Astro Jackpot: Online Slots Guides

Slots' Full Pay vs. Short Pay

Full pay machines are machines with the best basic payout schedules found for their type. In the full pay category, we basically judge the payout schedule for hands other than a royal flush, since progressives, and certain specialty machines can be found that pay extraordinarily well for the royal flush.

For example, if a machine or progressive pays 5500 coins for a royal flush, as opposed to a more standard 4,000 coins on a Jacks or Better machine, we would still call the 4,000 coin machine a full pay if the other payouts were at a full pay level. However, if the full house paid only 6 coins and the flush 5 coins for each coin played, then that machine would be considered a short pay since it is less than the standard 9 coins and 6 coins respectively, of a full pay Jacks or Better.

The full pay machines are generally found in competitive locations in competitive markets, most notably the Las Vegas market. The full pay machines are the best to play since they give the best return, often close to 100%, sometimes even more. But in all cases, as the full pay concept suggests, you will get the best payouts available, and thus the best game and the best chances of winning.

The other type of payout schedules, the short pay ones, pay less than the optimal amount found on the full pays, and as a whole, are machines you want to avoid. The rate of loss is much greater than full pays since the payoffs are poorer, and you will be playing at a larger disadvantage than you would like. The smaller payout of returns on winning hands add up quickly in video poker since the rate of play is so fast and you'll see that difference quickly in your shrunken bankroll

Getting lesser payouts than the full payout schedule can be felt quickly, particularly when it affects hands on the lower end of the pay schedule, hands such as two pairs, for example, which will show up frequently.

There are many different payout schedules for short pay Jacks or Better machines, and if you are familiar with the full pay machines, you will readily see where you get shorted. On exceptionally lousy short pay machines, which will be found where competition for your video poker dollar is nonexistent or virtually nonexistent (cruise lines as an example, where players are a captive audience), returns will be shorted almost across the board, and you will get pounded mightily by the terrible payouts.

In locations where competition might be a little more fierce, just one payout may be altered, making the machine appear to be a full pay. But on closer inspection, you may see that all looks good except that you only get one coin for a two pair, as opposed to the full pay two coins.

Short pay machines are more likely found where players will play video poker for the sake of playing and are less concerned with getting the best payback schedule possible. For example, in Las Vegas, machines located in convenience stores (which are typically allowed up to seven machines) and airports, are like the cruise ships mentioned above, players are more of a captive audience, and will play despite the poorer odds of the short pays. In the busy strip and downtown casinos, competition is more fierce, and full pays are needed to maximize play and casino returns. Poorer paying machines will tend to get avoided.

A favorite trick of these short pay machines is to either pay just one coin on a two pair hand, with the rest of the payout schedule being standard, or six and five coins respectively on the full house and flush, as opposed to the full pay 9 and 6 payouts. To the casual player, these short pays don't seem to costly, but in fact, they bring down the return percentage significantly. Serious players avoid short pay machines because the odds are stacked up against them; you should too.