How to Play and Win on Online Slots – A Slot Dictionary
Slots may seem straight forward, but there are many aspects that differ between games. Let us take you through the key aspects that impact your chances to win:
Base Game
The base game refers to the primary game available in an online slot title. This is the standard game layout that the majority of the gameplay is based around.
Reels
Reels are the vertical columns of symbols or characters that spin when you play a slot game. The number of reels can vary across different slot games. The traditional number of reels associated with slots is 3. However, more recent titles regularly offer 5 or more reels. Once the reels stop spinning, the resulting sequence of symbols is displayed.
In order to win, you must match all or a specific number of symbols across the different reels. The symbols used on reels are often specific to the theme of the game however, the most common symbols I have come across are numbers and fruit. Casinos use random number generating (RNG) software to ensure fairness across slot games.
Winning Combinations
A winning combination is usually a sequence of images or characters that once aligned will result in a payout. Usually, winning combinations need to be in sequence starting at the outer left most reel and continue across in a horizontal direction to the right.
Depending on the game being played, a different number of sequential matching symbols need to be displayed in order to have a winning combination. Some brands offer winning combinations for matching symbols that align vertically in the same reel.
‘Pays both Ways’ is a fairly recently new feature, which allows winning combination to appear in both left to right and right to left directions. We have explained this in more detail below.
Coin Value
Coin value in slots refer to the monetary value associated with the coins you use to wager in the game. The coin value can be adjusted to determine how much money is wagered on each spin.
An easy example would be if you selected a coin value of 1p and used betted 100 coins on a spin then amount that would be betted is £1. Coin values are a great way of managing the amount of money that you bet, as well as helping to you stick to your budget. The number of coins used per bet can also affect the total payout. In general, the more coins used per bet will reduce the total payout of any potential winnings from that bet.
Bet Level
The bet level is an adjustable feature found at most online slots. The function of this feature is to allows you to customise the number of coins wagered per bet. An example of this is a slot that offers a bet level of 1-10, the scale refers to the number of coins betted on each spin. If you choose a bet level of 5, you will bet 5 coins per spin.
The bet level is linked to the coin value, so the bet level you select will wager this specific number of coins with the coin value that has been selected. The bet level is another good way to manage your budget and control the amount of money that is wagered on each bet.
Paylines
Paylines detail the number of matched symbols that need to appear in sequence in order to win the bet.
Traditionally only one payline was on offer based off matching a number of symbols horizontally across the reels. Nowadays, casinos offer a large number of paylines for each slot. These paylines can consist of matching symbols vertically, horizontally and even diagonally across different reels. You can select more than one payline that is on offer to increase the odds on each spin, but keep in mind that the more paylines are selected, the larger the bet is that will be placed.
Pays Both Ways
As we mentioned above, traditionally you would need to match the symbols in a slot game in order from left to right to satisfy any paylines. In this case you must match as many symbols as is required by the game, starting from the leftmost reel to receive any payout.
When a slot game includes pays both ways, the winning combinations are paid out from both left to right and right to left directions, increasing your chances of winning. While pays both ways can result in a more engaging playing experience with greater odds of winning, it is important to note that payouts are usually lower when compared to traditional slots.
Anywhere Pays or Scatter Pays
Anywhere Pays is a feature that allows you to win based off matching symbols appearing anywhere on the reels. Unlike most slot paylines which require you to align matching symbols in specific directions, ‘Anywhere Pays’ will payout as long as the predetermined number of matching symbols appears anywhere on the slot’s reels.
Due to the nature of symbols not having to be in sequence, this is another feature that can increase the chances of wining on a slot. You might find this feature to be referred to as Scatter Pays or Scatter Wins when playing slots.
Cluster Pays
Cluster Plays are often considered included in an ‘Anywhere Pays’ payline. Cluster Pays are when symbols need to appear adjacent to each other in vertical or horizontal directions across different slot reels forming a cluster of matching symbols.
Wilds and Sticky Wilds
Wilds are somewhat like a wildcard in online slots. Many top online slots will include Wilds as part of the playing experience.
These are special symbols that act as a substitute for other symbols so that if a sequence of matching symbols is interrupted by a wild, the wild can included to form a winning combination. Some brands will use Wilds to trigger additional bonus features such as free spins or bonus multipliers. These types of Wilds are most commonly referred to as substitute wilds and are the most common type of wilds we have come across.
Two other common types of Wilds we have seen at top brands are Expanding Wilds and Sticky Wilds. Expanding Wilds extend to a full reel in either a vertical or horizontal direction. By expanding to an entire reel they cover that reel so that if a matching symbol is missing from a winning combination on a particular reel but an Expanding Wild is present, the Wild will be factored in to give you a winning combination.
Sticky Wilds usually come in the form of a single symbol. This symbol however, will be ‘stuck’ in a particular location on a reel for a number of spins providing additional opportunities to win over multiple spins.
High Paying Symbols
High paying symbols are specific symbols offered by a brand that when they appear in a winning combination they will result in a larger bonus being won. These symbols are typically centred around the theme of the particular slot being played.
Low Paying Symbols
Low paying symbols are usually the most common winning combination symbols available at slots. As the name suggests, these symbols result in a lower payout than regular winning combination symbols and high paying symbols. As a result of the lower payout on offer you will find that these symbols are more likely to appear in one of the reels as you play.
Due to the higher likelihood of landing a low paying symbol in your winning combination these are a good way to keep the game engaging while still offering the opportunity to contribute towards potential winnings.
As you can see here, the most common symbol being the purple diamond pays the least whereas the BAR symbol will pay the most. If you were to get three purple diamonds you are only getting 5 coins whereas three of the bar symbol would pay 50 coins which is 10x the amount of the purple diamond.
In-Game Features and Awards
These are special promotions offered by casinos to give you the chance to win random bonuses. They come in a variety of different types such as free spins, anywhere pays, wilds and scatter symbols to name a few. These are generally awarded at random and are a way of the casinos to reward consistent players and to keep gameplay fun and engaging.
