Question:    Some people will hit a big hand with a small bet and say it didn't matter because it would not have hit if they were playing maximum coins. Others say it would have hit no matter how many coins were bet. If a machine hits a good hand with only one or two coins bet, would the same hand have appeared if I had played the maximum?

Answer:    Yes, you would have received the same hand irrespective of the number of coins with which you would have played the poker game. This is so because Nevada regulations mandate that the number of coins played should not affect the final outcome. The first coin dropped in or the first Bet button pushed stops the shuffling, so if you got a good payoff with one coin bet, you would have got the same hand with five coins. As far as the expected value goes, only the royal is affected on most poker games, and that is only because it is the only hand whose per-coin payoff is different when five coins are played. That is enough, however, to reduce the payback by up to 1.5%. Worse, on some double pay Deuces Wild games; you receive the double pay on four deuces only, if you play five coins. So short coin play may reduce the long-term payback by five percent or more.