Video Slots History became when a man named Charles Fey developed the first commercially successful slot machine in his San Francisco machine shop around 1896. Made of cast iron with three internal reels, a slot for taking in coins and an external lever for activating the machine, it quickly became a staple of saloons, gambling houses and even many retail stores (where patrons would trade their winnings for goods from the store – hence the term "trade goods").
Today, no casino would be complete without gleaming rows of noisy, colorful, brightly lit slot machines. The mix of sounds from hundreds of machines chirping, spinning, stopping and clinking out coins is the iconic background music that fills every casino floor. They are by far the most popular casino game in the world, both in terms of number of games played and total wagers.
With the advent of digital electronics, slot machines have expanded from the original mechanical design to a wide range of computer-generated displays with multi-stage games and other new twists on an old favorite. First came multi-line slots with additional pay lines. Then Video Slots came on the scene to give game designers much more freedom to create interesting and innovative variations. Because they are computer-based, a number of Video Slots can be linked together to establish rapidly growing progressive jackpots.
With this continual evolution in excitement and entertainment value, the Slot Machine will remain as the most popular casino game for years to come.
Video Slots Overview
Unlike traditional slot machines that depict a parallel set of rotating reels, Video Slot machines often display a grid of symbols arranged in rows and columns. During a spin, the symbols appear to rotate within each cell or column and then are randomly distributed throughout the cells when the spinning stops.
We speak of Video Slot machines as having, say, 5 "reels", even though you may not be able to see them. That's because these machines still use a fair spin of 5 unweighted, rotating reels to randomly distribute symbols among the cells. This means there is a distinct reel behind each column in the grid, and where it stops determines which symbols appear in the cells of that column.
Video Slots typically offer more pay lines than regular slots, and the lines may angle up and down through the cells as they move across the grid.
Because their interfaces are electronic rather than mechanical, Video Slots can also offer interesting side bets, bonus rounds and amazing graphics that provide much more fun and excitement.
To provide maximum enjoyment, each Video Slot machine is configured differently in terms of lines, payouts and betting options. Some have progressive jackpots, others offer more flexibility in terms of number of lines or control over how many credits are bet on each line.
To begin playing video slots, you must first deposit money into the machine. To do this, select a bill denomination ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100) by clicking on the arrow pointing towards the bill slot. Clicking the left mouse button will increase the bill value and clicking on the right button will decrease the value.
Once you have made a selection, deposit the bill into the machine by clicking on the bill deposit area. You will see a bill being inserted and your credit value increase. You may then select the coin denomination you wish to play - $0.10, $0.25, $1.00, $2.00, $5.00. To increase or decrease denominations, please click on the "up arrow" or "down arrow" buttons, respectively, at the top left of the slot machine.
After depositing into the machine and selecting a coin denomination, the amount of coins you have available within the machine is shown in the Credits field on the left side of the machine. For example, if you deposit $20 with the coin denomination selector set to $1, you will see 19 coins in the Credits field and 1 in the Bet field for a total of 20. If you then click the "down arrow" button of the coin denomination selector (which changes the coin value to $0.25), you then see that the Credits field has been changed to 79 and the Bet field remains at 1 for a total of 80. The BET field displays the amount of coins you have selected to bet that spin. Please note that the BALANCE field will not change when you change the coin denomination since they show your balance in dollars (not coins).
You now have two options to select in determining the type and amount of your wager. The first will be selecting how many lines you wish to wager on. You can wager anywhere from 1 to 5 lines by clicking on the appropriate button (1 line, 2 lines, 3 lines, 4 lines or 5 lines). Pressing the 1 Line button will highlight the horizontal line: middle. Pressing on the 2 Lines button will highlight the first line and horizontal line: top. Pressing on 3 Lines will highlight the first two lines and horizonal line: bottom. Pressing on 4 Lines will highlight the first three lines and the inverted "V". Pressing on 5 Lines will highlight the first 4 lines and the regular "V"). Therefore, if you select only 1 line, you are only placing the wager beside the 1 line, and only qualify for that line. Once the number of lines is selected, you can now determine how many coins you want to wager. The number of coins per line multiplied by the number of lines being bet on will be shown in the TOTAL BET display area. After your selections, you may then press SPIN to spin the reels. Alternatively you may select the BET MAX button if you have enough coins to bet on all 5 lines with 5 credits per line. This will automatically spin the reels.
When the reels stop, your payoff will be determined from a table of winning combinations shown on the PAYOUT TABLE of each machine. You may view this by clicking on this button located directly below the center reel. Any credits you win will be displayed in the Paid field. Upon placing your next bet the credits in the Paid field will be added to your Credits (minus the amount of the bet which will be displayed in the Bet field). To turn your machine credits back into regular chips, click on the Cash/Credit button.
Match winning combinations of symbols in any active line to win prizes.
To Play:
- Depending on the type of machine, you may be able to choose the number of lines to play, or choose the number of coins wagered per line, or do both.
- Click on Bet One to increase your bet or Bet Max to bet the maximum.
- The Bet Meter shows the number of coins wagered on each spin.
- Click Spin to start a game.
Winning
- When the symbols stop spinning, all winning active lines will flash and pay coins according to the Pay Table.
- The Win Meter shows the number of coins won on the most recent spin, gamble or bonus round. When prize amounts are posted to the Win Meter, the payouts in chips are displayed in the Message Window and paid directly to your account balance.
- Only active lines will be eligible for prizes on winning combinations. An active line is one that has been enabled by the player with a bet.
- If any active line has two or more possible paying combinations of symbols, the line will pay the combination with the highest prize.
Tip 1 : Before You Play
Rather than just sitting down, inserting some cash and hitting max bet we highly recommend spending a few minutes becoming familiar with the machine you are about to play. You can do this by reading the pay table or pressing the "Help" button that appears on most modern day games. The help screen or pay table will show you if max bet is required for the bonus games and other important info.
Tip 2 : Play Max Lines
Seeing as all video slots have at least five lines we suggest that you always play max lines. There is nothing more annoying and disappointing to line up a big winning combination on a line you did not bet on. Saving a few cents on playing less than maximum lines can be a costly error.
Tip 3 : Do you need to play Max Bet?
There is a key difference between max bet and max lines. Most modern day games allow you to bet more than one coin per line. This can quickly add up to some serious money even at the penny coin size. For example a 20 line penny slot that allows 25 coins per line costs $5 per max bet spin (20x25=500). Unless there is a reason to play max bet you often don't need to.
Tip 4 : Don't chase the bonus features
With most new games offering some kind of bonus game it is important to not chase the features. While may games offer huge pay outs on the bonus rounds they are also designed to keep you playing longer in the hope of reaching the bonus. I have seen many players lose a nice bankroll because they decide they will play until just one more feature hits.
Tip 5 : Its all about having fun
The whole purpose of video slot machines is to increase the ways you can be entertained by playing. All of the great animations and flashing lights are in place to make the games fun to play but also to keep you playing. Remember that all slot machines have a payout percentage of less than 100% so over the long term it is unlikely that you will be ahead. The key is to get as much fun as possible for the least amount of money.
Recommended!
