In 1895 the first slot machine was produced. The person to invent the slots was Charles Fey. Fey worked on the slot machine until 1907 when he sold the first one through Mill Novelty Company. The first slot machine was called ‘Mills Liberty Bell’. The design would probably be a shock to you today as it was cast iron with feet and toes. After this period the slot machines didn’t have the toes, but extremely detailed feet.
In the first machine you still had the reels we know today. The reels, instead of having bars, had actual playing cards. The king, queen, and jack were on the reels. There was a bell that would ring every time you won the spin. The bell of course has long been gone. Most of the slots are just going to have the bell signal when the max jackpot has been reached, rather than every time you win.

Slots are the most popular game in the casino because it takes very little to play the machine not only cash wise, but also in common sense. The rules for the slots are going to be very simple. You just have to choose what type of machine you want to play on. You have a choice between three and five reels. You also have a choice in the number of pay lines. For most of us we choose the slot machine based on the monetary value. In other words how much does it take for a one coin bet? On a slot machine you always want to bet the max. This means you need to know how many coins per round you can play. A lot of them are five coin limits, so starting with a penny machine and playing five cents per round offers some of the better payouts. There are nickel, dime, quarter, and even dollar slot machines.

The bet must be selected first. If it has multiple paylines you need to play them all, so just select max bet after you put in your money. Then you get to click on spin, or if you are in a land casino you can in some cases still pull the bar. A lot of the slot machines have a fake bar to offer the old fashioned look. The pay tables are going to vary per the slot and the casino. Each casino has a different idea of how much they want to make. You also need to understand the combinations you are looking for to know when you will win the jackpot or the progressive jackpot.

Online slots are pretty similar to those found in the land casinos. They tend to pay out better and more often with the jackpots. They are based on the random computer program as well. Once the jackpot is won the computer will reset the jackpot for the next player to try and win. The jackpots will start out at different denominations as well for the progressive machines and increase. The other machines will have a specific denomination as well, but that remains unmoving. Most of the online slots offer a 97 percent win rate making them more attractive. The computer will figure out the winnings you earn, so you just keep betting and spinning.

Slots Features

If one looks at the slots games in any online casino one will find most of the games under Video Slots. This is a special category of slots that differs from the classic slots. The most obvious difference is that video slots have 5 reels whereas the classic slots have 3 reels. However there are other differences that need some explanations.          

Video slots are multi payline slots. Most of the online video slots have between 9 and 25 paylines but some go up to 100 paylines. Each payline represents a betting option. The payline numbers are usually listed vertically alongside the reels and the player can choose the paylines by clicking on the numbers. In multi payline slots the paylines need not all run horizontally but can zigzag across the reels. The player chooses the number of coins wagered, the coin denomination and the number of paylines and his total wager is the product of the three. Only the selected paylines are matched against the payout table. The other paylines are inconsequential.

Slots Paylines and Payout

A payline is a sequence of positions on the reels read from left to right. An active payline is one that is wagered upon. When the reels stop spinning the sequence of symbols occupying the positions in the active paylines are compared with the combinations in the payout table. The payout table lists all the combinations for which there is a payout along with the payout ratio. If any of the active paylines have combinations that match with those in the payout table then the players are paid out as per the payout ratio.

Slots Bonus Games

Online slots games offer two broad opportunities of winning. One is by getting certain combinations on the reels that offer payouts. This is the staple diet for slots players. The culinary delight is provided by the bonus games that have now almost become mandatory. Certain combinations on the reels trigger the bonus games. Players then move to these bonus games that provide additional winning opportunities. Over the years online slots developers have created different types of bonus games. And as in the matter of cuisine each player has his own favorites. Therefore it is essential that the player checks out the prospective slot game for the bonus games it offers. If the bonus game is not to his liking there is no point in playing the online slot game.

The bonus games in slots can be fitted into generic groups and it is best to understand them in these terms. To start with there are two broad categories. The first is the free spins bonus round. As its name suggests this bonus round entitles the players to a number of spins of the reels for which he does not place any wager but is entitled to the payouts. For calculating the payouts in monetary terms the wager is considered to the same as the one that led to the free spins. There are several parameters in the free spins bonus round that keep getting varied. The most important is the number of free spins. To add spice to the free spins bonus round the payouts are multiplied a number of times. In some rounds the number of free spins and the multipliers are fixed and in others they are determined by the combination that triggers the free spins. Another crucial parameter is whether the free spins can be re-triggered or not.

Understanding Progressive Jackpots

Progressive jackpots are a major attraction for slots players because they usually offer large payouts. New players are especially attracted to online slot games with progressive jackpots. However, all progressive jackpots are not alike. New players should understand the differences between the progressive jackpots that various online slot games offer. This article will highlight some of the features of progressive jackpots in slots games.

In most online slot games the progressive jackpot is hit when five like symbols appear in an enabled payline. The pay table specifies which symbol will result in the progressive jackpot being hit. Usually this is the wild symbol or a symbol that is central to the theme of the slot game. There are some other conditions associated with the progressive jackpot being hit. Players have to enable all the paylines and wager with the coin of the largest denomination. If these conditions are not met then the slot game will pay out a fixed amount for getting the five symbols in an enabled payline.

Progressive jackpots of the kind described above are of two types. One type of progressive jackpot pays out very large amounts but hits only a few times a year. Beach Life and Gold Rally from Playtech are examples of this type of jackpot. The other type of progressive jackpot hits several times a week but pays out much smaller amounts. The Rapid Fire series of jackpots from Cryptologic exemplify this kind of progressive jackpot. Online casinos review sites like CasinoAdvisor are a good place to be better informed about the kind of jackpot that a progressive slot game offers.