How to Play Internet Slots
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How to Play Slots - A Quick Tutorial
What are Slots?
Slots are a wide term used to describe the different types of Slots machines that are available online and at land based casinos today. Slot machines originated from the one armed bandit called the Liberty Bell in the late 1800's which was invented by Charles Fey in his garage. The original machine had three drums which would turn around when the lever at the side was pulled. | |||||||||
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On the drums there were different pictures of cards or fruit or other symbols. If three of the same symbols came to land in the same line then the player had won and a payout was made from the machine. Over the years this machine was developed into many different versions to give us the modern Slot machines that we have in internet casinos online and at land based establishments.
Types of Slot Machine Games
There are in essence three types of Slot machine games that can be played today; the Reel Slots, Progressive Slots and the Video Slots. Each one has unique characteristics that make it different from the other Slots games and offer different ways to win. What is common between each of these types of Slots is the need to land a winning line in order to win back some or all of the money bet. The basic idea is that there are different pay lines which are defined at the start of each game and the player has to rely on luck mainly, to try and get symbols that will fall into one of these pay lines and therefore pay out money as winnings. Depending on what type of game is played, there can be anything from three to forty different pay lines in a game. The configurations of the pay lines are always shown and detailed on each machine for the player to review prior to him playing.Rules of How to Play at Slots
Since each game of Slots is different and unique it is important to check the rules for each game and casino that you are playing at before starting to play. Learn what the pay lines are and the payouts for each line. Each type of internet Slots game has slightly varying rules of how to play but the principles are the same for all.Reel Slots
Reel Slots are the closest to the old fashioned type of Slots machines and the most basic of the Slots available today, whereby there are three reels and up to five different pay lines per game. All that the player has to do is determine in advance the coin size he wants to play with and then press the Spin button. The machine will automatically spin and come to rest at a certain place. Depending on what the winning symbols are for that game and where the symbols come to rest will determine whether there is a win or not. In other words if two or more matching symbols land in a pay line configuration, then a payout can be made. The player can choose to bet one coin per line or less if he prefers. So for example if there are five pay lines and he chooses $1 as his coin size, the maximum bet he can make is $5 i.e. $1 per line and any pay outs if winning lines are achieved are multiplied by the coin size of $1. Occasionally there are Reel Slots with extra bonus payouts which are detailed on the payout chart of each game.Video Slots
Video Slots are the most complex of the Slot machine games that are available today. A Video Slots game is more like playing a game on the computer, the graphics and sound in this sort of Slots game are superior in quality to the reel Slots. Video Slots can be from three to five reels and can have as many as forty pay lines. Video Slots games present a whole story to a player. The principle of playing is the same but there are extra bonuses involved that can bring in more revenue for the player. Video Poker is a cross between slots and poker.Choosing Your Bet in Video Slots
To start playing, a player needs to choose his coin size. Depending on the number of pay lines available in a game often determines the size of coins that are available. In a game with forty pay lines the highest coin size possible is $0.25 which allows the maximum bet that can be placed across forty pay lines on five different reels as 40x5 = 200 coins. 200 coins at $0.25 is $50 maximum bet, but there is the potential to win 300000 coins ($75 000). Most Video Slots games have coin size starting as little as $0.01 allowing any player to join in, also one does not have to make the maximum bet each time, a player can choose how many pay lines he wants to bet on and the number of coins he wants to use.Spinning and Winning Video Slots
Once the coin size has been determined and the first bet placed then the "Spin" button can be pressed. This leads to the reels automatically spinning until they come to stop. A winning pay line in a Video Slots game is determined by a number of different ways and can be viewed in the payout screen of each machine. As with reel Slots, there are the basic payouts which are gained by landing three or more symbols along a pay line. Depending what symbols land and how many will determine how much money is won. There are also scatter symbols, wild cards and bonus symbols in Video Slots games.Video Slots Symbols
The scatter symbols are usually additional symbols in the game which if they land anywhere scattered across the screen can either substitute for a symbol to make a winning line and/ or pay out independently according to where they land. Again, the details of each scatter symbol and how it works are available at each game and can be studied there. Most Video Slots also have a Wild symbol which acts like a wild card and can substitute for other symbols or just pay out a bonus. Details are found on the payout screen of each game. Bonus symbols can be found in any shape or form depending on the theme of the game being played and often take the player to another screen where he has to interact in order to get his bonus. This interaction can be anything from choosing more symbols or fitting pieces of a puzzle together. Different kinds of bonus screens can also lead to choosing free spins and multipliers. Multipliers are a bonus in kind which multiply any winnings made within free spins or for a certain amount of spins.Video Slots Extras
All these extras make Video Slots more exciting to play and give the players more chance to win. Video Slots also include in some games the gamble feature, whereby the player has a chance to double his winnings by choosing if a card is black or red. If a Video Slots game has the gamble feature, it will be in the game summary and also when there is a chance to gamble, a gamble button will light up in the screen allowing the player to decide if he wants to gamble or collect. All of these extra features are detailed on the game summary and in the payout screens.Progressive Slots
Progressive Slots are very similar to Video Slots in that they offer all of the bonus schemes, scatters, wild cards, free spins and multipliers that are available at Video Slots but they also offer the extra Progressive Jackpot. Basically the Progressive Jackpot Slot machines are all linked together, no matter where you are playing, if it is online or at a land based casino. Each time a player plays on a progressive Slots machine, a certain percentage of the money that is played is put into a jackpot. If a full winning line is achieved then the Progressive Jackpot is won. The game is played in the same way as the Video Slots but there is the added chance of winning the Progressive Jackpot. It is often thought that intermediary wins are not as common with the Progressive Slots machines as all of the money is put into the Jackpot but this is generally not the case and each machine and game needs to be examined carefully before joining into it. Progressive Jackpots can be enormous amounts of money and sometimes it is worth investing in a game for the chance to win the big Jackpot.Definitions and Terms Reel - the cylinder type drum that is spun and comes to a stop to show its symbols.
Spin- the action of setting the drums spinning.
Gamble - the chance to double or lose winnings.
Collect - cashing in your winnings and not attempting to gamble anymore.
Wild card - a wild symbol that can take the place of any other symbol to help build a winning line.
Scatter symbol - often a symbol that acts as a bonus in itself or can lead to a bonus screen if three or more of these land on the visible reels.
Pay Lines - these are predetermined line configurations that show how symbols need to land in order for winnings to be taken.
Multipliers - these are the numbers by which any winnings are multiplied, often used during free spins.
Free spins - a predetermined number of spins of the reels where credits are not paid for these.
