Slots Explained: How To Play & What You Need To Know
Slot machines and online slots have been long associated with casinos and amusements in the United Kingdom. They’re one of the favourite games for many people to play, thanks to their simplicity and entertainment value. But if you’re very new to them, then they’re potentially likely to look a little confusing overall.
This is especially true if you’re playing online and you see a variety of buttons, functions and inclusive features appear on the screen. And this is the reason that we have put together our own guide to these slots.
Here, we will take you through some information relating to the games, how they operate, what they include and so on. If you want to learn everything there is to know about slot machines, then you’re in the right place. Join us for our Slots Explained guide.
What Is a Slot Machine?
A slot machine serves as a gambling machine that runs a pre defined game of chance for anyone playing. They are also commonly known as fruit machines in the UK, pokies in Australia and New Zealand, and one-armed bandits in many land-based casinos.
A slot machine’s standard features include a screen featuring three or more reels, which spin when a game round is activated. Various symbols are included on those reels, and it is from those symbols that a payout will be obtained in different instances.
What Are Slot Reels?
Reels is the term used to refer to the horizontal columns utilised in both video and classic slot machines. All the games’ symbols are located within their respective reels.
Whenever you pull the lever or click on the spin button, the reels will spin for a short period of time. Upon stopping, the symbols displayed on them will be evaluated across one or more paylines to determine if it has been a successful spin for a payout.
What Are Slot Paylines?
Paylines are included in all slot releases. On them, you will form combinations of symbols, and if there are enough of these symbols in a combination that match up, then you will receive a payout for it.
Different slots come with different numbers of paylines involved. Classic slot games feature smaller numbers of these, maxing out at around 9 or 10 most of the time. Meanwhile, video slots feature paylines up to 50, 100 and more. It is even possible for a game to have various ways to win integrated into its make-up, rather than a set of paylines.
What is RTP Rate?
If you see the letters RTP, they stand for return to player. Every single legitimate online slot game has a return to player rate associated with it, and this is described as a percentage.
It determines the amount of money you can expect to get back from playing a slot machine over a period of time. For example, let’s look at a popular online slot game in Starburst from Netent. That game comes with a 96.09% RTP rate attached to it. In theory, if you place a £100 bet on that game, you should expect to get £96.09 back from it from successful spins (on average over a long period of time).
The percentage is worked out over hundreds, thousands and often times millions of spins on the slot, though. Therefore, it is an average RTP rate provided to you, and you’ll get that amount back if you were to play a game for that same number of spins.
It is good to take note of the RTP rate before you decide upon playing a slot, as it can give a nice insight into how much you can expect back from it in general. However, this should be considered as well as various other features of the game in question.
What is Slot Volatility?
Something else that you may see associated with online slot games is a volatility level. And usually, this will be described as low, medium or high.
Volatility tells you type and frequency of payout you can expect to get from playing a slot machine. If it is a game that comes with low volatility, then you can expect it to provide smaller payouts on a more frequent basis. On the other hand, if it is a slot with a higher volatility level, it will provide larger payouts, but these will come on a less frequent basis.
What Is Betting Range?
All slot games today allow you to choose a bet that suits your bankroll. This way, those people who are low-rollers (those who like to place small bets) and those who are high-rollers (those who like to place bigger bets) are both catered to.
A betting range in a slot game runs from the minimum bet that you can place and all the way up to the maximum bet. And the range can differ dramatically from game to game. Some start out from as little as £0.01 per spin and can increase up to £100, £200, £500 and more, depending upon the developer and the casino.
What Are Wild Symbols?
Alongside the standard symbols that can be found on the reels of a slot machine game, there are additions known as wild symbols. If a wild symbol comes into view, then it has the ability to substitute for all other basic symbols, thereby helping to fill in for such.
It can therefore be said that a wild symbol provides extra opportunities to form successful combinations across the reels. Wilds will also sometimes boost the payout that you receive if they are included in a combination.
What Are Scatter Symbols?
The other symbol that will frequently be added to slot games is a scatter. This one is usually able to show up in any position on the reels and still provide a payout, regardless of where it is.
As long as two or more are visible anywhere, then you will usually be successful with scatters in a slot machine. They can also be the catalyst for triggering a slot’s free spins round whenever three or more appear, which we’ll get to shortly.
What Is a Paytable?
Included in the vast majority of slots is a paytable, and this is something that can be brought up at any point during gameplay. On it, you will see details of how much each symbol pays out depending upon the combination it is in.
Furthermore, information will be provided on the special features of the slot, the RTP rate associated with it, the maximum payout you can obtain from the game, and so on.
What Are Free Spins?
Free spins have become quite the staple of many slot games, serving as a nice addition for players to experience. Often times, they will be activated whenever three or more scatter symbols show up across the reels, but it’s not always the case. Some games have different triggers for them.
As their name suggests, you get free spins of the reels whenever this feature is active. Different games provide different numbers of these for you to play through, and each spin is, as the name suggests, free. Therefore, you aren’t risking any of your own funds on these free spins, but you can still receive payouts from them (as cash or bonus funds).
What Are Bonus Rounds?
It has become commonplace for slots, more so online slots, to incorporate special features for you to experience while gaming. These are triggered either randomly or by a specific combination occurring on the reels.
Known as bonus rounds, they often give you the opportunity to garner additional payouts from playing side games, adding to the general entertainment level of the game in question.
What Are Slot Themes?
While the majority of original slots could be considered as fruit machines – because the symbols on the reels were all represented by different fruits – most of today’s slot releases aren’t like this. Instead, their creators utilise different topics to base them on, and this becomes the theme of the slot.
Many slot themes exist today, with popular ones including ancient Egypt, pirates, Vikings, space, mining, different foods, and more. It is also the case that some games serve as branded options, taking their cues from popular television shows, films, music acts, books, and so on.
What Is a Gamble Round?
Playing some slots will also see you having the option to access a gamble round if you secure a successful combination of symbols across the reels. This gamble round presents you with the opportunity of increasing the funds obtained from that round by playing a small side game.
If you’re successful in that side game, your balance increases, but it can also mean losing everything you’ve just gained if you get it wrong.
How Are Online Slots Made?
Today, there are so many online casino game developers in action that the market is flooded with slots. And each brand will have a slightly different way of constructing their games to others. This is why each development company has several employees to submit their ideas and work on different aspects of a game’s construction.
A company needs to have programmers on board for a slot’s creation, as well as game designers, mathematicians, server developers, graphics developers, project managers and so on. Everything is then combined together to form the game, which is then audited by a third-party company before being released to online casino sites.
What Happens If Goes Wrong with a Slot Game?
It’s not beyond the boundaries of any type of technology to suffer a fault when you least expect it. And slot games have from time to time, too. How do you go about dealing with technical faults relating to them? Well, you will need to contact the support team at the casino that you’re playing the slot at.
Advisors should be reachable through a number of methods, although live chat is the easiest option to utilise. Advise them of the issue you’ve experienced and they will check into it to try and form an appropriate response and resolution.
What Is Autoplay?
Whenever you want to spin the reels of a game, you need to press the Spin button. Yet if you’re intending to play several games one after the other, regardless of the outcome of each one, you can use the autoplay function. This sets up a specified bet amount and continues spinning the reels for you automatically at that level.
You can set the slot up to stop auto-spinning when you either gain or lose a specific amount of money, if a special feature hits or after a specific number of spins have been taken.
It is important to note that autoplay is no longer available in the UK.
What Is Turbo Play?
There are some slot games that also come with a button labelled as ‘Turbo’. Using this will see the reels spin a lot faster, thereby producing a quicker result to you. Turbo gameplay allows for swifter rounds to take place, although not all slot machines come with this option.
Within the United Kingdom, it isn’t available because in 2021, the Gambling Commission introduced speed of play limits that all games need to adhere to. This determined that there should be a space of at least 2.5 seconds between each spin taken on a slot by a player.
What are Progressive Slots?
Jackpots are sometimes included in slot machine games, and some developers have also chosen to incorporate progressive jackpots into these releases. In these games, every time someone places a bet, a small portion of it will be added to the jackpot amount.
Either completely at random or when a player manages to achieve a specific criterion within the game, depending upon the slot, the progressive amount will be paid out to them.
What Is an RNG?
Random number generators, or RNGs, have to be integrated into online slot games to ensure that they are providing fair outcomes on all spins taken. These are mathematical formulas that ensure each and every spin taken on a slot machine produces a random and therefore fair result.
When a slot goes through its audit, the testing company will check for this integration to ensure that it is indeed providing fair and proper outcomes to players.
