Slots Variations

3 Reel Slots

A 3 reel slot machine is a type of slots which has 3 reels. They can be classic, multiline, video, bonus and progressive. You can play 3 reel slots (except most progressives) for fun or real money in all online casinos. To start playing you have to make a bet and click the Spin button. Once the reels have stopped, you will see whether you win or lose. The combination of 3 similar (sometimes 2 or even 1) symbols wins.

A Classic Slot is a slot which has 3 reels and as a rule 1 payline, but modern classic slots may have 3, 4 or 5 paylines. Classic slots are usually very simple. The maximum bet can be on 3 reel, 1 payline slot is 1, 2 or 3 coins, while 3 reel, 5 line slots have 5 coins as the max bet. Nowadays software providers launch classic slots which have interesting bonus features which are played on the second screen or in the main game. The wild and multiplier also appear on the reels. Moreover there are progressive classic slots.

Mega Spin Slots

Mega Spin slots are the type of classic 3 reel slots which are very like video poker multi hand games. Actually, there is not 1 slot but 3, 5 or even 9 slots in one game. You make a bet and click the Spin button and all these slots will spin simultaneously.

Multi Spin Slots

Multi Spin slot is a type of 3 reel slot with more than 1 row usually from 3 to 10. To play Multi Spin slots you have to make a bet and spin the reels and wait for the result on the bottom payline. Then you can hold one or more reels and push the Spin button again, only unheld reels will respin.

There are multiline video 3 reel slots. They usually have 3, 5 or 8 paylines.

5 Reel Slots

A 5 reel slot machine is a multiline slot. There are from 5 to 50 paylines, but some 5 reel slots have up to 100 paylines. As a rule 5 reel slots are more interesting than classic slots. Most of them are video games with a background story. The most exciting thing concerning 5 reel slot machines is the fact that they have various bonus features including free spins. Most progressive slots also have 5 reels.

To start playing you should make a wager and click on the spin button. It is not necessary to bet on all the paylines, you should decide how many lines you want to play. A winning combination is a combination of 3 through 5 (sometimes 2) similar symbols left to right except for the scatter which pays out when there are 2 or more of them anywhere on the reels. You can try out 5 reel slots for free by choosing Play for Fun mode.

7 Reel Slots

7 reel slots are rare, only one software provider - Vegas Technology make them. 7 reel slots are alike 5 reel slots. The difference is that the winning combination consists of 3 – 7 similar symbols on the payline. 7 reel slots have 7 or 9 paylines. To start playing you have to make a wager and click on the spin button. You may not bet on all the paylines, but in that case you may lose some winnings if a winning combination lands on an inactive line. There are neither bonus nor progressive 7 reel slots now.

Progressive Slots

Progressive slots are games which have a progressive jackpot as the maximum win. Every player who plays a progressive slot creates a progressive jackpot since a tiny share from each bet goes to the jackpot. The same slot can be played in different online casinos in different corners of the world therefore the jackpot is growing every second and it continues growing until somebody hits it. The current size of the jackpot is displayed above the slot reels. It’s worth noting, the odds of winning the jackpot are not high. Most slots have some rules to follow to qualify for the progressive jackpot, for example, the player has to wager the max number of coins.

The player can win the progressive jackpot when a predefined combination of symbols aligns left to right on the reels. However, there are jackpots which can be won at random. Thus, the world-known Microgaming slot machine, Mega Moolah offers Mega Moolah Bonus Game which is triggered randomly. During this bonus game the player gets a chance to win one of 4 tiered jackpots.

Every gaming software development company tries to design something new to attract more players. Therefore, from time to time other varieties of progressive slots appear. For example, at the moment PlayTech offers 4 linked Progressive jackpots on Marvel slots. Marvel Progressives have a bonus game which is triggered randomly as well. The Jackpot Game is played on the 4x5 grid with 20 squares. Under each square there are jackpot symbols, the aim is to click on the squares to reveal the symbols. 3 identical symbols win identical jackpot.

Another PlayTech’s know-how is the Dollar Ball Progressive Side game. To win the jackpot the player must make a side bet and then to pick 5 numbers out of 49. Once the main game has started, 5 numbers are drawn randomly. If all 5 numbers match the Progressive Jackpot is won.

Nowadays RTG offers random jackpots almost in every slot. This progressive jackpot can be hit at the end of any spin. Neither the number of coins nor paylines - nothing influences on the chance to win the Progressive Jackpot. But, the higher the bet is, the higher chances to win the Jackpot are.

Most gaming software providers including Microgaming and Playtech allow playing Progressive slots only in the Real Money Mode. But you can try out progressive for free, for example, playing in RTG or Vegas Technology casinos.

Bonus Slots

A bonus slot is a slot which has a bonus feature. Bonus features are various and can be played on the reels or on the second screen. Bonus features on the reels or in the main game are free spins, Nudge, Hold and Shifta!, ‘Pick an Item’ games. Nudge, Hold and Shifta! features are more common for classic 3 reel, 1 payline slots.

Free Spins is, perhaps, one of the most popular bonus features. Oftener 3 or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels give players an opportunity to spin the reels for free. The number of Free Spins (or Free Games) depends on different things. Sometimes the number of scatters determines the number of free spins, but today’s slots have a great variety of things which determine the number of free spins. Slots can offer from 1 to 100 (and even more) free spins. Moreover, the player can get various multipliers which will act during Free Spins.

‘Pick an Item’ bonus game is a feature during which the player has to choose 1 or more items out of 3 or 5 depicted on the reels to determine the bonus prize.

Nudge is the bonus feature which allows the player to bump a chosen reel or reels so that the next symbol lands on the payline.

Hold is the feature during which the player holds a chosen reel or reels and re-spins the others.

Shifta! is the bonus feature which results in a winning combination automatically.

There is a wide range of Bonus games on the second screen. They are ‘Pick an Item’, 'Pick until Pop', ‘Wheel of Fortune’. Many slots also offer a Gamble Game.

The bonus game like ‘Pick an Item’ which is played on the second screen almost doesn’t differ from that on the main game. The player has to pick 1 or more items from several ones to reveal the prize. There are 'Multilevel Pick an Item’ rounds. If the player picks the right item he moves to the following level with better prizes.

During the 'Pick until Pop' bonus round players have to pick items until they find the Symbol which stops this bonus game.

During the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ bonus game players should rotate the wheel of fortune to determine the prize.

One more interesting feature offered by some software gaming providers is Gamble Game. It is a chance to increase the win. This feature is activated after each effective spin and is played on the second screen. There is a choice – to play the Gamble Game or not to play. If the player chooses Gamble Game, he can see a face down card and has to guess whether the card is red or black. Another variety of the game is one face-up card and a row of face down cards, the aim is to pick a card higher than the face up card. If the guess is right the win is doubled (or half doubled or quadrupled - different slots machines offer different opportunities). After that the player can take the winnings or continue playing until the gamble limit is reached or the player makes a mistake. But if it happens everything that has been won will be lost.