Plinko Calculator
Where the ball actually lands, and what it pays.
| Bucket | Multiplier | Probability | RTP share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 110 × | <0.01 % | 0.17 % |
| 2 | 41 × | 0.02 % | 1.00 % |
| 3 | 10 × | 0.18 % | 1.83 % |
| 4 | 5 × | 0.85 % | 4.27 % |
| 5 | 3 × | 2.78 % | 8.33 % |
| 6 | 1.5 × | 6.67 % | 10.00 % |
| 7 | 1 × | 12.22 % | 12.22 % |
| 8 | 0.5 × | 17.46 % | 8.73 % |
| 9 | 0.3 × | 19.64 % | 5.89 % |
| 10 | 0.5 × | 17.46 % | 8.73 % |
| 11 | 1 × | 12.22 % | 12.22 % |
| 12 | 1.5 × | 6.67 % | 10.00 % |
| 13 | 3 × | 2.78 % | 8.33 % |
| 14 | 5 × | 0.85 % | 4.27 % |
| 15 | 10 × | 0.18 % | 1.83 % |
| 16 | 41 × | 0.02 % | 1.00 % |
| 17 | 110 × | <0.01 % | 0.17 % |
How it works
A Plinko ball bounces left or right at every peg, so the bucket it ends in follows the binomial distribution: the chance of landing in bucket i after n rows is C(n,i) ÷ 2ⁿ. The middle buckets are hit constantly and the edges almost never — on 16 rows the outer bucket comes up once in 65,536 drops.
Multiply each bucket's probability by its multiplier, add them up, and you get the RTP — typically around 99%. Raising the risk level moves value from the middle buckets out to the edges without changing that total, so high risk does not pay more on average; it only makes the swings bigger.
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How the Plinko Calculator works
A Plinko ball bounces left or right at every peg, so where it lands is pure binomial probability. This free Plinko calculator gives the exact chance of every bucket for 8 to 16 rows on low, medium and high risk, along with the RTP, the house edge and the expected value of a drop.
Why the middle buckets dominate
After n rows, the chance of landing in bucket i is C(n,i) ÷ 2ⁿ — the binomial distribution. There is only one path to the far-left bucket and only one to the far-right, but there are thousands of paths to the middle. On 16 rows the centre bucket comes up about 19.6% of the time while each outer bucket comes up once in 65,536 drops.
This is what makes the big Plinko multipliers so misleading. A 1000× payout on the edge of a 16-row high-risk board sounds transformative, but at a 1-in-65,536 chance it contributes only about 1.5% of the game's total return.
Risk levels do not change the RTP
Multiply every bucket's probability by its multiplier, add them up, and you get the RTP — around 99% on a standard board. Switching from low to high risk redistributes that same total: the middle buckets drop below 1× and the edges climb steeply, but the sum barely moves. High risk is not a better bet, it is the same bet with a much fatter tail.
The distribution chart and the per-bucket table on this page show exactly where the return comes from. If you want the same analysis for reels rather than pegs, the slots RTP calculator converts an RTP figure into an hourly cost.
FAQ
What are the odds in Plinko?expand_more
The chance of landing in bucket i after n rows is C(n,i) ÷ 2ⁿ. On 16 rows that is 19.6% for the centre bucket and 1 in 65,536 for each outer one.
Is high risk better in Plinko?expand_more
No. Every risk level is priced to roughly the same RTP. High risk only moves value from the frequent middle buckets to the very rare edge ones.
What is the RTP of Plinko?expand_more
Typically about 99%, giving a 1% house edge. This calculator computes it exactly from the multiplier table for your chosen rows and risk level.