Gaming Guru

Does the Payback Change When I Change Denomination on a Multi-Denomination Machine?

I enjoyed your article on the rng.

I have read that the higher the denomination slot machine the better the payback percentage. Since many machines today have multiple choices, I was wondering if you were playing a machine at $1.00 and then switched to $2.00 on the same machine, is your chance of winning now better?

Thank you,
Les

Dear Les,

Thanks for the kind words about my RNG column.

It's entirely possible that the long-term payback on a multi-denomination machine increases when you increase denomination. We can't tell that the payback has increased on a slot game, but we can tell on a video poker game. The higher denominations on a multi-denomination video poker game almost always have better-paying paytables than the lower denominations.

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 reply to every question.