On betting and playing online slot games – how to wager well

Everything gets more complex when a computer’s involved, it seems … even wagering on slots. Whereas the first slot machines were typically a matter of throwing in coins chunk-chunk-chunk and pulling the lever, through the years machines with more paylines allowing bigger wagers per ‘line have increasing betting options to the point of today’s online games.

Excepting most progressive jackpot slots in which wagering stays blessedly simple, the actual amount bet may require a calculation of other elements. In some slots, the player must set the number of paylines and “coin” size that he/she wishes to bet. In others, number of paylines and coin size is further multiplied by the number of coins wagered per payline. So, a “penny slot” may actually cost well more than 1¢. On a 20-payline slot, for example, the wager per spin may actually work out as:

20 paylines x coin value 0.01 x 10 coins per payline = $2
Happily, some slots automatically calculate this number and show you in plain dollars (or pounds, euros, etc.) and cents the value of the wager. Many games, however, express the bet in term of credits or “coins remaining,” which may not be nearly as intuitive.

On those games wherein a “Max Bet” button figures into the gameplay, the slot will automatically place the max number of coins across all paylines. If the player chooses to play the max bet from the first spin, the software will default to the smallest possible coin size.

To maximize your time at the online slots, just make sure you know how much you’re playing with!


Playing responsibly at online casinos needn’t apply to extreme cases only. Make sure you’re staying responsible to yourself (and your slots bankroll) by knowing exactly how betting on the slot games works online.
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