Plinko Game: How to Play, Payouts, RTP and Risk Settings

Plinko is a casino game in which a ball is dropped from the top of a pegboard and the payout depends on the pocket where the ball lands. Raising the risk setting widens the range of payouts, and the in-house (“originals”) version offered by one major crypto casino (referred to below as “the crypto casino”) can pay up to 10,000x.

What You Will Learn

• Plinko is a simple casino game in which you drop a ball down a pegboard.
• You set the risk level and the number of rows yourself to adjust how widely payouts vary; the return to player (RTP) stays the same at every setting.

This article takes about 9 minutes to read.

What Is Plinko? Features and Appeal

Plinko is a casino game that many online casinos have added in recent years. You drop a ball from the top of the board, and it bounces off pins arranged in a pyramid as it falls.

The payout is decided when the ball lands in one of the pockets at the bottom. Payouts are lowest in the middle and rise toward the edges, and in the crypto casino’s in-house version, a ball that lands in either outermost pocket returns 1,000x your bet (with 16 rows on high risk).

Following the ball as it falls is part of the fun, and the game also has a relatively high RTP.

High RTP

Plinko’s RTP is comparatively high. Versions that a casino develops in-house, often called “originals,” can have an especially high RTP because the casino pays no fees to an outside provider.

The crypto casino lists an RTP of 99.00% for its in-house version of Plinko. That is about the same as the 98.94% RTP on the Banker bet in baccarat, which puts Plinko among the games with a low house edge. Because the RTP is below 100%, however, players still lose money in the long run.

A high RTP also makes it easier to accumulate the turnover needed for wagering requirements and VIP status. In theory, you could place $10,000 in bets while losing only about $100, which makes Plinko a convenient game for clearing bonus wagering requirements and moving up VIP levels. That does not mean you will not lose money.

Auto Bet Feature

Plinko has an auto play mode. Once you start it, balls are released at a steady pace until you stop it, so you can watch several balls bouncing down the board at the same time.

A common approach, depending on your playing style, is to keep the bet small and let auto play run rather than dropping balls one at a time manually.

How to Play Plinko Step by Step

This walkthrough uses the Plinko screen from the crypto casino, but the steps are almost the same in every version of Plinko.

STEP1

Open Plinko

Use the casino’s game search to find “Plinko” and tap it to open the game. At the crypto casino, you can also select Plinko from the “Originals” category.

STEP2

Choose Your Bet, Risk Level and Number of Rows

On the settings panel, set your bet, the risk level and the number of rows. How the risk level and the rows affect the payout multipliers is explained in “Plinko Payouts and Risk Settings” below. If you choose high risk, your results will swing more widely, so be careful with the size of your bet.

STEP3

Press the Bet Button to Play

Tap the Bet button and a ball drops from the top of the board. It bounces off the pins on its way down, and your payout is your bet multiplied by the multiplier of the pocket where the ball lands.

STEP4

Use Auto Bet for Automatic Play

Tap Auto Bet and balls drop automatically, one after another, at regular intervals.

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Plinko Payouts and Risk Settings

Plinko lets you set the risk level and the number of rows yourself, and the combination of the two determines the payout multiplier for each pocket. The names of the risk levels vary from game to game. In this article we call them Low (low risk; green in Spribe’s version), Medium (medium risk; yellow) and High (high risk; red).

Risk Level and Rows

The higher the risk level, the less the inner pockets pay and the more the outer pockets pay. The more rows you choose, the less likely the ball is to reach the outer pockets.

As a result, choosing a high risk level and more rows increases the payout when the ball lands in either edge pocket.

Low risk keeps the swing in each result small, which makes it suitable for meeting wagering requirements. High risk produces much larger swings, including bigger losses, but can pay up to 1,000x. At every setting, the RTP itself stays the same.

The crypto casino’s in-house version also offers a risk level above the three shown in the table below. It cuts the payouts in the middle sharply, and in return the top payout rises to as much as 10,000x with 16 rows.

Payout Multipliers by Game (Crypto Casino Original and Spribe)

Most versions of Plinko let you change the number of rows and the risk level, but which pocket pays what differs from game to game.

Payouts in the crypto casino’s in-house Plinko

Every multiplier in the table is the total amount returned relative to your bet. For example, 0.2x returns 0.2 times your bet, so a $10 bet returns $2, which is a loss of 80%.

Payouts in Spribe’s Plinko

Spribe’s Plinko offers three choices of rows, 12, 14 or 16; 13 and 15 are not available. The table above shows the 12-row and 16-row settings.

With 16 rows on high risk, for example, the crypto casino’s version pays 1,000x in the outermost pockets, while Spribe’s version pays 555x and its center pocket pays 0x.

One reason for the difference is that the crypto casino’s version has five pockets paying 0.2x, while Spribe’s has only one 0x pocket. A lower top multiplier does not by itself mean a worse game (the RTP is 99.00% for the crypto casino’s version and 97.00% for Spribe’s). Keep in mind, though, that each game structures its payouts differently.

Four Recommended Plinko Games

Every version of Plinko follows the same basic rules, but individual games differ in their payout multipliers and special features.

Plinko: The Crypto Casino’s In-House Version

The crypto casino offers Plinko as an exclusive in-house (“originals”) game. This is the version that helped make Plinko popular. With 16 rows on High, a ball that lands in either outermost pocket returns 1,000x your bet, so a $1 bet returns $1,000.

Another feature of this version is its realistic ball movement, which other providers’ versions do not offer.

Spribe’s Plinko: Simple by Design

Spribe’s Plinko stands out for its simple mechanics. You choose green, yellow or red, which correspond to low, medium and high risk, set your bet, and you are ready to play.

With 16 rows, the top payout is 35x on green and 555x on red.

OneTouch’s Pawsome Plinko: Plinko with Cats

Pawsome Plinko is a version of Plinko that plays much like a slot. The regular top payout is 300x, but when a ball that has touched a star symbol lands in certain pockets, the game starts a round of free drops, in which balls keep dropping at no cost.

During the free drops, whenever balls land in the same pocket a set number of times, the number of balls or the multiplier increases. If a ball lands in either outermost pocket once the multiplier has reached its maximum, it hits the max win of 10,000x.

SmartSoft Gaming’s Plinko X: Vivid Graphics

Plinko X is SmartSoft Gaming’s version of Plinko, popular for its polished graphics and its focus on high multipliers. On the high-risk setting, a ball that lands in either outermost pocket pays 1,000x.

Plinko X can also release balls that carry a multiplier of up to 10x. The glowing yellow ball carries a 10x multiplier, so if it lands in an outermost pocket, the win reaches 10,000x.

What Players Say About Plinko

Plinko may be unfamiliar to players who prefer slots or live casino games, but it has a large following. Here is a summary of what players commonly say about it on social media.

Players often mention the excitement of playing Plinko with high bets. At 1,000x, for example, a $10 bet returns $10,000 if the ball lands in either edge pocket, although the chance of the ball landing in an edge pocket is only 1 in 32,768.

Others share big wins or say they hope to land one someday. The chance of hitting 1,000x is the same on every drop and is not affected by previous results.

Among the social media posts we checked, most players chose 16 rows and high risk. In our view, the reason is the game’s balance: a high RTP combined with the chance of a 1,000x win. On high risk, however, payouts swing widely, and your bankroll can shrink quickly.

Things to Keep in Mind When Playing Plinko

Manage Your Bankroll Carefully

Plinko looks more like a table game than a slot, so many players bet more on it than they would on a slot.

A 1,000x win that comes up only rarely and auto play that runs very fast make Plinko closer in nature to a slot. For that reason, we recommend betting less than you usually would at a table game such as blackjack or baccarat.

Auto play in particular runs faster than a slot, so you can easily spend more than you intended without noticing.

Without a 1,000x Win, Play Can Feel Repetitive

The crypto casino’s in-house Plinko, for example, has an RTP of 99.00%, but the chance of the ball landing in either edge pocket is only 1 in 32,768 (1 in 65,536 for each side). Put another way, 99.997% of drops end without a big win.

The game still suits players who want a shot at 1,000x and players who treat it purely as a way to rack up wagering.

It is less suited to players who want casual entertainment or expect slot-style animations and effects when a big win lands.

Summary: Plinko Offers a High RTP and a Risk Setting That Controls Payout Swings

In Plinko, a ball drops down a pegboard, and depending on the version and the risk setting, wins can reach 1,000x or even 10,000x. The game is very popular with crypto casino players.

Among in-house (“originals”) games, it is as popular as the Dice and Crash games.

Most crypto casinos offer Plinko, and the game comes in many different versions.

Some versions raise the max win to 10,000x by cutting the payouts in the middle. Others start a round of free drops when the ball lands in certain pockets. Choose settings that suit your bankroll.