Slots Types You Will Find In Casinos
To the uninitiated, a slot machine may just be a slot machine, with very little variety on offer. Of course, this is as far from the truth as you can possibly imagine. An experienced casino player will be able to tell you about the many differences between slots and of what benefit a player can obtain by knowing these differences.
A classic slots machine will always be a stand-out for certain players and these are the most popular games you can come across in a casino, be it physical or online. However, there are many different types of slots to choose from and it may be that venturing further may provide you with the thrill that you have been looking for.
Classic Slots we know and love
Although they sometimes go by the name of straight slots or spinning reel games, classic slots are pretty much known and adored the world over. These games are the most traditional and remain the most popular slots game you can find in a casino. There is a certain simplicity to classic slots that appeals to so many people, as well as providing a nostalgic look back to the post. It is fair to say that online casinos are able to provide many modern games for players to enjoy but there is something special to be said for the games that provide a link to former and perhaps more simpler times.
The classic slots games provide a very real link to the first games produced by Charles Fey back in San Francisco. These games had three reels, lying vertically, which sat side by side but managed to spin independently of each other. Symbols applied to the face of the reels became popular and these classic slots still have the same symbols appearing in their windows today. It is these symbols that players are placing their hopes on as they attempt to win money by playing slots.
You will find a pay-line running along the middle of the window in a horizontal fashion. A pay-out is made to the player based on the combination of symbols that run across the pay-line. You should find a pay-table attached to the slots which will display the winning combinations and the pay-outs that are related to these slots. All in all, there is nothing too difficult about classic slots and as they are a game of chance, there is no reason why a player should feel they have no chance of winning. Even with modern variants of classic slots, putting in more reels and pay-lines, there are still plenty of people who will prefer to play the original, and in their eyes, best slots game.
Bonus Slots add that something extra
No matter what it is, if something does very well, people will be lining up to add their personal take or touch on it. It is often far simpler to take an existing product or service that works well and add something extra to it. This has been the backdrop for many industries and companies over the years and it is certainly prevalent in the casino and gaming industry. There is no getting away from the brilliance of classic slots and the fact that these games are still so loved today means that there is something very right about them. However, there is always a desire for more and the emergence of what would become known as bonus slots caused a large commotion in the casino industry.
Many have detailed the creation of bonus slots as going back to 1996 with a fishing related slots game made by WMS, a slots manufacturer based in Chicago. The game was called “Reel ‘Em In” and it has managed to reel in plenty of punters in the intervening years. More reels and more pay-lines had been a feature of slots in the years leading up to this but these all seemed minor variations on the same theme. This game was the first one to add something new to the mix and to give players something new to look out for. There is no doubt that WMS created a monster with this game.
There was an additional video screen at the top of the slots, above the traditional game window. Rather than having reels and symbols in this window, this additional window featured cartoon players appearing in boats. These characters would fish for prizes in the lake that was pictured below and would be the first bonus game with regards to slots.
As you can imagine, the game was a huge success and whenever there is a success in business, there is a rush to follow it up. WMS obviously had the head start on their rivals and quickly released other games like “Jackpot Party”, “Boom” and “Filthy Rich”. These games went down well with the casino industry and many can still be found today.
There is no doubt that the emergence of video technology has helped to push the classic slots set-up into one that provided far more opportunities for players, which led to the creation of the bonus slots.
Multi Roll Slots are a good twist on the game
Multi roll slots are games that have a number of pay lines, all of which provide players with additional chances to win. This is down to the fact that the multi rolls and line provide more possible winning combinations. A slots game needs to have just two pay lines to be classified in this manner but there are plenty of options to choose from. 5 lines, 9 lines, 15 lines, 20 lines, 25 lines, 50 lines, 60 lines and even 100 lines are available in certain slots, giving players the perfect opportunity to be a winner. With more pay-lines and more rolls, the more chances a player will have of winning. This is always going to be appealing to some players but of course, you may find that the more lines you play, the more money you will be putting into the slots. These games though do carry higher prizes and it is no surprise to find that there can be some massive jackpots to play for in multi roll games.
Jackpot Slots give you more to play for
Much like bonus slots upped the ante of the classic slots, jackpot progressive slots really managed to provide a new twist on the existing game. Any player who was feeling slightly bored with playing traditional casino games for the traditional sums of money would have found their interest invigorated by being able to play for much higher sums. Being able to link slots together to create a network allowed lager sums of money to be pooled together, creating a bigger prize to play for. Of course, with a bigger prize on offer, more players flocked to these games, pummelling more money into these machines on a regular basis. The casinos were on to a winner and players had a genuine sense of hope and expectation when they went to play slots.
The first progressive slots jackpot was the Megabucks and this was a huge hit back in 1986. The game offered the most money that had ever been offered by a slots game with the initial jackpot of $7m grabbing a lot of attention. For a prize this big, a big name company had to be behind it and it was IGT, International Game Technology, that was pulling the strings of this game. There were just under 700 linked slots machines located in over 150 casinos around Las Vegas. As you can imagine, this sparked off a new gold rush as players dreamt of being the player that grabbed the huge cash prize!
Since that initial game, there have been around 60 winners of Megabucks and of course, this number has the potential to rise all of the time. Every one of these players has managed to bag $7m and the total combined jackpot is over $425m. This is an astounding amount of money and it is easy to see why so many slots fans have flocked to the game. In fact, even if you have never played slots before in your life, the opportunity to have a chance of winning this amount of money would be a draw too big to ignore for many people. The odds of winning a jackpot slots prize of this magnitude are slim but someone has to win it. This is part of the appeal of the casino, no matter how skilled you are or your background, all it takes is one lucky spin in your favour and your life could be magically transformed forever.
In all honesty, you can’t go wrong with classic slots and these games have moved with the times to make them relevant to all players today. However, with bigger prizes and more chances to win, it is easy to see why some of the more modern types of slots would be more appealing to casino players today.