Gambling Tips Slots. Different types of Slot Machines. By Henry Tamburin. If you love to play the slots then you had better know the difference between a Multiplier vs a Buy a Pay vs a nudge slot machine. At one time, most slot machine games had a fixed top jackpot. Games with a fixed top prize are called “flat top” slot machines, and they’re still common. They offer a lower prize for the big winner, but the chances of winning that big prize are far better than the chances of winning a progressive jackpot.
One of the easiest ways to categorize slot machines is by the denomination or coin size. We use the following categories:
- Free slots
- Penny slots
- Nickel slots
- Quarter slots
- Dollar slots
- High roller slots
Below we’ve listed the most common denominations along with some observations about each of them.
If you’re flat broke, free casino slots are the only kind of slot machine game you can play. You won’t find any free games in a Las Vegas casino, but if you can access the Internet—and let’sface it, these days, everyone can access the Internet—you can find a number of ways of playing for free.
Some of these free games are previews of online casinos’ games. They offer these as a marketing tool, hoping you’ll sign up to play for real money eventually.
Other free slots seem to have no such agenda. But even in the case of those games, you’re usually helping the owner of the site providing those games by giving them an audience for theiradvertisers. These advertisers might include online casinos, but they might include any other kind of merchant who wants to get in front of a lot of eyeballs.
“Penny slots” is almost a misnomer, because it’s a rare penny slot machine that you can actually play for just a penny per spin. And that’s true in Las Vegas as well as on the Internet. We wereplanning a trip to Vegas recently, and when we were considering hotels in the Downtown area, we ran across mention of a casino there which offered true penny slots. But that’s a novelty, notsomething easy to find.
The reason you can’t play for a penny per spin is simple enough. Modern penny slots feature multiple lines and often require you to bet multiple coins per line. If you’re playing a slot machinewith 25 lines at a penny per line, you’re betting 25 cents every time you spin the wheel.
Payback percentages vary based on denomination, too. With penny slots, you’re looking at around a 93% payback percentage in the most generous casinos in Las Vegas.
Nickel slots are a big step up from penny slots, but they’re still aimed more at low rollers than other games. As with penny slots, you’re looking at betting on a minimum number of lines onever spin. But since the denomination has quintupled, your bet size also quintuples. That 25 payline slot you were playing for a quarter a spin in the penny denomination now costs $1.25 perspin to play.
The payback percentages for nickel slots are pretty comparable to those for penny slots—93%, maybe 94%, and that’s at the most generous Vegas casinos.
Quarter slots are where you’re starting to get into the average gambler range. You can find 3-reel classic slot machines where you can play for a quarter a spin, although it’s more common to berequired to place a 3 unit bet per spin on these games. And of course with video slots with lots of pay-lines, you can easily wind up betting a LOT of money on a single spin.
You don’t have to be a high roller to enjoy quarter slots, but you do need more of a bankroll than a low roller usually has.
Payback percentages start to improve at this denomination, too. You can find games in Vegas with a 95% or 96% payback percentage.
Dollar slots are starting to venture into high roller territory. If you’re in the high roller slots parlor at a casino, these will be the lowest denomination games you’ll find there. As withthe other denominations, you can find games where you can bet multiple units on multiple lines, so your total bet per spin can add up quickly. But it’s also relatively easy to find dollar slotswhere you can play for a single dollar per spin.
Payback percentages improve again here, to between 96% and 97% at the best Vegas casinos. In fact, this is the denomination we recommend playing at if you want to maximize your paybackpercentage. The dollar machines are the sweet spot—any slot machine with a lower or higher denomination has a lower payback percentage. We talk more about that in the section about high rollerslots below.
We consider any slot machine game that you can play for $5 minimum to be high roller slots. So this category is broader than our other denomination categories, because it also includes gameswhere you can play for $25 or even $100 per spin.
These high roller games are easier to find at land-based casinos than at online casinos, but high rollers can usually get the action they crave at an online casino by playing games withmultiple pay-lines.
Strangely, the payback percentages actually seem to go down slightly when you switch from the dollar denomination and move up to high roller slots. You’re looking at payback percentages of 94%or 95%, even at the loosest Las Vegas casinos.
If you’re new to slot machines or even someone who’s been playing them for years, you’ll understand that there are so many different types located at every land based casino as well as online. Some of the different types of slot machines can be anywhere from a single-coin and multi-coin slot, to a touch-screen and video machine. Having a good understanding of all the different types will be beneficial for you so you can find the right ones to fit your style as well as your bankroll. More importantly, you want to find the ones that will be the most fun for you, because at the end of the day, win or lose, it’s all about having fun.
Over the years, slots have been evolving all the way from the classic 3 reel machines, to multiple reel video slots, to high tech 3D machines. The graphics and sounds on the newer ones are so amazing that they’ll create an experience you’ll never forget. For reference, you can find a description of each game through their paytable. The paytables will explain to you what sort of features they have, what each symbol is worth, all their payline combinations as well as the overall rules to the game. To help you along the way, we’ve gone ahead and identified a few of the most common types of slot machines for you, so you’ll be prepared the next time you visit a casino or play online.
Progressive Slots
Similar to other slot machines, progressive slots are like an addition to them where you have a chance to win a jackpot. The jackpot amounts for most machines are a fixed amount, however progressives rise each time you spin the reels. In fact, many of the machines are linked to one another, meaning the more people who play on them, the bigger the jackpot will get.
How it works, each time someone places a bet, a certain percentage from the bet is taken out and added to the jackpot until someone hits it. The percentage can be different at each casino, where some of them are up to even 15%. Once someone wins, the jackpot amount is reset with a new amount and will continue to grow until the next lucky person will win. With the jackpots being able to link up with one another, the potential rewards can be enormous, especially when playing online where people are making bets from all over the word. They’re available on classic 3-reel machines as well as the modern 5-reel style in order to attract more people. Below, we’ve listed 3 different types of progressive slot machines.
- Stand-Alone each jackpot on these machines are independent, meaning they are not linked to any other slot machines, therefore their jackpots are relatively smaller when comparing to others.
- In-House means the slot machines are linked up with other ones, however they are only linked with those inside their casino.
- Wide-Area the biggest progressive jackpot type. These are linked to other machines from various locations, which means more people are able to play on them and contribute to the total jackpot amount.
Multiplier Slot Machines
Names Of Different Slot Machines
Multiplier slot machines have a potential for getting some high wins, which is a key feature. Not all machines offer this feature, however the ones that do have the ability to multiply your wins to double, triple and X100. You can find them a lot of times from bonus games so that people will have a chance for some big rewards. However, some games have multipliers available for all spins that take place, which makes the potential payouts even bigger. Multipliers can be triggered differently depending on the game you’re playing. Some can occur during normal game play, free spins or bonus rounds. In any case, the concept remains the same. You simply multiply the number you’ve gotten by your prize amount. For example, if you win $100 and got a multiplier X3, that means you’ve actually won $300.
Depending on the game, multipliers are typically wild symbols. Wild meaning they’re able to substitute for other symbols and complete a winning combination. Not only can they behave as wilds, but they can also multiply your wins during regular spins and free spins. The machines multiply your payouts based on your bet amount. For example, it could be X1 for one coin you’ve placed in the machine, X2 for two coins you’ve placed in the machine and so forth.
Video Slot Machines
Unlike the classic 3-reel slot machines from the 19th century, the modern day video slot machine typically has 5 reels. Having more reels available allows for more symbols, combinations and paylines. By having more paylines, you are able to increase your bet more, therefore having more chances for payouts. These machines also have digital reels which are seen from a screen and a button to spin the reels instead of a lever you pull down. Another huge difference between classic machines are the sharp graphics and sound they offer. These machines also brought out the first bonus games as well as the ability to be able to link the machines up for the progressive jackpots. Not only are these a huge hit at the land based casinos, but they are definitely what helped increase the popularity to casino sites online. In fact, here at Caesars Casino we offer a big selection of them with a variety of different themes and features. Click here to see for yourself!
Overall, slot machines have come a long way and have been offering some fascinating entertainment for people for years. The advancements they have made in history is remarkable and they offer a wide range of machines that are able to appeal to a wide range of people, no matter who you are. In the end, it’s all about personal preference and which games look appealing to you. In that case, always make sure to understand how a particular slot works to make sure it’s what you’re going for, and of course, so you know what you’re getting yourself into. Most importantly, it’s all about having fun. If you’re not having fun, you should consider moving to another machine. To get a good idea of all the different types of slot machines, we would highly recommend you totry out some of ours for free at Caesars Casino.
Different Slot Machine Games
