Bankroll for slots

QUESTION: Can you tell me something about the slots? It takes more money to play dollar slots than penny slots, even though dollar slots pay a higher percentage, right? How much more? If my husband and I are going to the casino for an afternoon, how much money do we need?

ANSWER: That depends on your goals, self-discipline and whether you’re willing to walk away early if you reach a loss limit. My wife can walk into a casino with a couple of $20 bills and play penny slots, because she’s able to call it quits when she’s lost $30, or even $20. She’ll walk away even if it’s been only 20 minutes.

Many players can’t do that, and need to bring enough money to last a few hours.

It’s more difficult to pinpoint bankroll amounts on the slots than on other games, because we don’t know the precise house edge on each slot game we play. We might know that on average, a casino’s penny slots pay 85%, but some games might play only 82, some might pay 90 or some other percentage, and we have no way of knowing which is which.

On top of that, slots are more volatile than blackjack, baccarat, the good bets at craps or even video poker. Short bursts of big wins and long losing streaks both are normal.

But as a general rule of thumb, to have a 90% chance of staying in action for three hours on the slots, your bankroll should cover 250 bets.

If you’re betting 40 cents a spin on penny slots, a $100 bankroll gives you that 90% chance.

If you’re betting 75 cents on quarter slots, the bankroll need rises to about $187.50, and when you bet $3 per spin on dollar slots, it’s $750.

I’ll hedge a bit here and suggest the higher payback percentage on dollar slots might bring that bankroll need down to 200 bets, or $600. But if you find yourself losing fast, drop to smaller bets at a lower denomination.

Also, a 90% chance of lasting three hours means a 10% chance of losing it all before you get there. Be prepared to reduce your bets or call off the session early, and never bet money you can’t afford to lose.

This topic and many other slot tips are covered in my Ultimate Guide to Slot Machines at 888 Casino Blog, http://www.888casino.com/blog/casino-guides/slots/.


QUESTION: Does the house edge on the pass line in craps change depending on what the point is? It seems like you have a better chance with a 6 than a 10, or an 8 than a 5.

ANSWER: The 1.41% house edge on pass takes in all possibilities. Those include winning when the comeout roll is 7 or 11, losing when the comeout is 2, 3 or 12, and either winning or losing on each point number – 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10.

The house edge is not calculated separately on each point number because you have no choice in the matter. The comeout roll determines the point number, and you can’t just pick up your bet if you don’t like the number.

Yes, you have a better chance of winning if the point is 6 or 8. With either of those points, you have a 45.45% chance of winning, while you have a 40% chance of winning with 5 or 9 and a 33.33% chance with 4 or 10.

But the house edge has to be a weighted calculation that takes in all those possibilities, and that comes to 1.41%.

This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net.