How Paylines Work in Book of Dead
Book of Dead has 10 paylines that run across the 5 reels from left to right. You choose how many to activate (1 to 10) before each spin. Your total bet per spin equals: coin value × coins per payline × number of active paylines. With all 10 paylines at $0.01 coin value = $0.10 minimum total bet. With 1 payline at $0.01 = $0.01 per spin.
The Mathematics of Fewer Paylines
The RTP of 96.21% is calculated assuming all 10 paylines are active. When you deactivate paylines, winning combinations that would have paid on those lines simply do not pay — the RNG still generates those combinations, but you receive no payout. You are effectively playing at full game cost minus some winning opportunities. The RTP per active payline remains 96.21%, but your total expected return from all active paylines decreases proportionally.
Why Players Reduce Paylines
Some players reduce paylines to lower total stake per spin. This is understandable from a budget perspective. However, the correct way to lower your stake in Book of Dead is to reduce the coin value, not the number of paylines. With all 10 paylines at $0.01 coin, you still bet $0.10 per spin — the minimum — while keeping full winning coverage.
Expanding Symbols and Paylines
During free spins, the expanding symbol covers full reels regardless of how many paylines are active. If you only have 3 paylines active, a full-screen expansion only pays on those 3 lines — missing the remaining 7. With all 10 paylines, a full-screen Rich Wilde expansion pays 5,000x × 10 = 50,000x. With only 5 paylines, the same expansion pays only 25,000x. This is the clearest argument for always playing all 10 paylines.