We hear from a lot of players who tend to bet lower. When that topic arises, one variant of the conversation tends to discuss how trying to raise bets proves to be a failure. Here’s one example:
I can be doing good on a small bet and decide to raise because I’m thinking I’ll win more, and then the machine just stops doing anything at all.
Melinda T.
First off, Melinda, we can assure you that raising your bet in and of itself isn’t a step that causes the machine to change its overall payback. But what does happen is the number of spins you can afford at the new bet level goes down.
Newer slots in particular are more volatile, which means the swings are more extreme. Bonus moments can pay better, but there can be more losing spins to get to those bonuses. Line hits are often smaller, making it even harder to survive to that next bonus.
So when we raise our bet, we’re reducing the number of chances we have to reach that next bonus. Our money can burn out before the next bonus arrives. And we can remember that action of raising the bet, and think the machine’s doing something nefarious.
It’s not. In fact, when it comes to denominations anyway, it’s often the case that higher denomination options pay back better over time than lower ones. But a single session can still go either way.
One thing we caution players not to do is to overbet relative to their bankroll. We also now amend that advice to be even more cautious because of those volatility changes we mentioned. Where you could throw $100 into a slot 10 or 20 years ago, do $2-3 bets and have a decent chance at a bonus, now that’s far from assured.
So if your goal is to try to win more money, you can up your bet, but you set yourself for a higher “risk of ruin,” or reaching the point where your budget runs out. We sometimes think players let the goal of trying to win a bit more get in the way of more time to play in the casino, which should be the goal with your entertainment budget.
Chasing wins, like chasing losses, is a long term losing enterprise when all casino games have a house edge.
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