Slot machines have always been a casino gambling favorite. Now they've moved to the Internet and it's time to know everything about the world's greatest gambling game.
If you were forced to start a sentence with the words "There are two kinds of slot machines" there wouldn't be just one way to finish it. There is no definitive way to divide slots into two types. You could say there are online slots and land-based slots. You could say there are reel slots and video slots. You could say there are progressive slots and straight (or flat) slots. You could say there are single pay line and multi-line slots. Need we go on?
So maybe you can't break down slots into only two types, but the above paragraph is a good way to generally describe slot machines. If you know what all the above terms are — online, land-based, reels, video slots, progressives, pay lines, etc. — you'll have a pretty good idea about slots in general and how to win money playing them. Using the above categories will serve as a great slots primer. So let's begin.
Reel Slot Machines
Once upon a time, slots were mechanical machines that were activated by feeding a coin and pulling a lever. For many people, the image of a one-armed bandit, as slots used to be called, is all they think of when they hear the words "slot machine." These machines were made up of 3 reels or cylinders on which colorful and varied symbols were printed all around. When the lever was pulled — after the coin was inserted — the reels spun around, blurring the symbols, until they stopped. At that point, 3 symbols — one on each reel — lined up alongside each other forming a line. You won according to the payout schedule printed on the machine. For instance, if after the spinning, 3 bananas lined up next to each other, you'd perhaps win 100 coins; if you got 2 bells and a bar, you'd win a different amount or nothing at all. One combination, however, was listed as the big win — the jackpot — and if this combination showed up on the pay line, lights would flash, sirens would wail and coins would come pouring out of the machine. Many people still think that nothing beats winning a reel slots jackpot for sheer excitement.
Video Slots
As time and technology marched on, the mechanical slot machine transformed into the electronic slot machine as the blood and guts of the machine became computerized. The slot still takes your money but the lever has been replaced by a button, often on a touch screen, 3 reels have grown into 5, and the 1 pay line is now as many as 40. When you push the "spin" button, the virtual reels whirl around but it is the Random Number Generator programmed into the machine that determines the outcome. Video slots are still the ultimate game of chance — they've just gotten prettier to look at, more interesting, and they offer many more paying options.
In addition to more reels, video slots typically offer more pay lines and maximum coins per spin. Some machines allow up to 250 coins per pay line (some even offer 400) and the chance to play as many as 40 pay lines per spin. This can get pretty pricey, especially when you're playing progressive video slots where only the max bet will do. Lucky for budget minded slot players, nickel slots keep the investment low while still allowing maximum return.
Land-Based Slots
If you go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City or Macao, you can't help but notice the dozens of casinos - in fact, it's probably why you're there. When you walk in, you'll also notice the banks upon banks of slot machines. These slots may be mechanical or they may be video slots, but any slot machine that you find in a land-based casino is considered a land-based slot. In terms of appearances, video slots are the newest and glitziest looking machines on the casino floor; they don't look like the classic "one armed bandits," but their function is the same. These slots are usually composed of as many as 5 reels, while the original mechanical slots were only composed of three reels. For some people, the only good slot is a reel slot; most slot lovers, however, have embraced video slots even in land-based casinos.
Online Slots
When you are playing in an online casino, also known as a virtual casino or an Internet casino, the only slots you will find are video slots. Since video slots are just computerized slot machines, you will not notice any difference between land-based video slots and online video slots, except for the fact that there is room for a lot more of them in cyberspace than in Vegas space or Jersey space. Online video slots come in hundreds of variations, including video poker, which is also considered a form of video slot. There are hundreds of online casinos and thousands of online slots — the selection is awesome and the convenience is undeniable.
Pay Lines
Once upon a time, the symbols on the 3 reels had to line up horizontally on 1 line. Today, with video slots, you have the opportunity to bet on multiple pay lines, sometimes as many as 40. This does not mean that each reel has 40 symbols and that they have to line up in 40 horizontal lines. What it does mean that the lines are sometimes diagonal, sometimes jagged, sometimes vertical, etc.
When you play multi-line slots, you have to "enable" each line in order for it win for you; you enable a line by paying for it. If there are X-number of lines, you can usually pay up to X-number of coins, thus enabling all the lines. If you want to hold onto you money a bit longer, however, you can also opt to bet a smaller number of coins, thus enabling fewer lines. This is up to you, but this type of machine usually pays the maximum jackpot only if you bet the maximum number of lines/coins. That's the way the virtual reel spins.
Progressive slots
When you play in online casinos, you may find the same type of slot on more than one site. Sometimes, these machines are "linked," and, together, they offer what is called a progressive jackpot. Because many players on many machines are contributing to this jackpot, which is constantly growing, the amount in the pot is very big, sometimes over a million dollars. The bets of all players accumulate until one lucky player hits the pre-determined combination (5 wild cards in a multi-wild-card video poker game or 5 special symbols in a video slot). Winning at slots could make you an instant millionaire, if you are playing a progressive jackpot slot machine.
The opposite of a progressive slot machine is a "straight" slot machine, sometimes called a "flat" slot machine. These slots are independent and the amounts that can be won are determined just by that slot machine alone, according to the pay schedule associated with that slot machine. The jackpots on these flat machines are fixed — they're not cumulative.
Bonus Slots
Slot machines have gone beyond the original reel machines so that you can now find slots that offer a game within a game - a.k.a. a bonus round. Just as symbols have to line up to pay money, in bonus slots certain symbols have to line up to activate a bonus feature in which even more money or free spins can be won. Sometimes a special symbols triggers the bonus game. Bonus slots ratchet up the excitement level in video slots and are a welcome addition to online slot machines.
Multiplier slots
The concept of "multipliers" is perhaps the most esoteric slots term. All in all, slot machines are loved for their ease and simplicity; many people can't follow or don't want to get involved in the more complex variations and they cut and run when terms like "scatter" or "multiplier" come up in a conversation. In reality, multipliers are fairly simple; they really can be divided into two types: straight multipliers and bonus multipliers. A straight multiplier usually has one pay line and pays according to the number of coins you play. In other words, if you hit the jackpot having played 1 coin, the machine will pay 250 coins but if you play 2 coins, you'll win 500 coins. So far, so good.
A bonus multiplier simple tacks on an additional amount of money (a bonus) to the jackpot if you've played the maximum number of coins. Using the example above, let's say the maximum number of coins is 3. If you can win 250 coins with 1 coin and 500 coins with 2 coins, the bonus jackpot — if you play with the maximum 3 coins — would be 4,000 coins, a much bigger amount than a straight multiple of the previous amount. That's the bonus in the bonus multiplier slots game.
