Not long ago, there was some discussion here regarding the number of
paylines possible at SpinPoker. I think the number that was "agreed" upon was 3^5,
or 243. I do not believe that this is correct.
If the payline could move from left to right with no constraints, 243 would
be the right number. That is, if the payline could move from any card to ANY
card in the next column. But in the existing SpinPoker games (regular and
Deluxe), the paylines only move either horizontally or diagonally. They do NOT
"skip" over the center row of cards, like a Knight moves in Chess. In other
words, the paylines never progress from the top card in column X to the bottom
card in column X+1, or from the bottom card in column X to the top card in
column X+1. If this kind of payline were allowed, it would be tremendously
confusing, having the line "pass through" the center row card without it actually
being part of the payline itself.
If we accept this constraint, the number of possible paylines drops
considerably. Let's say that a Video Poker hand consisted of just one card. In than
case, the SpinPoker possible paylines would look like this:
1
1
1
With two cards/hand, it looks like this:
1 2
1 3
1 2
The numbers in the second column are obtained by adding up the numbers to
the left that are "touching" that position. If the payline could jump from the
top row to the bottom row, or vice versa, then the second column would be all
3s, but I'm assuming you can't do that.
Extending to a five card hand, the final matrix looks like this:
1 2 5 12 29
1 3 7 17 41
1 2 5 12 29
These numbers are showing unique "ways to get here" as the paylines go from
left to right. Adding up the numbers in the rightmost column, you get a total
of 99, which is therefore the number of possible unique paylines possible,
given the "no skipping" constraint.
I propose a new version of SpinPoker. Let's call it MaxSpinPoker. Playing
all 99 lines at max-coin (495 coins) would cost $4.95/push at pennies, $9.90 at
2c, $24.75 at nickels, $49.50 at dimes, and $123.75 at quarters. And, like
the other SpinPoker variants, you could play any number of lines from 1-99,
with each line played (for five coins) paying the 800 for 1 Royal.
Hundred Play machines are extremely popular. MaxSpinPoker would offer
similar bet sizes, a different kind of "fun factor," and a higher variance. At
100-play, being dealt a RF4 is pretty exciting, but you will "only" average 2+
Royals on the draw. Playing all the lines at MaxSpinPoker, hitting on an RF4
draw will yield an average of 33 Royals! Same ER, and MUCH higher variance, but
not nearly as high as betting the same amount at single line.
Wouldn't it be fun watching while the machine cycles through displaying all
99 paylines after hitting a big hand? Could take some time... 
Brian
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