10 Must-Know Terms for Playing Online Slots
Dear slots lovers, it’s vital before playing any online slot that you understand the terminology of the game. Even though slots are one of the easiest gambling games, it pays to know the basics of the game!
These top 10 slot terms are pretty much mandatory to know before playing slots online. They will help you have some control while playing, and most importantly, understand the main points about an online video slot.
Below are the most important terms related to online slot games. Go through them and then head over to top Canadian online casinos, such as, ZetCasino, to play real money slots with bonuses.
- The Pay Table: All slots have information in their interface about the game rules, including which combinations of symbols, and positions on the reels will earn you the wins.
It will also display each symbol’s value, where the paylines run, how to trigger the bonus rounds, and all the game features.
- Coin Size: this is a tricky one! Don’t confuse coin size with the bet amount per spin. It’s very important that you look at what will be the coin size multiplied by the number of lines of the slot, to know how much you’ll be spending with each spin. You can always lower the coin size and increase the number of lines to bet on per spin.
- Paylines: select all the lines you wish to bet on. These vary from game to game, the most common trend nowadays in video slots is 25-30 lines. The latest slots sport even 365 ways to win, so just make sure you select the paylines you wish to play, adjust the coin size and spin to win that lucky game.
- Max Bet or Bet Max: you will find this in pretty much every online slot, and it refers to the maximum money you can actually bet each time you spin. In short, it denotes that you’ll be betting on all lines with the highest coin size available.
- Free Spins: Don’t confuse this with the free spins offers you see in casino promotions! The Free Spins here refers to the free spins you can receive while playing the game and when you trigger a special feature of the slot. Free spins are usually awarded in a game’s bonus round. The number of free spins awarded can vary from 1 to any amount given by the game. Using this in-game bonus, you can collect any winnings delivered from the free spins’ round.
- Bonus Game: this is another ‘free-perk’ feature in a lot of modern slot games, in addition to the free spins feature, mentioned above. A bonus round gets triggered when you land the game’s special symbols (usually known as a Wild) or characters in a particular order or combination. The bonus game is especially lucrative, as it sports higher prizes for big wins.
- Auto-Spin: if you are getting tired or are multi-tasking, auto-spin is a great option for you. This option can be activated through the game’s interface, and almost all slots support it. Imagine, just when you move away from the game, a bonus game pops up or a special feature gets triggered! This is precisely where the auto-spin feature comes in handy, and spins the reels for you automatically.
- Wild Symbol: This is a special symbol that can substitute for any other symbol on the reels, and help you win by forming winning combinations. Wild is usually also the highest paying symbol. As an example, 3 wild symbols can trigger a bonus game. A few variants of Wild have cropped up in recent times: namely the Expanding Wilds, and the Sticky Wild symbols. While expanding wilds will multiply to fill the entire reel, sticky wilds can get ‘attached’ to the reels over several spins to increase your winning chances.
- RTP: (Return to Player) this is the exact percentage a game pays out on an average to the players in the long term. The RTP of every game differs, and is decided by the game’s developer. Just keep in mind, that the higher a slot’s RTP the better chances you have of winning.
For example, BetSoft’s Jungle Stripes slot game comes with a 97.03% RTP. Meaning you are expected to receive $97 back on average for every $100 you bet
- Progressive Jackpot: winning big in these jackpot games is every punter’s fantasy. There are some great progressive jackpot slots out there, from local ones, to network jackpot slots that can have prizes going in millions of dollars.
