Believe it or not, not everyone is obsessed with the idea of winning a life-changing sum of cash. For those players with smaller bankrolls who want to get in on the action and entertainment provided by slot machines, look no further, as penny slots are an affordable way to engage in gaming activities. Back in the days of old, penny slots earned their name and reputation of lower-class entertainment as the minimal betting amount was fixed at one penny per spin. You cannot get cheaper than this – other than playing on the free video slots, which won’t give you any money back.

These days, most slot machines are highly accessible as they cater for players with varying bankroll sizes. For example, one slot game will have the option of betting one penny per line as well as allowing to set the maximum coin amount to a couple more coins or credits. Nevertheless, penny slots players need to be vigilant because there are plenty of psychological tricks associated with this type of slot machine.

How to Play Penny Slots

Nowadays you will find more penny slots than anything else on the Vegas casino floor. Whereas online, you will find an affluence of everything (seeing as space isn’t an issue on the internet) from penny to nickel to quarter to dollar slot machines! As their name tells, the cost of one spin per line on a penny slot is as little as 0.01 credit. Although, what’s so deceptive about these slots is that most games today are multi-line machines which feature more than a single pay-line. As a matter of fact, there are slots which come with five, ten, twenty and sometimes even hundreds and thousands of win-lines, like the 1024-ways-to-win slots. Some games offer fixed pay-lines which don’t allow you to change the number of lines you’re playing on, on other games you can set the machine to spin on as many win-lines as you please. Bear in mind, the more win-lines you activate, the likelier you are to landing a winning combination. Therefore, on these multi-line slots, you could unknowingly end up spending much more money!

Strategy/Tips on Winning

In order to win at penny slots, you cannot sit down and play blindly. Before you begin playing it’s advisable that you calculate your gambling budget, that is, how long you want to play for and how much you are willing/can afford to lose. It’s very easy to get caught up in a game’s repetitive and therefore, addictive, cycle.

When choosing which penny slot to play on, if I were you I would avert my attention from any slots with progressive jackpots. This is because progressive penny jackpot slots take a percentage of your wager to fuel the ultimate jackpot prize, therefore, the more players wager, the more the jackpot grows. On these machines, you can win anywhere between a hundred or a thousand credits. However, the hit rate on a progressive jackpot machine is much lower, and you’ll end up going bust before you know it.

Bonuses and Promotions

If penny slots are all that your bankroll can muster, you can get better winnings and extend your play even more if you sign yourself up at casinos with great bonuses and promotions. Many casinos offer a 100% match welcome bonus, which means that if you deposit 20 credits, you will be given an additional 20 credits to play with, meaning your bankroll will go up to 40 credits. If the casino offers you the option to split the welcome bonus into several deposits, that would be plenty more beneficial to your bankroll as you won’t have to use your deposit all in one go. Moreover, several casinos also offer plenty of free spins and offer several promotions on a daily basis. Just make sure that the player requirement is not too high before you commit to making a deposit. Furthermore, triggering the bonus features or landing a couple of Wilds and some valuable Scatters will also help you win more frequently and thus extend your play. Beware, as some games are crafty and may require a minimum amount of coins/credits per line to trigger the bonus.

Payout Percentages on Penny Slots

It’s important to point out the law in Vegas states that a slot machine should have a minimum payout percentage, or RTP (that is the money a player eventually gets back after an infinite amount spins), of 75%. This type of slot is called a low variance game. Higher stakes machines will, more often than not, have a payout percentage of over 93%. These are called high variance games. Therefore, when playing on penny slots, you won’t be getting back as much as you’re putting in, nor as frequently. On those high variance slots, you’ll land big wins, however, less frequently. Acquiring small wins here and there will be more beneficial to your bankroll and will extend your gaming experience for hours.

In the long run, you’ll be better off playing on the low-limit slots like the penny and nickel value machines if you’re planning on activating the maximum number of pay-lines for less, than fewer pay-lines worth much more on slots with higher betting limits.