Slots are the most popular form of casino gaming, both live and online. That's why you see so many of them when you go to Las Vegas (slot machines in the airport!) and why there are such a huge number of different games on the web. Slots are so popular because of one reason: there is no thinking involved and all you have to do is push a button. There is no skill, no strategy you can employ, you just click away and you either win or you lose. Online, slots are incredibly popular because they also offer some of the largest jackpots to ever be won on the Web.
Slot Machines Through the Years
Slots have come a long way since the "one-armed bandit" days of early Vegas, with real spinning reels and clunky wiring. First it was the video slot machine that came along, with no moving parts at all – instead a graphical representation of one appears on screen. Since the player is essentially playing a computer game, the slots are able to offer more interactive elements, such as advanced bonus games and advanced video graphics.
There are no mechanical constraints on the design of video slot machines, so most can now display five reels instead of three. This gives you a lot more possibilities: a machine can have 50 or more symbols on a reel, giving odds as high as 200 million to 1 against – enough for even the largest jackpot. As there are so many combinations given by five reels, the games do not need to weight the payout symbols (although some may still do so). Instead, higher paying symbols will typically appear only once or twice on each reel, while more common symbols, earning a more frequent payout, will appear many times.
Many Variations
Slot machines online come in a variety of differences, and they can be a bit bewildering trying to figure out which ones to play. The classic slots are the three-reel single-payline games (7-7-7 – woo hoo!), but most of the popular ones these days are multi-line video slots, usually five-reel video slots with twenty or more paylines, depending on what you choose. There are also lots of progressive jackpot slots from the leading software companies.
Different online casinos use different software providers. By trying the different software platforms you can decide which kind of games you like best. For example, the Microgaming software offers one of the largest selections of slots with all kinds of games. But if you prefer a more interactive experience with your slots play, perhaps you'd be better off playing at online casinos that offer software from a company like Rival Gaming.
Payout Percentages
After which games are the most fun, a player should really make his decision on what online casino to frequent based on payout percentages. If the casino you want to play out doesn't easily provide these numbers, maybe you should try another casino that does. You should make sure the payouts are at least in the mid nineties; preferably higher. We realize slots are just a fun diversion, but if you're going to play you might as well give yourself the best chance of winning money, right?
All online slots games use pseudorandom number generators ("PRNGs"), which are constantly generating random numbers, at a rate of up to thousands per second. As soon as you click the "Play" button, the most recent random number is used to determine the result. So the result of the spin varies depending on exactly when the game is played. If you had clicked "spin" a fraction of a second earlier or later the result would be different.
As far as strategy goes – there is none! Just have fun. And don't get into the false belief that a game is either hot or cold or "due to win." Previous spins have nothing to do with future spins. The slot machine does not have a memory online!
