How We Choose the Best Slot Sites
Apart from the usual criteria for how we review online casinos, we base our choice of the best slot sites on:
- Slot Game Selection – While more slots do not make a better site, having a wider selection of can still be appealing. More slot games provide more variety, keeping the site from getting stale. See our main slots page for an ultimate list of the best slots to play at casinos today.
- Terms and Conditions for Free Spins and Slot Bonuses – Terms and conditions are often overlooked, but they can make or break a slot site. This is especially true of free spins bonuses. If a site’s bonus spins have strict limitations on them, then those bonus spins can become far less appealing.
- Payout Rates – While payout rates are mostly consistent across a lot of sites, knowing the chances of payout rates between major online slot games can still give you an idea of what to expect.
How to Sign up
In general, most slot sites are going to follow the same standard sign-up process, throwing in a few extra details here and there depending on what they need new players to actually do.
While you do not need to prepare for the sign-up process, it helps to have the potentially-required information ready.
To comply with key regulations and laws surrounding money laundering and identity theft, slot sites require you to verify your ID and address. This generally requires a passport or driving licence, although you can sometimes also use legal permits or documents that work as proof.
An alternate way to verify your identity can be through bank statements and financial documents, like utility bills and HMRC letters.
Sites will expect clear photographs or scans (or even physical copies) of the documents, and they have to be unedited and uncensored/not cropped. Setting up your payment method ahead of time is a convenient way to prepare.
Even the best online slots sites will often require you to connect a payment method before you can engage with games properly, even if you qualify for the free bonus money, so preparing your payment information ahead of time can speed this up.
1. Find The Site Registration Page
The easiest step is to get to the site’s main page and find the login/register buttons or links. Each site will have these in a different place, but they are generally at the top-right of the page somewhere.
2. Enter Your Details
Entering the required information into the registration pages should be quite straightforward. Most sites will tell you exactly what they need from you.
After that, you will usually have to create a username and password.
On many sites, you will also have to complete a captcha test. This is a check to prove that you are a real user and not an automated bot.
3. Verify Your Identity
It is important to verify your ID when signing up for online casinos, as soon as you can. If you do not verify your ID, then you generally can’t play.
Note that not verifying may also restrict you from claiming a welcome bonus.
If ID issues are found such as your ID already being used on the site or not matching the other information you have provided, you will have to talk to the support team.
Verifying your ID can take a while, so the sooner you can send over the right documentation, the better. Having the documents ready ahead of time can make this a lot easier.
4. Attach Payment Information
While you will sometimes have to do this before verifying your ID instead of after, you will always need to supply some payment information. Again, you generally can’t play casino slots without valid payment information.
Remember that you may be limited in which payment options you can use. Each online casino will only accept certain payment methods
If you are using a payment method that is deposit-only, then some sites will transfer withdrawals to your bank directly. Others may require you to use payment options that can handle both withdrawals and deposits or allow you to set up a different method for each.
Remember that different payment options may have their own requirements and restrictions, including minimum deposit and maximum deposit limits. Beyond this, you may have to verify the payments within your payment platform, too, since some will flag up unexpected payments to gambling sites.
Once your payment methods are attached and verified, you can usually make a deposit straight away. Just remember to double-check all payment options and account information to make sure that you got everything correct.
5. Start Playing
You can start playing whenever you feel like it or explore parts of the site that you were not able to access when you were not logged in.
It can be a good idea to check out optional features like deposit limits and responsible gambling options, too. Taking a look at your account features and settings may help you understand what kind of options you have available.
Whether you start playing right away or spend some time exploring the site, you should be free to access most of its features and pages. Take some time to get used to how the site works since many pages are often shut off unless you are actually signed in.
Bonuses & Promotions
Promotions are important. Whether you are a new player or a long-time player looking for a new slot site, casino bonuses for slot players can often be a huge draw and can directly impact the winnings that come your way. Below are the most common bonus types you’ll find at slot sites in the UK.
Free Spins
Free spins are simple. More free spins mean more chances to spin on slot games. Many games also have free spin bonuses built into them.
For example, deposit bonus spins may provide you with 50 free spins when you first sign up. These 50 free spins can be used before regular spins on selected games, giving you a whole 50 free spins to get used to the site and games on your own terms.
Again there can be restrictions: having deposit bonus spins winnings credited in a specific way or needing to use the free spins on only selected games. A games bonus win cap is often also applied, limiting the maximum amount that you can win per spin/bonus.
Slot Tournaments
Slot tournaments are online events that are hosted by casinos. They allow for customers of that particular casino to play in a tournament together. Generally they will require an initial buy-in to be able to play. Once in, each player will play under the same ruleset with the aim of accumulating the biggest winnings.
Examples of such rulesets include time limited, play limited or free roll tournaments. Players are ranked on a leader board. When the tournament has ended the players who top the leader board can win larger jackpots than what are normally associated with these games.
Match Bonuses
Match bonuses give you extra money as a first deposit bonus. For example, a 200% matched first deposit bonus gives you an extra 100% of your deposit as deposit bonus funds. These bonuses effectively give you extra first deposit bonus money that you can use alongside your actual funds, allowing you to get some free spins with the free cash.
Note that this money may still have extra rules to consider. For example, you may have to use only bonus funds until you run out or be forced to use them as only bonus funds for particular games instead of the slots you were intending to play.
Wagering Requirements and Other T&Cs
It is important to check the terms and conditions of a bonus that has wagering requirements.
For example, a phrase like “30x wagering requirements” can mean that you need to deposit a value equal to 30x your first deposit and bonus funds combined. This requires you to do it before the bonus expires, meaning that you can deposit this money over multiple days. In most cases, the requirement will count cash funds only, and wagering contributions will vary based on the select games you are playing.
A big advantage that slots have is that typically they contribute 100% towards wagering requirements. This would mean that all the money you deposit and use in slots contributes directly to that casinos wagering requirements. In layman’s terms this would mean that for every pound you wager in a slot game counts fully towards clearing the bonus.
Mobile Slot Sites
Many slot sites are available on mobile, either through an app or the browser. Apps are more convenient for getting the site to run consistently.
Sites without mobile apps will instead usually use responsive designs that can adapt to screen sizes, meaning that the site should work in your phone browser just as well as it does on a desktop.
If a site does not offer either, then it may not work on mobile devices properly. This can lead to some major issues with getting the site to function correctly or function at all.
Safety & Security at Slot Sites
The best slot sites need to be able to protect you and your data. The UK Gambling Commission requires a certain level of security for players. There are also standard encryption methods used by most sites like this, as well as dedicated security features employed by larger betting networks. You can read more about this in our Play Safe gaming guide.
Slot Regulations
All our recommended casinos hold a licence from the UK Gambling Commission. This ensures that each transaction it processes is safe and each game it supplies is fair. Regulations ensure casinos adhere to strict safety requirements relating to transactions from bank accounts or cards, gaming fairness and that they encourage a responsible gaming environment.
Responsible Gambling
Many sites also provide responsible gambling pages in accordance with groups like the UK Gambling Commission. These contain advice on how to play responsibly and often have links to other major resources.
Some sites in the UK will even allow players to restrict their own deposit amounts, making sure that they are not spending too much.
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