Wager Saver - Is there an AP opportunity?

I noticed a feature on a new WMS penny machine that allows a player to wager and possibly win a spin when their bank falls below their last wager.

For example:

I max bet $2.85, leaving $1.63 in the bank. The machine asks if I would like to wager the remaining $1.63 for the chance at one more spin at $2.85. If accepted, the resolution of this wager appears to be the spin of a wheel, with the winning area proportional to the remaining bank/amount of last wager. In this example, I would have a $1.63/$2.85 = 57.2% chance of winning.

Is there an opportunity to consistently get spins at a discount by only banking small amounts in order to leave a good chance at a discounted max bet at the end? If so, what is the optimal proportion of the max bet to leave at the end?

Looks to be 0 HE regardless of the amount wagered.

x = amount wagered (percent of max bet), with 1 being the max bet amount

win amount * p(win) + loss amount * p(loss) = he
(1-x) * x + (-x) * (1-x) = he
0 = he

I doubt it. I haven't looked at the details to see if you even get credit for the spins you do get Player's card wise but if not, using it would be a disadvantage. Then do meters still rise when winning the next spin.

Thanks wudged. I am not sure if this feature will catch on because I suspect casinos program their slots to leave an odd amount in order to encourage re-buys.

At least that's what the voices say when I take off my foil hat... hehe

Quote: onenickelmiracle

I doubt it. I haven't looked at the details to see if you even get credit for the spins you do get Player's card wise but if not, using it would be a disadvantage. Then do meters still rise when winning the next spin.

Hmm, a good question. I'll have to see what happens next time. My initial thought is that you would get credit for the max bet since you are actually wagering that amount (you just happened to have to "win" the shortage.) Conversely, I doubt that you would get credit for the "Wager Saver" wager, since it seems like there is no edge. Just my thoughts though, no actual observations yet.

Your overall chances should be the same as the regular slot machine paytable.

It would annoy me greatly to stick in $5 at a time in order to play the wager-saver deliberately. I mean, sure, I'd have a 75% chance of getting 87% of $2.85 for $2.15 every other round, but... I don't think the annoyance factor would be adequately offset by any potential gains.

I believe the key to this not being AP is this:

Quote:

In this example, I would have a $1.63/$2.85 = 57.2% chance of winning.

The closest comparison for this is the Video Poker double-up feature available on some Game King or Spielo machines, the difference being, the bets go in the opposite order. With VP, you generally make a negative expectation bet to have the opportunity to make a 0% HE bet, or more than one. With this, you're making a 0% HE bet to then have the opportunity to take a negative expectation spin.

It is true, if we ignore the fact that you must first lose a spin to put you below your previous bet, and assuming the visual representation accurately represents the probability, that you can spin off the rest of your money at a lesser expected loss in $$$, but it is at the same HE.

For the sake of a simple example, let's say there is a slot machine with Wager Saver and only two possibilities, a 45% chance of a 2-FOR-1 return and a 55% chance of a loss.

(.45 * 1) - (.55 * 1) = -.10 or a 10% HE.

Now, let's say you have $1.50 on a ticket and lose leaving you with .50 and the opportunity to play Wager Saver with a 50% probability of getting to take another spin. In this scenario, there is one condition by which you would win $1.50 and two conditions by which you would lose $0.50.

(.5 * .45 * 1.50) - (.5 * .5) - (.5 * .55 * .5) = -0.05 or a 10% HE.

Since this works backwards from Video Poker, the best option (as with any -ER game, including -ER VP) is not to play, the second best option, since you are betting on getting a chance to win is to bet as little as possible on Wager Saver to reduce expected loss. Let's look at $0.01 compared to $0.99:

(.01 * .45 * 1.99) - (.01 * .99) - (.01 * .01 * .55) = -0.001 or a HE of 10%.

(.99 * .45 * 1.01) - (.99 * .01) - (.99 * .99 * .55) = -0.099 or a HE of 10%.

With Video Poker, the double-up feature trims the overall edge on the total money exposed by allowing a player to double-up AFTER the player has already won. This Wager Saver does not change the House Edge in any way whatsoever because it is giving you a 0% HE chance to make the same negative expectation wager you were making before, and that even ignores the fact that you have to LOSE before this even becomes a possibility.