Gambling slot games ᐈ Still the favorite in the USA?
Some people say there are no easier casino games to play than slots, even if it’s your first time stepping into a casino. In fact, the first thing you see besides the security guard at any casino in the world will be slot machines. They are the most popular and the most profitable games for all casinos, typically covering at least 70% of a casino’s revenue or even higher.
However, have you thought about how these simple slot machines generate the symbols? Is it completely random? Is there anything you need to understand before making a bet? If you love to play slot games, this article is going to be a must-read, in which we will give you a comprehensive introduction to slot machines and help you understand how to get the most out of them.
The roots: Traditional Slot Machines
The name slot machine comes from the basic mechanism of playing the games, which is by inserting coins into a slot. When they were invented back in the 1890s, the machines were powered by a big lever to spin the reels with poker symbols being prominent. After the reels were spun, they would land on any position to show different combinations.
Since depending solely on the levers and the reels, the outcomes were not always random or automatic as some would assume. Errors were likely to happen within a machine due to the use over time or manually conducted tricks, later on the electromechanical system was developed to try and resolve this problem.
In the 1970s, the first video slot machine was invented in Las Vegas. The earliest 3 reels slot machines only have horizontal and diagonal in total up to 8 paylines, while the video slot machines have potentially hundreds or even thousands of paylines. Btw., Demoslot.com could be your site to go, if you like to check out literally thousands of freeplay slots from all major game providers.
Slot machines used to be called fruit machines due to the classic fruit-themed symbols on the reels. Another more slang-like name in the early days was one-armed bandits, it came from the metaphor of comparing them to the thieves who can sweep people’s money away from the wallets easily simply by pulling the arm (or lever in this case).
Digital Slot Machines
With the rapid digital evolution, a wide range of glaring slot machines’ variations have come up. The machines are relatively bigger/taller than in the past, while the games tend to have stories or meanings behind them by the means of videos and advanced graphics. Overall, digital slot games made the genre more interactive, some relate to the movies, TV characters, or music acts, rather than just the classic fruits.
These new forms of the slot games have added tremendously more flash to the chunky machines of old, making them largely identical to video games in many ways. As Christmas is coming up, if you go to a casino, don’t forget to play a Santa-themed slot machine, enjoy the snowflakes on the screen and different types of gifts he’s sure to unload.
Overall, modern days slot games coming in all different shapes and sizes, so when we say that there is something for everybody, we really do mean it.
How to play slot games?
Slot games are played by using buttons, or more specifically nowadays, touch screens to activate the controls. You may use cash, coin, token or other forms of payment like a ticket in-ticket out method to initiate.
Normally there are multiple reels with different theme symbols involved, by spinning the reels, the end combinations of the symbols will decide if you win or not. A prize or free spin(s) will be added to your balance upon winning. Bonuses and free spins as a form of reward increase more possibilities of generating real money winnings by the given free rounds. Besides the regular themed symbols, there are also other commonly seen symbols such as the wild symbol, it may replace any symbol needed to win when found. The scatter symbol, which triggers wins, bonuses or free spins, is also another common symbol to keep an eye out for.
How to know the paylines of each slot machine?
Sometimes even when you win when spinning the reels, due to the complexity of the modern video slot machines, you might not even know why. It sounds silly, but we’ve seen many players aimlessly spin the reels just waiting for the flashing “WIN!” sign to pop up, rather than understanding what’s happening.
The Paylines of the Fishin Frenzy Slot Game
To prevent this confusing situation from occurring, players need to learn about a game, more importantly it’s always best to check the paytable before starting a game. For more dated slot machines, paytables are usually located on the body, either on top or below the screens. For modern video slot machines, paytables are normally located at the help menu on the screen.
Paytables contain the detailed explanation of the rules, prizes, bonuses, free spins, and the credits for each winning line. By taking a look at the paytable prior to starting a game, it definitely helps to grasp a general idea about how many winning lines it has and what are the particular functions of the game to be aware of.
You might say it doesn’t matter to understand the paytable details, if I win that’s good, if I lose, that’s bad luck, however, simply because many people choose not to look at it, casinos take advantage of your ignorance. They are always there to profit as much as possible and by not reading the paytable you are simply playing into their hands.
How to win at slot games? Is the result completely random?
There is a possible way to increase the winning odds of a traditional reel slot machine’s jackpots, that is to wager the maximum coins possible on every spins. Think of it as a case of the more you put in the more you get out. However, to win a video slot machine’s jackpot it’s a bit more complicated, as the winning value was previously programmed, and the payouts are calculated by multiplying the coins of each bet line.
Modern slot machines are programmed by a computer algorithm instead of the metal lever. The result can be one of hundreds or even thousands of paylines. Based on the pre-defined sum for each payline, players will be awarded accordingly. However, certain games are designed to have better payout rates, if you know which are these games, you naturally have better “luck”, for the lack of a better term.
Do certain slot games payout more than others?
In any casino, you can see a great variety of slot machines, consequently choosing a good or lucky slot machine can be difficult. Many people end up choosing based upon the theme of the game, or simply the mood of the day. That being said, it’s the winning games that have the most pull, let us explain why.
Sometimes you find out someone has been winning rather a lot from one designated machine, is it a temporary breakdown or that machine tends to pay out more? In fact, it’s true that some games are designed to have higher payouts than others, meaning these games are easier to win from than others that have lower payout rates.
In general, progressive jackpots slots games have higher payout rates. Thus, if you know the top games fall under this category and only focus on them in a casino, your winning chance will dramatically increase. The payout rate or RTP (return to player) of a game can be easily checked online, for example: the famous Cleopatra slot has an RTP of 95%, The Gold Fish and Lucky Leprechaun slots have around 96% RTP; The Buffalo and Wheel of Fortune games have about 94%.
Pay attention to these top games (among others) and keep a close eye on the RTP to discover a slot games true value.
What are you waiting for?
Slot games have a long backstory, some of which isn’t always pretty. But there is no denying that they’ve emerged as a premier form of entertainment in the 21st century. Through various different themes, prizes, reel numbers, and setups, a slot game has the power to deliver endless hours of luck-based fun that other casino games just can’t match.
While we would always recommend that players with a competitive streak turn their hands towards the card games of the world, casual players are sure to find plenty to enjoy about the thousands upon thousands of slot games available to play these days. So, armed with this basic slot game knowledge, it’s time to head out there and start spinning, and who knows, your luck might just be in.
