Bonus Payout

Putting aside the fact that playing slots is a bad bet, many of us still play slots occasionally. My wife and I rarely ever hit a bonus and we play a couple times a week (we almost always play penny slots that have bonuses when we play slots). When we go out with friends they hit bonuses all the time and I see people around us hitting the bonus as well, but we rarely hit them. If we do hit them we rarely win more than 10x our original bet, which generally ranges from $1.00 per spin to $2.50 per spin. This weekend we played and I happened to hit a few bonuses that just had me dumbfounded, here is what happened: Bonus 1: Betting $1.50 per spin, picked max multiplier 5x, and max free spins 20. Total win after 20 spins: $0.00. Not one paid line through the entire bonus. Bonus 2: $1.20 per spin, won 16 free spins, total bonus win $1.60. Bonus 3 (same machine): $1.20 per spin won 8 free spines, total bonus win $3.60.

Now I have won as much $100.00 on bonuses before, but like once or twice ever. We have a lot greater luck hitting paid lines on regular spins. We have even hit a progressive once for $3,200.

Most people that I know who play slots win on the bonuses and are always excited when they do luck into the bonus. That is just not the case for me.

Should bonuses always provide a winning amount? How much would be reasonable? 10x your original bet? It just seems odd to me that I have the total opposite experience of most slot players, in that I rarely hit a bonus and that most of my wins come from paid lines and not the bonus rounds.

My initial reaction is to check the actual hit frequency against your perception. We have selective memories, so our perception of others hitting more often than us, is usually a matter of us not remembering our own wins on infrequent play, vs. our friends hits on a higher volume of play. If you were to scale up your play to that of your friends, perhaps the bonus round qualifications are actually similar.

Perhaps another key to bonus qualification (and subsequent payout) is to play max coins. In the round where you won zero, was that due to the winning symbols landing on a non-paying line? With the crazy paylines in video slots, the only way I can tell if I've won anything is the machine lighting it up. Also, max coin in brings more frequent bonus qualification on some machines.

I play much more than my friends. I always check machines to see if max coins bet is needed to trigger the bonus or a progressive win. I believe I play slots about as smart as you can, if there is such thing. I always play max lines, which is funny in comparison to my friends who don't play max lines. As an example, we both played for an hour yesterday at Green Valley Ranch. We hit zero bonuses. She hit six. The first bonus paid her $150 and the last bonus paid her $135. We both bet approximately the same amount of money per spin. I know this is just one comparison, but I believe I hit far far fewer bonuses than the average slot player. Like I said I do have some nice wins on regular play, but rarely on bonuses. I know earlier in 2011, over the course of 1 month playing two to three times a week. Neither me or my wife hit a bonus round the entire month. I just wish I understood bonuses a little better.