Slot Game – How to Play: Introduction to Slot Machines
Not too long ago, slot machine players were considered the second-class citizens of casino customers. The jackpots were small, payout percentages were staggering, and slot players weren’t eligible for the kind of complimentary bonuses—free rooms, shows, meals—usually offered to table game players. However, in the past few decades, the face of the casino industry has changed. Sports betting and online gaming are rapidly growing and becoming a more significant part of the revenue pie for casinos. However, they still don’t match up to slot machines. While commercial casino revenue in the U.S. dropped in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a significant 63 percent of that revenue came from electronic gaming devices, and in many jurisdictions, that number leads up to 80 percent. (The American Gaming Association considers slot machines as “electronic gaming devices” and includes video poker, instant racing, and similar platforms in this category.)
Not too long ago, slot machine players were considered the second-class citizens of casino customers. The jackpots were small, payout percentages were staggering, and slot players weren’t eligible for the kind of complimentary bonuses—free rooms, shows, meals—usually offered to table game players. However, in the past few decades, the face of the casino industry has changed. Sports betting and online gaming are rapidly growing and becoming a more significant part of the revenue pie for casinos. However, they still don’t match up to slot machines. While commercial casino revenue in the U.S. dropped in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a significant 63 percent of that revenue came from electronic gaming devices, and in many jurisdictions, that number leads up to 80 percent. (The American Gaming Association considers slot machines as “electronic gaming devices” and includes video poker, instant racing, and similar platforms in this category.)
Slot machines are more popular than table games for one reason. It’s simple—just drop coins into the slot and push the button or pull the lever. Newcomers often find personal interaction with dealers or other players at tables intimidating, and slot players tend to avoid that. Moreover, the largest, life-changing jackpots in casinos are often offered on slot machines.
How to Play Slot Game – Playing the Slot Machine
In the early days of slot machines, all games used mechanical reels. However, today, most slot machines display reels on video screens, and they often accept and pay out through bills, vouchers, and tickets rather than coins or tokens. Slot machines offer various denominations, where the denomination is the value of each credit played. There are penny, 2-cent, nickel, 10-cent, quarter, dollar, and even $100 denominations, and some machines allow players to choose which denomination they want to use. When you pay the machine, your money is converted into credits. Slots can take 45, 90, and even 500 credits at a time.
Once payment is made to the coin acceptor, the equivalent amount of credits will be displayed on a meter. In reel-spinning slots, push a button marked “play one credit” until you reach the number of coins you want to play. Then press the “spin reels” button or pull the handle on some machines that still have handles, or press a button marked “play max credits” or “bet max,” which will play the maximum credits allowed per spin on that machine.
In video slots, press a button for the number of paylines you want to activate and a second button for the number of credits wagered per line. A common configuration has nine paylines where you can bet 1 to 5 credits. Video slots are also available in 5, 15, 20, 25, and even 50 or more paylines, accepting up to 25 credits per line.
The symbols that stop on a payline determine if a player wins. Classic symbols include cherries, bars, double bars (two bars stacked on top of each other), triple bars, and sevens. However, there are many others, such as fruits, playing card symbols, and images based on the game’s theme.
A single cherry on the payline, for example, may pay two credits; a player can get 10 credits for three of any bar (a mix of single, double, and triple bars), 30 for three single bars, 60 for three double bars, 120 for three triple bars, and the jackpot for three sevens. However, many stops on each reel will be blanks, and combinations with blanks pay nothing. Also, the sevens are not any bar, so a combination like bar-seven-double bar pays nothing.
Video slots typically feature representations of five reels spinning on a video screen, but some slots have more reels. Paylines not only run straight across the reels but also run in Vs, upside-down Vs, zigs and zags, and other configurations across the entire screen. Additionally, video slots commonly feature bonus rounds and “scatter pays.” Designated symbols trigger scatter pay if two, three, or more appear on the screen, even if they’re not on the same payline.
Similarly, special symbols trigger a bonus event. For example, the bonus may take the form of free spins, pick-a-prize interactions, or mystery bonuses. Players may be faced with a “second screen” bonus event. An example of a second-screen bonus is on the long-popular WMS Gaming Slot “Jackpot Party.” If three Party noisemakers appear on the video reels, the reels are replaced on the screen by a grid of gift-wrapped packages. Press the screen to open a package and collect the bonus payout. They can keep picking packages for more bonuses until a package eventually reveals a “pooper,” ending the round. These bonus rounds helped video slots grow in popularity, but they are not as prevalent now, as game designers experiment with the format.
When you hit a winning combination, the winnings are added to the credit meter. If you want to collect the credits you see on the meter, press the “Cash Out” button, and on most machines, a bar-coded ticket will print that can be redeemed for cash. In some older machines, coins still drop into a tray or hopper.