Drumroll Please. 5 Types of Slot Machines Uncovered. Having a better understanding of the different types of slot machines is an important step to getting the most out of your slot machine experience. Whether you are entering an online slots website or an exciting Vegas casino, your slots environment is going to be vibrant and diverse. CLASS II SLOT MACHINES EXPLAINED. In a previous article, we explained the general differences between Class III and Class II slot machines. Most of our coverage here will be about ‘Class III’ machines since those are the type you’re most likely to encounter in a major casino jurisdiction (Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City) or online.
For the better part of the last century, slot machines were simple enough. They consisted of a metal box that housed spinning, mechanical reels with symbols on each reel. If the symbols lined up and matched, then the player won a jackpot.
Over the last three decades, computer and video game technology have caused big changes in how slot machines are played. Gamblers still see spinning reels, but the mechanism is now powered by a microcomputer called a random number generator.
Additional features have become commonplace, and dozens of different types of slot machines have become available. This page lists and categorizes the major types of slot machines available in casinos throughout the world.
Bonus Slots
One of the most common types of slots games now available are bonus slots, which offer bonus games when certain symbols or combinations of symbols appear on the payline. One of the most popular examples of this type of game is the ubiquitous Wheel of Fortune slot machine game, which features a replica of the wheel from the eponymous game show above the machine. When you hit certain symbols, you get to spin the wheel and get a bonus payout.
Banking Games
A banking game is a game in which coins are accumulated until they’re won. Piggy Bankin’ is one of the most popular examples of this kind of game, which has been around for a long time. Banking games should not be confused with progressive slots, which are covered later on this page.
Multiple Reels and Paylines
Early slot machines featured three reels and a single payline, but modern slot machines have a lot more possibilities. Why is this? Computers.
Three reel slot machines often now have multiple paylines, and five reel slot machines have an even greater number of paylines.
These changes have increased the potential size of the jackpots available on these games. It’s not hard to understand the math of why this is possible. If you have three reels with ten symbols on each, the hardest combination to hit has a 1 in 1000 chance of hitting. Any jackpot larger than 1000 to 1 would result in a loss for the casino.
Compare that with a five reel game with 256 different symbols on each reel. This kind of machine would be impossibly large if the reels were actual metal strips, but computers use imaginary reels, with results determined by a random number generator inside. With these kinds of odds, astronomical jackpot amounts can be offered, and the machine will remain profitable.
The number of paylines has increased dramatically, too. Early slot machines had a single payline, but now, common slot machine games offer the following numbers of paylines:
- 2
- 3
- 5
- 9
- 20
- 25
A new type of Australian slot machine game does away with paylines altogether, and these games offer 243 different ways to win. Basically, any combination of winning symbols from left to right results in payouts. These games are hugely popular, and even though the concept sounds a little confusing, it actually become intuitive very quickly during gameplay. In fact, 243 ways slots are wicked addictive fun.
Types of Progressive Slots – Standalone, Local, and Wide Area
Progressive slot machines offer constantly growing jackpots. These jackpots begin with a seed amount from the casino or network, and as each player plays, a tiny percentage of her bet is added to the progressive jackpot.
These jackpost can become astronomically high. The odds of actually winning such a jackpot are also astronomical. These types of games are comparable to the lottery.
Multiple versions of progressive slots are available. For example, a standalone progressive jackpot has a jackpot that’s tied to an individual machine. These types of progressive jackpots are generally in the $1000s of dollars range, and only play from that specific game count toward the progressive. In fact, standalone progressives are similar to banking slot machines.
Local progressive jackpots, on the other hand, feature linked jackpots within a single casino. These jackpots can grow larger faster because every bet on every machine in the network counts toward the growing jackpot. It’s not uncommon for these jackpots to reach into the $10,000s and even the $100,000s at larger casinos.
But the big jackpots are the wide area progressive games. These games link together slot machines from multiple casinos, and their jackpots are life-changing. These are the jackpots which get into the millions of dollars.
The most popular wide area progressive network in the world is called Megabucks, which was launched in 1986 by IGT, the largest and most successful slot machine manufacturer in the world.
Types of Online Slots
All of the above types of slot machines are available in online versions as well as traditional brick and mortar casinos. In fact, in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal but regulated, you can find exact duplicates of the games available at Vegas casinos.
Most of these games are made available via Wagerworks, which was purchased by IGT in 2005 for $90 million. Examples of these branded and popular slots games now available online include:
- Elvis
- Family Guy
- Jeopardy
- Judge Judy
- Lobstermania
- Star Trek
- Wheel of Fortune
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Other online slot machine games are exclusively available online. Examples of these include games from Realtime Gaming and Microgaming, the latter of which offers some of the largest progressive jackpots on the Internet.
A Look At All The Slot Variations You Can Play Online
We’re not sure about you, but one of our favorite things about slot machines are all the different types and variations you can play.
You can find progressive slots. Traditional slots. Video slots about pirates or unicorns. There are thousands of different slot combinations you can play.
The real trick, though …is finding a good slots casino.
A casino is only as good as the software that powers them. If the casino works with a crappy company, then guess what, their slot variations will be crappy too.
So you only want to join casinos powered by great software companies – the best-of-the-best.
The following casinos meet those standards. They get their slot variations from industry giants like Microgaming, Playtech, BetSoft and Real Time Gaming. Companies that make EXCITING slot games.
Check them out. We think you’ll like them as much as we do.
Types of Slot Variations You Can Play Online
We want to take a couple of minutes to show you all the different types of slot machines you can find online –OR– offline. That’s right – you play these slot variations in your nearby brick and mortar casino too.
Let’s get started.
Traditional Slots – Also known as classic slots or one-armed bandits. These are usually 3-reeled slots that use fruit, bars and diamonds for symbols. Many classic slots nowadays even have wilds and bonus rounds.
Video Slots – These look like video games. Most have cut scenes, animations and bonus rounds – elements that make video slots more fun to play. These have more reels too – between five and nine.
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3D Slots – These are just like video slots, except all the graphics and animations are in 3D. No glasses needed!
Progressive Slots – Progressive slots are machines that have jackpots you can win when you bet the min required to play for it –AND- you hit the winning combination. The jackpots are built from a portion of your bet. The more people that play for the jackpot, the faster and bigger it grows.
Fixed Jackpot – These slots have jackpots you can win, too. The difference is these jackpots do not continue growing. They have limits to how big they can get.
Penny Slots – These are machines you can play for as little as one-cent per line per spin. All the penny slot machines I’ve seen have multiple lines you can bet on – some as many as 60. Most machines nowadays are penny slots – even the cool ones like Jurassic Park and The Dark Knight.
Dollar Slots – You bet a min of $1 per spin. These usually have fewer lines than penny slots, which means fewer chances of hitting any kind of payout, but the tradeoff is the payout percentages are much higher – between five and ten percent.
High Limit Slots – These are the same as the slot variations mentioned above, but with the difference that you can bet much higher – anywhere from $100 to $10,000 – or more – per spin.
Mobile Slots – Slot games you can play from your phone.
3-Reel Slots – Machines with 3 reels.
5-Reel Slots – These machines have 5 reels which give you more combos and paylines to hit and win. All the 5-reel slot machines I’ve seen have been video slots.
Slots with Features – This is a sweeping term that refers to slot machines with different in-game options. Some have bonus rounds, others have multipliers or wilds, and others will have everything.
Paylines – These are machines that offer more ways to win than just the line going directly through the middle of each reel. Some machines have up to 243 different winning combinations. The only catch is you have to place a wager on every line you want to play.
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Fruit Machines – These are more or less popular in the UK. These are like classic slot machines except they often have more features and opportunities for player interaction. You can choose from options like holding and nudging reels or features like cash ladders, hi/lo gamble or bonus trails.
Pokies – A term used in Australia for slot machine.
Now lets look at the different slot themes you’ll find online.
Slot Themes
The types of slots you’ll find is just the beginning. Each slot machine will have a different theme too.
When combined with the different slot types you now have hundreds – EVEN THOUSANDS – of different slot machines to choose from – multiplied by the number of software providers.
Here are some of the most common slot themes.
- Movies
- TV shows
- Celebrities
- Animals
- Cars
- Video games
- Pop culture
- Game shows
- Comic books
- Horror
- Retro
- Pirates
- Romance
- Wild west
- Sports
- Money / wealth
- Ancient rome
- Ancient egypt
- Action
- Fairy tales
- Food
- History
- Mystery
- Seasons
You’ll find MOST themes at any casino you join. The EXCEPTION to this is themes like movies or celebrities – these often have to be licensed first before a slot can be created.
As such, only a few slot software companies have the rights to create these machines. And since some software companies refuse to work with US-friendly casinos, Americans won’t have all the options UK slots players do.
For example, UK (and any other non-US player) will get to join casinos powered by software companies like Microgaming, IGT and Playtech. That means they can play licensed slot games like:
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- Wizard of Oz
- Willy Wonka
- Batman
- Superman
- Life
- Clue
- Monopoly
- The Dark Knight
The only way Americans can play these games is by taking a trip to their local casino. And that’s really the only downside to the topic of online slot variations.