Ask the Slot Expert: Best way to play Lock It Link

Question: My wife and I love playing the Lock it Link slots on cruises.

I don’t completely understand the way to bet on the machines other than wagering 50 cents up to $5. Could you explain the best way to play this machine?

I usually have a $500 bankroll.

Answer: Here's my seven-step plan for playing Lock It Link machines:

1. Pick a machine.
2. Sit down at chosen machine.
3. Put money in bill acceptor.
4. Choose a denomination.
5. Choose a bet.
6. Watch the reels spin and hope for a jackpot.
7. Repeat step 6.

Snarkiness aside, there's really not much you can do to improve your odds on a slot machine.

For those not familiar with the machines, Lock It Link is a series of game themes from Scientific Games. The Lock It Link feature is triggered when three or more heart symbols land on a row. The symbols on the row move so that they are adjacent to each other (link). The machine draws a border around the grouping and puts a padlock on the border (lock). Each heart symbol has a credit value or Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand.

The heart symbols on the screen are now locked in place. Your goal in the bonus is to fill the screen with hearts. You spin the reels and hope that hearts appear in the positions without a heart. These new hearts don't have credit values until they're part of a linked grouping.

You start with three spins. Every time a heart symbol lands on the screen, it locks in place and your remaining spins count goes back to three. If the symbol is adjacent (up/down or right/left, not diagonally) to a linked group, it joins the group and gets a credit value based on your bet. The credit values on all the other hearts in the link are increased by that credit value too. If the symbol is adjacent to a grouping with only two symbols, it joins with those symbols to create a linked grouping and those hearts get credit values.

The bonus ends when you either fill the screen or you run out of spins.

The one thing that is completely under your control at a machine is how much you bet per spin. I usually check the rules to see the minimum I have to bet to enable all of the progressives or features on a machine. That's my base line bet. I may bet more than the base line bet depending on my bankroll.

Some machines let you choose a denomination. If the machine displays a message like "Loading..." or a specific set of reels are in play, it's possible that higher denominations may have higher long-term paybacks or hit frequencies. My experience has been that the 1 and 2-cent denominations seem to be the same and the 5 and dime denominations seem to be the same.

Is it better to maximize denomination or credits bet per line? Without access to the PAR sheet, we have no way to know. Many times I played about $5 per spin on a Game of Thrones machine. That was the maximum bet at the penny denomination and the minimum bet at dimes. I was going to compare how many bonuses I got at each denomination (I like this kind of research.) but the machine was removed before I collected enough data.

My general rule is that you should have enough session bankroll for 100 spins. If your $500 bankroll is for this session, you can afford to bet $5 per spin. Check each denomination for bets that are about $5. I would probably play pennies or nickels. If you have to make a max bet to be eligible for the progressives, I would play pennies.

If your bankroll has to last for two days or two machines, look to bet $2.50 per spin. If you have to lose eligibility for a progressive, so be it. Adjust your bet down if you bankroll has to last for more days or more machines. You can take whatever you have at the end of a session and put it towards your next session bankroll and bet a little more.

The goal is to avoid running out of money before you run out of the desire to play.

In short, the best way to play a Lock It Link machine -- or any machine -- is to bet an amount that is commensurate with your bankroll.

I want to clear some items that have collected in my rant folder.

First, Bill Maher. In his end-of-show editorial on his first show back, he made fun of people who wear masks in their cars. He asked if they think that they can catch Covid from the radio. And he recently said something like wanting to punch 20-somethings he sees walking alone and wearing a mask.

Speaking for myself, sometimes I get the mask on just right, a good seal and a comfortable fit. It's easier to just leave it on when I cross the street to go from the bagel shop to Starbucks than to try to achieve that success again. The masked people in cars and walking outside probably find it easier to put the mask on once and then run all their errands.

On a few occasions, Maher has said that the American people can deal with nuance. Really? How well did we handle this nuanced statement on PBS Newshour?

Judy Woodruff: It's the end of April. It's the spring of 2022. How close are we to the end of this pandemic?

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Well, that's an unanswerable question, for the following reason. And I don't want to be evasive about it, but let me tell you why I'm giving you that answer, Judy.

We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase. Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now.

So, if you're saying, are we out of the pandemic phase in this country, we are. What we hope to do, I don't believe — and I have spoken about this widely — we're not going to eradicate this virus. If we can keep that level very low, and intermittently vaccinate people — and I don't know how often that would have to be, Judy.

That might be every year, that might be longer, in order to keep that level low. But, right now, we are not in the pandemic phase in this country. Pandemic means a widespread, throughout the world, infection that spreads rapidly among people.

So, if you look at the global situation, there's no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing.

On Maher's 02/04/22 show, he said:

The medical establishment is wrong a lot. No research that outdoor transmission is likely or common.

How much wrong do you get to be while still holding the default setting for people who represent "the science"?

Eat eggs. Then don't. Then do.

Take aspirin. Then don't. Then do.

The Food Pyramid. Really? Bread and milk every day?

Fifteen years ago recommending trans fats. Now they're illegal.

First, outdoor transmission. From A wind speed threshold for increased outdoor transmission of coronavirus: an ecological study:

Throughout the U.S. epidemic, the role of outdoor shared spaces such as parks and beaches has been a topic of considerable interest. This study suggests that outdoor transmission of COVID-19 may occur by noting that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the summer was higher on days with low wind speed. Outdoor use of increased physical distance between individuals, improved air circulation, and use of masks may be helpful in some outdoor environments where airflow is limited....

...this study may suggest that individuals socializing outdoors may not be completely safe by being outdoors and should remain vigilant, especially on days where airborne particles may be less likely to disperse due to contextual factors such as reduced wind speed, that may reduce the benefits of socializing outside. In this case, outdoor use of increased physical distance between individuals, improved air circulation, and use of masks may be helpful in some outdoor environments where airflow is limited.

As for the changing guidance on eggs, aspirin, et al., I think the cause is that researchers frequently have to rely on observational studies because it is unethical to run the kind of experiments that would give definitive results.

Data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide the strongest evidence for establishing relations between exposures, including dietary exposures, and health outcomes. However, not all diet and health outcome relations can be practically or ethically evaluated by using RCTs....

Limitations of Observational Evidence: Implications for Evidence-Based Dietary Recommendations

Bill's absolutely right about the Food Pyramid, though. That was more political than scientific. Good riddance.

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