1. Best Paying Penny Slot Machines
2. Online Penny Slot Machines
3. Are Penny Slot Machines Worth It
4. Best Paying Penny Slots
5. Best Penny Slots In Casino

Table Of Contents

Penny slots are at the foundation of modern gambling. Penny slot machines have been the most popular ones in the United States for decades.

Feb 18, 2019 Penny slots are at the foundation of modern gambling. Penny slot machines have been the most popular ones in the United States for decades. People would pay their buy-ins with nickels and hope. Highest Paying Penny Slot Machines game rounds. Game restrictions apply. Maximum 50 Free Spins on selected games, credited within 48 hours of qualifying. Free Spins expire after 7 days. E-Wallet & Prepaid Highest Paying Penny Slot Machines Card restrictions apply. Slots with the lowest minimums are often called penny slots. Slots that you can play for $.01 do exist online, but they’re getting harder to find. So for those of you looking to get the most bang for your bankroll on the video slot machines, we’d like to offer our list of the top ten best slots with the lowest minimum bets available.

If you want a variety of machines but still want to maximize high slot payout percentages, check out the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, where there are thousands of ways to play including a number of high-paying slot tournaments. The Bellagio features over 2,300 reel, video reel and video poker games. Downtown and Strip penny slots came in as the tightest with casino win percentages of 11.26% and 11.45% respectively. Similar to our previous data set that looked at all denominations, penny slots more apt to pay out can be found in the Boulder (9.61% win rate) and North Las Vegas (9.71% win rate) areas.

People would pay their buy-ins with nickels and hope for the best.

When Bally came out with their now famous 'Money Honey' slot, players enjoyed the fact that they were allowed to play for up to five nickels at a time.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the word 'penny' is used to describe these games. Penny slots are not as cheap as they sound.

The first things that pop into your mind when you hear the words 'penny slots' might be low payouts and low costs.

In fact, casino penny slot machines were also viewed as slots that cost nothing but a penny to play, which can't be further away from the truth.

New Penny Slots: 2020 Addition

We've decided to expand the list and present you with a few extra penny slots that have become increasingly popular in 2020.

Take a pick and try out a new penny slot:

Double Tigers

Double Tigers is a well-designed penny slot with 3-reel, 8-payline and d 96.43% RTP.

You also get to adjust the volatility levels thanks to their unique Volatility Levels™ feature.

Necromancer

Evoplay Entertainment has really taken that extra step towards improving the slots experience when they came up with this VR-inspired 95.9% RTP game.

Throw on your VR set, grab your mobile and transport yourself to a place where scary things are happening.

The three-dimensional penny slot world offers you 80 betways and a type of gameplay that you don't see often in gambling.

Disco Bar 7s

With coin value ranging from $0.01 to $50, the max bet you can place on Disco Bar 7s is $500.

It's a classic video slot, so there isn't much going on in terms of bonus rounds, but fill up the spots with Disco Ball wild symbols and score a 10,000-coin win.

This 3-reel, 10-payline slot features an RTP of 95.96%.

Care to see our all-time top 10? Scroll down and enjoy the list and reviews of the best 10 penny slots in 2020!

Top 10 Penny Slots

Penny Slots are more than sitting down in front of a machine and popping nickel after nickel into it, after which you pull the 'arm'.

In fact, today's online penny Slots are an extrapolation of the old ones.

These penny Slots are multi-line games allowing for more than one coin bet per line.

With themes like popular movies, shows and games, but also bonus features and special symbols, these penny slot machines represent the best there is in the gambling industry today.

But enough with the chit-chat! You're here to learn about the best penny Slots you can play right now.

Below you can find a list of 10 greatest penny Slot machine games to play online.

The sites that offer these games offer both free penny Slot machines and free penny Slots with bonus rounds, you'll surely find the favourite suits you best.

All you have to do is pick your favorite, as millions of players around the world vouch for the quality of these very best 10 games.

Book of Dead

We've already mentioned this penny slot, but we'll do it again, this time in more detail.

This penny video Slot is extremely similar to the famous 'Book of Ra', yet still has some new features that will ensure good gameplay, emerging the player into the mysterious Egyptian-theme world the game depicts.

There are 5 reels and 10 paylines in the Book of Dead online Slots game.

The symbol to look for is the Book of Dead, which acts like the Wild and the Scatter of the Slot.

Golden Colts

If you get over the fact that this game is one of the creepiest out there, then you can start thinking about the Mega Symbols, Wild Reels, Stacked Symbols, Wilds, Scatters, Free Spins, and other features Golden Colts has to offer.

Blaze of Ra

Here's another Ancient Egypt virtual world for the fans of gods and amulets to explore .

The 5 reels are covered by 40 potential paylines, which is great considering the screen is cut into 4 rows and 5 columns.

The graphics of this game are very high-quality.

You have your desertic background with pyramids at the back of the reels, while the mighty god Ra stands on the left of the screen, watching your every move.

Land on a Scarab, the Scatter of the game for bonus rounds with free spins.

Pirate's Charm

This Quickspin penny Slot has a Mystery Charm Respin feature which lets you re-trigger bonuses repeatedly in the game.

The thing that makes this game stand out is the possibility to play on up to 243 paylines, which is why many players consider Pirate's Charm to be one of the best Slots ever produced by Quickspin.

As a penny Slot, you can start betting from as low as $0.2 on one spin.

The game feels like the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, offering great visuals and a theme song fitted for a pirate's life feel to it, with stunning visuals and a very nice pirate soundtrack.

Then, if you need more Slots of this kind, have a look at our curated list of the best pirate Slots.

Vikings Go to Hell

We are all familiar with the stories about the courageous Nordic Vikings, the rulers of the Scandinavian seas and the lands surrounding them.

Vikings Go to Hell is a 5-reel, 4-row, and 25-payline Slot featuring the last recorded years of these amazing people.

Of course, the story is fantasized, so the Vikings have to take on the demons of the underworld in order to make it out alive.

Look for the Sticky Wilds which will enable multipliers and free spins once they appear on your reel. The minimum bet? Just $0.1 for one spin.

Divine Fortune

Here's another penny video Slot to consider if you're into Ancient Greek-themed Slots.

This visually gorgeous game will emerge you into the world of the gods with its 5-reels, 3-rows configuration and 20 pay lines.

Having an RTP of 96.69%, Divine Fortune can be more like a 'Divine Comedy' when you land on some Wilds, for example.

There are also three progressive jackpots scattered throughout the game.

Wild Wheel Big Money

Wild Wheel might be just a penny Slot, but don't be fooled by that, as it has one of the most impressive arrays of bonuses in the industry.

Piggy Banks, Wads, Gold Coins, and Dollars, but also Gold Bars and Cash Suitcases, these are the symbols of this Slot.

When you land on 3 Wilds, you get to play the Wheel of Fortune Bonus Game. This is the feature you should hope to become familiar with since it is the best one in the game.

Valley of the Gods

Are you ready to take another trip to Ancient Egypt?

With nice, yet simple graphics, good sound effects and bonuses, Valley of the Gods is one of those Egyptian Slots with a simple gameplay but a great return for their players.

This game by Yggdrasil has the Anubis and the Horus statues as its most rewarding symbols.

The Return to Player rate is 96,2%.

Gold King

With the Gold King Slot, you won't get to earn all the gold on the planet, but at least can spend some time playing a game with good graphics, sounds, and gameplay.

The simple 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 paylines make this game a favorite with both the novices and the experienced players alike.

Released only a few months ago, this new Slot game is already a hit and the symbols to look for are the Gold Bars and the Gold Kings, for free spins and other bonuses.

Temple of TUT

Remember the famous story of the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb?

How about you yourself take on the trails of Howard Carter and George Herbert and try to figure out the mystery surrounding this Egyptian figure?

In Temple of TUT, there are more Super Reels than there are tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt!

Land on 5 Free Spins Symbols and you will activate whopping 30 Free Spins.

The Stacked Wilds can be randomly discovered after any normal spin, but the symbols to look for are the Light beam and the Golden Scarabs.

Good luck not catching a cold, or a deadly Ancient Curse...

Penny Slots FAQ

It all depends on what you're looking for. Penny slots are amazing for players who like to spend time getting to know the slot machine and spinning reels without the pressure of making bug bets.

Penny slots are great because you can bet as little as $0.01 while you're still learning the ropes, but if you're looking to land some wins, you will probably need to increase your bets. There is no single trick that will help you win on penny slots every time, but slot strategy tips will come in handy.

Generally, if you want a penny slot machine with the best odds, you should aim at those with RTP over 97%. Progressive jackpots, bonus rounds and free spins features should also be taken into account when you're deciding how much you could win on a particular slot.

It's hard to say what penny slot game is the best to play because it varies from person to person. We've put together many great penny slots, so skim through the article and see what strikes your fancy - this list of top penny slots will have your new favourite on it.

Ask any retiree who visits Las Vegas regularly about their favorite casino game, and you’ll invariably hear about the fabled penny slots.

These slot machines take their name from their low coin denomination, ditching the nickels and quarters typically wagered on each spin for a single penny. Or so the story goes anyhow…

In reality, the advent of payline-based slot gameplay ensures you’ll almost always be playing for more than a penny per spin. That’s because you need to pay one penny for each payline in play, so a standard 30-payline machine would charge $0.30 each time you let the reels fly. Despite this deceptive misnomer, however, the penny slots reign supreme in Sin City.

And that discrepancy occurred even though Nevada is home to far less penny slots (54,754 machines) than multi-denominational games (70,658 machines).

Indeed, just like your grandparents have reported, the penny slots are by far the most popular game on any casino floor. A major casino might spread a dozen blackjack tables in the pit, but the penny slot parlor will be chocked full with hundreds of machines from dozens of manufacturers. And when you run the numbers, it’s easy to see why.

That equates to an average expected loss of between $0.36 and $0.96 per hour, amounts which won’t threaten to bust your bankroll anytime soon. But when you up the stakes to $1 per spin, those 300 to 800 spins per hour can cost between $24 and $64 every 60 minutes.

With these figures fresh in your mind, it’s easy to see why so many players are flocking to the penny slots – especially folks working with a limited bankroll. When you only have a small stake to gamble with, the ability to play – and hopefully win – for a few pennies at a time is invaluable.

Nobody likes to lose, but there’s something about blowing through a few hundred bucks in a matter of minutes that stings just a little bit more. By sticking to the penny slots, casual players can limit their losses, all while chasing that elusive jackpot dream.

The casinos bank on casual players ignoring this fact while focusing on the inexpensive cost of entry. And sure enough, as the NGCB data mentioned earlier makes clear, most players don’t bother thinking about the nuances of penny slot play.

If you’re a slot player nursing a smaller-sized bankroll who is searching for ways to improve their penny ante action, look no further. The guide below will cover four essential tips and tricks for successfully navigating the world of penny slots.

You’ll learn why the old maxim about always betting the max doesn’t apply, the value to be gained by leaving tourist hotspots behind, the modern systems casinos use to deploy their machines, the importance of payback and hold percentages, and how to avoid the most common myths and misconceptions about slot gameplay. When its all said and done, this page should leave you better prepared to maximize your limited bankroll while minimizing your liabilities and losses.

The first strategy tip most slot players learn offers the following advice – always bet the maximum number of paylines and coins.

On a typical quarter slot, the machine offers anywhere between 1 and 5 coins per spin. That equates to $0.25 for minimum bettors, and $1.25 for folks playing the maximum.

And on a quarter machine which includes bonus rounds, free spin rewards, and a progressive jackpot, that strategy makes perfect sense. After all, most games are designed to provide those perks only if the player has bet the max, so playing for anything less removes much of the game’s inherent value.

As the old saying goes, “why play for a progressive jackpot you can’t even win?” But for penny slot enthusiasts, that bit of wisdom can be tossed out the window.

For one thing, these games usually ditch the massive progressive jackpots for fixed awards – and these can be won at any wagering level.

Secondly, even the more modern penny slots usually eschew in-game bonuses and side games for standard spinning. That is to say, you’ll be competing for the game’s primary pay table prizes, rather than a chance to spin the wheel, play memory games, or earn free spins.

Jean Scott – a veteran casino player and author of the popular “Frugal Gambler” series of strategy books – captured this sentiment perfectly in a blog post for the Las Vegas Advisor:

“Now I well know the problem with slots. The negative EV (the house edge) will eventually put players in the loser category and sometimes very quickly. The fun factor can disappear very quickly if you are losing more money than you can afford.

Players with small bankrolls know that they need to play minimum bets so they can extend their fun time.

Hit those buttons with higher level bets and, yes, your bonuses may be more frequent and jackpots bigger, but you will very likely go broke before you can gain this advantage!”

And using a simple table devised by John Grochowski – a longtime professional gambler and strategy writer – you can see exactly how upping the ante increases your bankroll requirements:

This table is especially informative, because it shows just how differently maximum stake players must approach penny slots. When you’re working with a smaller bankroll than most, $125 is probably a sensible amount at which to limit your losses. Thankfully, that’s the exact amount you’d need to play a 50 payline game for one penny per line. But if you found the same machine and decide to bet the max with five pennies per line, you’d need to bring a whopping $625 with you to survive three hours of action.

Unless you’re stuck on the idea of playing for progressive jackpots, the penny slots simply don’t require a maximum bet to have fun – and hopefully, collect a steady stream of smaller payouts while you do.

This piece of advice is counterintuitive to most recreational players, especially those who haven’t yet experienced the sights and sounds of famous Las Vegas Strip.

But while The Strip can be quite the entertaining experience for tourists, gamblers are preyed upon like sheep by the wolf-like casinos.

Take a look at the data below, which was compiled by the NGCB as part of the regulator’s annual statewide slot machine survey:

Las Vegas Slot Machine Payback Percentages by Location

1¢ Slot Machines

• The Strip – 88.45 percent
• Downtown – 88.66 percent
• Boulder Strip – 90.42 percent
• N. Las Vegas – 90.71 percent

5¢ Slot Machines

• The Strip – 91.84 percent
• Downtown – 92.08 percent
• Boulder Strip – 95.73 percent
• N. Las Vegas – 95.38 percent

25¢ Slot Machines

• The Strip – 90.59 percent
• Downtown – 94.48 percent
• Boulder Strip – 96.39 percent
• N. Las Vegas – 96.58 percent

No matter which slot games you prefer, playing on The Strip inherently increases the odds against you. The percentage figure listed next to each location reflects the average payback rate – also known as the return to player (RTP) rate – offered on average by all slot machines in that area.

And as you can see, playing on The Strip always provides players with the worst possible payback rates. As a penny slot specialist, you’ll be up against an 88.45 percent payback rate while playing on The Strip. That equates to a house edge of 11.55 percent, making penny machines in the heart of Sin City a moneymaking monster for the casinos.

But take your action to the Boulder Strip or North Las Vegas, and that payback rate bumps up all the way over 90 percent. That may not seem like all that much of an improvement, but when you factor in the rapid pace of play found on slot games, padding your expected return by a full 2 percentage points is a massive improvement.

And it doesn’t matter if you’re playing true penny slots, or the nickel and quarter variety, as the pattern holds true across the board.

Another benefit of playing off the beaten path is the discounts and perks off-Strip casinos tend to lavish on their players. For the big boys like MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment – two casino conglomerates that control almost all properties on The Strip – enormous profits are practically ensured. They have a steady stream of tourists walking in the doors, so these venues can offer lower paying games and skimp out on the comps and perks.

But as Lucas Peterson – author of the “Frugal Traveler” column in the New York Times – recently discovered, venturing outside of the tourist traps offers a vastly different experience. Peterson visited the tiny Ellis Island Casino, located just east of Las Vegas Boulevard on Flamingo Road.

While the Ellis Island may lack the amenities and ambiance of a Strip establishment, this joint sure does know how to treat its customers.

Here’s how Peterson described his experience playing penny slots at Ellis Island:

“All casinos have rewards programs. You sign up, get a little card with a magnetic strip, and as you spend money you collect coupons for freebies and discounts.

At Ellis Island, they’ll give you that cheap steak dinner (normally $12.99) if you play just $5 worth of slots. But isn’t that just breaking even?

Well, in addition to it just being a little mindless Vegas fun, you can push it further: If you play $10 worth of slots instead of $5, not only do you get that discount on the steak dinner, Ellis Island also rewards you with bonus play money – a random amount between $10 and $500.”

In his case, Peterson’s initial $10 play on the penny machines produced a $66 free-play reward. He used that to play for a little while longer, cashed out for $30 profit, all while enjoying a free steak dinner on the side.

In his words, the casino paid him to play (and win), while throwing in a comped meal to boot.

You just won’t find customer appreciation like that on The Strip, which is why penny slot players on a lower bankroll should always get out of dodge to explore Las Vegas’ outlying areas.

Spend enough time around the slot parlor and you’ll inevitably hear players whispering about “loose” machines.

While the concept has faded into the realm of myth in the modern age, the notion that some slots are programmed to be loose – paying out more winners more often than the baseline – used to be based somewhat in reality.

Back in the day, when the average casino only carried a few hundred slot machines rather than a few thousand, casino managers could carefully tailor the arrangement of their games. No, they couldn’t control the actual outcomes (more on this to come in the Myths and Misconceptions section), but they could purchase a certain selection of higher paying machines before placing them in choice locations on the floor.

At the time, the idea was to get people standing in the lobby or by the buffet interested in playing slots because they kept hearing jackpot payouts and celebrations.

Today, however, the big casinos have thousands of slot machines under a single roof, making this level of management impractical. Rather than place certain games known to pay more often in select locations, casino managers simply stock their entire venue with games offering varied payback rates.

Here’s how John Robison, author of“The Slot Expert’s Guide to Playing Slots,” summed the placement situation up in a post for the American Casino Guide:

“The last change in the slot floor that I want to mention is perhaps the biggest change of all.

Casinos used to have hundreds of slot machines. Now they have thousands. One slot director in Las Vegas said in an interview a few years ago that with so many machines on his floor, he didn’t have time to micro-manage them.

He and his management decided the hold percentage they wanted for each denomination and he ordered payback programs close to that percentage for his machines. Furthermore, he said this was the common practice in Las Vegas.”

I’ve made mention of payback percentages many times now, and for good reason.

What the house edge metric is for table game players, payback percentage – and its inverse, the casino’s hold percentage – means for slot enthusiasts. Manufacturers and designers like International Game Technology (IGT), Scientific Games, Konami Gaming, Bally, and Aristocrat are all bound by strict gaming regulations which require games to have predetermined payback rates.

A popular themed game like The Walking Dead by IGT, for example, offers a generous 96 percent payback rate – good for a 4 percent house edge. But when you bring your bankroll to an older game like Mr. Cashman by Aristocrat, the payback percentage falls to 91 percent.

As it turns out, casinos rely on players not knowing their way around payback rates, as Steve Walther – senior director of marketing & product management for Konami Gaming – wrote in a 2017 column for the Las Vegas Sun:

“There are multiple schools of thought with regard to hold percentage and players’ ability to determine the hold in an individual session.

As games become more complex, the types of winning combinations have grown exponentially. When old games only had a certain number of slots on a wheel, maybe it was easier. Now, being able to feel the hold in a single session could be very difficult.

However, other schools of thought are different for repeat gamblers and those schools say maybe they can notice.”

Best Paying Penny Slot Machines

Fortunately, these companies are bound by law to publish their payback percentages, so you can run a quick Google search for your favorite games to check up. If the game is offering anything less than 90 percent, you should avoid it like the plague. Low to mid 90s are the norm for penny slots, while anything higher is a gift from the heavens.

On a final note, of all the gambling games under the sun, slots seem to give rise to mistaken beliefs more than most.

Maybe it’s because players can’t make decisions to influence the outcome, but superstition runs rampant in the slot world.

Olaf Vancura- who serves as vice president of game development for slot maker Mikohn Gaming, a subsidiary of IGT – offered his take on the most pervasive slot myths during an interview with the Las Vegas Sun:

“I guess the No. 1 myth is that slot machines keep track of wins and losses and will compensate to get to a win.

But in the U.S., this is is illegal. Slots aren’t allowed to make adjustments.

They cannot and do not. Each win is a separate event.”

And Konami Gaming’s higher-up Walther echoed those sentiments, warning players to steer clear of fallacies and misinformation about the casino’s ability to control payouts from on high:

“There is all sorts of lore out there.

If you push buttons in a certain combination, if animals look at you funny, there are all sorts of myths.

And one is that there is a magical control center that can update games at a touch of a button.”

As the major myth associated with slots, many people will swear up and down that the casino’s “control room” has direct access to the reels spinning on their screen. Fortunately for players who enjoy fair play, Vancura clarified that this is simply an impossibility:

“Some people believe a slot director off in a back room somewhere is sitting at a computer and can change the machine right out from under you.

Online Penny Slot Machines

So if you are playing a good machine that you were doing well at, someone can tighten it down and you will run into a cold streak.

Are Penny Slot Machines Worth It

It’s not possible for the casino to pull the rug out from under you.”

And according to Vancura, another commonly heard myth – that players can “vulture” jackpots by waiting for a machine to be primed by previous play – just doesn’t hold up to technological scrutiny:

“Today’s slot machines don’t work that way. They are based on RNGs or random number generators.

Different manufacturers have different rates. But a good rule of thumb is that the RNGs are running hundreds of times per second.

So unless you had initiated that same spin at precisely the same instant, you would not have won the jackpot. If you’re even a tenth of a second off, you will get a completely different outcome.”

Penny slots can be a great way to enjoy the casino experience on the cheap, but only when you know how the game is really played. Using these five tips, you should be able to get your coins behind the best bets only, while avoiding the pitfalls that ensnare uninformed players.

Best Paying Penny Slots

Best Penny Slots In Casino