Denomination and Video Poker Paybacks

Hi, John,

Could you advise if there is a difference in the payout or return on $0.25 video poker machines vs. the $0.05 machines? I realize that the $0.05 slot machines pay out less than the $0.25 or $1.00 machines, but I'm not sure about video poker.

Thanks for your help.

Ken

Dear Ken,

All you have to do is look at the paytables.

Unlike slots, you can tell the payback of a video poker machine by its paytable. If a nickel machine has the same paytable as a quarter machine, they both have the same long-term paybacks.

That said, quarter video poker machines do tend to have better paytables than nickel video poker machines.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

Hello,

I was wondering, does the randon number generator come up with the same payline (on multiple video payline slot machines) if I was playing one nickel each line or the maxium amount?

There have been times I hit a great pay line playing one nickel per line and think if I was only playing a larger number of coins per line I would have gotten a larger amount. But then I wondered would the exact line come up? Or could each amount of coins have a different randon number generator and operating at different percentages on the same machine? There seems to be machines at individual casinos that always have a larger percentage of pay lines at lower amounts than larger.

Thanks,
Bonnie

Dear Bonnie,

There's only one RNG in a slot machine and is not affected by the number of coins you play. It's possible that you would have gotten the same result had you played more coins per lines, but only if you hit had started the game at the exact same instant.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

If the odds of hitting a jackpot on a slot machine are a million to one, and I play it a 1,000 times, have I reduced my odds to a 1,000 to one?

Thank you.

Stan

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't send a reply to every question. Also be advised that it may take several months for your question to appear in my column.