Slot Tournaments – How Do They Work and How to Win
Slot tournaments, for those who don’t know, are a variation on the fun format everybody knows and loves. While slots are still the star of the show here, now you’re competing with other players, it certainly works wonders when it comes to ramp up the action. All around it makes winning that much more fun. It’s true that slots are typically a solitary game enjoyed alone. But slots tournaments make this lone wolf game into a social affair that will no doubt prove to be a blast.
What slot tournaments offer above the vanilla experience is the thrill of beating your competitors for awesome prizes that you won’t ever win on a normal day. The organizers of these tournaments know exactly what slots players want, and they deliver big more often than not. Grand prizes, flashy lights, and your name on a leaderboard for everybody to see. People who participate in slots tournaments report that the experience is as thrilling as winning on a slot game itself, which certainly stands for a lot if you ask us.
Slots tournaments offer a whole new way to play, and more players than ever are jumping right into them. In this article, we’ll be exploring some of the different kinds of slots tournaments, as well as all the things you need to know to make the most of them.
Ready to be a slot tournaments superstar? Walk this way, as we’re going to give you the low-down on all you need to know!
How Does a Slots Tournament Work?
The fundamental idea driving all slots tournaments is the same – spin those reels, and get luckier and play better than the guy next to you, whether that be online or offline. Of course, there are some differences that you should be aware of, but we’ll be sure to cover those.
Whether you’re playing in a real-world setting or in an online casino, you should never forget to register. Tournaments are inflexible regarding start times and dates, so make sure you’ll be able to attend when you say you will. Tournaments seldom let you join after they’ve begun, so don’t hesitate to sign up early. In fact, this is the better option considering that many tournaments have a limited number of spaces. Fortunately, registration is quick and easy – all you have to do is follow these steps.
The Old-Fashioned Way of Play
A real-world casino will first ask you what kind of slots tournament you want to play. You’ll sign up, pay whatever buy-in fee they ask of you, and that’s usually all that’s needed. Some tournaments allow you to play for free, in which case there is no buy-in. Sometimes this is because the tournament has smaller prizes, but this can also be a reward for loyal players who have given their patronage to a casino time and time again. Being honest, we have a soft spot for those small-pot free play slot tournaments, as you really don’t have anything to lose, but maybe that’s just us.
After you’ve purchased your entry, you will be assigned a particular seat on the casino floor. Make sure you remember which one it is because you can’t take somebody else’s. When you’re actually playing, different tournaments use different types of slot machines. This will be important when you’re trying to win. Stick with what you know – if you’re familiar with fruit slots, then enter a tournament that uses those. You don’t want to learn a new kind of slot machine when you’re trying to race other people to the finish line, so come prepared before you start. We really want you to remember this point, as we’ve seen plenty of players stumble in a tournament playing a slots format that they simply don’t understand.
After you’re registered and put in the system the casino will allow you credits. These credits don’t benefit you if you save them, so spend them as fast as you can. You want to use them up before the next person so that way you score more points than them. Most tournaments are structured so that there are first, second, and third place prizes, and placement is entirely based on how many points you have. Points are earned by spinning the reels and winning, so you really don’t want to have excess credits by the time the tournament ends. That old phrase of use or lose it really applies when it comes to slot tournaments.
Sit&Go Tournaments
If you’re playing at a real-world casino, you’ll probably get the chance to participate in what is known as a Sit&Go. These tournaments have a standard buy-in, but give you the opportunity to chat with your nearby competition. This is a great incentive to go to a real-world tournament because most of the fun of a tournament is in being able to play with lots of people. And trust us when we say this – it’s a whole lot more satisfying to beat an opponent when you know who they are. Smashing random people just doesn’t quite have the same appeal when you can’t trash talk them along the way.
Online Slot Tournaments
Online tournaments work pretty much the same way as real-world tournaments, except you don’t have to leave your house – how sweet is that? For some people, this is ideal since it gives them a quiet, tranquil place free of unwanted distractions. Plus, you retain the benefit of anonymity since your real name isn’t used. Shady casinos will compel you to identify yourself, but most reputable locations will let you use an online handle or alias.
Aside from that, it’s pretty much the same idea. Online casinos still require buy-ins except for VIPs or special events, and how much you pay to get in determines how many credits you’ll receive. Make sure you have a stable internet connection before you play, though, the last thing you want is your connection to drop as it could cost your position in the rankings.
To enhance the competitive appeal, many tournaments will artificially cap the prizes that can be won. This means that most people will walk away losers, making them that much more competitive. Others are more generous and spread out the prize pool across a wider number of players. It’s important to do your research before you commit to signing up for a particular tournament because there are lots of little rule changes and variations to be mindful of. The casino will always look for an edge, even when it comes to tournaments, so make sure you don’t get caught out by the small print.
Once you fork over your cash, you’ll receive the date, time, and other relevant details on your web page. Don’t lose this information – it’s usually good to bookmark it or write it down because online casinos are very strict about their start and end times.
To reiterate what we said before, most online casinos are run similar to real-world casinos in terms of their rules and regulations. The same coin system is used, as well as the leaderboard that everybody keeps their eyes on. The leaderboard is your way of knowing who the competition is, how many players are participating, and where you stand in relation to the others. An ever-present clock will also be there, letting you know how much time you have left until the tournament ends.
However, two things that online casinos use those real-world ones typically don’t are win boxes and coin boxes. Coin boxes tell you how many digital coins you have left, but if you’re playing to win then that number should trend towards zero as fast as you can manage. There’s no benefit to keeping coins – we cannot stress that enough. Your coin box should serve as an indicator of how much you need to gamble to put yourself on top.
Your win box is, as the name suggests, a tally of how many wins you’ve accumulated over the course of the tournament. Each winning combination is kept here, as well as how many coins you won in the process. If you keep on winning, then your win box and coin box will both grow. This is ultimately how you win – not by pure strategy, but by your speed at hitting the spin button.
Slot tournaments, whether you play online or offline, aren’t exactly complicated. What you need to pay attention to are the tournament terms and conditions more than anything else. This is what will likely catch you out more than anything else. When you are up and running in the tournament, you just to need to spins the reels as per usual, just maybe at a higher speed.
How to Win a Slots Tournament
Slot tournaments might not require much skill, but they do require concentration, willpower, and raw speed. Slots tournaments are not for geriatrics – they are designed to be placed as quickly as possible. Usually, the winner is determined solely on who pressed the spin button the fastest. You will need a fast finger and sharp eyes if you have any desire to come out on top and walk away with whatever prize is up for grabs.
A typical slots tournament lasts around fifteen minutes, but a marathon and/or endurance tournaments can stretch on for hours, maybe even days or weeks if you choose to play online. If you like slots tournaments for their speed, make sure you know what kind of tournament you are signing up for. You don’t want to be stuck playing for four hours when you expected to be there for less than a lunch break.
Slots tournaments have far more than three top finishing positions. Unlike the Olympics, people can be winners even if they placed as low as 20th, 30th, or lower depending on the size of the tournament. The size of the prize pool is a function of how many people bought in, which means that the relative competitiveness of the winning positions remains about the same.
As an example, say you drop $20 to get in. You are competing for a $20,000 cash prize, but you only manage a paltry 35th finish. Fortunately, that’s enough to secure a $50 prize, which is more than what you paid to get in. Tournaments offer a great way to have fun while still having a good chance to come out ahead relative to where you started.
Take a Look at Free Slots Tournaments
What makes slots tournaments so appealing is that there is no skill cap – it’s an almost entirely luck-based game, which means that anybody can win provided they play hard enough. Poker requires an extensive amount of practice and training to be even decent at, but even a total novice can jump right into slots and have a blast playing.
Of course, that doesn’t mean slots are entirely mindless. There are a few things you can do to enhance your odds of success. First, know what the heck it is you’re even playing. Know the machine, know its intricacies and features, and its house edge. This will ensure that you’re properly prepared when the tournament actually rolls around. Understanding a slot game isn’t all that complicated, but it can be quite time-consuming. What you need to do is dive headfirst into the paytable, which will be a selectable option from within the game. The paytable will make it clear the mechanics of the game, along with what you can win and how you can win it.
Second, always bet the most you can on each spin. This is because slot machines don’t just pay more for betting more; higher bets activate various bonus features and perks, such as free spins and minigames. Even if the machine isn’t performing as well as you’d like, it’s still worth putting in more than the bare minimum. If you stick to penny bets, you’re going to miss out on everything that it has to offer, along with letting a huge payday pass you by.
Third, we’ve said before and we’re darn sure going to say this again, bet as fast as you can. This is the most important point. Remember, slots don’t really require any thought. If you want to win more, you’ve got to bet more. That means not just betting the most on each spin, but spinning those reels as fast as you can. Fortune favors the quick in a slot game tournament, so don’t hesitate to hit the spin button again and again in just a few seconds.
Special Features of Slot Tournaments
We said it once, but it bears repeating, not all slot tournaments are not created equally. Some tournaments place focus on prize speed and APM (actions per minute), while others are designed to test your endurance over many rounds. Tournaments will vary their prize schedule accordingly, and some will even offer bonuses like continues and rebuys.
A rebuy is something like a do-over. If you are dissatisfied with your performance in one of the rounds, a rebuy gives you the chance to buy back your original credits so that you can try again. Your coin box and wins are also reset, so make sure that you want to do this before you commit. You are given exactly as much time as the first time you played, and the score you get overwrites the original. Hopefully, your performance was better the second time around, as otherwise the purpose of a rebuy can go up in smoke.
Continues are the chance to keep playing by purchasing more coins in the middle of a tournament. If you’ve done everything right and you spend your coins faster than everybody else, this feature will come in handy. You don’t incur any penalty for doing this, so whatever additional coins you spend with your continue is just gravy. If you’re far enough ahead, whatever you spend to get a continue will be won back and more once the leaderboards are finalized. This is the kind of thing the pros do to ensure that they win every time. In the huge tournaments, continues are a huge element, so don’t be afraid to tap into them.
Making this super clear, neither of these features are free, but they are frequently worth the cost. The difference between tenth place and 30th is frequently enough to make up for the additional cost of using these features.
Turn up the Heat in Tournament Play!
Slot tournaments are something that is really in trend right now, and that’s for good reason. What they are able to do is add an additional layer to online slots play, something that’s actually already exciting enough as it is. Slot tournaments no matter where you choose to play are likely to be very competitive, which makes them pretty fun to play, but don’t ever expect an easy ride to the top prize.
If you love online slots, you are going to love slot tournaments and what they bring to the table (or should we say reels). Just make sure you have your spinning finger at the ready, as you are certainly going to need it.
