The 1 Line Theory

[Tropicana50]

I have been pretty reluctant to post this here in fear that I may of been wrong but I have been running with a theory across 2 slots that seems to allow the game to pay out more than it should. The slots are Pimped and Royal Masquerade. These slots both guarantee a win inside the bonus feature. So by playing only 1 line with a high coin value you guarantee that single line pays and you don't waste any staked cash during the free spins (by having unpaid lines in the feature).

I have been running with this theory for over 2 weeks now across several different casinos and I am up around £2500 with only running £0.10 bets and a starting balance of £60 (split across 3 casinos). It makes the games MUCH more volatile in nature so I have kept bets low due to the swings when bonuses dry up. Due to the fact these games have a 96.5% RTP I am not sure how much edge this actually adds over running the maximum 10 lines or if I have just had an unbelievable lucky run.

Sadly I can't track Play 'N Go slots currently with ST so I cannot run a full data set to see how things stack up.

Interested to hear your thoughts though!

- T

 

[Je Dc]

I used to do that in book of dead, royal masquerade, pimped, and samba carnival. Samba is the one I use to bet 1 line maxing the coin value.

 

[Tropicana50]

I used to do that in book of dead, royal masquerade, pimped, and samba carnival. Samba is the one I use to bet 1 line maxing the coin value.

How did it turn out for you? Did it remain consistent?

- T

 

[BrianGhattas]

People on Twitch have been doing it nowadays. It's a great strategy but it just makes the game way more volatile than it already is. Getting 5 Pimps is doable, I got 5 of him recently in 10-line mode.

 

[kazzi]

Did a few 100s spins on both last night only managed 1 feature though dident pay anything was only 3oak 10/k/j pretty much, in the long run it might even out but you need atleast 2-300x your betsize unless your lucky on quick features, cause what ive i saw you rarely even get a 3oak in normal spins.

But that 500x does makes it interesting to play cause thats a extremely rare to get with 10lines think ive managed a 230x on royal masquerade once.

 

[Pulver]

I tried this out my self and I think you have been just lucky... As you say, variance increases a lot, so you will get bigger swings.

I got the features several times and they almost without exception paid only the lowest three of a kinds. I can't believe that Play'N Go would design a sure win feature without having this in mind.. Being a sure win feature, the results are not random, so it will "decide" how much you win each feature. You will of course get some huge bonus rounds, but you will get a lot of features that will pay only the minimum each time.

Good way to increase the variance of a game, but I don't for a second think that Play'N Go didn't think of this when they deisgned these slots...

 

[Harry_BKK]

Worth mentioning that the CasinoMeister tournament at Videoslots on Secret of the Stones was won by a player having only 1 pay line active. And i remember Tirilej with only 3 lines and Hedgehok with 4 lines active scoring a WL on DOA.

Pure luck as the variance sky rockets the more pay lines a slot has.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Quite possibly a false positive due to expectation and a short data sample, but game developers have cocked up in the past over this. Microgaming cocked up when they released Dark Knight, where it was possible to build up the spins and multipliers on low bets, and then start to bet higher when the feature was worth triggering. The fault was that MG forgot to average out the bets, so the free spins just played and paid based on the higher bet that triggered it.
There is the possibility that a similar miscalculation has been made with this slot where players are not betting max lines, but loading the bet onto a much smaller number of lines.

RTG's Fruit Frenzy had a popular tactic of playing fewer lines because the bonus round always played at max lines, which meant that playing fewer lines gave you less frequent bonus rounds, but played at a much higher bet. The bonus was triggered by a 5OK line win, so all this did in reality is increase the variance, not the RTP.

However, this is worth a try, even for a bit of fun, but be prepared to accept that there is no long term gain, and that whilst you might get a big kick from the higher variance at first, the TRTP will ensure you lose it all back and more in the long term. If anything, the casino might even make more money out of this if people jump on this thinking it's a winner.

If the casinos believe this is a genuine "emptier", the slots will be pulled, or quietly fixed as in the case of Dark Knight.

 

[babyjoker]

Just had a go myself on 20p/1 line and hit 118x so I don't really know what to make of it lol

 

[kinghsg]

Well i played this strategy aswell a few times and sometimes you get just nothing for 80 spins to trigger the bonus wich gives you 3OaK of the worst symbols for 5 spins. Its just more volatile and if you are lucky you get something pretty good, works on secret of the stones and wild turkey as much as good but can end in a big losing session.

Best hit i got was a line of the best symbol (beside the wild) in royal mascerade for 750x in basegame

 

[Nicola]

Deposited £25 at Rizk tonight to play DoA, really bad sesson, so went to Royal Masquerade on my last pound and got back to £25 in less than 10 minutes at 2p a spin

Gives me another try at a wildline

 

[Tropicana50]

Deposited £25 at Rizk tonight to play DoA, really bad sesson, so went to Royal Masquerade on my last pound and got back to £25 in less than 10 minutes at 2p a spin

Gives me another try at a wildline

Nice job Nicola! Did you keep going with this a little longer or only give it this single test session?

I kept with it for a few more days but my balance stayed almost exactly the same. Had a big dip (around £325 down) at one point but then got a flurry of bonuses and it brought me back up again. Have now cashed out the £2500 as I have a feeling I'm playing with fire.

Best of luck to all who give it a go. Ps. Royal Masquerade had been considerably nicer to me than Pimped has. Sure that's purely down to luck again but interested to hear how others did on each.

- T

 

[Nicola]

I have tried this a few more times since but the bonuses keep throwing up three 10's or 3 jacks which barely pays. I'm beta testing a new casino with deposit bonus tonight so will try at a higher coin size to see how I get on.

It's annoying that free spins are capped at 20 and surely 5 wilds are possible in the bonus?

 

[lotusch]

I have tried this a few more times since but the bonuses keep throwing up three 10's or 3 jacks.

It's annoying that free spins are capped at 20 and surely 5 wilds are possible in the bonus?

Yes I have seen a good few streamers on Twitch try this tactic and I haven't seen one single big win!
Most of the times,I'd say 99% of the time it will be a 3OAK win of a lower paying symbol.
I think this theory actually hightens the volatility on Pimped and/or Royal Masquerade which means longer big losing streaks are in the pipeline for any player who tries this.

THAT SAID:

It is funny to see that a few players tried it on a low bet and seem to have hit a 5 OAK big win in the Free Spins.
I have seen streamers play €5.00 on 1 line and all they would get was 3 OAK's of 10's and Jacks.

Think Play N Go has thought about this as well when developing the slots.

 

[Shammrock999]

iv'e never played 1 line , i just dont like seeing the wins on the other lines

 

[lotusch]

Worked for me tonight.. 250x regular spin..

 

[The Viking]

nice one but playing one line. 10 even 243 shoulndt matter you would still win 250x your bet.
the RTP of the game is the same regardless how many lines you play
so i dont think you win any more with the 1 line theory, you get more playtime though as your betting lower.

Worked for me tonight.. 250x regular spin..

View attachment 71353

 

[lotusch]

nice one but playing one line. 10 even 243 shoulndt matter you would still win 250x your bet.
the RTP of the game is the same regardless how many lines you play
so i dont think you win any more with the 1 line theory, you get more playtime though as your betting lower.

I understand but the key is that I have a much higher coin value per line as I only play one line.
If I had hit this on a 5 cent coin value while playing all lines I would have only won €12.50 so I am happy with it.

 

[blim119]

I understand but the key is that I have a much higher coin value per line as I only play one line.
If I had hit this on a 5 cent coin value while playing all lines I would have only won €12.50 so I am happy with it.

i always do that in fruit frenzy bet max on 1 line

 

[BananaCognac]

I often employ this strategy of betting 1-3 lines on MG 9 liners when im under $5----my best result was playing 3 lines and 1 coin on Centre Court and after the free spins I won $9.86, ive also hit 5oak best paying symbol with Thor on Thunderstruck which paid $15 --ive had numerous others but the 9 liner which is the hardest to get a big win by playing 1-3 lines BDBA which is no surprise.

I also hit a $40 win on Isis playing only 10 lines and 1 coin - but overall it swings in roundabouts.

 

[Steviedoo]

I tried the one liner theory playing 1$ a line on pimped then on masquerade. Did not end well..

 

[English Begbie]

Fascinating, I'm going to try this now on one of my fav MG slots @ 1 line @ .05p spin. I'll give it 300 spins and I'll let you know how I get on, stay tooned ;-)

 

[English Begbie]

Fascinating, I'm going to try this now on one of my fav MG slots @ 1 line @ .05p spin. I'll give it 300 spins and I'll let you know how I get on, stay tooned ;-)

Hmmm, ok I'm 25p down and extremely bored!

 

[BrianGhattas]

Every time I play one line it's just dead spins. Almost 60 spins and all but one were dead. I'm through with trying this tactic.

 

[nikantw]

How about "1st line doesn't pay theory"?

 

[joffyy]

1 lines for bonuses

Hi all, I thought this would be a relevant thread to post this question.

Say I am playing with a £200 bonus from a £200 deposit, With a £10,000 wagering requirement. If the slot is 9 lines, should playing with 1 line at £5 line bet (total bet £5) produce the same kind of EV as if 9 lines at £5 per line were used (total bet £45)? I realise that playing 9 lines the lines aren't independent, ie if you get a good wild symbol that will make several lines have good wins. Does this affect things?

Thanks

 

[trancemonkey]

Hi all, I thought this would be a relevant thread to post this question.

Say I am playing with a £200 bonus from a £200 deposit, With a £10,000 wagering requirement. If the slot is 9 lines, should playing with 1 line at £5 line bet (total bet £5) produce the same kind of EV as if 9 lines at £5 per line were used (total bet £45)? I realise that playing 9 lines the lines aren't independent, ie if you get a good wild symbol that will make several lines have good wins. Does this affect things?

Thanks

You just make it a more volatile game

 

[pyst777]

Don't think it was this thread but someone mentioned playing one line in PlaynGo games. Anyway I thought I would give it a go on Book of The Dead for a bit of fun. Deposited $20 and started playing 2cents on one line and some time later ended up with a $200 payout. A little while later I won another $100. All was good for a while with my balance going up and down and then it started to turn to custard and they QUICKLY BUT SURELY started taking it back again. Stopped myself before I gave it all back and withdrew $200. Probably would have given it all back if they weren't in such a hurry to take it. I play for fun really and it's not that when nothing is 'won' for 100's of spins in a row. Will do it again sometime - 2 cents a spin is all the excitement I need. Something I did notice - the bonus spins were all rubbish. It was getting full rows during normal play which gave me better returns. Just sharing.

 

[pyst777]

Had $28 left in my account after withdrawing $200 so decided to give PlaynGo Rise of Merlin a go playing 1 line at 2cents. That was at least 1400 spins plus the spins from the little money which I won back very infrequently. I got the bonus spins once and even that gave me one of the smallest returns I've ever had when playing one line. Time for me to take a break or to play for fun for a while. I didn't realise MG had multiline games which let you play just one line - I didn't look hard enough.

 

[Nicola]

The one line theory can be very costly if you are doing sizeable bets. I lost several hundred on Pimped and Royal Masquerade one night trying it!

 

[pyst777]

The one line theory can be very costly if you are doing sizeable bets. I lost several hundred on Pimped and Royal Masquerade one night trying it!

That will be why I'm happy to play as cheaply as possible. Not sure why it's a good idea to spend more than that when the expectation is that we lose in the end. Made another small deposit last night so I could play one line on a few Quickfire-Microgaming slots and another go at PlaynGo slots. Have decided to play short sessions on a number of games instead of just persisting with a single game until my money is all gone. Ended up a little bit ahead with a small return on Book of Dead.

 

[pyst777]

After enjoying a bit of success with playing one line in a few PlayNGo slots everything has turned to shit. lol Am now playing 300+ spins a lot of the time before I see the bonus spins and then the return is pretty pitiful. I even had 40 bonus spins all together once and received less than 100 coins. Most times the 10 free spins return around 20 coins. But it's the lack of small wins on the single line which has become really noticeable - get 5 coin returns every 30-50 spins with the occasional 20-30 coin return every 100+ spins. So much different than before I had a couple of good returns. Now I'm even put off playing all 10 lines.

 

[shoust]

I usually try this with slots that don't normally guarantee win spins, the free spin feature on Dragon Ship(or Riches of Ra) for example where you get reel 1 and 5 covered for 15 spins, half the time you'll likely get zero or barely more than 20x, the other half of the time you might get 100x and the rare chance you might get 2500x.

 

[shadow123]

Pimped and Masquerade are different from other games in that the feature spins are garranteed wins ,whether
you make a profit is down to the value of these wins .Does not seem to be any more difficult to get the feature on 1line play.
Strange thing about the game is that I am positive that 1 line play returns the highest rtp.
Try playing 2 or 3 lines ,unless you get stacked wilds its very rare to get wins on more than one of the lines
and the average value of those wins is no greater than those on single line play so unless its compensated
for elsewhere the rtp is lower when playing more than one line.Hope that makes sense.
Never done any serious real money play on 1 line but got placed in VS battles far more when doing it.

 

[Lemon]

I would imagine that there are 20 different bonus average tables, one for each of the number of lines in play. The average for a 20-line bonus would be 20 times that of the 1-line bonus average. The values returned in the bonus with 1 line active would not deviate too far from the average and the list of values would not exactly be expansive. At the other end of the scale, on 20 lines the range of values that the bonus can go for would be a lot wider and a lot more varied, and you might get a low value that would be impossible to deliver on a 1-line bonus if you divided it by 20, because it would be too small. Hence the belief that playing Pimped etc on 1 line is advantageous. But the average return of a 20-line bonus would still be 20 times greater than that of a 1-line bonus.

Therefore I don't think there is anything to be gained long-term from playing Pimped on 1 line. You might get lucky in the short-term because the game is more volatile on 1 line, but this will most certainly even itself out.

 

[shadow123]

You are probably right I cant imagine that Play and Go would not check the payouts on all the number
of lines but I did play around quite a bit on demo and 2 and 3 line play just seemed a dead loss compared
to single line play.

 

[pyst777]

I could start a new thread but they don't seem to like new threads here or at least I'm never sure if/when a new thread is warranted. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone thinks there are good days and bad days to play slots. I mean are they regularly bad to play on Mondays etc. I've been playing three PlayNGo slots a lot lately - Book of Dead, Rise of Merlin and Legacy of Dead. For a brief period I was having some luck on all three IF I played a strategy alternating between playing just one line or all ten lines. The luck depending on me making the change at the right time. Suddenly ALL three games have turned to shit - yep ALL of them. It doesn't or wouldn't matter how I play at the moment - the top playing lines aren't coming up and the bonus spins are giving pathetic returns. Just seems strange that all three games are behaving the same at the same time - that's how it's been for the last three days on all of them.

 

[Playford7]

I could start a new thread but they don't seem to like new threads here or at least I'm never sure if/when a new thread is warranted. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone thinks there are good days and bad days to play slots. I mean are they regularly bad to play on Mondays etc. I've been playing three PlayNGo slots a lot lately - Book of Dead, Rise of Merlin and Legacy of Dead. For a brief period I was having some luck on all three IF I played a strategy alternating between playing just one line or all ten lines. The luck depending on me making the change at the right time. Suddenly ALL three games have turned to shit - yep ALL of them. It doesn't or wouldn't matter how I play at the moment - the top playing lines aren't coming up and the bonus spins are giving pathetic returns. Just seems strange that all three games are behaving the same at the same time - that's how it's been for the last three days on all of them.

There is no best time, no worse time or any strategy at all.
if you want to win money playing slots then don’t play, that’s a way to guarantee to win.
granted playing at sites with lower RTP’s will over time have a massive difference and you will lose more and a lot more quickly than the sites with a better RTP.
to be saying Monday is good for bonanza and the Friday kicks ass on gonzo is lunacy.
the casino the provider and the local dog have zero influence on what you win or lose.
just make a deposit, any day of the week and any time... if you win then hell yeah! If you lose then tough shit.
i do believe certain slots may have a nudge of compensation about them, but as to a theory or a best time to play them... that’s just plain and utter madness.

 

[pyst777]

but as to a theory or a best time to play them... that’s just plain and utter madness.

Thank you for your opinion. lol

 

[Playford7]

Thank you for your opinion. lol

Your most welcome. And your pretty honoured, it’s rare I speak my mind on here.

 

[pyst777]

Still no change playing one line in the three PlayNGo games - Book of Dead, Rise of Merlin, Legacy of Dead. Lost count of the 100's of spins I've played in the last 4 or 5 days. Not expecting to make a fortune or to actually win at all but it's amazing how much taking is happening with very little giving. So different to how they were for me last weekend. Oh well, I'll keep on amusing myself for a while longer - I'm still in credit , 10 times more than my deposit. Not all from PlayNGo games.

 

[bamberfishcake]

Still no change playing one line in the three PlayNGo games - Book of Dead, Rise of Merlin, Legacy of Dead. Lost count of the 100's of spins I've played in the last 4 or 5 days. Not expecting to make a fortune or to actually win at all but it's amazing how much taking is happening with very little giving. So different to how they were for me last weekend. Oh well, I'll keep on amusing myself for a while longer - I'm still in credit , 10 times more than my deposit. Not all from PlayNGo games.

Thanks for the update.

Think its the kind of thing you would need to gauge over some time.

So many tactics and so little money.....for me anyway

 

[pyst777]

I've figured out the best strategy - play in DEMO mode. I'm having a terrific run of 'luck'. It's a different game to the one I've been paying to play for the last 5 days. lol

 

[trancemonkey]

Just an FYI - there is NO advantage play to playing on one line vs any other.
It might feel like there is, but trust me - unless they have seriously messed up (which i doubt) - all you are doing is changing the volatility of the game to make it more volatile.

 

[bamberfishcake]

Just an FYI - there is NO advantage play to playing on one line vs any other.
It might feel like there is, but trust me - unless they have seriously messed up (which i doubt) - all you are doing is changing the volatility of the game to make it more volatile.

I would have thought there might be a possibility of a swing slightly, in RTP, either way.

Otherwise they have to make the same amount of wins on the same amount of lines, exactly the same, for it to be the same dont they? i..e. a grading scale of wins for the amount of lines present. Can they really get it that accurate?

I hope my question makes sense.

Edit: an example would be games that have a bet type booster. Slight change in RTP for different bonus frequency such as that new Mega Masks game.

2nd Edit: Ive realised my question could/might take paragraphs to answer. Ill retreat and hastily return to the Ask me anything (about slots)! Im sure its covered in there somewhere.

And just take your word for it for now

 

[trancemonkey]

I would have thought there might be a possibility of a swing slightly, in RTP, either way.

Otherwise they have to make the same amount of wins on the same amount of lines, exactly the same, for it to be the same dont they? i..e. a grading scale of wins for the amount of lines present. Can they really get it that accurate?

I hope my question makes sense.

Edit: an example would be games that have a bet type booster. Slight change in RTP for different bonus frequency such as that new Mega Masks game.

2nd Edit: Ive realised my question could/might take paragraphs to answer. Ill retreat and hastily return to the Ask me anything (about slots)! Im sure its covered in there somewhere.

And just take your word for it for now

It depends how you do the maths....
You can easily make maths where every line pays exactly the same RTP - so the number of lines makes no difference. So no, it's not hard to do at all.

In fact, most maths (for simpler games at least) is calculated on one line, because the number of lines makes no difference.

Yes, a lot of games are a LOT more complex now, so the maths is more complex and therefore not every line pays the same - and in these cases you would likely have to do different maths for each line configuration. But the simple answer is - yes we can be that accurate

 

[pyst777]

Just an FYI - there is NO advantage play to playing on one line vs any other.
It might feel like there is, but trust me - unless they have seriously messed up (which i doubt) - all you are doing is changing the volatility of the game to make it more volatile.

I just like playing a bit longer for little cost. It's also a bit of an eye-opener to see how long it takes to get bonus spins and to see how little they pay most of the time. Always pleasing to see how much I've saved myself by playing cheaply. lol