How to Play Online Slots
Today, we look at how to play slots, some winning strategies, and also key information to help your gaming experience. What we aim to explain to you is how to find the right game, what special features you’ll want to look out for, and if you’ve got a chance to win a jackpot.
How to Play Online Slots: An Introduction
The first thing you’ll have to know about playing slots online is what you stand to make. Typically, slots have 5-reels, 3-rows, and 10/20 pay-lines. This is your basic layout.
The five reels stretch across from left to right and they reveal the symbols as they dropdown. The three rows mean you’ve got one on the top, a middle and a bottom row. This gives the slot 15 different spaces for symbols. Last but not least, the paylines are the amount of winning combinations you may land in one spin – i.e, how many ways you can win one spin.
Keep in mind, some slots have got up to 243 different pay-lines. This can be achieved when it doesn’t matter if you go from left to right or vice-versa.
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What is RTP, Variance and Value?
Next up on the agenda is the importance of Return to Player (RTP). This is a percentage which basically indicates the house advantage (house edge) which the casino has.
If you’ve gambled before, you will know that the casino always has the house edge. Well, in the case of slots, the RTP of a slot can be 95%. If this is the case, the house edge is 5%. Say you play 100 hands with $1; you will win $95 after 100 hands. It’s important to remember that this is just an average way of grading the slot. Obviously, if you play 100 hands with $1 each spin, you may win $500 on your second spin.
Variance in gambling is also known as volatility. This suggests how frequent the slot will hit.
In low volatility slots, you can win on almost every hand. The catch is that these are just plain wins, nothing to fancy.
In high volatility slots, you can win bigger prizes but you’re not going to win every single spin. You can read up more about volatility in gambling by checking out our detailed guide.
Last but not least, we take a look at the value for each slot. This is determined by the minimum and maximum amount you can wager per spin. Take NetEnt’s Divine Fortune, for instance, you can bet between €/£0.20 to €/£100 per spin.
Identifying Special Features
In order to know how to play online slots, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of what special characters and rounds can do. Here we can divide this section into four different sub-topics.
Scatters
First and foremost, we look at scatters. These are special symbols that will typically pay-out a decent amount of cash. Especially when in a winning combination. What you need to know about scatters is that whenever you see one, you’ve probably won something.
Scatters can also be used to trigger in-game bonus rounds. For instance, many jackpot slots require you to land 3 or more scatters to activate a free spins or jackpot round.
Wilds
Next on our list is Wilds. Like scatters, these are symbols which you can land on the reels. Wilds will substitute all standard symbols (except for scatters and other bonus symbols – depending on the title) to make room for winning combinations. Thus, whenever you see wilds on your reels, you can be sure of having the most fortunate possible outcome. In more recent games, wilds can be both static or dynamic. Expanding Wilds are a thing of beauty. Land just enough wilds on the reels and watch a whole reel turn wild!
Multipliers
Many games can pay you up to 10,000x your stake or even more. However, the way to go about this is to pay close attention to multipliers. Like the name suggests, these can be activated when playing the game as it should be played. Although, you may need to read a manual before, as this can vary from one title to another.
Free Spins
And, to conclude this section of features, most games will have a free spins round. This is usually triggered by landing three or more scatters and will do exactly what the name suggests.
In the free spins round, you’ll be given a number of free spins and can win some more by landing more scatters or wilds. You will also have the option to receive multipliers if you’re playing a game like Arabian Nights.
Playing Jackpot Games
The difference between playing jackpot games and other titles is the inclusion of a massive prize. Obviously, jackpot slots will have bigger maximum prizes and will include something definitely worth playing for.
When playing jackpot games, the main difference you’ll find is that the game will include a way to win the maximum prize. This can be an additional bonus game or symbols. Games without jackpots will only have a maximum prize – which can still be huge – but will only be won by landing all the most profitable symbols and multipliers. You can find out all the hottest jackpot slots by checking out our latest jackpot ratings.
Choosing the Right Slot
Now, to conclude this analysis on how to play online slots, the last tip we can inform you about is choosing the slot. You’ll want to play a game with a high RTP. The more bonus features, the better. Obviously, games with many pay-lines will also be more rewarding.
If you’re looking for jackpot slots, the two biggest ones on earth are Mega Fortune and the Mega Moolah network progressive jackpot franchise. If you’re not sure what we mean by ‘network’ or ‘progressive’ take a look at our online jackpot dictionary to clear up any confusion.
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