How Slots Work

The history of slots is not as long as that of other traditional casino games such as blackjack, roulette, or baccarat, but it is no less important. The first recorded slot machine dates back to the late 19th century and was developed in New York. It featured 50 different card faces, 5 reels, and worked more like what we now know as video poker. The machine was placed in bars and did not pay out money; instead, rewards came in the form of whatever the establishment offered, for example drinks or cigars.

A few years later, in San Francisco, Charles Fey created what we now recognize as a slot machine. Unlike its predecessor, this version of the game featured only 3 reels and it did away with the poker cards, replacing them with five unique symbols. This change allowed for an easy and convenient payout system, a task that had proved impossible with the poker machine. The new machine was called ‘Liberty Bell’, named after one of the five symbols.

Over the years, slot machines became more advanced and more complex. It was not until the 1970s that the first video slot games were created, and after they were approved by the Nevada State Gambling Commission, they became a real hit in casinos throughout Las Vegas. Of course, with the rise of the Internet came online gambling, and the slot format transferred perfectly to the new online casinos. Nowadays, we have thousands of unique and memorable slots at our disposal, and fans of the genre will have a great time exploring all the different titles.

Many people are under the impression that slot gaming is a simple concept. After all, you pull down a lever or press a button, the reels spin, and you see whether you win or lose. Granted, this does sound incredibly simple, but there are important factors to consider when playing slots. Before you can actually get down to exploring the genre, you should have a rough idea of how the game works and what the driving forces are behind it.

Whereas once fruit machines were entirely mechanical, modern-day slots are software-based and the visuals serve only to entertain the player. As soon as you press the button, the game decides whether you win or lose. This is done via RNG (Random Number Generation) systems embedded in the core of the game. Every time you place a bet, the game generates a set of numbers that determine whether the spin is a winning one. This process is entirely random, and each time you spin the reels a unique combination is generated.

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To verify the integrity of the RNG systems, software providers and online casinos alike have to pass government inspections and audits. Slots are the ultimate game of chance, as everything is random and there is nothing you can do to circumvent that. This, in turn, means that anything can happen in the short term, with winning and losing streaks being among the possibilities.

Naturally, we cannot ignore the symbols in a slot game; they are one of the most attractive aspects of the genre. The symbols that adorn the reels are what we watch for while spinning them. They make the difference between winning and losing, with certain combinations of symbols being more rewarding than others.

Symbols in slot games are generally separated into two categories: basic and special. Basic symbols are simple to understand and carry no special features. You simply have to line up several of them to win a smaller prize. They come in different tiers, with some symbols being more rewarding than others, though the lower a symbol pays, the more often it will appear on the reels. Essentially, there is nothing too interesting about the basic symbols, except when they line up just the way you want them to.

The special category of symbols, on the other hand, spices up the general gameplay and introduces new features that basic symbols cannot offer. There are generally three symbols in this category: Wild, Scatter, and Bonus. The Wild symbol can stand in for any basic symbol when needed, allowing you to complete winning combinations.

Earlier, we mentioned paylines, and it is time to give you some idea of what we mean by that. A payline refers to the combination of symbols that you can form when playing slots. In the early slot machines, a payline was formed as a straight horizontal line in the middle of the reels. Nowadays, paylines can take just about any form you can imagine, with various zigzag lines covering your reels. Granted, the addition of more reels also allowed for more paylines to be added, though the exact number is entirely dependent on the game in question.

Classic slots typically come with 1 to 3 paylines, whereas modern video slots feature between 25 and 50, on average. For each payline that you activate, you also have to increase the size of your bet by a certain amount. While this increases your chances of forming winning combinations, it also increases the amount you wager.

The direction in which the symbols line up is also important. The vast majority of slots only reward you if your combination starts on the leftmost reel and continues along the adjacent ones on an active payline. Certain games do away with this rule, but those are few and far between. Scatter symbols are traditionally not affected by the direction in which they are formed, as long as they follow the payline.

An alternative to traditional paylines is the X-Ways to Win system. Whereas paylines require you to spin symbols along a designated pattern, this system will reward you for hitting the same symbol on adjacent reels regardless of its position. This system does appear to be friendlier on the surface, and you will likely experience more wins with it. The trade-off is that you have less control over the game. Since there are no paylines to activate or disable, the game’s minimum bet will be somewhat higher than on a more traditional title. We are talking about pennies here, so keep that in mind.

Whether this system is better than old-fashioned paylines is up for debate, but it mostly boils down to personal preference. There is no clear-cut answer to this, and you should give both a shot to see which suits you better.

As is the case with most casino games, there are multiple variations of the traditional slots formula. While there are certainly different types of slots that you can play, the number of variations is not as large as in blackjack or roulette. Slots are certainly a diverse genre, though this diversity is established through a variety of themes and aesthetics rather than drastic changes in the gameplay. Despite that, it is still important to cover the different types of slots that you will encounter during your visit to an online casino.

Classic slots are a sub-genre of slots that try to emulate the look and feel of old-school fruit machines. They feature 3 reels and usually come with up to 3 paylines, though this is not set in stone. The gameplay is rather simple, making them perfect for players new to the world of slots. As such, there is not much to classic titles beyond spinning the reels.

The symbols are usually in the style of the old machines, with cherries, sevens, jokers, and diamonds adorning the reels. Some games do include Wild symbols in the mix, allowing you to form winning combinations more easily. All in all, there is not much to say about these games since they rarely come with bonus rounds, free spins, or other such features. They are rather basic, and you can easily get the hang of them after a few minutes. If you do not like the classic format, odds are that you will become bored with them quickly.

The video slots sub-genre is the most common type of slot that you will find in the modern gambling industry. These games are much more complex than the classic slots of days gone by and offer a more exciting and unpredictable casino experience. Whereas classic slots offer mostly the base gameplay loop, video slots tend to pack more features.

You will likely find free spins rounds, bonus mini-games, and more symbols (both basic and special), along with many more paylines in the average video slot title than in any classic game.

Moreover, video slots go much deeper into specific themes and aesthetics than classic ones do. Whereas traditional titles mostly feature a single picture and a few basic symbols in the same vein to form a theme, video slots go out of their way to immerse you in the aesthetic. This includes more emphasis on the symbol art, the background music, the bonus features, and more.

As for the gameplay itself, video slots feature more paylines and reels than classic slots. The average video slot has between 25 and 40 paylines, though that number can go up to 50 or 60 easily. What this means is that you can form winning combinations in ways that you would not even expect, though at the cost of higher bets.

The progressive slots category is one of the most popular in the online gambling industry, and the titles that make it up often receive a lot of attention. This is due to the jackpot attached to the particular game. Unlike standard jackpots, the progressive type only increases in value until it is won by a lucky player, after which it resets to a set minimum value. Furthermore, the progressive jackpot is offered by the software provider rather than the casino, and this has some significant implications.

For one, the jackpot is pooled from all casinos that feature the game, instead of each website having its own unique pool. A small percentage of each bet made on the game across all online casinos that offer it is added to the jackpot. As you can imagine, this can cause the jackpot to rise to incredible values, especially on more popular titles. Seven-figure sums are not uncommon, and some go even higher. At the moment of writing, Microgaming’s Mega Moolah title has amassed over $18 million and is still rising.

Another important factor in playing slots, and any other casino game for that matter, is the house edge and the return-to-player percentage. These are vital for understanding how fair a game really is and whether it is worth playing in the long run. When we say house edge, we refer to the statistical advantage that the casino has over its players. It is what makes a gambling operation viable, and it is the primary source of revenue. The house edge is the total amount of money that the casino gets to keep as profits in the long run.

In most games, it is a few percent of the total turnover. For example, in a game with a house edge of 5%, the casino will pay out 95% of all money that enters the slot as winnings. This hypothetical 95% is the return-to-player percentage. The other 5% will be kept as profit for the house, hence the term house edge. The house edge is realized as the statistical difference between the payout ratios for a winning outcome and the probability that you will receive that outcome. Imagine the following situation: an outcome has odds of 1 in 100 to happen, while the payout for you getting that outcome is 95:1. That difference constitutes the house edge, and it is the metric by which we judge the fairness of a given game. Granted, no game with a house edge is ‘fair,’ strictly speaking, but the closer we get to equilibrium, the more worthwhile it is for players, and the higher the house edge, the more we should avoid it.