# Online casino game inflation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [May 2, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713 "2026-05-02T02:00:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/1 "2026-05-02T02:00:02Z")

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I like to play online casino games (slots, mostly) to pass the time, but I have noticed a tendency to vastly inflate the number of “coins” needed to play. The ads say things like “Play our game and we’ll start you out with 10 trillion coins!!”. Are there free games out there that have more realistic betting amounts, so that I don’t feel like I am a loser for having “only” 3 million left?

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/2 "2026-05-02T02:27:13Z")

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I guess the first question that needs to be asked is are you playing for money or just a casual game with fake money.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/3 "2026-05-02T02:29:03Z")

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Fake, all the way. Not even inline purchases.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/4 "2026-05-02T13:30:44Z")

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I’m glad that you clarified although I would have been shocked if you were playing for real money. It reminds me of real life old school pinball games from when I was a little kid. They didn’t use the right most digits which seemed like a waste to me.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/5 "2026-05-03T06:54:29Z")

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I think I first noticed this trend of “adding zeros” to imply greater winning back when pinballs were popular. The mechanical rollers would show hits of 1, 5, 10, and even 50 if you hit a special combination, but these days the mere act of touching a bumper can net you 1000 points. Likewise, when I play an online casino game, I am gifted with enough “gold coins” that, even if each one equaled 1/10 of 1 cent, I could walk out of that casino netting millions of dollars without playing any games whatsoever. I want to play casino games that have been de-zeroed to a more realistic level.

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**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/6 "2026-05-03T20:52:07Z")

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I love those online casinos, make a few hundred a year from the free money they give you to qualify under the “sweepstake” loophole. Some of them you can earn real money from playing with their fake money.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-casino-game-inflation/1029713/7 "2026-05-03T23:07:17Z")

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Not at all interested in the “real money” casinos-just looking for a “play money” casino that isn’t hyper-inflated.