Slots are one of the easiest casino games to learn, but admittedly, they do come with some complex features, and therefore, you’ll need to learn how to read slot machines.
To help you do this, we have 8 simple steps to give you a starting point for understanding how slots work.
How to Read Slot Machines in 8 Simple Steps
Before diving into the mechanics, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the types of slot machines available. From classic three-reel slots to progressive jackpots, each type offers unique features and payout structures. Knowing these differences can help you choose the right machine that fits your preferences and budget.
Understanding paylines, symbols, and bonus rounds will also add to your knowledge, ensuring you get the most out of your slot-playing experience. By breaking it down into 8 steps, you’ll be able to grasp the essentials and approach slot machines with confidence.
1. Find the Paytable
One of the first steps you should take when you play a new online slot is to open the paytable. This is where you will find how much each symbol combination pays. On top of this, the paytable explains all the slot’s features available.
If the slot includes free spins, scatters with multipliers, wild multipliers, respins, jackpots, or any other features, you will find them all here.
2. Check Paylines or Reel Mechanics
Most slot machine manufacturers place the reel mechanics on one of the last pages of the paytable. This will either be a display of all the paylines or an image showing how the slot connects paying symbol combinations.
Slots can have 1 to 100 pay lines or use the no pay line reel mechanic. On some slot games, like the famous Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead you can choose the number of paylines you want to bet on.
3. Check the Symbol Payouts
The size of regular symbol payouts is important because the higher they are, the bigger the multiplier combination wins will pay. Many slot players won’t play on slots if the highest-paying symbol combination is less than 50x. Although this is a sound strategy, there are other variables to consider, such as the slot’s features.
For example, if a slot uses cascading reels, regular symbol combinations are likely to pay lower than a slot that doesn’t use this feature.
This is because cascading reels give you additional chances to win from a single spin. When a winning symbol combination lands, those symbols drop off the reels, and the game replaces them with new symbols.
If this creates a new combination, you win again and the process repeats itself until no new wins fall into the reels.
4. Check for Special Symbols
In section 3, we covered regular symbols used to form symbol combination wins. Special symbols come with a feature attached to them.
The most common is the Wild, which is a wildcard that can substitute for any of the regular symbols to help you extend or complete winning combinations. Also, be on the lookout for wild symbol reel modifiers, as the wild can expand, add multipliers, become sticky for several spins, or trigger respins.
Other special symbols include scatters, which can pay multipliers for landing anywhere on the reels, and they can also trigger features like free spins.
If you have played Coin Collector slots, you’ll also see symbols with cash values, and when a collector symbol lands on the reels, it will collect all cash symbols, accumulate their totals, and multiply the final amount by your spin bet.
5. Understand the Features
If we had to give one reason only as to why slot machines are so popular, then we would have to say the diversity in features. There are an abundance of features, and far too many to mention in this guide. We explained the cascading reels feature in section 3 above, and this is just one feature of many.
Yet, that doesn’t mean we can’t give you a few pointers. When a slot comes with multiple features, read the paytable carefully to get acquainted with each one.
The only option from here is to spin the reels and wait for the features to trigger. Taking this approach gives you the chance to watch the feature in action.
If you are still a little confused, you can revisit the paytable and reread the explanation. Eventually, you’ll pick up how the feature works, which is perfect for the next time you come across another slot with a similar feature.
6. How to Find Online Slot RTP
With some slot providers like Pragmatic Play, for instance, the Return to Player (RTP) is available inside the paytable. On the other hand, some slot games like those from Play’n GO tend to put the RTP on the information page.
If you cannot find the RTP on either of these pages, then our best suggestion is to look for a slot review for the online slot you’re looking to play. An alternative solution is to go directly to the game developer’s website and look to see if there is a games page that offers information about the slot’s RTP.
7. Check For Additional Gameplay Features
Additional game features are either available directly on the slot’s main interface or in the menu surrounding the pay table.
Autoplay: You set the reel to autospin. Some games will allow you to choose the number of autospins, while others simply use an autospin on/off option.
Quick Spins: Rather than watching the slot machine reels spin for too long, you can use the quick spin option to speed up the reel spins so you get faster results.
Sound FX: You can toggle this to turn the game’s sound on or off.
Background Music: If the game’s theme tune is getting too repetitive, you can turn off the background music, while leaving sound FX on for game sounds.
Bonus Buy: Some slot games come with feature or bonus buy options on the main interface. Rather than spinning the reels and waiting for one of the slot’s features to spin in, you can simply buy your way into the bonus.
8. Reading Progressive Jackpot Slots Rules
Before learning how to play progressive jackpot slots, you should take a moment to understand the way of reading its rules.
Progressive jackpot slots usually have a higher minimum bet compared to non-jackpot slots. This is because a portion of your bet goes towards the progressive jackpot, making it more likely for you to win big.
In addition, progressive jackpot slots may also have specific requirements or conditions for triggering the jackpot feature. Some may require you to bet the maximum amount on all paylines, while others may randomly trigger the feature regardless of your bet amount.
It’s important to read and understand these rules before playing a progressive jackpot slot, as it can affect your overall experience and chances of winning.
Reading Slots Before You Play
Before you choose the right slot for you, it is important you understand how to read the game rules. Slot machines come with so many variables to consider. For some players, the amount the symbol combinations pay is important.
In contrast, for other players, lower-paying symbols are acceptable as long as the slot offers a large number of features or reel modifiers that regularly trigger to increase your chances of landing a winning spin.
In order to find the games that you enjoy the most and to understand what is happening when features trigger, the 8 steps outlined in this guide give you an excellent place to begin.
