For the better part of the last century, slot machines were simple enough. They consisted of a metal box that housed spinning, mechanical reels with symbols on each reel. If the symbols lined up and matched, then the player won a jackpot.
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Playing slot machines is the most popular form of casino gambling in the world, and knowing how to win at the slots can be one of the most important things a gambler ever learns. Although today's slot machines have little in common with the original Liberty Bell made by Charles Fey in 1896, their shape, size and popularity certainly do. Image: pixabay Progressive jackpots are not restricted to online slots, though. The largest ever payout on a slot machine came back on March 21, 2003, when a 25-year-old engineer from Los Angeles. There are basically two types of slot machines. The first type, Straight Slots. Pays winning combinations according to the schedule listed on the machine itself. For example, one cherry may pay two coins for each one put in, two cherries may pay five coins and three cherries 10 coins. The different types of slot machines range from video and touch-screen machines to single-coin and multiplier machines. Every player must pick the right device so that they can avoid betting on a slot that their bankroll cannot support. SLOT MACHINES With over 1500 slot machines in stock, we are uniquely positioned to bring you the best gaming machines in the industry! NOTE: Slot machines require freight shipping services. To get an accurate shipping cost, please contact us directly at 763-253-0230.
Over the last three decades, computer and video game technology have caused big changes in how slot machines are played. Gamblers still see spinning reels, but the mechanism is now powered by a microcomputer called a random number generator.
Additional features have become commonplace, and dozens of different types of slot machines have become available. This page lists and categorizes the major types of slot machines available in casinos throughout the world.
Bonus Slots
One of the most common types of slots games now available are bonus slots, which offer bonus games when certain symbols or combinations of symbols appear on the payline. One of the most popular examples of this type of game is the ubiquitous Wheel of Fortune slot machine game, which features a replica of the wheel from the eponymous game show above the machine. When you hit certain symbols, you get to spin the wheel and get a bonus payout.
Banking Games
A banking game is a game in which coins are accumulated until they’re won. Piggy Bankin’ is one of the most popular examples of this kind of game, which has been around for a long time. Banking games should not be confused with progressive slots, which are covered later on this page.
Multiple Reels and Paylines
Early slot machines featured three reels and a single payline, but modern slot machines have a lot more possibilities. Why is this? Computers.
Three reel slot machines often now have multiple paylines, and five reel slot machines have an even greater number of paylines.
These changes have increased the potential size of the jackpots available on these games. It’s not hard to understand the math of why this is possible. If you have three reels with ten symbols on each, the hardest combination to hit has a 1 in 1000 chance of hitting. Any jackpot larger than 1000 to 1 would result in a loss for the casino.
Compare that with a five reel game with 256 different symbols on each reel. This kind of machine would be impossibly large if the reels were actual metal strips, but computers use imaginary reels, with results determined by a random number generator inside. With these kinds of odds, astronomical jackpot amounts can be offered, and the machine will remain profitable.
The number of paylines has increased dramatically, too. Early slot machines had a single payline, but now, common slot machine games offer the following numbers of paylines:
- 2
- 3
- 5
- 9
- 20
- 25
A new type of Australian slot machine game does away with paylines altogether, and these games offer 243 different ways to win. Basically, any combination of winning symbols from left to right results in payouts. These games are hugely popular, and even though the concept sounds a little confusing, it actually become intuitive very quickly during gameplay. In fact, 243 ways slots are wicked addictive fun.
Types of Progressive Slots – Standalone, Local, and Wide Area
Progressive slot machines offer constantly growing jackpots. These jackpots begin with a seed amount from the casino or network, and as each player plays, a tiny percentage of her bet is added to the progressive jackpot.
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These jackpost can become astronomically high. The odds of actually winning such a jackpot are also astronomical. These types of games are comparable to the lottery.
Multiple versions of progressive slots are available. For example, a standalone progressive jackpot has a jackpot that’s tied to an individual machine. These types of progressive jackpots are generally in the $1000s of dollars range, and only play from that specific game count toward the progressive. In fact, standalone progressives are similar to banking slot machines.
Local progressive jackpots, on the other hand, feature linked jackpots within a single casino. These jackpots can grow larger faster because every bet on every machine in the network counts toward the growing jackpot. It’s not uncommon for these jackpots to reach into the $10,000s and even the $100,000s at larger casinos.
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But the big jackpots are the wide area progressive games. These games link together slot machines from multiple casinos, and their jackpots are life-changing. These are the jackpots which get into the millions of dollars.
The most popular wide area progressive network in the world is called Megabucks, which was launched in 1986 by IGT, the largest and most successful slot machine manufacturer in the world.
Types of Online Slots
All of the above types of slot machines are available in online versions as well as traditional brick and mortar casinos. In fact, in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal but regulated, you can find exact duplicates of the games available at Vegas casinos.
Most of these games are made available via Wagerworks, which was purchased by IGT in 2005 for $90 million. Examples of these branded and popular slots games now available online include:
- Elvis
- Family Guy
- Jeopardy
- Judge Judy
- Lobstermania
- Star Trek
- Wheel of Fortune
Other online slot machine games are exclusively available online. Examples of these include games from Realtime Gaming and Microgaming, the latter of which offers some of the largest progressive jackpots on the Internet.
There are many types of slot machine configurations but all work according to the same principles – put the money in the slots and pull the handle!
Contents
- Straight Slots
There are basically two types of slot machines. The first type,
Straight Slots
Pays winning combinations according to the schedule listed on the machine itself. For example, one cherry may pay two coins for each one put in, two cherries may pay five coins and three cherries 10 coins. Depends on the payout schedules, there are four kinds of Straight Slots
The Multiplier
The number of coins played multiplies the payout. If the machine pays five coins for three cherries when you play one coin, it should pay ten for the second coin played, and fifteen for the third. – You do not take advantage for playing maximum coins.
The Bonus Multiplier
The machine goes about its business exactly as the multiplier, except it offers a bonus when you play maximum coins. This means when playing the extra coins will more than double your winnings on a two-coin machine, or more than triple your winnings on a three-coin machine. For example, it three bars pay you hundred for one coin, two hundred for two coins, and five hundred for three coins played. – Read the machine before playing.
Multiple Payline Slot
The number of lines the machine will pay on depends on the amount of coins deposited. One coin only may pay the middle line, if you hit a winning combination on a line that has not been activated, you win nothing. A second coin will pay the top line as well, a third coin – then the bottom line, so now any of the three horizontals will pay should a paying combination be hit, a fourth, the diagonal and a fifth, the other diagonal. Read the machine, find out how many lines to play, pay, and win. Anywhere from three, five and into the twenties.
Buy-a-Pay Slot
These machines are a lot like a legal brief: You’d better push the help button on these machines and read all the information available. These machines want you to know that each coin played to get in on the biggest jackpot. For example, you can collect the winning by playing one or two coins – small amounts. If you hit the jackpot playing one of these machines with only one or two coins, you don’t win a thing. Play these machines only with maximum coins. Again, read the slot machine, all of it.
Progressive Slots
The second type of machines is called Progressive Slots. The slots keeps increasing each time a coin is played. When the jackpot finally hits, the amount goes back to the starting number.
These Slots too have a standard set of payoffs listed on the machine itself, but in addition, and what sometimes makes for some exciting play, is the big jackpot which progressively gets larger and larger, as every coin is put in. the jackpot total is posted above the machine and can grow to enormous sums of money.
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Tips
Types Of Slot Machines At Tachi Palace
More winning rows does not necessarily equate to better odds of winning, this just means more coins per play and therefore more possibilities of a payoff if each coin gives you another bar or direction it pays. The odds are built into the machine and no amount of lines played will change them.