In an early post on the site, I wrote about how Quick Hit is an example of a game where you should always max bet if you can. Because the progressives are attached to max bets only, you effectively lose out on what the progressives offer if you bet less than max.
That said, there are times and reasons players can’t or don’t bet max. In the earlier versions of the game $1.50 max bets were the norm, but $3, $4 and even $10 max bets in one example I saw at my home casino (which they wisely lowered to a still much higher $5) have appeared on more recent versions.
So, what happens if you don’t max bet? What are you really giving up? Today’s article will dive into that a bit.
Line Hits Change Proportionally
The first thing to understand is that most of the pays simply shift proportionally. If you are on a game with a $3 max bet, and move to a 30 cent bet, your line pays will go down to 1/10th the $3 level, in lock step with the bet increments. 60 cents would be double 30 cents and 1/5th of the $3 level, etc.
So the standard line hits are not impacted at all by betting lower, other than the proportional changes.
Bonus Features Are the Same
The picking options that usually persiste on Quick Hit for the bonus remain the same regardless of bet as well, and the pays will be proportionate to the bet. In fact, most of the time in a Quick Hit bonus the progressives are unavailable, instead having flat jackpots. So you don’t even miss out there.
So, It’s All About the Quick Hit Symbols
So it’s just the Quick Hit symbols that you miss out on. Let’s take a look at an example. I’ll then walk you through what you’re missing out on:
Here is an example of a six Quick Hit jackpot I hit on a $1.50 max bet game last year. The progressive was at $88.65. It resets to $75.00 on this version. So I won an extra $13, but I was betting $1.20 per spin more to get it. So that’s basically 10 free spins I get out of the equation.
Here’s the amounts the 5, 6 and 7 Quick Hit progressives start at on many of the $1.50 max bet old school machines:
- 5 Quick Hit: $15 (10x the max bet)
- 6 Quick Hit: $75 (50x the max bet)
- 7 Quick Hit: $150 (100x the max bet)
If you were betting 30 cents, they’d simply pay the 10x, 50x and 100x the max bet without the incremental benefit a progressive provides.
The reality is unless it’s one of the top Quick Hit jackpots, it’s not going to make an enormous difference. But of course if 8 or 9 Quick Hit symbols land, it will be a much larger delta. But in terms of overall payback loss, you’re talking 1-2 percent.
If you’re comfortable giving that up, so you can bet at a lower level, go for it! Just be aware of what you’re giving up, and what the Quick Hit symbols will pay if you bet below max bet.
