Online Casino

In this article we take a closer look at some of the different types of online slot games that you may come across in casinos both online and in the real world. We have broken it down in several subsections each with its own page covering these specific topics:

Classic Slots looks at the basic slots machines, the true original classics that have adorned the aisles of slot halls and casinos up and down the country since their very beginnings.

Progressive Slots looks at the big jackpot games. These monsters of the online casino as well as some real world casinos carry with them enormous jackpots that are up for grabs.

Multiple Pay-Line slots are more complex versions of the classic slot machines and here we look at some of their distinguishing features.

Bonus Feature Slots add interest and excitement to slot games by providing additional side games that come into play upon certain symbols falling on the win line of a game.

Multiplier Slots give the opportunity to increase a player's winnings with special symbols that multiply the winning amounts

Bonus Multiplier Slots work in similar fashion to standard multiplier slots, except they make full use of the multiple and maximum coin slots to further increase the jackpots depending upon which symbols line up on the win line.

Classic Slots

In the world of both real world and online casinos, these havens of gambling pleasure would not be complete without a good array of classic slots machines. Here we take a look at the format of the classic slots that have enthralled and enticed many generations of intrepid players from all walks of life.

Classic slots are simply put those slots machines that emulate the very first wave of slot machines ever to come out of Charles Fey?s tiny workshop in San Francisco at the end of the 19th century. Classic slot machines therefore are generally the most simple of the genre to play and enjoy. They generally employ a pull handle to start the reels spinning, although with most modern slots machines this appendage is more for show and authenticity than for actual function as the reels are set spinning electronically as opposed to the original manual mechanical machines.

Classic slots generally have three reels, one pay line and one slot for entering coins, so they are easy to figure out and play. Payouts are determined by lines of identical symbols coming to rest along the win line. The value of the payout is determined by the value of the symbols. Often various fruits such as plums, cherries or lemons or lucky 7s are printed on the reels with three Liberty Bell symbols lining up on a win line representing a jackpot or maximum win.

In most casinos whether online or real world, classic slots still tend to make up the majority of machines.

Progressive Slots

In almost every good online casino these days and even in some top real world casinos you'll find progressive slot games. So what exactly are progressive slots? Let's examine them to find out.

Progressive slots are true jackpot games that enable casinos to advertise a huge jackpot figure running into millions of dollars. They are able to do this by actually being linked to many other progressive jackpot games in many different casinos. The running jackpot is progressively increased as coins are added to machines across this large casino network by players in the individual casinos until a point is reached when the game will payout.

The payout point is determined by the number of bets made and the value level of the progressive jackpot. This will vary according to the number of players and the amount and value of the bets made over a period of time.

A progressive jackpot payout is a truly impressive occasion with the winner walking away with millions of dollars.

There are also standalone progressive jackpot slot machines which display a running total of the next jackpot payout. This of course changes as more coins are entered and have a much lower payout than linked machines.

In real world casinos, there are also in-house linked progressive jackpot slots machines which work on a similar basis to casino-wide progressives, except they are tied only to those machines in that specific casino. Their jackpots are much higher than standalone machines, but still much lower than casino-wide progressive machines.

Multiple Pay Line

There are many different variations of the basic slots machines which display different symbols, or have differing payout configurations. Some have more than one pay line and it is these we'll look at in this section.

When a slot machine is said to have multiple pay lines, what it means is that it will differ from a classic slot machine which has only the one pay line by increasing the perceived number of winning combinations by including more lines of winning symbols. These winning lines do not necessarily have to run horizontally across the machine's display area either, but can run diagonally too.

With large display format slot machines, the number of pay lines can be 2, 3, 5 or more depending upon how many symbols can be displayed in the display area. With modern video slots, the number of pay lines can increase dramatically as it becomes possible to display several lines of symbols in the display area.

Of course classic slots cannot match the video versions for sheer number of pay lines as they are restricted by the physical size of the circular reels, so only so many lines of symbols can be displayed at once.

Having multiple pay lines increases a slot machine's complexity considerably as the player struggles to keep tabs on all the winning possibilities, especially with slot machines that you can nudge or re-spin. In these cases it is possible to miss a potential win line if watching for another whilst nudging. However, the overall payouts are no different to simpler machines.

Bonus Feature Slots

With the many different types of slot machines greeting the visitor to any casino, whether real world or online, it helps to have some pre-knowledge as to what you can expect to find, before taking the plunge and spending your money. In this section, we take a closer look at Bonus Feature slot machines and see how they differ from other types of slots.

While there are many variations of bonus feature slots, the general concept is the same. That is if you spin the reels and hit a certain combination of symbols during normal play, then a second or bonus feature game is triggered. This extra bonus feature game potentially enables you to win extra some coins. The extra bonus game can be one of any number of games, depending upon the machine, although it is common to match the bonus games to the main theme of the slot machine.

Some bonus feature games include a choice where you have to guess the colour or maybe the suit of a card. Others generate hidden boxes games with each box containing a hidden bonus that you have to choose from. Some others may set off a side game of a single spinning reel with several winning and losing symbols. Still others have rapidly flashing lights each representing progressive increases in odds or lose. You must hit a button at the right time to either increase your win or lose it all.

Bonus feature slots add interest to games, but do not increase the players winning odds any.

Multiplier Slots

With online slots machines being the most popular of all casino games, it's no wonder that there is a dizzying array of different types of slots machines to suit every player's tastes. One of these variations includes the multiplier slots and we take a closer look at how they work in this section.

Multiplier slots machines feature what is best described as special multiplying symbols. These special symbols complete winning combinations on the pay line which then multiply the winnings for that combination. In its basic form, a multiplier is similar to a wild symbol which can complete a winning combination and then multiply its value.

As an example, let's take a multiplier slot where 3 cherries that land on the win line would normally pay 200 coins. If, instead 2 cherries and a 2x multiplier symbol lined up on that win line, that same winning line will instead pay you 400 coins.

If you know your basic multiplication tables, you can work out how multiplier slots machines work. With this knowledge, it's obvious that multiplier slots can produce very sizable payouts. Most multiplier slots machines have multiplier symbols from 2x up to as much as 10x, meaning much greater winning combinations are possible.

However, as with all slot machines, their overall payouts are governed by their internal programming. This means that while multiplier slots represent the chance for larger payouts, there will be fewer of them in any given space of time to satisfy the casino's set payout odds for all slot machines.

Bonus Multiplier Slots

Slots machines are definitely the most popular of all casino games, which has generated some incredible variations of the one time classic three reel, single pay line slot machines. We have already covered multiplier slots in a previous article, but the casino slots players have ever demanded more and more complex and interesting slot machines, to which the manufacturers and online software developers have answered with newer and even more complex machines and games. Of these, one such newcomer is the bonus multiplier slot machine, which we shall look at here.

Bonus multiplier slots are based on the premise of rewarding the use of the max bet option, which is betting the maximum number of coins in any one game.

The great lure of these bonus multiplier slots games is that should you hit the jackpot while having inserted the maximum number of coins, then the jackpot itself is multiplied by the number of the multiplier symbol.

As an example, let's say 3 lucky 7s are the jackpot symbols on a bonus multiplier slot machine that would normally produce a payout of 1,000 coins with a single coin being played. On the same machine, should the maximum number of coins playable be three and you play them all and hit the 3 lucky 7s the bonus multiplier slot will increase its jackpot not by 3x to 3,000 coins, but disproportionately to say 10,000 coins.

This looks very tempting on paper and in practise can produce some extremely favourable jackpot wins, although the casino house odds govern the overall rate of payout.