I am proud to announce that this weeks blog is written by guest writer, and Rudies Member, Joshua O'Connell from KnowYourSlots.com.

Slot players are a diverse bunch. Not only do we like to play different types of games, but we also like to play at different bet levels. So, in today’s post I’ll share with you some thoughts to consider when you are trying to decide between low limit and high limit play.

Payout Percentages
As mentioned here by Brian in the past, Payout Percentages will tend to be higher on a higher denomination machine than a lower limit one.

Remember that a single session could be better or worse; short term luck can always sway things temporarily. Get a handpay and you’ll have done way over the average! Lots of dead spins and you’ll be under. But play it enough, and slowly it’ll start to average out. And playing on a high limit machine will almost always be a (pardon the pun) better bet.

Progressives
I’ve had players ask me if it’s worth playing high limit because of the higher progressives. A $5 bet on high limit with a $100,000 starting grand on Lightning Link is not the same chance as a $5 bet on a low-limit $10,000 starting grand. It matters even more on the smaller progressives, but let’s focus on the grand first.

With a $5 bet, if you’re playing a low-limit Lightning Link you’re betting 10 times above the minimum bet. That means that, for the Major and Grand, you’re getting a better chance at them than you would a 50 cent bet, for instance. The minor starts at 100x your bet and caps at 200x your bet in a normal scenario, not that out of reach with enough play.

Compare that to a $5 bet on a high limit machine. You are now betting minimum bet on that machine. Your major is 1,000-2,000x your bet, depending on where it is in the climb to its maximum amount. That will be challenging to secure. But when you do, it’ll be a massive handpay!
For another example, consider Dancing Drums. Max bet is $8.80 a spin on pennies. At max bet you will close the pot more frequently and have a better chance at a progressive. Play the same bet on a high limit Dancing Drums on dimes, and you’ll be betting minimum bet (presuming all 5 gold symbols are active). So on dimes, you will close the pot much less often, but when you do, you’ll have access to progressives roughly 10 times as big.

At the end of the day it’s a volatility choice. If you play high limit, you will not hit the progressives as often, but you’ll get bigger ones when you do. But on lower limit, you’ll get progressives more often with a similar bet, but each progressive will be worth less. They should, in the long term, average out to be similar, with higher limit being a touch higher thanks to the payback percentage.

Line Hits
Line hits is the one place where things generally don’t differ on many games. For Dancing Drums, playing $8.80 a spin on high limit should yield an identical payout on the same line hit as an $8.80 bet on pennies on low limit. In those cases, it’s a wash.

But on a game like Lightning Link, check the lines. On a low-limit game, if you’re playing $5 a spin on dimes, you’re probably getting 25 lines. So each line pays more, but there’s less lines you can hit. Once again, you’re dealing with a higher volatility potential.

Compare that now to a $5 bet on a dime denomination in high limit, and you will likely see 50 lines – twice as many lines, and the payouts will be half that of the low-limit dime denomination. More lines tend to be less volatile as you’ll hit something more often. So not only will the high limit version give you the chances for a higher overall payback, but you won’t have as much volatility. That can be valuable on a game as tough as Lightning Link.

So, What Should You Play?
I always recommend games with higher payback over lower limit, even if the chances for a progressive shifts. So here are my recommendations from best to worst, using the Lightning Link example provided throughout this article:

1. High Limit Lightning Link, dimes, $5 a spin (minimum bet)
2. Low Limit Lightning Link, dimes, $5 a spin (minimum bet at that denomination)
3. Low Limit Lightning Link, pennies, $5 a spin (max bet at that denomination)

The above gives you the best chances payback wise. And, with the high limit option, you may lower your volatility.

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Joshua O’Connell is the founder and creator of Know Your Slots, a website that aims to educate about slots, advantage play and casino comps. He’s a slot enthusiast and a proud member of the Rudies since launch.

Thank you so much Josh for that insightful blog! If you would like to be a guest writer for BCSlots.com, kindly send us an E-mail. 

People LOVE to ask me many personal questions, especially when it comes to money. I personally was raised never to ask questions about someone else's finances when it came to family members, let alone complete strangers, haha. That said, I will answer the question of if I am UP or DOWN for the year. 

I strictly promote responsible gambling with an entertainment budget. If you have expendable income, then the casino is a fun place to go. Seeming as I do this for a living, and play A LOT, I have some inside information when it comes to gambling. There is probably a fraction of 1% of people who can honestly (yes gamblers, please be honest...) say they made a profit from gambling in any given year. Most of which probably only gambled a handful of times at most. For those of us who gamble monthly at a minimum, the reality is that nobody makes a profit playing slot machines. That's right, not even me....or rather...especially not me!

To find out how you faired in 2019, you will need to gather together a Win/Loss Statement from every casino you've played at in a previous year. Provided you always used your players card, this is the best method for seeing how you did. The first thing you'll look at is the Coin In. This doesn't mean how much money you put in the machine physically, it means how much you gambled with. It counts the money recycled to keep gambling with. So even though you may have only put in $100, the machine may count you having gambled with $300 since you would have won some money, and then played it back. Here is an example:

Coin In: $250,000

That my friends, is a scary number for sure. It would probably represents someone playing with about $35,000 and then recycling the money. 

Next and more importantly is Coin Out, which tells you how much you cashed out of the machines. This does not include any jackpot handpays which is shown on a separate line. 

Coin Out: $200,000
Jackpots: $25,000
Total Out: $225,000

Now if we subtract the total coin out from the total coin in, we have our "profits"!

Total Net Loss: $25,000

Now to take it one step further, to find out our average payout percentage, we divide our total Coin Out from our total Coin IN, and we get

Payout Percentage: 90%.

That means that for every $100 gambled, $10 was lost. This would be considered a good payout percentage considering the average Vegas payout percentage being 91.96%. My payout percentages are much lower because of me playing more to make videos that create a profit.  So if I hit $200 on my first spin of a game, rather than cash out I kept playing to give you a longer video. So it's your fault, 😂. 

Out of all 25 casinos I gambled at in 2019, I probably have a positive outcome from about 5 of them overall. With casinos designed to take our money, they're doing their job. 

In order to get your Win/Loss Statement, the majority of casinos make you wait until February to gather them. Some of them still are in the stone age and require you to either come in person, or send a hand written letter to them requesting a win/loss by mail! One in particular requires you to get a letter notarized before mailing it to them first!

Let's keep in mind that when analyzing that I've lost a lot of money in 2019. I enjoyed numerous hotel stays in luxury suites, I had thousands of dollars covered in food and entertainment plus a further tens of thousands in freeplay granted to me and other perks like free drinks in the casino. Even with all of that, I still paid a hefty price for the entertainment.  For all of the adrenaline rushes and excitement of everything I received, it was a good investment for me. Plus I got to spend quality time with my friends and family and share all of my experiences with you. Now if I didn't have a channel that required 400 videos a year, I'd probably have been down much much less I imagine based on my play style and traveling to Vegas and beyond much less. 

Based on the first few Win/Loss Statements I've been able to get so far, I am indeed DOWN for 2019, by a lot. But so are you, and that helps me feel better about myself, haha, thanks.  

Before you go on a trip, ask yourself 'what is my entertainment worth'? Is  it worth $50 or $50,000?  Whichever it is, be sure to pack some extra #RudieLuck!

For your convenience, I have updated the complete list of Past Blogs to the right of here. See a subject you like, click and enjoy!

Brian Christopher xoxo ❤️


​To find out the payout percentages of your area, visit American Casino Guides resource here.