Plinko on Stake runs very smoothly, indeed. I was impressed how well it works even while on autobet mode, with all those balls bouncing around.
So, you wager cents at the time and hope to get the maximum multiplier eventually, does not sound so bad as strategy... and I thought I was the smallest gambler on Stake's plinko with my dollar wagers.
Good luck.

it doesn't matter if you are a small gambler and you don't have to get a win, at least you can increase your Wagered amount to get better membership and bonuses, of course, although sometimes playing plinko is a little boring because it uses auto bets there, let alone manual bets.
But increasing the membership level also requires a lot of money, especially if we are small gamblers who don't use much money to gamble. But it is a process and we should live it and not rush to upgrade our membership to reach the VIP level. One day, we will reach the VIP level

I've rarely played plink so I can only wish you good luck if you play plink. I still often play slots and sometimes get lucky in the game to get a decent amount of winning money.
I also play Plinko to increase membership level, at least what I observed is that the least wagering amount Plinko can give us in an average play is around 500x of our bankroll. And yeah Plinko is too boring so I just leave my browser open in full screen while working on the other browser in not full-screen mode so that the game won't detect that I am on another tab and stop the autoplay feature.
I also love this game and I can confirm that it's best to play this on manual mode rather than in auto unless if we want to wager fast. If so then we can also disable the animation and allow instant bet on the settings to improve our speed.
True disabling the animation is somehow faster when in auto play.