The infernal question of how many lines?

[bgermain1985]

This has haunted me for the longest time and I always catch myself alternating between 1 line, 5 lines, and all the lines when handling video slots.

Now, I understand every game is different such as there are differences between playing checkers and chess (although the board type is the same).

With that said, could it be possible to determine the optimum win-line coverage for a particular machine that could theoretically have the highest possible payback return?

I have found favor in one line video slots that normally offer up to 20 to 30 lines, especially if the feature is scatter paid and symbols are not stacked.

Based on the distribution of the reels, there is always one symbol above or below a given symbol. This results in all the reel positions having only some fixed degree of random. Now when only one line is played, there is no dependency on the symbol above or below and all spots are truly random. Additionally, the scatters will award on exposed areas not being used by the single payline (where scatters can normally block off pays)

Does this make sense to anyone or someone have some thoughts on the matter? I like the idea of making the most educated bets when I am at the casino while trying to keep my stake as small as possible...

[kakata]

....from my personal results....(lately)... the best option would be...NO LINE

[bgermain1985]

Oh, trust me, as a poker player I know that the best option is NO LINE. Make no mistakes.

The problem is I like playing the machines and craps/roulette occasionally.

It's always bothered me about machines though since they are encouraging the maximum lines, but why encourage if it's the best bet to the player? In fact, many games nowadays do not even allow the player to select fewer lines...

[slafs]

Well, I have always believed that the number of lines does not affect the payback in the long run, at least not for the slots I play. The payout is usually relative to the amount wagered, so in reality you are only getting higher variance when playing less than the maximum number of lines.

Assuming that the wheels lands on the same position regardless of the number of lines bet, the chance of winning is 20x higher when playing 20x as many lines. Then again, you are betting 20x as much as well.

I know that some players like to select fewer lines when grinding out a wagering requirement, as the higher variance should be cancelled out by the fact that you can hit spin 20 times the number you previously could.

Then again, there might be situations where this isn't true, but I don't think there are on any of "my" slots.

[Jasminebed]

I think that for some of the RTG slots like Paydirt, Realm of Riches, T-Rex and maybe some others, playing less than max lines might actually result in a higher RTP, due to the max cap of 50,000X line bet. Don't ask me how many lines, but these are three slots we often see capped wins in the winner's screenshots.

[slafs]

That's true, and actually applies to all the Real Series RTG slots, playing maimum (20 or even 50) lines, you are much more likely to hit the 50 000x line bet "roof", this maximum is not relative to your total bet, just your coin nomination. This effectively lowers your RTP when betting every line.

Hadn't really thought of that, I just stopped playing Texas Twister after maxing out on $500 on a $0.50 bet. Good observation!

[Jasminebed]

That's true, and actually applies to all the Real Series RTG slots, playing maimum (20 or even 50) lines, you are much more likely to hit the 50 000x line bet "roof", this maximum is not relative to your total bet, just your coin nomination. This effectively lowers your RTP when betting every line.

Hadn't really thought of that, I just stopped playing Texas Twister after maxing out on $500 on a $0.50 bet. Good observation!

Texas Twister has a fixed bet of Max Lines...I think RTG was ahead of us there.

[bgermain1985]

I'm going to bump this thread again because I'm still curious.

Many people insist that all lines should be played.
Additionally, many games now enforce a line bet.
However, in the past and today select games offer the user to specify the number of lines played.

Even more so - various lines provide more lines than others. If it truly does not matter, then why not offer like 100 lines on every game?

Also, could the rules of the game determine whether or not max or fewer lines is optimal play?

For myself, stacked symbols translates to max playlines while basic free spins and scatters seems to suggest lower lines. In those cases, scatters function as well regardless of lines played and incomplete scatter wins do not block pay lines. Moreover, it is not possible to win on all paylines when stacked symbols are not offered.

any thoughts?

EDIT: I want to point out that the question is for brick and mortar or online, without the concept of a playthrough; just slots in the raw.

[winbig]

Any slot with expanding (or stacked) wilds in either normal play or free spins deserves playing 1-5 lines at a much higher coin size than all lines at a small stake.

The sad thing is the fact that even if you were playing all lines, you wouldn't win half as much as you would if you're only playing a few, or even one line.

RTG's Paydirt! slot is an excellent example. I rarely see spins that would have won with 4 or 5oak's on a line that I wasn't playing. Sure, you have a bunch of dead spins, but even so, most of those wins would be small 3oak hits, and really not worth it.

imo, either play 2 or 5 lines on this slot. My reasoning behind this is that some 2oak symbols pay 2x the line bet, so for 2 lines, you're breaking even for that spin. If you play 5 lines, you'll win 40% of your bet for those 2oak winning combinations, and with any 3oak win, you'll at least break even because of the fact that the lowest paying 3oak combo pays 5x the line bet.

To put it into numbers, one of the symbols pays out 750 coins for a 5oak hit with a wild. If you were playing 25 lines @ 2c a line for .50 a spin you're going to win a grand total of $15, or 30x your total bet. Now on the other hand if you were playing 2 lines for a quarter a piece, you're going to win $187.50, which is 375x your total bet. I think this more than makes up for all of the dead spins you run across.

Notice the difference?

[weplant]

I always play all lines, not max amount of coins per line, but all lines..I don't want to see some big hit come up but I am not covered because I did have all lines bet...