Why are Penny Slots Successful – Despite Low Payback?

penny-slots-paybackGaming operators have found that people love penny slots! Walk into any land-based casino and you’ll find a large number of penny slot machines dominating the floor. As for online slots, you can wager as little as one cent per spin on most games. But the one big downside to this penny slots explosion is that payback is oftentimes lower. This is especially true in land-based casinos, where penny slots usually pay around 85%. So why do these games remain so successful, despite the low payback? Here are a couple of main reasons why.

1. Slots Players still get More Play from Penny Games

Even if a penny slots game only pays back 85%, this will still stretch your bankroll longer than a dollar game that delivers 95% payback. Below you can see a comparison of the two games, assuming you have to play 20 paylines on the penny machine:

Penny Game – 100 spins x $0.20 x 0.15 house edge = $3 in theoretical losses
Dollar Game – 100 spins x $1 x 0.05 house edge = $5 in theoretical losses

As you can see in this example, the average player is going to save about 40% of their money over the same duration by playing a penny slots game. And while you might be losing more per dollar wagered, your entertainment will last longer.

2. Many Players don’t even realize Penny Slots Payback is Low

online-slots-tournamentsOne more reason why penny slots are hot is because the majority of players don’t realize that they’re facing lower payback. As point #1 showed, people are likely to see their bankroll go further on penny slot machines. With this being the case, who’s going to think that they’re facing a lower proposition of winning if they don’t do research?

In the end, there’s no right or wrong way to play slots. And if you want your money to last longer, you might consider playing the penny games, even if they require you to play every payline and face worse payout percentages.