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Beginners Guide – Slot Machines |
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Best online
slots, hints & tips, guides, slot statistics, how to beat slots, slot
reel layouts / reel bands, reel strips, slot percentages, cheats, winning on slots,
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coming soon to a site near you! |
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Beginners Guides Deal
/ No Deal Backgammon, Scratchcards, Rummy & Bingo! |
Introduction Slots.. Oh dear – where do I
start??? There are soooooo many
different ones on-line it could make your brain hurt! So what I’ve decided to do with this page
is just give a brief overview, and
then list out some of my favourites I’ve played with my personal
review of them. To start with, if you’re from the
UK like me, or other countries with ‘fruit machines’, try to forget all about
those completely rigged heaps of crap.
Online slots look similar, but are completely different because most
of them really are random! Most online slots are traditional
3 or 5 reel type, but different slots have different numbers of pay-lines;- 3-reel; 1, 3 or 5 win lines. 5-reel;
5, 9, 11, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 and now even 100 win lines! (Note that different softwares
have different win line patterns eg: winline 4 on MG is not the same ‘shape’
as winline 4 on Crypto). Then we have different categories
of slots:- Bonus; Have one or more bonus features
triggered by getting certain symbols in view.
The bonus rounds are normally ‘free-spins’ with a multiplier (eg. 15
free spins with all wins x3), or ‘picks’ where you click on a number of
symbols to reveal a mystery prize, or a combination of both. Progressive Jackpot; Have a
common ‘pool’ of funds contributed to by ALL casinos using the same software
to give a massive jackpot which is usually won by getting the highest ranking
symbols on the highest numbered line payline on the slot. (e.g. Line 15 on a
15 line slot). Some progressives are
also ‘bonus round’ slots and some of these only give the jackpot in the bonus
round, while others still pay as described above. Getting Started If you’re new to online slots you
really should play all those you like the sound of in ‘practice mode’ before
you play for real money so you know what to expect. All online casinos should give you the
facility to do this. You will find the
pay tables by clicking on a button on the screen. When you’ve decided to play for
real, the first thing to be aware of is what bet level the slot is on when
you initially bring it onto your screen.
The vast majority will NOT be set at the minimum bet level, but you
can manually reduce this using the on-screen control buttons. Note that the cost indicator is per line,
not per spin! They will also normally
be set at maximum paylines, which again, you may wish to reduce. E.g. Some
people like to play 25 line slots using only 9 or 15 paylines for various
reasons, including making their money last longer! Many casinos’ have ‘autoplay’ so
you don’t get finger ache clicking that mouse button. MG’s is the best (access by hitting the
‘expert’ button) because you can set it to stop if you hit a big win! Reel Weighting & Randomness The most fundamental way in which
video slots differ from real slot machines is that they do not have physical
reels. This allows the slot to have
‘weighted’ reels. This is done in one
of two ways; a) The reels on a
slot do not all have the same number of symbols on them. E.g. On Tomb Raider the reels have 24, 28,
34, 40 & 40 symbols. So the
chances of getting the scatter symbol on reel 1 is 3 in 24, but on reel 5 it
is 3 in 40. b) The reels all have the
same number of symbols, but the odds of each one appearing is different. E.g. Each reel could have just 10 symbols
on it, but it is programmed so that the jackpot symbol only appears Know your odds Like all casino games, slots have
a house edge. This varies from one
machine to another but is typically somewhere between 92-96%. However, you have to remember that most
slots are high variance and that those percentages are based on an infinite
number of spins taking into account all possible winning combinations –
including the jackpot. Therefore
unless you are extremely lucky & actually hit the jackpot, your return is
normally going to be 2-3% lower than the average house edge. If like me your preference is for
the bonus slots, you also need to know what the chances of actually getting
the bonus is, because if you’re not hitting the bonus rounds, the chances of
profiting are very slim. No casinos I
know of publish this information, and it is almost impossible to work out
unless you know how many of each symbol is on each reel, and how many symbols
in total. I searched the net to try to
find this information, but to no avail.
So I decided to plot out the reels of one of my favourites; Tomb
Raider. I got the data I wanted, but
because it can only be done by recording sets of three symbols at a time on
each reel it took many, many hours – so don’t expect to many more soon! Some of my friends at CasinoMeister did
some of the other slots, so the data in Blue in the table below is accurate. Bonus Rounds & Jackpots These vary from one slot to
another, but typically bonus rounds are usual triggered either by getting
certain ‘Scatter’ symbols on certain reels, or by getting a set number of
consecutive symbols on a winline. The
bonus itself is usually either a pre-set or random number of ‘free-spins’
with a multiplier, or it’s ‘picks’ when you select from a number of symbols
on the screen to reveal random prizes.
Some slots combine the two; you pick symbols that give you a random
number of free-spins! Note that while
it is possible to get very big wins from the bonus rounds, it is also
possible on many slots to get close to, or actually nothing! L The Jackpot on most video slots
is getting 5 ‘wild’ symbols on a winline.
On progressive slots these 5 wilds have to be on a particular winline
(normally the highest available; e.g. line 15 on a 15-line slot). Bonus Video Slot Strategy People who don't play them often
can't understand how you can profit from games with 95% payout, but you
can! They are no different from any other casino game - the house edge
is always against you and if you keep playing any game long enough you will lose. Let's compare to Blackjack; If
you play 100 $1 hands with a H.A. of 1%, on average you will lose just
$1. But a run of good or bad luck could see you end with +$20 or
-$20. More than that is very unlikely because BJ is a very low variance game. Play 100 $1 spins on a Bonus Slot
with H.A. 95% will average a loss of $5, but this is very UNLIKELY due to very high variance. You could find you
have rotten luck and lose $50, or even more! But if you hit a good
bonus feature you could easily win 50, 100, 200 or even more times your bet!
You'll NEVER get that with Blackjack! The key to success (as with all
games) is money management - knowing when to stop. Don't lose too much
on one particular game, and quit when you're ahead & switch to a
different game. Sounds simple I know, but to
be honest it isn't that easy. I often break my own rules - but I try not to
do it too much! Like any strategy for
any game you do need a bit of good luck, (or at least - not too much bad
luck). More importantly than anything - you need self-control. Given that what I want is the
bonus rounds, and that they occur once every 130 – 150 spins, what I do is
start with up to 25 spins at double my minimum bet (in case I get lucky) and
then 100 at minimum. (Depending on the slot, my minimum is usually either 2c
or 5c per line). I will then increase my bets every 25 or 50 spins e.g. 2c,
4c, 6c, 8c. If I get past about 250
spins with no feature, or my bank has dropped by more than my pre-set limit,
I stop & try a different slot.
Sometimes I alter the total bet by changing the number of win-lines as
well as, or instead of just changing the stake/line. That’s pretty much all
there is to it! Of course I don't always win, and
I have uploaded 3 of my genuine play logs to show what can happen:- A great winning run. $100 deposit
led to $800 withdrawal – and I wagered more than 2x the WR! A miracle recovery! $225 start crashed right down to $1.07, but recovered to cash out $200
profit! A diabolical losing
session. $240 start (100% bonus) – total blow out not
even half way to WR. These Excel spreadsheets show how I record my wagers – the
sheets are set up so I only input the blue figures – the rest is calculated
using very simple equations. I’ve also
linked some pretty screenshots! If you study them carefully you will see I only low-roll the
majority of the time – even when I’m well ahead. You will also see some mad
moments when I totally lose the plot, so I am human – honestly! J Best Slots This is all a matter of opinion
of course, and it’s unlikely any two players will agree on this. One thing
most of us do agree on (backed by a recent online poll) is that the best
software for slots playability is MicroGaming far and away better than the competition. But I also enjoy many slots on other
softwares, as you’ll see on my favourite slots table below! |
Special Features (Inc. where to play
with chips from 1c) All about KK: (How
I profit online month after month)
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My Favourite Slots |
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Key to table: |
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Name |
Name
of Slot / (Software) |
Jackpot |
Multiplier of max jackpot if hit during ‘normal’ spins. (Bet per line
x N) |
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R L P |
Number of Reels Number of win-lines Progressive jackpot? |
KK (SS) |
Kasino King’s personal rating of the slot (out of 10) Screenshot of one of KK’s great hits! (if applicable) – click on SS to view! |
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Description |
Black; How the bonus
feature/jackpot is triggered. Blue; KK’s
personal review. Red; Bad
points about the slot (if any). |
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B? |
Bonus Rounds? (No. of types) |
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B
spin |
Approx. spins between bonuses. (Blue = actual, Green = estimate) |
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Where
to play |
Recommended casinos to play this slot.
(Sign-up or other bonuses offered). |
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Name |
R/L/P |
B? |
B spin |
Jackpot |
KK |
Description |
Where to
play (Bonus info) |
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Dolphin
Tale (Microgaming) |
5 40 No |
1 |
150 |
x 3,000 (x60,000
in free spins) |
10 |
3 scatter clam symbols anywhere in view trigger the
free spins where you face a difficult choice. You pick how many spins you
want & get randomly awarded one of three multipliers: From 25 spins at x2, 3 or 5 down to 5 spins
at x10, 15 or 20. What makes it even more fun is any symbol can randomly turn
wild during the free-spins, greatly boosting your win! This feature on
this slot is just about my favourite free-spin variant. I usually go for just
5 free-spins then pray for the x20 and 1 or 2 really big hits! (Note: I find 40 win-lines is too many, so
usually play this one anywhere from 17 to 25 lines) |
River Belle (£75 free/month) Villento (Weekly bonuses!) All Jackpots ($200 S.U.B.)
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Atlantis (Grand Virtual) |
5 11 No |
4 |
30-40 |
x 2,000 |
9 |
This slot has FOUR different bonus features:- Free-spins:
5 to 25 spins for 3-5 Nautilus: Wild symbol multiplies wins by x5, and any
bonus round awards are tripled! Treasure
Hunt: 3+ Astrolabes take you to a prize maze – Navigate
the Mermaid though the caves collecting prizes, monster repellent and trap
keys, avoid the Kraken & the traps until you find the exit. Obelisk:
Reach the top of the column for the biggest prizes. Seahorse
Race: Pick 3 from 6 horses and race to the finish line. With all the features, the more scatters that
trigger the round, the bigger your prizes!
This is simply the most amazing slot I’ve
ever played! The graphics & sounds must be seen to be believed. The unusual graphics & reel layouts takes a bit of
getting used to. |
Imperial
Casino ($200
SUB) Or Casino
Fantasy ($100
SUB)
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Rain
Dance (RTG) |
5 20 Yes |
1 |
130 |
x 5,000 |
9 |
One of many different ‘Real Series’ slots, on this
one the bonus is triggered by 3 or more scatters in view. Your chances are
enhanced by an extra free-spin if you get 2 in view. You get 10 spins @ x3
for 3 scatters, 15x4 for 4 & 100x5 for 5! Three or more scatters in the
free spins give you the same bonus again. Therefore, if you do get 5 scatters
initially you are guaranteed a MEGA win! I have never had the 5 scatters myself, but
I know others who have. I live in hope! All
the Real Series of slots have a maximum win of 40,000 x line bet, so if you
get the 100 spins with re-triggers it’s likely you will be capped before
finishing all your spins. L |
iNetBet (200%
slots bonus) Club USA (S.U.B. $350!) Slots
Plus (125%
to $500)
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Tomb
Raider (Microgaming) |
5 15 No |
2 |
Lara’s: 124 Idols: 70 |
x 7,500 |
9 |
3 or more round Lara scatter symbols give you 10
free spins with all wins multiplied by 3 (except Tomb Bonus), can
retrigger. Or 3 or more Idols on a
winline give you a corresponding number of picks in the ‘Tomb Bonus’. Very playable slot
as you should normally get one bonus or the other every 47-50 spins. Only bad point is many MG’s have it at
5c/line min. |
River Belle (£75 free/month) Villento (Weekly bonuses!) All Jackpots ($200 S.U.B.)
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Reel
Crime (Rival Gaming) |
5 15 No |
3 |
60 |
x 750 |
9 |
This slot is unique in that it follows a story line,
with comic-book style animated scenes between each of the rounds. When you
complete each section you get a prize bonus round before moving on, or going
back to the start, depending on the outcome. As you start each section you
get the opportunity to change your stake which is then fixed. The symbols on
the reels also change as you advance.
In addition they have free spins triggered by scatter symbols. Great fun to play! This is a low very variance slot = little chance of really big wins,
but money can last a long time! |
Paradise 8 (100% to $350) DaVinci’s
Gold ($100 x5) Cocoa Casino
(SUB
$350) This is Vegas
($250
free)
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Hampsteads (CryptoLogic) |
5 9 No |
1 |
130 |
x 5,000 |
9 |
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