An increasing number of slots let players pick between denominations. That can create some confusion at times, especially for players who aren’t as well versed on casino math. So one player asks the natural question:
I have a question about the denomination. Why can’t you have a machine that you can just choose how much you want to bet?, and leave the denomination out.
Mark N.
It’s an interesting question, and one that some slot manufacturers are beginning to tinker with.
IGT’s Tiger and Dragon, for instance, is a single denomination and all the bets on the bet panel are based on that denomination. For the traditional one cent denomination, it offers a range of 75 cents to $30 in bets. (Follow-on versions of the game that were showcased in October at G2E had options up to $50 bets.)
Even with that wide array of bet options, a higher denomination version of the game exists. For instance, at Yaamava’ casino where Brian frequents, a nickel denomination version was in the high limit room, thereby offering a range of $3.75 to $150 a spin.
Only so many bet options can fit on the screen, although different manufacturers have also been experimenting there. IGT has tabs with different bet levels on a few of their games, and Light & Wonder on some games has a bet option with a slider underneath to access more granular steps as opposed to the big leaps between bets that sometimes exists on slots.
That said, there’s a couple of reasons why manufacturers are leaning harder into multi-denomination games. One is that they can offer different versions of a game all in one machine. Think about the traditional Dragon Link model – lower denominations have 50 lines, middle denominations have 25 lines, and higher denominations have 5 lines.
This is done in part to balance the game out based on the denomination. Theoretically you can’t do that when you have one continuous list of bets on a bet panel, because other things would need to change to make that happen. It could be bringing back the line options and having bets attached to it, though.
But the other main reason: Players love having the option. Players have gotten used to jumping around denominations, whether to tinker with their bets more or to “change things up,” however little it actually helps, but it makes some players feel better when they switch things up and quickly arrive at a bonus or big win.
But the reality is slots continue to evolve as game makers experiment with different scenarios and see how players react. We are in peak multi-denom, but it’s not unreasonable to think more games could come out similar to Tiger and Dragon with a single unified set of bet options on a single denomination for simplicity.
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