Are Dollar Slots Better than Penny Slots?

People who ask me, “Are dollar slots better than penny slots?” are obviously people who are interested in slot machine strategy.

That makes me happy. I’m always happy to talk to someone who’s looking to play slots with strategy.

I’ve written this post as a condensed version of my answer to this frequent slot strategy question.

What’s a Penny Slot? What’s a Dollar Slot?

Let’s start with the basics.

Casinos offer slot machines in lots of different denominations. A penny slot is a slot that lets you bet for $0.01 per credit. A dollar slot is a slot that lets you bet for $1 per credit.

That’s the only difference between a penny slot and a dollar slot. One accepts a penny per credit and the other accepts $1 per credit.

There’s no telling how many credits that penny slot machine allows you to bet. It could be hundreds. The same goes for the dollar slot. You may only be able to bet up to three credits on that more expensive slot game.

That sets up a funny situation where a max bet on a penny slot may cost more than a max bet on a dollar slot. Remember that max bets are important on most slot games to allow access to the game’s best features.

Which Is Better – Penny Slots or Dollar Slots?

Some players prefer penny slots. Others prefer dollar slots.

Who’s right? Which is better – penny slots or dollar slots?

They each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Penny slots can be played for very little money on a per-spin basis, but that usually involves skipping a max bet in favor of a small per-spin wager.

Dollar slots tend to offer better odds than penny slots. That’s not always the case, but it’s based on revenue reports and hold percentages from casinos around the country. Most dollar slots have better payout rates than most penny slots.

Casinos host a lot more penny slots than they do dollar slots. If you want to play a big variety of games, you might prefer lower-cost slot games like penny slots just because you’ll have more games to pick from.

Comparing Penny & Dollar Slots Head-to-Head

Here are the 4categories we’ll use to compare these two types of slot games.

1. Cost. How much does it cost to play a typical penny slot for an hour? How does that compare to the average cost of an hour of dollar slot play?
2. Odds. Do penny slots really have significantly worse odds relative to higher-cost slot games?
3. Entertainment value. Is the low cost of penny slots worth it, or do dollar slots and their extra features make higher-cost slot play more valuable?
4. Jackpot size. Which offers larger potential prizes, penny slots or dollars slots? And which type of slot gives you the best chance of winning those top prizes?

1 – Do Penny Slots Really Cost Less than Dollar Slots?

Common sense should tell you that a slot that accepts $0.01 per credit is cheaper to play than a slot that accepts $1 per credit.

But that’s not always the case.

Let’s look at the cost of playing a couple of popular penny slots.

Valley of the Gods accepts bets of $0.01 and the max bet is 25 credits. That means you can play Valley of the Gods at $0.25 per spin and still be eligible for top-tier prizes. Valley of the Gods, played at a penny per credit at a max bet of 25 credits per spin, is definitely cheaper than any dollar slot you can find.

I’ve seen a penny slot called Monte Carlo at a lot of casinos in Louisiana (like Coushatta) and Mississippi. The max bet for this Monte Carlo slot is 500 credits. So, even at $0.01 per credit, you’re betting $5 per spin. I’m sure there are dollar slots you can play for less than $5 per spin.

Triple Red Hot 7s is a good example of a mega-popular dollar slot that you’ll find all over the country. The max bet is 5 lines, which means $5 per spin at $1 per credit. That’s significantly more expensive than the Valley of the Gods penny slot described above, but about the same as the Monte Carlo slot you’ll find all over the US South.

If you’re choosing penny slots to save money, be sure you’re picking a game with a low number of credits for a max bet. If the max bet is in the hundreds, you may as well be playing a dollar slot, at least in terms of per-spin cost.

I got into more detail about this in my new post about how much money you should put in a slot machine.

2 – Do Dollar Slots Have Better Odds than Penny Slots?

Generally, the more expensive the slot, the better the overall odds.

However, as with everything in slots, this isn’t always the case.

Here’s a look at average slot payouts by denomination for casinos like Aria, Bellagio, and Circus Circus in Las Vegas. This is based on revenue reports from 2021.

• Penny slots – 89.12%
• Nickel slots – 96.32%
• Quarter slots – 92.59%
• Dollar slots – 94.67%
• $5 slots – 95.33%

Outside of the huge jump in odds for Vegas’ nickel slots, the numbers do go basically up in a neat trajectory. The more you spend per credit, the better your odds.

Why does this happen?

It’s all about money.

Casinos make less per spin on penny slots. That’s why penny slots are programmed to hold back more of a bettor’s money than more expensive ones.

Put another way, casinos make enough off each spin of a $20 high limit slot machine that they can afford to offer a better payback percentage than on penny slots.

3 – Are Penny Slots or Dollar Slots More Entertaining?

This is another question that doesn’t have a simple answer.

Penny slots are designed to appeal to gamblers on a budget. They aren’t usually as fully-featured as slots that cost more. They may have fewer bonus rounds. And they may not have flashy effects on the level of a dollar slot. They’re less likely to have a progressive jackpot or other large payout to boast of.

Dollar slots have to offer potential customers a lot more than penny slots. Customers see that $1 per credit price and wonder why they’d pay more when they could play for a penny just a few machines away. These games tend to come with more bonus rounds and other features to entice players to spend more and keep playing.

Ultimately, the question of whether penny or dollar slots are more entertaining is up to each player.

4 – Do Penny Slots or Dollar Slots Pay Out More?

This is the first question in this post that I feel like I can answer in a straightforward way.

The highest payouts on penny slots won’t be as high or higher than the biggest payout for dollar slots. This is an almost across-the-board truism.

Let’s look at two different slots from one of my nearby casinos, Winstar in Oklahoma.

Winstar has a huge slot variety. It includes some “vintage” 90s electronic slot games that draw a big crowd.

My favorite vintage penny slot is called American Original. The max bet is twenty credits, so I play at $0.20 a spin. At that level, my top possible payout is $2,000. The game is pretty boring by modern standards – the big appeal is the Hot Spins feature, which hands out multipliers and free spins. I play it because I can chase a 10,000x payout for less than a quarter per spin.

When I get bored with the old-school play of American Original, I met head a few rows over to Aristocrat’s classic Buffalo Stampede game. My favorite way to play it at Winstar is in the $1 a credit version, because you get to sit in the fancy section of the casino and get better service. The big appeal of this game is the progressive jackpot, which hovers in the mid-six figures. When I play at $3 per spin, chasing a $500,000 payday, I’m hoping to get a 166,000x payout.

Clearly, the $1 slot has a larger potential prize than the penny slot.

Are there penny slots out there that offer huge payouts that eclipse some dollar slots?

I’m sure there are. But this is a zebra in a field of horses.

Most of the time, a dollar slot’s big jackpot is going to be a lot higher than a penny slot’s top prize.

Conclusion

This post is meant as a complete guide to the question of penny slots vs. dollar slots.

No one can tell you that penny slots are better than dollar slots, or that dollar slots are a better investment than penny slots.

It’s totally up to you.

If you have more fun playing penny slots, then that’s the best game for you. If penny slots bore you, and you need a little more money on the line to stay excited, you might prefer dollar slot games.

Play the games you like and stay out of the controversy altogether.