The different types of casino slot machines
Myth: “All slot machines are the same”.
The Reel Story: There are five main types of slot machines, usually differentiated by number of reels, number of paylines and type of jackpot. Take a look in our slot machine slang dictionary if these expressions are new to you.
First, you have the 3 reel slot machine; the classical version with three spinning wheels, which you would typically find on the slot room floors in Las Vegas. These machines have 1-5 paylines and either static or progressive jackpots. Maximum bet is usually three coins for the one line machines, whereas the number of lines usually equals the maximum bet on multi-line machines.
Increasingly popular is the 5 reel slot machine with five reels and everything from five to several hundreds of paylines. Maximum number of coins can be one or several per payline. The five reels can be actual reels although it is much more common for the games to use a video screen.
Some slot machines have jackpots which grow as they are played, hence the name; progressive jackpot slot machines. The jackpots keep growing until someone hits, and then starts over but usually not entirely from 0. A certain share of every bet wagered on the progressive jackpot slot machines is set a side for the progressive jackpot, and the progressive jackpot can be linked together in a network of casinos or slot machines. One example is the gigantic Mega Moolah at Spin Palace.
The first slot machine was the Liberty Bell, invented in 1895 by car mechanic Charles Fey from of San Francisco. A spin resulting in three Liberty Bells in a row gave the biggest payoff, wait for it… fifty cents! Compared to today’s jackpot sizes that is just ridiculous, even if you compare the stake and the historical exchange rate. The slot machines have also had quite the face lift when it comes to appearance since then, and a popular modern version is the bonus video slot that uses a video screen for displaying the reels and has a bonus stage as the name suggests. This bonus stage comes in many shapes and sizes.
The typical slot machine comes from North America. The equivalent in the United Kingdom is the Fruit Machine which is very similar but with a few differences. The Fruit Machine usually comes with more gameplay options, like holding reels, nudging reels and the double or nothing feature.
Gary Globetrotter says: Slot machines are also known as poker machines (Australia), one-armed bandits, coin machines and gambling machines.
Slot machine tournaments and Casino Tournaments
Question: Slot machine tournaments - Why, how and where?
The Reel Story: Slot machine tournaments are getting more and more popular every week. The Reel Story takes a close look and tells you why, how and where you should play slot machine tournaments.
Why: Because, you only have to risk a small amount compared to the big reward. Also, unless the tournament allows rebuys, you will always know how much it will cost before you sit down to play.
Some times you can even find freerolls where the entry costs nothing. Freerolls are some times offered only as rewards to existing tournaments, but you can find freerolls for new players as well.
How: There are three main types of slot machine tournaments:
- A scheduled buy-in tournament is set to start at a certain time on a certain date and has a certain buy-in.
- A Sit & Go tournament is created for a certain amount of players and will start once this amount of players has registered and paid the specified buy-in.
- A freeroll is the same as a scheduled buy-in tournament, only it’s free to enter (no buy-in).
The gameplay rules are not always the same, but standards are usually followed. Each player usually gets a certain amount of coins and whoever has more coins when the tournament clock says it’s over, is the winner. There is usually more than one winner, and the number of paid places depends on the number of entrants. Tournaments can also be played as wagering races, where the winners are decided based on how much they wagered during the tournament. A leaderboard will usually show the players’ standing in the tournament.
Where: The obvious choice would be the frequently played Grand Slam of Slots played on the Microgaming network where the 1st prize is a staggering 1 million Euro.
Roxy Palace is one of our recommended casinos on the Microgaming platform. They offer two slot tournaments every week. InterCasino also has an impressive slot tournament schedule to offer, including tournaments that run over several days.
Safe and secure online casinos and slot rooms
Myth: “No casino can be trusted”.
Believed by: Pessimists, realists and anti-gamblers.
The Reel Story: Some casinos cannot be trusted, but luckily only a few casinos fall into this category. Most casinos and slot rooms work very hard to stay legit and fair and to avoid mistrust once they get that operating license, and most of them succeed.
So what makes a casino or a slot room safe? What should you look for? We have gathered a list of what an online casino or slot room should have listed on their website:
- Name of licensor (often found under “About us”).
- Jurisdiction of licensor (trusted once include Kahnawake, Antigua, Barbuda, Malta, Curacao, Isle of Man and Gibraltar among others).
- Name of software provider (trusted once include Playtech, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Real Time Gaming and Vegas Technology among others).
- Name of the Random Number Generator provider.
- External auditor and their monthly report (trusted once include eCogra and Technical Systems Testing among others).
A good example of a very well trusted casino is CasinoEuro. Under the “About us” and “Fair Play” sections on their website you can find all of the above listed “required” information:
Licensor and jurisdiction: “CasinoEuro is operated by Betsson Malta Ltd, and licensed by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority - Malta under the Remote Gaming Regulations (LN176/2004)”.
Software provider: Net Entertainment.
Name of Random Number Generator and external auditor: “CasinoEuro uses the SHA1 Random Number Generator developed by Sun Microsystems. The Random Number Generator has been tested and approved by two independent certification bodies; National Laboratory for Forensic Science in Sweden (SKL) and Technical Systems Testing (TST) in Canada”.
M says: You don’t trust anyone, do you?
James Bond: No.
M: Then you’ve learned your lesson.
The gambling and casino myths we didn’t forget
Myth: “Money can’t buy happiness”.
University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener says: “Very rich people rate substantially higher in satisfaction with life than very poor people do”.
Myth: “Rich men get more women”.
Trusted woman magazine says: “Just as a dog gets attracted towards bones, women are attracted to males who have the most resources and the ability to manipulate and distribute those resources”.
Myth: “Online gambling presents greater risks of addiction”.
Onlinegamblingmythsandfacts.com says: “Scholarly and scientific evidence does not support this claim. Online gambling can be better monitored to avoid problem gambling than traditional land-based gambling”.
Myth: “Odds of being struck by lightning are better than the odds of winning a land based lottery”.
A doctorate in physics says: “Statistics indicate that in one year alone (1996) 1,136 people won a million dollars or more and an additional 4,520 won $100,000 or more by playing North American lotteries. By contrast, 91 people were killed by lightning during that same year”.
