunity to win up to $20,000 per spin.

The amount that you can wager is entirely dependent upon your bet size in these cases. Therefore, you should definitely think about risking more money if you want to win big.

Turn Small Wins Into Large Payouts

Most of your slots wins will be relatively small. You’ll pull in many payouts that are only worth 1x to 5x your bet.

It’s always nice to win.

However, you may grow tired of collecting such tiny payouts if you’re only risking between $0.01 and $0.50 per spin.

The best way to solve this problem is by upping your bet size. You can turn your insignificant payouts into notable prizes with a larger wager.

Assuming you risk at least $2 per spin, for example, your 5x payouts will suddenly turn into $10 wins. This amount isn’t going to make you rich, but it is a nice prize, nonetheless.

Improve Your Odds of Winning a Jackpot

Progressive jackpot slots vary on whether the bet size factors into your odds of winning. However, a fair number of jackpot slots do give you stronger odds when you risk more money.

If you play Microgaming’s Mega Moolah, for example, you only have to wager $0.25 per spin for a chance at the jackpot.

However, your odds of winning increase when you place a higher wager.

Of course, you may just want to go for a large jackpot without risking too much.

Then again, you might feel like maximizing your odds of winning by risking more money.

You should always check the info screen to see if your stake has any bearing on jackpot chances. If it does, then you want to seriously consider wagering more.

Get More Thrills

Everybody has their own reasons for playing real money online slots. Generally speaking, though, most people spin the reels because they want some thrills.

Perhaps you’re the type of person who doesn’t mind risking pennies for small payouts. However, you might also grow bored with chasing such small prizes.

Again, you should never play for high stakes if you don’t have the funds for it. But you can increase your bet size when looking to get more thrills.

The Case for Betting Less

Bigger bets aren’t necessarily a great idea for everyone. You definitely want to consider the following downsides before you start clicking the up arrow on the stake option.

The Biggest Stake-Based Prizes Are Tough to Win

Large maximum payouts are one of the biggest priorities among many gamblers. When choosing slots, some people won’t play a game unless it has at least a maximum payout worth 10,000x the stake.

Nothing is wrong with seeking out huge wins. However, you also have to consider the high degree of difficulty in winning such prizes.

Remember, developers determine the top payout for their games by running simulations involving up to 1 billion spins. You’ll find it almost impossible to play any slot for that many rounds

Furthermore, you probably won’t win the top payout at any given game. Therefore, you shouldn’t over emphasize the maximum win.

You Have Little Chance of Winning a Jackpot

Some slots deliver their top win through a progressive or fixed jackpot, rather than a stake-based payout.

Herein lies another example where you might see the jackpot and immediately get excited. But just like the top stake-based prizes, jackpots are quite elusive.

Your odds of winning any large jackpot numbers in the millions. For example, you might only have a 1 in 30 million chance of winning a seven-figure payout on a certain slot.

Your Bankroll Will Go Faster

Slots make bankroll management very difficult. They see you play at a fast rate and can quickly take your money when accounting for the volatility.

After all, slots are negative expectation games that give the house an advantage.

The comparison below shows how much more you stand to lose with a larger wager:

• You wager $5 per spin.
• You play for 1,000 spins.
• The game has a 4% house edge (96% RTP).
• 5 x 1,000 x 0.04 = $200 in theoretical losses

Small Bet

• You wager $0.50 per spin.
• You play for 1,000 spins.
• The game has a 4% house edge.
• 50 x 1,000 x 0.04 = $20 in theoretical losses

The simple advice here is to tone down your wagers and extend your playing hours. Again, though, it’s difficult to do so when do you also want to win big prizes.

You’ll Get Less Entertainment out of Slots

Why would you knowingly play any game that gives the casino a long-term advantage?

You don’t necessarily have to win big, or win anything at all, to have fun with slots at online casinos. You probably get plenty of entertainment from these games through the thrills alone.

Of course, you’ll enjoy less entertainment with online slots when selecting higher bets. Increasing your wager from $0.25 to $0.50, for example, will theoretically cut your time on the reels in half.

Everything Depends Upon Your Preferences

You can see that there are plenty of reasons for and for not betting more with slots.
To recap, the advantages of risking more include:

• Turn small payouts into larger prizes.
• Play for bigger stake-based wins.
• Get more thrills with large bets.
• Boost your odds of winning the jackpot (if applicable).

The drawbacks to upping your bets include:

• You probably won’t win the maximum stake-based prize anytime soon.
• You stand very little chance of winning a huge jackpot.
• Bankroll management becomes harder.
• You won’t get as much entertainment due to heavier potential losses.

The absolute top advantage to betting more is that you can win more through the base game, features, and with the jackpots (if available). The biggest downside is simply that you could quickly lose your bankroll.

That said, you need to think about the tradeoff between huge wins and making your funds last.

If winning big is everything, then you should consider using a larger wager.

Assuming you’re the type of who hates losing quickly, then you might reduce your stakes and play longer. You stand to suffer fewer losses with smaller bets.

Conclusion

Most players playing slots online or on a real money slots app aren’t high rollers and who can easily afford to risk $20 or more per spin. If you fall into this category, then you must make a decision between playing for low or high stakes.

Bigger wagers give you an opportunity to win more, whether it’s through a jackpot or stake-based prize.

However, you’re also throwing more money at the house edge.

Low bets all but ensure that you’ll be able to play longer. But you may not find slots as thrilling when payouts are based on a $0.20 wager or lower.

No perfect bet size exists in the gaming world. Therefore, you need to look at your individual situation and decide what’s best.