Slot games are perhaps the most common type of casino game that exist. No matter what part of the world you are in, if there are casinos there are more than likely also going to be slot games. Bank after bank of games are lined with people endlessly spinning in hopes of striking it big. With so many different type of slot games in existence nowadays, the landscape of these games may be a difficult one to think about navigating. With that said, slots are not confusing and not intimidating.
Slot Machine Paylines Slot Machine Paylines. The number of pay lines available in a game is among the most important features of any slot machine. A payline, in simple terms, is the line on which a payout will be awarded based on winning combinations. There are X amount of paylines in any given slot, whether that number be 1 or 100. Steve and Matt Bourie, from the American Casino Guide, discuss 10 of the most common myths that players have about how slot machines work. This is part one o.
Reel slots are perhaps the most common slots that exist, and are growing in popularity all the time. Whether you are at a brick and mortar casino or playing online, there are always going to be reel slots for you to take advantage of. In fact, you might be surprised to know that slot games are by far the most popular games that exist in any casino—online or otherwise. As time moves forward we anticipate that reel slots will grow in popularity simply because of how versatile they are.
Reel Slots vs. Video Slots
If you have been in a casino within the last decade, there is no doubting that you have experienced both reel and video slots. The games, for all intents and purposes, are not different at all, but the way in which they operate is. The biggest difference is the fact that reeled slots play host to a physical reel that spins, while video slots often just project spinning reels on a video screen, much like how every online slot game functions.
Reel slots are more classic and are the way in which slot games first came into existence. With the unending technological advances of our day, video slots have recently become a bit more popular than reel slots. You will also find that people love the graphics and themes able to be offered by video slots. When it comes to reel slots, innovation mostly stopped back in the 1980s. While this is not strictly true, reel slots are, in many ways, not as appealing as video slots.
3 vs. 5 Reel Slot Games
If you are an old-timer who has been spending decades at brick and mortar casinos, you might be more familiar with 3-reel slots. For those relatively new to casinos, you will find that 5-reel slot games tend to dominate the landscape. Both games have their fair set of advantages and disadvantages, but whether you prefer to play 3 or 5-reel slot games the decision really comes down to personal preference.
As for 3-reel slots, people tend to enjoy these games because they are straightforward and perhaps easier to understand than any other type of slot game. With only 3 different reels, determining whether you have won or not is not difficult at all. This is not something that is always true without exception, but in most cases 3-reel slots pay out more than 5-reel slots when someone wins.
5-reel slots may see a player win more in general, they tend to win less per winning spin. The existence of 2 extra reels means that players have the ability to win more, and win in more diverse ways than they can with 3-reel slots. Another advantage that 5-reel slots have, in a way, over 3-reel slots is the fact that, through bonus rounds and other special features, players on 5-reel games tend to win more, and tend to win more than strictly money. Whether it be free spins or a period of time with free-play, 5-reel slots can offer you a lot of opportunities to win.
Reel Slot Games FAQs
So, which is better, 5 or 3-reel slots?
As was mentioned above, no single type of reeled slot game is better than another. Whether you play 3 or 5-reel slot games it all comes down to what you prefer. Both games have their own advantages and disadvantages, and what you prefer should determine what games you play.
How much can I win from one spin of a slot machine?
When it comes down to it, the fact of the matter is that the jackpot for a single slot machine game can vary from site to site. Certain sites will offer absolutely massive jackpots, while others will not offer major jackpots at all. A bit of research if required to differentiate the two.
Do slot games exist across all stake levels?
Yes. When it comes down to it, reeled slot games exist across most stake levels. So no matter you want to spend just a few cents per spin or up to 20 or more dollars, there are reeled slot games for you to take advantage of. Slots are great in that they are so incredibly diverse at both brick and mortar and online casinos alike.
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By John Grochowski
Slot machines are the easiest games to play in casinos, but sometimes players are faced with reel dilemmas.
If you’re an eagle-eyed player who can spot winning combinations in a microsecond, will putting a quick stop to your reel spin improve your chance of winning?
And what about games with no reels at all, such as the skill-based games from GameCo? Should we really call them slot machines?
It seems the reels themselves sometimes prompt questions from players, and emails about both topics popped up recently.
Let’s take the second question first.
To older players who make up a sizable portion of the slot-playing public, some of the new skill-based slots seem more like something you’d have on your PlayStation than casino games.
One example is GameCo’s Danger Arena, a first-person shooter in which you’re asked to gun down robots as you navigate the aisles and obstacles in a warehouse. Your payback depends on the numberof robots you shoot.
Most skill-based slots at this point leave the skill elements to bonus events, as in Konami’s Frogger or IGT’s Tulley’s Treasure hunt.
But GameCo and other companies breaking into the slot industry are eliminating reel play altogether and making the skill portion the main game.
Is that a slot machine? It is as long as players embrace the games and terminology. After all, the meaning of “slot machine” has evolved over nearly 140 years.
In the original sense, virtually no games are really slot machines anymore. They don’t have coin heads, so there is no slot to drop in coins to activate machines. A few older machines with coinheads remain in play at some locations, but mostly, we buy in with paper currency or tickets.
The term “slot machine” has been around since the 1880s. It originally referred to any coin-operated device. If you dropped coins into a machine and got a chocolate bar, you were buying yourcandy from a slot machine.
That changed in the 1900s, and slot machine came to mean specifically coin-operated gambling devices. The term has persisted through the elimination of coin slots, and it’s almost certain topersist through the changes on modern gambling devices.
And now, let’s go back and answer the first question.
As for the stopping the reels as soon as you see a winner on the screen, that not only does not help you win, it actually can hasten your losses.
A reader checked in early in the fall to say she’d just noticed that on many video slot machines, if you hit the spin button again while the reels are in motion, they will stop. The first timeshe tried it, she got a bonus event, and that encouraged her to try it again.
After that, her results were mixed, just as with any other method of play, but it left her wondering if a player who practiced, practiced and practiced could be come adept enough to stop thereels when winning combinations appeared.
Others have had similar thoughts, and a number of years ago I wrote about a player who accidentally double-hit the spin button and saw the reels stop quickly.
Unfortunately for players, stopping the reels early doesn't change your results on 99.99999 percent of slot machines. That’s just shy of 100 percent because International Game Technology usedsomething similar in the early skill-based game Blood Life. It was a three-reel game and the skill was in stopping the reels. Each would spin until you touched the glass in front of the reels,and skilled player could get better outcomes.
That’s not the case on games in casinos today. Stopping the reels early does not change results, but what it can do is lead to faster play with more spins hour. That can be a realbudget-breaker.
When you play video slots, the random number generator has already determined your outcome by the time the reels are spinning, and you’re going to get the same result regardless of whether youstop the reels early or let them halt in their own time.
Randomly generated numbers are mapped to potential results, and that map tells the reels where to stop. If the RNG has spit out a random number that tells the first reel to stop on a singlebar, then you’re going to get a single bar — regardless of whether you hit the button a second time for a quick stop or just let them take their own sweet time.
By bringing the reels to a quick stop, you're immediately in position to bet again. The amount of time it normally takes the reels to spin is cut out of the equation. If you keep stopping thereels, you spin many more times per hour.
What does that do to your bankroll?
Let's say you bet 40 cents per spin at 500 spins per hour on a penny slot that has a average 90 percent return to players. You can play more than 500 spins per hour without quick stops, but 500is a nice, steady pace that lets you watch your wins and stop to sip your drink.
At that pace, your average hourly risk is $200 with an average loss of $20.
What if you increase that pace to 1,000 spins per hour? Then total wagers increase to $400 and average loss to $40.
And what if you quick stop spin after spin, focusing intently on slot play and increasing your pace to 2,000 spins per hour? Your wrist would get tired, you might get a little headachy withsome eyestrain, but your bet total would rise to $800 with an average loss of $80.
In the wagering world, speed favors whoever has the mathematical edge. In blackjack, faster games are better for advantage players including card counters, but worse for less-skilled players.
On the slots, you can't change the house edge. Quick-stopping the reels doesn't help you, but it does help the house.
Slot Machine Stopping Reels
So really, there’s no reel dilemma. Unless you’re just in a hurry to win or lose and then move on, let the reels stop in their own sweet time.