Maximum Coins In =
Maximum Advantage Out
21 April 2006
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mr. Pilarski,
Time and again, even from such esteemed sources
as Visiting Vegas type shows on The Travel
Channel, and perhaps even your feature (I don’t
recall), I continually hear the advice to play
the maximum coins (usually five) in the slot
machines. Why is that? My question is prompted
because everyone seems to push playing maximum
coins. E. W.
For almost all multiple-pay and multiple-play
machines, the maximum coin line tends to yield a
better percentage payback. Note on the paytable
the proportional difference in the size of your
payoff. Example: One coin inserted pays 500
coins; two coins: 1000 coins; three coins: 4000
returned. You clean up when that third coin is
played. Play fewer coins, E. W., and the casino
advantage rockets north. That is why esteemed
sources, and myself in the past, (love that!
Good company...) suggest playing the maximum
coins allowed to yield a better payback
percentage. If playing the maximum amount
happens to be a budget buster, those same
esteemed sources and Yours Truly will also
recommend switching to a lower denomination
machine. Can’t hack playing $3 a yank? ...play
75¢ instead.
There are, however, a few machines that do
return 500 for one coin inserted, 1,000 for two
coins, and 1,500 for three coins. If you happen
to come across this sort of proportional
paytable, you wouldn’t need to play the maximum
amount of coins to get full value from this
machine.
Dear Mark,
Everything I’ve seen about the vigorish on video
poker includes maximum coin play with a royal
flush. If the royal is excluded from the
computation, what is the vigorish on a 9/6
machine? Mike H.
For inquiring minds, what Mike meant by a “9/6
machine” is that it’s a Jacks or Better machine
paying 9 for a full house, 6 for a flush, with
one coin inserted.
Jacks or Better video poker with maximum coin
play has a house edge of 0.5%. Excluding the
royal flush, the casino’s advantage would be
approximately 2.5%. Here’s a barnyard math way
of viewing it. If, for instance, you were to
play 600 hands per hour on a $1 Jacks or Better
9/6 machine, you can expect to lose about $75
per hour, on average, for each hour you play
without hitting that phantom royal flush.
Dear Mark,
I need an alternative to my recent losing ways
in the casino. I have recently discovered
mini-baccarat. Is there any secret to this game,
such as, betting on the tie? Sally D.
The secret to baccarat, Sally, is that there is
no secret, so long as you stick to the Banker or
Player wagers. You will not break your “lose
everything, win nothing” track record by betting
on a high vigorish proposition bet such as the
tie wager, when the two other, far less
punishing, alternatives are available.
As for that tie bet, it is the only proposition
wager on the table, and a lousy one to boot.
Statistically, a tie appears every 10.5 hands,
but the casino is willing to pay you only 8:1,
which gives the house a 14.4 % edge on a tie
wager.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Why keep betting
more when you are losing? Only idiots do that
and there are plenty of them around.”—Mike
Goodman, “How To Win”
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