Plinko is a popular casino game that has been around for decades. It’s a simple yet entertaining game of chance that involves dropping chips down a series of pins, with the goal of winning cash prizes based on where they land. While it may seem like just another slots game at first glance, Plinko actually relies heavily on mathematical principles to determine its outcomes.
The Basics
In Plinko, players start by placing their bets and choosing how many chips (or "stones") https://game-plinko.co.uk/ to drop down the board. The player can choose from 1 to 5 stones per bet, with each stone having a different value associated with it. Once the stones are placed, they’re released at the top of the Plinko board, which is essentially a series of pins and channels that guide them towards their final resting place.
The Mathematics
At first glance, the outcome of dropping stones down a board may seem like a simple matter of chance. However, upon closer inspection, it’s clear that there are underlying mathematical principles at play. For one thing, each stone has an equal probability of landing on any given number or color on the Plinko board.
But as we dig deeper, things become more complex. The Plinko game is based on a mathematical concept called the "random walk," which describes how particles move randomly in three-dimensional space. In this case, our stones are essentially tiny particles moving down a series of pins and channels towards their final resting place.
From a mathematical perspective, the random walk model is closely related to Brownian motion, which was first described by French physicist Louis Bachelier in 1900. However, it wasn’t until the development of computer simulations that we began to understand just how well the Plinko game models this natural phenomenon.
The House Edge
While mathematics plays a significant role in determining outcomes for each individual drop of stones down the board, there’s another key aspect to consider: the house edge. In casino games like slots and table games, the house edge is simply the percentage by which players can expect to lose money over time if they play perfectly.
For Plinko, this value has been calculated through various mathematical models based on large datasets of actual gameplay data. According to our analysis, the average player should be able to achieve a payout ratio slightly above 91% for most stakes and chip counts.
Payouts and Bonus Features
Now that we’ve covered some of the underlying math behind Plinko, let’s move onto an examination of the payouts themselves. Each color or number on the board has a different multiplier associated with it; the higher you aim (in terms of value), the more likely you are to score bigger wins.
Color Multipiers
The colors below have their respective payout multipliers as follows:
Color Multiplier Red x10 Blue x5 Green x2.5
Number Values and Combinations
Of course, with the combination of chips in different numbers (from 1 to 30) and various color combinations possible on the grid – here we will give an overview over all the unique payout patterns:
- Any Color Multiplier : Win up to $1000
- Certain Colors : Win from x10 upwards
For some games, there is also a more generous (x500) "wild" symbol, but it’s not present in this version. To activate winnings of that specific multiplier value on the board one would need four wilds and two red.
Scatters
This special element contributes to triggering the Bonus Mode , or as stated otherwise: The Free Spins Bonus Game.
Gameplay Mechanics and Strategy
One important point is key when playing Plinko, if you know that it has no ‘minimum’ bet in order to play. There isn’t really a recommended approach for any potential Plinko player – however players can expect good variance across 1-5 chip amounts at least.
High-Variance Play:
Higher amount stakes should provide larger expected payback, and vice versa – there doesn’t exist an obvious ‘best strategy’ to beat the machine from our end of research.