Up the Steps Slots Strategy

“Up the steps” goes against the grain of usual slot machine advice. Ask any three-coin slot machine strategy specialist and he will tell you that always bet three coins. And there is sound reasoning behind the advice. The payout for the jackpot with two coins wagered is two times the payout for the jackpot with one coin wagered. But the payout for the jackpot with three coins wagered is greater than three times the payout for the jackpot with one coin wagered. Hence you could be kicking yourself if you win a jackpot when the wager is less than three coins.

However one must recognize the fact that all circumstances are not the same nor are all players identical. Hence strategies need to be tailored to suit the circumstances and the player. The normal three-coin strategy implies that you need to start with a bigger bankroll. Small bankrolls can quickly get eaten away by losing streaks. But there are people with small bankrolls who want to stretch their playing time to the maximum. Also jackpots are rare. There are players who do not want to specifically cater to that possibility. For winning lines other than jackpots the payout with three coins wagered is three times the payout with one coin wagered. Hence for most of the time the third coin has no additional value. Up the steps is a slot machine strategy that caters exactly to this situation.

The player starts betting with one coin. The strategy for this level is that if the player loses the bet then he continues betting with one coin and if the player wins the bet then he steps up to betting two coins on the next wager. When the player is playing with two coins he uses the following strategy. If the player loses the bet then he steps down to betting with one coin and if the player wins the bet then he steps up to betting three coins on the next wager. The strategy at the three-coin level is similar. If the player loses the bet then he steps down to betting with two coins and if the player wins the bet then he continues with betting three coins on the next wager.

The advantage of up the steps strategy is that it enables the player to conserve his bankroll and bet at higher levels with his winnings. Most gamblers believe that luck comes in patches. If a player is unlucky he will continue being unlucky for some time and then his luck will change for the better. After that he will continue being lucky for some time. These periods are known as losing streaks and winning streaks. Such players believe that placing high wagers during losing streaks is the surest way to erode the bankroll. The advantage of the up the steps strategy is that it automatically adjusts to losing and winning streaks. During losing streaks it brings down the betting level to one coin and during winning streaks it brings up the betting level to three coins. And since you are likely to hit the jackpot in a winning streak, up the steps is likely to ensure that you have three coins wagered at that time.

Marissa Patterson