Ask the Slot Expert: Increase line bet or denomination?

Question: I enjoyed your article about your Mo' Mummy experience.

On all slots, I tend to play the 2@1 option when I can...mainly because when my win shows up, I can multiply it by 2 and feel like I won a lot more.

My question is do you think my odds are better playing this way?

(I seldom play Mo' Mummy because I resent that little guy giving me false hope.)

Answer: Thanks for the kind words.

I know what you mean about the mummy being a jackpot tease. I don't recall whether the original Mo' Mummy has this feature, but on Mo' Mo' Mo' Mummy, little Imhotep can appear on the first reel, and then any bonus-initiating gems that appear on the screen will initiate the appropriate bonus. Many times he'll appear on the reel and then I don't get a gem. He says, "Oh, so close." Yeah, right. You know what he can do with those gems he keeps stealing on the top screen.

Although I've won some nice line pays on the machine, the real money is not on the reels but in the bonus games. If you don't get your share of bonuses or the ones you get are stingy, it's tough to make money from the machine.

You ask whether your odds are better when betting 2@1, that is, two coins per line at the penny denomination. Or do you mean 1 credit per line at the 2-cent denomination? You did mention doubling the win. No matter. I can't answer the question for the following reasons.

First, odds of what? Winning? I don't know what that means, either. Getting a winning spin? Higher long-term payback?

Are the odds better? Better than what? What is the alternative? One coin per line at pennies or one coin per line at 2-cents?

I'm only giving you a hard time because your question is a logical one to ask, but it needs to be more specific.

We can't be certain how different bet levels compare without access to the PAR sheet. My general rule is to go up in denomination before increasing the line bet. Figure out what you want to bet per spin and play the highest denomination that has a bet for that amount.

Why is that my rule? Sometimes the machine will display a message indicating that it's loading a different payback program when you change denomination. The hit frequency or long-term payback may be higher at the higher denominations than at the lower ones. (Then again, we're playing in the short run, so long-term payback isn't very important.)

Some things to keep in mind. The number of paylines may decrease when you increase denomination. One machine I played went from 30 paylines to 5 when I went from dimes to dollars. The hit frequency suffered -- or, at least, I wasn't hitting as frequently as I was at dimes -- so I went back to the lower denom.

Another thing to keep in mind is whether you need to be at a certain bet level to be eligible to hit a progressive. I would drop down in denom if I had to to meet that bet level and keep within my budget.

How's that for a long-winded non-answer to your question?

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