Slot Machine Rules

If you like to play on gambling machines on the Internet, then you should know that there are lots of machines (they are also called slots, from English word "slot" – a hole, into which player drops coin) and slot machine rules. Moreover, each month companies-developers, and there are few hundreds of them in total, offer players dozens of new slots with different slot machine game rules. Learn more about slot machine game strategies. There are obviously unique slot rules. For example:

  1. On Germinator gambling machine from British company Microgaming there are six (not five) reels spinning horizontally (not vertically), and the winning combinations are also counted not according to the ordinary rules for slot machines, but both horizontally and vertically.
  2. On Pixie Gold slot created by Lightning Box there is unusual detail for rules of slot machines – function called Reelfecta – reel, which has four separate reels.
  3. Gambling machine Immortal Romance developed by Microgaming gives opportunity to spin the reels and it also tells the story about each of four main characters and their complicated relationship.

Apart from peculiarities, which make player to love specific slot, all of them have general slot machine instructions according to which they work. Let’s consider them in detail.

Gambler’s vocabulary

Let’s start from definitions of notions, which are used in gambling industry, when we’re talking about slot machine games.

  • Active line – line, on which player places bet during the spin.
  • Bankroll – the amount of money player is ready to spend on the game.
  • Reel – wheel with pictures on it. Reels spin in order for symbols to form a certain combination on them.
  • Bonus game – game, which becomes available to player when he performs certain actions. It has own mini plot and separate, sometimes very big prize fund.
  • Gambling – gambling industry.
  • Gambler – player.
  • Demo mode – game without bets on real money which is used to get acquainted with possibilities of slot or just to entertain yourself.
  • Jackpot – big prize. Slot machine jackpot can be fixed (the amount which player can win on one slot is defined in advance) and progressive (amount, which consists of money from each bet on all slots in this jackpot network).
  • Wild symbol (joker) – symbol which can fill in any combination, that lacks characters and make it a winning one.
  • Credit – the amount with the help of which you can place bets. The possibility to play depends on credit.
  • Pay line – line (not necessarily straight one) on which winning combinations of identical symbols are formed. Each slot has its own number of pay lines.
  • Coin – conventional unit, which can cost different amount of real money. Depending on the coin value chosen by player, the number of credits on some slots changes.
  • Total bet – bet, multiplied by number of active lines.
  • Risk game – special round of the game; according to slot rules it is available after any successful spin. It lets to increase playout in two (less frequently four) by guessing with the probability of 1:1 or 1:3.
  • Scatter symbol – picture, which forms winning combination according to the special rules: such symbols don’t need to be placed together on the active line, it is enough for them to fall out on any position.
  • Slot – gambling machine.
  • Bet – the amount of coins placed by player on one pay line for specific spin.
  • Spin (rotation) – one spin of reels, which is made after player presses on “Start” button (that is Play).
  • Plot – theme to which game is devoted and which story it tells (for example the plot of Big Bad Wolf game is tale “The Three Little Pigs”).
  • Pay table – table, where player will find the winning combinations list, symbols and their values.
  • Free spins (free rotations) – spins, for which bet isn’t taken away from the account.

How to start the game

You shouldn’t be afraid of question how to play slot machines. In order to start the game slot machine rules say that it is necessary at first to find it. If player knows the name of the game, he may type it in the search field “Play on (slot’s name)”. If you just want to try playing you can search for “play slot machines” also you can add to it “for free”. In the list will appear pages of online casinos. All that is left to do is to choose the desirable casino or slot. If you want to play for free, take into account the following things:

  1. Website’s design;
  2. Slot’s collection of games;
  3. Connection speed.

If you want to play on real money or even hit slot machine jackpot, you should pay attention to the quality of technical support and level of personal data security.

When you find the good casino or/and specific slot, you can choose between these two: download slot on your gadget (computer, smartphone or tablet) or play online.

Peculiarities of control and button types

Any gambling machine has control panel. There are placed: buttons, with the help of which one can control slot, table on which are indicated the results of player.

There are also cases when table is placed not just on control panel, but also you can see additional tables above the reels.

There are the following buttons on each slot machine:

  • Start (Play, Spin) – starts the spin.
  • Bet – lets to set the rate size.
  • Balance – shows the number of left credits.
  • Total bet.
  • Bet on the line.
  • Win – sometimes it is indicated in other table together with other bet parameters.

Apart from this there may be (or not) set the following buttons:

  • Autoplay – triggers automatic spins and releases player from necessity to press on Start before each spin, as a rule, the number of rotations is chosen from offered variants. If you wonder about slot machines how to win, you may start using this feature.
  • Lines – gives gambler a possibility to choose the number of active lines (depending on slots mechanics) step by step.
  • Bet max – press on it and make the rate maximal; sometimes it is maximal number on slot and sometimes – maximal according to the number of active lines.
  • Coins – allows to choose the coin value in real money.

Why can these buttons be of no necessity

There may not be automatic spins and bet max button on slot. There is fixed number of active lines and credit value on slot.

Level of bets

Bets on slot machines are accepted in game coins. As a rule, it is from 0,5 to 2 or 5 coins. There are unique slots, where player can place 40 or even 200 coins on the line.

And how much is it in real money? It depends on the coin value was set by player. Level of bets on slots for real money is somewhere between 1-5 cents, in rare cases it is 10 cents.

It is often the case that real coins are designated by sign of specific currency, for example dollar or euro. It isn’t necessary that game will be played on this money and amount. In big online casinos deposit can be placed in several currencies and game is played not in euros or dollars, but in the currency of the country, which was chosen by gambler.

Be careful: according to slot game rules, the pressing on Bet max button not only increases the rate to the maximum, but it frequently starts spins with this bet right away!

How are combinations formed

The combination is considered to be winning one when – it has the needed number of identical symbols, characters are placed on the active line.

Winning combinations on slots are formed according to several principles:

  1. The side, from which the combination starts.
  2. The number of symbols in sequence.
  3. The presence of absence of wild symbol.
  4. The form of game lines.

The side from which the combination is counted

According to slot machine laws, in most cases advantageous combinations are formed from left to right, beginning from the first left reel. There are also such slots (for example from Russian company IGROSOFT), where combinations are counted also from right to left.

The number of symbols and combination

As a rule, the minimal number of symbols in winning sequence is three. One, several characters or all symbols of the certain class (for example symbols with playing cards or just pictures) can often form combinations of two images. Combinations are also considered to be winning and profitable when they consist of four of five symbols.

The presence or absence of wild symbol

Wild symbol is present in the biggest part of modern slots, though, there are rarely gambling machines, where it is absent. When these is empty space in the combination of identical pictures, wild symbol stands there and such combination is considered to be advantageous.

Wild symbol as a rule has its own coefficients of bets multipliers. It is frequently one of the most valuable. If you’re interested how to play slot machines and win big prizes, then you should catch wilds.

The form of game lines

Game lines on slot are formed according to game rules. On the simplest slot which was played in 90-s on the railway stations and shops there were three lines. All of them were straight and corresponded to three rows of symbols, which were placed on reels.

In more complicated slot machines for the Internet, which are controlled by electronics, the number of game lines is more than three, because they aren’t necessarily straight. By connecting various pieces, they get curved lines of different forms – triangles, zigzags, etc. The most widespread variants of number of lines on online slots are:

  • Nine;
  • Twelve;
  • Fifteen;
  • Twenty;
  • Twenty-one;
  • Twenty-five;
  • Forty lines.

The updated variants of slot machines don’t have symbols on one line. In order to create winning combination, it is enough for symbols to be placed on each reel without “empty” ones, where the needed character didn’t fall out. On such slots the number of winning combinations (it isn’t now about the lines as such) and increase up to 243 or even 1296.

The number of game lines on slot influences the number of possible advantageous combinations. The more game lines slot has, the bigger combinations will be. It should be noted that player during the current spin has an access to those lines, which he activated, in other words, placed bets on them. For example, if slot has 243 lines, in order to use all possible chances, the bet on line should be multiplied by 243, and it isn’t easy to do. Besides, there are situations when win on slot is less than the bet itself.

Spin modes

As it was already mentioned, there are two modes of spins – ordinary and automatic.

According to the rules for slot machines, the ordinary spin is triggered by “Start” button (Play, Spin). After this reels make one rotation and stop after forming the sequence. To start the next spin player presses on the same button one more time.

With the help of one click on Autoplay button start non-stop series of automatic rotations. On simpler slots they are just started and if you want to stop them you should press on the button one more time. The other variant – when you press on Autoplay button, you see the pop-up window, where you can choose the number of automatic spins. The minimal number is five and the maximal – one hundred.

There are also slots, where there isn’t auto mode, though there aren’t lots of them.

Bonus game modes – the risk game and more

The risk game mode is triggered by any successful spin. It gives a chance to increase the won amount in two, four, thirty-two or endless number of times. In the risk game player should guess the correct variant out of the following variants:

  • Two (red or black card suit);
  • Four (one out of four card suits);
  • Five (one out of five face-down cards, which has to be of a higher range then the dealer’s one).

If you manage to guess you will be lucky to multiply the prizes and get a chance to play one more time. There can be the fixed number of attempts (as a rule – five), or the endless quantity, until player loses. In this case all that player won in the main game are previous rounds disappears. If you don’t want to take such risk you may not play it at all.

Free spins

Free spins – one more peculiarity of online version of slot machines. Player gets them when three or more scatter symbols fall out on the reels. During the free rotations gambler doesn’t waste a single cent from his account. If he wins, the win will be calculated according to the last set rate during the spin which triggered free game.

The number of free spins can change or stay the same depending on how many scatters fall out (three, four or five). In general, the number of free of charge rotations if somewhere between eight or ten to twenty, thirty, forty or even fifty.

Beside, scatter character has its own coefficients of bets multipliers, and sometimes they can be quite big.

Bonus game

Bonus game is a pleasant addition to the main game on reels. It has own mini-plot which is connected to theme of the main game; it also has own rules. They are different in each game. On some slots player should choose the correct variant out of few – two or five, or select any of them and get bonus points and/or free spins. For example, IGROSOFT is famous for funny plots of bonus games.

How to use pay table

The payouts table, which you can find by pressing on Paytable button shows:

  1. Which symbols are used in the game;
  2. Which combinations are the winning;
  3. Which win each combination gives;
  4. How combinations are formed (see as above);
  5. Which are peculiarities of the game rules.

When one looks on the payout table he may ask whether wins are in credits or multipliers’ coefficients. In the first case the combination gives the number of credits which is indicated in pay table. This win is converted into real money by “credit value” parameter, which is set by the player. In second case the number, which is in pay table is set as a value of combination and is a coefficient, by which the placed bet is multiplied.

How can you analyse the possibility to win

The possibility of winning, or, in other words, the level of risk on slot (it is also called “volatility”) can be high and low. On slots with high volatility wins are rare (it is the risk); but when winning combination falls out, the prizes for it are relatively high. On slots with low volatility the wins will be frequent, but they won’t be big.

How can you analyse the slots volatility? It is always easier to go the right way and choose right slot machine strategy. It is enough to play slot machine games on specific slot and it’ll become clear how frequently do winning combinations land. Player should definitely play in demo mode. Even easier way is to study the pay table: is there are big wins, it shows that they won’t fall out very often. It doesn’t influence the popularity of slot machine, though: among top slots there are ones both with high and low risk level.

As we can see, the rules of the game on slots are quite simple. If we take a minute to read slot machine instructions in pay table, we’ll be able to find out all slot machine secrets and understand how to play on this slot and whether specific player should do this at all. Slot machine strategy will help to get pleasure from the game and not to spend too much money. Though nobody knows how to win on slot machines every time, it is still possible to win quite frequently.

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