The slot machine is considered as one of the most popular games in the casino, as it allows people to win money and play a fun game without the need to think about strategies, which are needed when playing poker, blackjack, and other casino games. While slot machines are abundant in land-based casinos, they are also quite prominent in online casinos, as there are hundreds of different slots that you can play on just one online casino website. Online casino slots work similarly to a real slot machine, but there are some key differences between them that make online slots much more fun to play. To know more about the intricacies of online casino slots, here is a beginner’s guide that will provide you with details on the features of the online slot games, as well as how to play them.
What is an Online Casino Slot?
As its name suggests, the online casino slot is a digital or online version of a real-life slot machine, and it features some of the things that you would usually find in a real slot machine, such as a screen that shows you the column of slots with different symbols, as well as the prizes you can win when matching up symbols in specific lines.
Much like real slot machines, there are different kinds of online casino slots that you can play. There are slots with three reels, which are the number slots that roll on the screen, and there may be some with six reels. In addition, there are some slots that have three rows, and a few might have five rows. The number of symbols also varies for each online slot. Because of the variety, you will see that there different kinds of ways that you can play the best online slot machines, so you wouldn’t get tired of playing them since each one is different.
What are Paylines?
There are different ways for you to match symbols on online slots, and these are possible through paylines, which is the term used for the lines that you need to match up symbols across to win prizes. Almost all online slots have common payline patterns, and these patterns would often be just a straight line that goes across from left to right at the center, at the top, and at the bottom of the reels. However, there are some slots where paylines are peculiar, like a zigzag pattern, an arrow pattern, and even just a line that would go straight from the first reel to the third reel but would go slanted at the last two reels.
Unique paylines can usually be found in some online casino slots, although winning using those paylines can be difficult, especially if they would have weird shapes. Since you would often have little to no control over how each reel stops in the digital machine, you wouldn’t really have to worry about matching symbols on the paylines. If there are many paylines that are active in one game, then you don’t have to think about the payline since the game will automatically point out if you have matched symbols on a specific payline. From there, the slot machine will calculate your winnings.
What Do the Symbols Mean?
Symbols in slot machines would typically have different values. For example, matching heart symbols on the slots will win you the lowest prize in the game, while matching diamond symbols will win you the highest prize. There are online slots that show the common symbols seen in real slot machines, like the bell, the cherry, the watermelon, and the popular “7” symbol. However, when you are first trying to apply the tips in the beginner’s guide to online casino slots, you would also notice that there are also some themed slot machines that show unique symbols. So, if you are playing a beach-themed online slot, the symbols may be related to summer and the beach, like banana boats, beach balls, sandals, etc.
Besides the different artworks used as symbols in online slots, you can also find the types of slots are categorized based on their function in the game.
- Common symbols are those that have a fixed value whenever you match them up.
- High-value symbols are the special ones that have a value that is higher than most symbols in the reels.
- Wild symbols can usually act as a substitute for other symbols, which means that if you match up a specific symbol in a payline, but the wild symbol is at the center of the line, you will still win a prize.
- Bonus symbols are the ones that will give you bonus plays or spins if you match them on a payline. The best popular online slot would often give more bonuses depending on how well you match bonus symbols.
Those are just the basic features found in online slots, although there are some unique rules that may be found in some slots, which would often offer different gameplay mechanics to make them much more interesting to play. By learning online slots the right way, you will be able to master the basic rules written above and win more prizes.