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How Payout Rate Works (Part 4)

This meant that the machine had 10,648 possible combinations. But over the course of these plays the machine paid out 10,062 coins, for a nifty payout rate of 94.5 percent.

I’ll spare you the math on the more complicated modern machines. But here’s the bottom line: A machine with three reels and 32 stops per reel that can be played with either one coin or two coins per play has a total number of possible combinations of 32,768. But—and this is key—when it’s played two coins at a time, it pays out 31,231 coins for each 32,768 played, for a payout rate of 95.3 percent. When it’s played one coin at a time, it pays out only 30,431 coins for each 32,768 plays, for a payout rate of 92.9 percent. So for those of you who might think that the one-coin bet is automatically more conservative than the two-coin bet, take heed. Over the long haul, the two-coin bettor is going to do better.

As you can see, the number of possible combinations on the reels and the payout rate are not connected. It might seem that a simple old slot machine with only 10 symbols on a reel would be bound to pay off better than a modern machine with 22 possible stopping positions on each reel—but in reality the opposite is true.

It’s not the number of combinations that matters. It’s the rules by which the machine plays that matter.
That’s why it’s so important to read your machine before you start playing it. You’d be surprised how many rip-off machines get played all the time, despite the fact that they display, in clear, easy-to-read type, just how they’re going to rip you off.