All about Online Slots

Back in the 1880’s when car mechanic Charles Fey invented the very first slot machine – The Liberty Bell, little could he have dreamed how just over a century later his invention would have revolutionised the betting and gaming industry. Today the slots are the backbone of just about every casino, virtual and bricks and mortar, and slot machines have produced some of the biggest winners in gambling history.

The online slots of today have very little resemblance to the original 3 reel slot machine or one armed bandits as they began to be known. Although most casinos still have some basic 3 reel slot machines, modern technology has created a new generation of advanced slot machines – with bonus rounds, free spins and huge progressive jackpots.

The basic mechanics of slot machines still remain the same – at the heart of each machine is a Random Number Generator (RNG) which determines the position each reel will come to rest in. The RNG generates hundreds of random sequences of numbers every single second, with the last sequence generated as the play button was pressed determining the combination which appears on the win line (s)

Progressive Jackpot Slots
The first ever online progressive jackpot slot was Microgaming’s 3 reel Cashsplash slot, launched in October 1998. The jackpot was initially seeded at $25,000 – which is pretty tame by today’s standards. Today progressive jackpots at online casinos regularly exceed the $1,000,000 mark. Examples of million dollar slots include Microgaming’s Mega Moolah slot, Major Millions, Cryptologics Millionaires Club and Playtech’s Gold Rally.
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Bonus Slots
Bonus slots are probably the most popular variation of slot machine online today – and offer additional chances to win in the form of bonus rounds – these can either be in the form of free spins (see below) or other features. Some feature rounds are now real skill based – for example shoot em up style bonuses which depend on the players skill and reaction time to determine the prizes on offer. Other popular formats include the pick x of x bonus, treasure hunt bonuses and staged bonuses – where the player has to complete a certain number of stages in order to determine their prize – for example Microgamings The Osbournes and Tomb Raider – Secret of the Sword slots.
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UK style fruit machines
In the UK fruit machines can be found in virtually all pubs, bars and clubs, not to mention seaside arcades. Originally called fruit machines from the fruit symbols which featured heavily on their reels, modern fruit machines differ from standard slot machines by offering the ability to nudge reels, hold reels and light a trail to gain access to a feature board.
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Free Spin Slots
By far the most popular bonus slot is the free spins slot – a certain combination of reel symbols (usually three or more scatter bonuses) trigger the free spin bonus – where the player is awarded a certain amount of free spins at a certain multiplier. Some free spins slots allow the player to pick the amount of free spins and multiplier won – the Loaded and Dolphin Tale Slots from Microgaming are examples of this – others rely on random picks to determine the free spins won – ie Jackpot Factory and Jungle Jim, whereas others have a predetermined amount of free spins and multipliers

Random Jackpot Slots
These slots offer a potential jackpot on any spin – regardless of the symbols which appear on the reels. Examples of these include Real Time Gamings Real Series Slots which offer a single random jackpot and Cryptologics Marvel Hero Jackpot Slots, based on the popular Marvel comic series which offer three potential jackpots per spin.

Hybrid Slots
Hybrid slots combine one of more of the above features – for example Progressive Jackpot slots which also offer free spins rounds (Mega Moolah), or slots which offer both bonus rounds and free spins ie Halloweenies.

Virtually all online casinos offer a wide and varied selection of slots, so whichever type you favour – you can now play them all – without even leaving the comfort of your own armchair!

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Online Slots