Poker machines will take coins and give you an equivalent amount of credit. Here are the things to understanding the pokies.
Machine Value / Credits for $1 Coin
Credits in pokie machines are the currency or money denomination you will need to wager or make a bet. The coin denomination you select on a pokies game will reflect the value that each coin you bet will hold, whether it’s 0.01 or 1.00 (or sometimes even more), that is the value of each coin. Think of it as a penny, nickel, dime, etc. If you select a coin denomination of 0.01, then you can consider each coin you play to be equivalent to a penny. Pokies that offer 0.01 coin denominations are often referred to as penny pokies.
Coin denominations allow for a wider range of pokies limits, thus, accommodating a wider range of players’ bankrolls. The value of the coin applied to the number of pay lines you’d like to bet, and the number of coins you’d like to wager on each line, will give you the total of your bet amount.
A maximum bet is an optimized bet of all possible paylines wagered at the highest number of coins per line possible. A true Bet Max is set at the highest coin denomination offered. Be careful though as sometimes a max bet can be as high as several hundred dollars per spin, though this is more common in online pokies.
What is Bet Max
You need to know bet max when understanding the pokies. Bet Max simply means the maximum amount you can bet on a spin. Online pokies players also refer to Bet Max as Maximum Bet or Max Bet. There are many pokies games nowadays that incorporate a Bet Max button or tab that automatically places the maximum bet with one click.
The reason that betting max is important in pokies is that there are numerous games in which the Jackpot or the progressive Jackpot feature can only be won when you bet the maximum.
You should always bet max when there is a possibility of getting to the free spins or bonus rounds. You should also bet max when you have the sole aim of hitting a progressive jackpot.
High denomination pokies have a higher fixed Max Bet than ordinary pokies. More so, high denomination pokies have higher payouts. This helps you understanding the pokies.
Payouts differ from Machine to Machine
Some pokies machines pay out better when you play max bet. For example, on some 3-reel pokies machines, if you hit a line of the top-paying symbols you might win (for example) 1,000 credits if you are playing a credit per line. However, if you had been playing maximum credits per line (for example, 3 credits), then the top win might rise to 10,000 credits.
Generally speaking, it is always best to play the maximum bet when you play pokies, whether it’s online or in land casinos when understanding the pokies. Wins normally payout at higher multiples and many progressive jackpots can only be won via a max bet. If you have a smaller bankroll, rather than betting fewer lines or fewer coins, you should look for games with lower max bets.
Some of the pokies machine credit bets you will find is
1c / 100
2c / 50
5c / 20
10c / 10
$1 / 1
Always know how much your credits are worth in real money.
The machine paytable
If you are going to play a pokies machine it is always a good idea to read the paytable. The paytable will list all the possible payouts in a pokies game and will show the payout for each combination of symbols for the number of coins that you bet.
The paytables for 3 reel and 5 reel pokies may look a little different, but they are both contain vital information for the pokies player. Like as example in three-reel pokies you will find that there are 3 columns and they are marked 1 coin, 2 coins and 3 coins. To win the 2500 coin jackpot you will need to bet with 3 coins. A 2 coin jackpot will be worth 1200 coins and a 1 coin jackpot will be worth 600 coins.
A 5 reel pokies paytable will have a different sort of layout. The substitute or wild symbol is clearly marked and there is information about the payouts for the various symbols as well as the free spins. Every time you come across a new pokies machine it is wise to have a look at the paytable before you begin to play. This is the case for land based pokies machines and online pokies games.
You will be able to tell all possible winning combinations and exactly how much each winning combination will payout and this is vital information if you want to play a pokies machine.
Odds on winning a line
Every time you hit ‘Spin’ each line you play will have about a one in 10 chance of winning. When it comes to pokies games there are so many variations today that figuring out your odds is nearly impossible. Instead, pokies game odds are expressed in the form of payback percentages. As a player you want to search for games that give you the biggest payback percentage you can find, and online that should be at least 99% or better.
It’s rumoured that land casinos will even have loose pokies games that payout at more than 100%. The casinos supposedly place these games in high-profile areas so more patrons can witness someone hitting a big payday. There are none of these loose games online, but the average payback online is greater than the average you’ll find in any regular casino.
For a nickel pokies game, the average payback percentage in live casino is 92.5%. The quarter machines pay back an average of 94.1%, the dollar machines 95.9%, and the high stakes $5 games pay back 98.4%. Online the overhead is much less than in a live casino, so payback percentages can be bigger without the house feeling the pinch.
Online, most casino pokies games’ payback percentage is around 99%. With so many casinos to choose from, and if pokies are your thing, you have to take the time to find the best games with the highest paybacks. It may not be a big difference during one session, but over the longer term of playing the game it will add up to a significant amount.
Odds on hitting the jackpot
Your chances of winning the highest jackpot are less than one in 10,000,000.
Note that the bigger the jackpot, the harder it is to actually hit. Among pokies machines without a meter which keeps going u), the overall odds are generally similar no matter how high the jackpot is.
The higher the jackpot, the more likely you’ll lose in the short term. It takes a lot of play to fund those extra-big jackpots. The machines with the huge jackpots like Wheel of Fortune and Megabucks have lousy odds. Not just for getting the jackpot, but for the small pays, too. Also, they cost the same amount to play as regular machines, but they suck your money away faster.
To have the best chance of winning in the short term, choose the machines with the smallest jackpots.
Strategies – What to do
Nothing you do to the machine will improve your chances of winning. Gaming machines are for entertainment only. Only you need to keep a set budget to play pokies and never exceed your bankroll.
