Online Slots

Slots, or Slot machines, are gambling machines that operate by inserting coins into a narrow opening and pulling on a lever, or in online Slot machines simply pressing a button. Slot machines are simple to operate and little strategy can be applied.

In This Game Overview

Slots Tournaments
Slot Machines History
Slot Machines Variants
Look Out For...
Slots Rules and Terms
Slots Basics Slots Tips

When at the Slot machines, you are in the hands of luck. As such, Slot machines are arguably the simplest casino game available and one of the most popular ones too.

Still, we recommend you read through this section and continue by reading the guide for the game before entering the vast world of online Slot machines. Let us begin with some of the basics, the rules, slots strategy, commonly used terms and a brief overview of the slots history.

The basics of Slots

The object of the game - no surprises here - is to win money from the Slot machine. This is done by operating the machine and matching the symbols that appear on the paylines on the screen. The symbols vary between machines, usually including images of fruits, shapes, diamonds and numbers, such as 777. The winning combinations are posted on the machines, with multiple combinations and prizes, be they sums of cash or credit games.

As the following operating instructions will tell, Slot machines are a simple game, of the most simple of all online casino games. They are thus a comfortable introduction to the online casino environment, a way to get comfortable with playing the games.

Operating a Slot machine, of the classic kind, requires the player to insert coins, cash or at some machines preloaded bar-coded paper tickets. At the online versions, one decides what amount to "insert," even if no actual inserting is done. The amounts range from $0.01 to as high as $10 or even more.

At this point, the machine is activated by a lever, a button, perhaps a touchscreen or, as in the online version, a mouse click.

This is all that is involved. The rest is up to luck.

Slots Rules and Terms

Before you pull a stool over, start playing standing up or kick back in your office chair, we offer a brief overview of the rules and some of the terms for Slot machines. The game is simple, and so are the rules. But be sure to pay attention to them as much as you are to pay attention to the symbols on the reels.

After reading the basics (above), we are left with clarifying a few remaining issues: what is a payline, what other than cash prizes can be won and a few basic terms.

What is the payline that players bet on? The payline is a straight or diagonal line that crosses the reels, including a single symbol on each reel, thus forming a combination. If the highlighted symbols form a winning combination, which varies from machine to machine, then the player wins the round. A classic Slots machine may have up to nine paylines, while more advanced and sophisticated video Slot machines may have as many as one hundred.

If a winning combination appears on the screen or if certain symbols appear somewhere on the screen, players can win prizes other than cash jackpots. A special feature found in Online Slot machines is the bonus. These may include another round for the coins already inserted, a bonus game or other.

Keep your eyes open for...

The Random Number Generator (RNG) is the basic engine that powers Slots. Modern Slot machines are computerized, with the combinations determined randomly by the machine's software, without any human involvement. The RNG generates numbers at a high rate, and the timing of when the lever is pulled determines the outcome. An advanced RNG will be as random as possible, never repeating the number sequences.
Slots have a payout percentage of between 82 and 98 percent. The game is an enormous income source for the online casino, not only because it is so popular, but also because of its high house advantage. Minimum payout percentages are determined by various authorities.
Progressive Slot machines are a popular feature, with the jackpot amounting by having a group of linked slot machines. Slots linked across online casinos must be operated on the same software, owned by the same machine maker, with jackpots really hitting sky-high sums of millions of dollars.
Controlled by computer software, Slots are easily programmable to show near-miss results, programmed to appear when the outcome is not a winning combination, thus giving the player the feeling of almost winning. Illegal in some countries, this is a phenomenon to be aware of at some Slot machines.

Slot machine variants

Slot machines are rather simple, operating in a traditional way, even if exciting every time anew. The different Slot machines include reel slots, progressive slots and the video slots.

The traditional reel slot machine has three or five reels, the former with a single payline and the latter with multiple paylines.
Video Slots are the most complex and advanced of the Slot machine variants, with as many as 40 paylines and video game quality visuals and audio.
The third variant is progressive slots, which simply adds to the basic game the progressive jackpot, a chance to win enormous sums accumulated from the accounts of other players around the Internet.

Slot machines history

Slot machines date back to a time well before there were computers, pretty much to the early days of machines. The original Slot machine, a precursor to the Slots we play online today, was invented by machinist Charles Fay in the 1880s in San Francisco. The machine, three spinning reels and five symbols (horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts and a Liberty Bell), was a tremendous success across bars in the United States.

Nearly a century later, in 1964, the first electro-mechanical version was invented by Bally. It was called Money Honey. Slot machines have come a long way since, numbering today thousands of different machines, including the online progressive slots, multi payline, multi spin slots, multi line slots and more. These you will very easily find all around the Internet.

Slots Tournaments

Slots tournaments are fun to play and are very popular. Competing against other players adds to the excitement just like it does when playing bingo or poker. Tournaments have a pre-set entry fee and the participants know how much it will cost to participate and play. They can only lose the amount of their entry fee, and that is a big advantage.

Slot tournaments are very popular. Perhaps because players do not required to have a lot of special skills, which makes them inviting to all players. When you sign up for the slot tournament you will be assigned a slot machine number and a session time to play. When it is your play time, you find the machine with your number on it and have a "seat". Wait for the official mark to start playing. All Players are given a set amount of credits which must be played within a certain amount of time. E.g. each player can play with 100 credits with 10 minutes to play.

After you finish playing your score will be recorded and compared with the rest of the players' scores.

The most known and popular online slots tournament is the record-breaking $1 Million "Grand Slam of Slots" slot tournament, but there are many other daily, weekly and monthly slot tournaments around to choose from.

Slots Tips

Slots comes in many shapes and colors. The most popular slots machine online is multi-line video slots.
Most online casinos offer three-reel single-payline slots and a host of five-reel video slots with twenty and twenty five or more paylines.
You will also find progressive jackpot slots from leading software providers like Playtech or Microgaming.
You can find information about both Microgaming's and Playtech's most popular slots at our money train service which features real time progressive jackpots games.
It is wise to pay attention to the payout percentages on the various slot machines out there.
eCOGRA approved casinos usually publish the slots payouts percentages - it's worth checking them.
Slot machine payouts are not contingent on previous spin results so you can forget about that...

Slots Trivia

The name One Armed Bandit, by which Slot machines have been known from their early days in the 19th century, originates from the machine's traditional appearance and the common practice of leaving the gamer penniless.
In England, Slot machines are better known as fruit machines. Yet they are also referred to at times by the old fashioned word Dialers.
Japanese slot machines are a descendant of the traditional Japanese Pachinko game and are called Pachisuro.
Even though today's online Slot machines are not at all mechanical, the term Tilt remains in use. A remnant of when Slot machines had tilt switches, any bug or failure is called a tilt.
Microgaming offers the largest selections of online slots games and jackpots.
There are many unique and popular designs and themes to slots games like Marvel slots, from X-Men themed slot to Spiderman and from The Obsbournes to The Hulk - you can certainly find something you will love.
Microgaming's "New Slots Machine Games Rollout" campaign is still running so you can expect new slots every month.