When you’re ready to play a slot you can roll through the choices in the casino’s games lobby or you can spend a few extra minutes to research as you choose the right slot for you. Finding the right slot machine can ensure that you have a more satisfying and more rewarding gaming experience.
Casino advisors suggest that, in order to enjoy the best slot adventure, you identify a slot that offers you the betting range that suits your needs, offers the kind of storyline and features that you most enjoy and delivers a good selection of bonus features to enhance the gaming experience.
By reviewing these and other aspects of the machine you have the best chance of enjoying your time at the cash casino:
Slot Machines
Slot machines have been a popular form of entertainment around the world for more than a century. From the beginning in the early 20th century, the colorful displays, flashing lights, myriad possibilities and promise of big payouts have attracted both budget gamers and high stakes players.
Over the years, the technology of the slots has changed. Whereas early slots had 3 reels, 3 paylines and a few simple features, today’s slot machines give players their choice of many different types of plots, elements, bonus features and more.
If you’re playing at the online casino you can play slots for free in the Free Mode or for real money prizes, at your preferred betting level, in the Real Mode. Some basic elements to review when you’re choosing a slot include:
Type of Machine
For online gamers, there are two basic types of slot machines, the three-reel slot and the five-reel slot. Both types of slot machines operate in the same basic manner – you click the button to spin the reels and collect payouts for completed combinations that come up on the lines.
If you’re looking for basic spins and wins, you might prefer the three-reel slot but if you want a richer, more complete gaming event, check out the five-reel slot machines. These machines offer a high-energy gaming event with features like wild symbols, scatter combination payouts, multipliers, stacked symbols, rolling reels, free spins, respins, mystery symbols, exploding reels, expanding reels, gambles and more.
The five-reel slots often center around a theme so you can play a game that meets your individual interests and fantasies with choices ranging from science fiction, whimsy, magic and folklore to suspense, history, adventure, mystery, sports, mysticism, animals, mythology, comedy, romance, intrigue, magic, sports, animals, travel and more.
Jackpot Slots
Some slot machines feature jackpots. There are fixed jackpots that pay out a fixed amount to anyone who hits the jackpot and progressive jackpots where everyone who adds a jackpot deposit helps to increase the total jackpot payout. The progressive jackpot machines are linked so every player, regardless of location, has a chance to win the entire jackpot prize that consists of all of the deposits of all participating gamers who play that specific machine.
Sometimes a progressive jackpot is low but if a machine has been played for several days, or even several weeks without any player scoring a jackpot win, the prize, when it’s won, can total thousands, or even millions, of dollars.
Budget
Everyone should establish a budget before they start playing and then play according to that budget. You should never exceed your budget by dipping into money set aside for household or other expenses. Gambling is entertainment and the money for gambling should be regarded as an entertainment expense.
That means, when you choose your slot machine, you should be careful to find a machine that offers the betting options that fit your budget. If you have a limited budget, choose a machine that allows you to bet a coin or two on a limited number of paylines. Once you collect some wins, you can move on to higher bets on more paylines or even to a 243 Ways to Win game where you wager on the spin rather than on individual paylines.
Reviewing the slot machine’s paytable will be helpful in determining the various symbols and their values as well as the rules of the game. Data about the machine’s potential payouts and special features can offer you the information that you need to make your selection.
Reviewing a machine’s volatility, variance and Return-To-Player can also be helpful in guiding you as you decide on a machine. Volatility refers to how big and how frequent your wins will be – a high volatility machine has more wins with lower payouts and a low volatility machine has fewer wins with higher payouts.
A machine’s variance refers to how long-term and short-term results are influenced by the expected Return-to- Player – the percentage that shows, over the long run, how much of your total wager you can expect to retrieve. Slot machines average at 96% RTP but if you have a 97% or even a 98% RTP machine, you have more chances of scoring wins.
Bonuses and Promotions
Many online casinos offer lucrative bonuses and promotions but if the machine itself includes such give-aways you can anticipate a more rewarding gaming experience. Most of today’s slots feature free spins but if you get a machine that combines those free spins with other types of bonus rounds and even respins, chances are that you’ll be playing a more satisfying slot.
It’s not hard to check out the slot machines to find the one that suits you but many gamers ignore that aspect of the slot experience. Take your time, read some reviews and ask for suggestions from friends and fellow gamers to find the right slot machine to meet your personal interests and expectations.
