Mathematically, What Is the Best Video Poker Multiline Game?

Mathematically, what is the best video poker choice: single line, triple play, 5 play, 10 play, or 50 or 100 play?

[Editor's Note: This answer is penned by Bob Dancer.]

Well, it depends.

The most important factor is the pay schedule. Some casinos have the same pay schedules everywhere, but many don’t. If I can get a 99.73% schedule of Deuces Wild for single lines and the best I can get for multiple lines is a 98.91% schedule, I’m limiting my play to single line. But even if the pay schedules are the same, other things need to be considered.

Other than pay schedule, the two most important factors are fun and variance. Let’s take care of the fun factor first. I think Ten Play is more interesting than a single-line game. Fifty Play and Hundred Play, even more so. They're just more fun. But that’s just my opinion.

Not a matter of opinion, however, is variance. Variance is a mathematical calculation dealing with how far away from the average an individual event will be. Variance is a key component to a bankroll calculation.

Let’s consider several games where you play exactly $5 per play. For single line, that will be a dollar game. For Ten Play, that will be a 10¢ game. For Fifty Play, that will be a 2¢ game. But in every case, we’re playing five coins per line. All of these add up to $5 per play.

For Triple Play, it will be a 33.3¢ game, five coins at a time. That game doesn’t exist, but for now, we can pretend it does by appropriately extrapolating between a 25¢ and a 50¢ game. For Five Play, it requires we bet 20¢ coins. It’s pretty rare to find games of this denomination, but it’s at least possible.

Under these conditions, consider the bankroll required to play a game. It’s a complicated calculation and part of it deals with how much risk of going broke you’re willing to take on. But for whatever risk you want, assume you come up with a bankroll for single-line play. We’ll call that the 100% figure. Now look at the following chart to see how much bankroll is required for playing the same total bet in a multiple-line game.

Single Line 100%

Triple Play 40%

Five Play 18%

Ten Play 12%

Twenty-Five Play 9%

Fifty Play 5%

Hundred Play 3%

The answer becomes obvious. For the same total bet, it’s much less risky to play multiple-line games -- the more lines the better.

That was for the same total bet. How about for the same denomination? That is, for quarters you’ll pay $1.25 per hand. For Ten Play, you’ll pay $12.50 per hand. In this case, the numbers are:

Single Line 100%

Triple Play 120%

Five Play 140%

Ten Play 180%

That is, if you have a bankroll of say $5,000 and that allowed you to play a quarter single-line game with a given risk level, a bankroll of $6,000 would allow you to play quarter Triple Play. A bankroll of $9,000 would allow you to play quarter Ten Play. This is ten times the actual bet size, but will be less than twice the variance.

I don’t have the figures for larger games, but you can extrapolate.

It would be a rare casino that had all games in every combination of denominations and number of lines. Still, you can use the above information to get a good idea of the risk to play various games.

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Comments

Rob Reid May-04-2021

Very Helpful Post

The only thing I might add is the importance of accurate play in multi-line games.  Those errors get magnified as you move from single line to multi-line games.

CLIFFORD May-04-2021

Velly Intellesting

In the long run, just a faster way to lose a few dollars ??

Dave_Miller_DJTB May-04-2021

100 play

I rarely play video poker, but when I do, I prefer the 100 play machines (which are far too hard to find).

I like it because I get to do mental math.

For example:

If I hold 2 pair, then I should get 4 / 47 * 100 = 8.51 full houses.

Get 4 to a Royal? Say A, K, Q, J, x?

1 / 47 * 100 = 2.13 Royals
3 / 47 * 100 = 6.38 Straights
8 / 47 * 100 = 17.02 Flushes
12 / 47 * 100 = 25.53 Jacks or Better
23 / 47 * 100 = 48.94 Nothing

Ray May-04-2021

at the same denomination

Cliff, it seems to be a slower way if you do as Bob said, play the same total bet. It's only a faster way if you play the same denomination. Personally, I like to play 5-play nickels instead of single play quarters (the same $1.25 per hand), assuming I could get the same pay schedule.

Kevin Lewis May-04-2021

They're on to us

The ability to play longer, have more fun, and not be subject to as much volatility is the exact reason why the casinos almost always post lousy pay schedules on multi-line machines, and those schedules for low denominations are particularly disgusting. When I first started playing, I didn't understand why a hundred-play nickel machine would have a MUCH worse pay schedule than a $5 machine--even though you're betting the same amount!

One thing I observed was that if you're just trying to rack up points, an already low-volatility game like JOB, with your bet spread out to a fifty-play or hundred-play game, gave you the most bang for the buck. So places like South Point and the (old) Palms that had point-accumulation promos (like a virtual wheel spin every 500 points, and such) eventually yanked out their .01/.05 9/6 JOB 50 and 100 play games.

I hasten to add that South Point still has lots of decent multi-line games, though they don't go so far as to let you play multi-line NSUD.

That Don Guy May-04-2021

It depends on "mathematically"

Look at it this way - which of these is better "mathematically":
1. A 5-Play machine;
2. Five single-play machines you play at the same time where each machine gets the same five cards in the deal (but the draws can be different).

AL May-04-2021

Bankroll is a prime factor

Many of us have limited bankrolls & could never amass $3,000 or more or whatever bankroll is recommended for playing 25-cent-level single-play, or its equivalent in multi-play or a different denomination. For us, this factor is overriding. It's a true observation that was made that casinos now have worse paytables on 50-play & 100-play games than on single-line games; that may also be true (or partly true) for 5-play & 10-play.  So for us, single line is the best way to go; that will enable the highest EV for the game we play. This factor will have to get the nod over the lower overall variance of a multi-play game. I agree: multi-line games are more fun to play; but they also have one drawback that hasn't been mentioned: It takes longer for a deal in a multi-line game to get completed in all the hands via the draw, so if you compare $5/hand for single-line play vs. multi-line play, you will have less coin-in per hour; you might not get enough play done to keep good offers coming.

Jerry Patey May-05-2021

Multi play

Many people I see playing multiline voice do not play full play. Perhaps 2-3 lines I believe there only few games you can do that and not increase loss. I disagree that you cannot play 25 cent vp with 3000 bankroll. All I can say is I have never lost that much money on any trip to Vegas. I play at prob 99.5 level. I play the 6 or 7 games I know the strategy. It works for me. When I can go back I will carry about 12k and play 50 cent and dollar machines. I have money for higher level but I am playing for fun not profit. Of course I try for the profit. Good luck

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