In our Myth Busting series we’re busting some common myths around slot games. In this installment we’re talking about bets and lines. Does your bet amount impact how you win?
MYTH: Lower bets mean fewer wins.
I’ve heard this myth a lot, from friends, family, and even random people at casinos. The premise is that if you bet low, say on 20p spins, you’ll win less than if you bet at say £1 spins.
This isn’t true at all.
While your wins may be lower on 20p spins than they would be on £1 spins you still have the same chance of winning on the 20p spins.
Where does the myth come from?
We believe this myth comes from a bit of an overlap in understanding. While your bet doesn’t change your chance of winning, the number of lines you’re betting on does.
In some games you’ll find that reducing your bet doesn’t reduce your lines, so a 20p spin is over the same number of lines as a £1 (or higher) spin.
On other games you’ll notice there’s a few options. ‘Lines’ and ‘Bet’.
As we all know ‘Bet’ is how much you’re betting. In some games it’s a flat bet over their set paylines, in others you may be playing ‘Bet Per Line’
Bet Per Line
When you’re playing a bet per line you’re placing that bet amount on each line you’re playing. So if you’re playing 10 lines at 2p you’re going to be betting 20p per spin. If you played 10 lines at 5p you’d be playing at 50p per spin.
So, both the 50p bet and the 20p bet have the same chance of winning over the 10 lines. The 50p won’t win more, as the myth suggests.
Here’s where your chances of winning change…
Let’s say you’re playing the same game, but instead of betting 2p over 10 lines you bet 4p over 5 lines. That’s still a 20p bet per spin, just over half the number of lines. The chances of winning have dropped. This is simply because you’re playing over fewer lines. If your spin doesn’t win, there could still be a winning payline on that board that you haven’t played.
The fewer lines you play on the less ‘wiggily’ they are. You’ll notice that on a 5×3 board if you play on three lines, you’ll get a bet on each row. If you bet on 5 you’ll likely get the 3 rows and two V shaped lines, one pointing up, and the other down. When you start playing on more lines you’ll get different patterns.
In conclusion
Don’t listen to the myth that changing your bet down will reduce your chances of winning. It’s just not that simple. Reducing your lines can reduce your chances of winning. This myth is a dangerous one, it can lead people who believe it to bet higher stakes than they can afford or would otherwise bet if they knew the truth. Stick to what you can afford and bets you’re happy to play.
