Slots 101: The basics of slots gaming
One of the attractions of casino games like slots is their simplicity. Compared to table games like poker or blackjack that require skill or strategy, slot games depend purely on luck and chance. Here, there are no live dealers present nor competition with other players—it’s just you, the machine, and endless hours of entertainment and rewards you can get from the games’ riot of colours, lively sound effects, and the spinning symbols on the fast reels!
Get the chance to win big when you learn everything there is to know about slot games here at Bitcasino. Start spinning to land on paylines and win in thousands of bitcoin slots today!
The early days of slot machines
Online slot games nowadays have become so different from the good old days of slot machines. In the 1880s, the term ‘slot machine’ used to refer to the vending machine that releases chocolate or sweet candy bars when you drop a nickel in the slot.
Ten years later, when Charles Fey put together the Liberty Bell, the first true slot gaming machine was born. It had three spinning reels, each with five symbols: bells, hearts, spades, diamonds and horseshoes.
The biggest payout was 50 cents in cash when you hit the combination of 3 bells on the single payline. Since then, the payline patterns and payouts have improved tremendously with every new gaming design.
Two types of slots gaming
Land-based slots
In brick and mortar casinos, you can still see the classic standing slot machines. These are brightly coloured machines with a video screen that displays the symbols and the games’ design. On the side, there’s a lever you must pull to activate the spinning reels.
However, the classic lever lost its mechanical function when video slot machines came out in 1976. Since then, modern slot machines have become a standard gaming fixture in land-based casinos.
Online slots
Online slots gaming is run by state of the art computing algorithms just like any technology-based game on the internet. There are so many gaming software companies that offer their games on online casino gaming platforms like Bitcasino! In fact, there are at least 60 gaming providers with thousands of bitcoin slots at Bitcasino alone.
With online slots, there’s no need to head to a land-based casino just to get the chance to spin the reels and win. Explore various themes in slot games such as Adventure, Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and more all in the comfort of your home with online slots’ interactive gameplay.
Basics of slot games
Whether a three or five-reel slot, the basics of slot games remain the same. To start the game, you must spin the reels by pulling a lever or pushing the button. When the spinning stops, the reels will display a combination of symbols. If the combination creates a pattern that matches the winning payline, the game will reward you with a payout!
Moreover, modern slot games are no longer limited to single paylines. Now they come with multiple paylines in multiple directions, and not just left to right and vice versa. This gives players endless opportunities to land winning combinations and win massive payouts!
The winning payline on slot reels are combinations of the following symbols:
Standard – The five standard symbols found in most video slot games are the card symbols 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. However, the traditional fruit machine symbols from the 3-reel slot design are still used for classic slot games.
Multipliers – Multiplier symbols usually come with an extra symbol that can land on the reels just like any other symbol, but they increase the size of the payouts from winning lines by 2x, 3x, 4x or even 6x times.
Wild – Any character that fills in to complete a winning combination is called a wild symbol. When a wild completes a winning combination, it increases your chances of winning on a payline. Here are some of the most popular types of wild:
- Sticky wild stays in the same position on the same reel in the next few spins
- Stacked wild will stack up on top of each other every time you spin until they complete the entire reel.
Scatters – Scatters are symbols that unlock bonus features such as free spins when a set amount is collected on the reels. Unlike the wild symbols where they have to appear in your active payline, scatters don’t need to occupy the full payline to reward the game’s bonus features.
Bonus – The bonus symbols are similar to scatters but trigger a special bonus game. The two types of symbols can often interchange their functions. Sometimes the scatters could trigger the bonus game, while special free spin symbols start the free spin rounds.
How online slots games works
To better understand the basics of slots games, here are a few important concepts that help make the reels spin:
The Random Number Generator (RNG) is the brain of the slot machine. Similar to the operating system of the computer, the RNG is always running for as long as the game is on, working with numbers and selecting random combinations every fraction of a second. RNG generates a value between 0 and 4 billion or more. These numbers designate which symbols will be displayed on the reels.
Simply put, the RNG powers the randomness of symbol patterns and winning paylines to ensure that the game is provably fair. Moreover, it is not humanly possible to intervene in the RNG results given the super fast turnaround time of combinations every time you spin.
The Return To Player (RTP) is expressed in percentage and it describes the amount of money that the slots can return to the player after a fairly massive number of spins. If this percentage is higher, then the slot is likely to give more wins in the long run.
Variance is the difference between each slot game’s rate and amount of payout. If a slot machine has what is called high variance, it means that a winning pull is scarce but the value of the win is higher. This works the other way around for low variance machines, which means they reward frequent but small wins.
Payline indicates which rows produce a winning combination when the symbols are matched. A payline is a pattern on the reels which indicates whether you score a winning spin or not. Paylines start from the leftmost reel to the rightmost reel. Some can be in a straight line while others are zig-zagged. There are different kinds of paylines such as:
- Fixed payline – With this kind, you have to place a bet on all paylines before spinning the reels wherein your bet will be distributed across all paylines. Say you place a one-dollar bet on a 5 payline slot, your bet will be divided into 5 or 20 cents for every winning combination.
- Variable payline – If you want the flexibility to choose which paylines to bet on, this is your slot game. With an adjustable payline, you don’t have to bet on all paylines and can simply select a few instead.
- Cluster pay slots – Bitcoin slots got even more interesting all thanks to the wonder of cluster pays. Otherwise known as cluster slots, these take the traditional paylines one step further.
In cluster pay games symbols can appear in ‘clusters’ with symbols adjacent to one another. This makes gameplay more unpredictable and more importantly, more fun!
Cluster pays are usually combined with avalanching reels and are part of the grid slots collection. Picture them as the Tetris or Candy Crush of the slot world, as soon as those corners touch horizontally or vertically, you have the opportunity to win big!
Advantages of playing online slots
Nowadays, online slots have become a more popular gaming option than traditional slot machines. This is because online casinos offer more bang for your buck than brick and mortar casinos due to the following reasons:
Convenience
Probably the only thing that will keep you from playing online slots is if you don’t have your laptop or mobile phone with you. The convenience of being able to play your favourite slots anywhere and anytime is one of the best advantages of online casinos. Moreover, online slot games have gotten even more convenient with payments, now able to accommodate wagers in bitcoin, which is the fastest-rising asset in the financial market today.
Interactivity
The latest online slots have more interactivity than any modern land-based slot game. Online slot games have high-quality graphics and mechanics that are easy to understand with their intuitive features.
You don’t need to read how-to instructions to play, just press start and you are already in the game just by following the visuals.
Multi-payline slots
Online slot games can accommodate more symbol patterns and payline combinations than land-based slots. Moreover, unlike in traditional slots, the number of symbols on the reels no longer affects your odds of landing a winning combination since the outcome of a slot spin is now determined by the RNG. The moment you click on ‘Play’, this algorithm determines the outcome of your spin.
Online slot games can have a hundred or more paylines that run vertically, horizontally, diagonally or even take on the shapes of zigzags or V’s. Most of these slots boast 20, 25, 30, or 40 win lines. Moreover, game providers have now produced Megaways slots that offer players hundreds up to thousands of ways to win!
The greater the number of paylines, the more chances you have to win big in the same round. You will also get to enjoy a much greater range of betting opportunities.
Rewards
It’s not just the big payouts and the chance to win the jackpot that makes online slots exciting to play. Every game has its own reward system that you can take advantage of, so the more you play, the bigger the rewards!
There are so many kinds of rewards and incentives that are yours for the taking here at Bitcasino. Just sign up for a free account so you can be eligible for different kinds of bonuses and loyalty rewards!
Free Play mode
The best thing about Bitcasino is that you don’t need to deposit money to play our games in Fun mode. Discover all the features of the game and plan out your betting strategy after a couple of spins without spending a pretty penny.
Placing bets in online slots
It’s time to practice what you’ve just learned. Start playing with real money once you sign up for an account at Bitcasino! Once you are logged in, your screen will be flooded with colourful and exciting games vying for your attention. But first, familiarise yourself with the features of your new online gaming home so you can maximise all the perks here at Bitcasino.
You will find the main navigation bar on the left of your screen. Under the Games menu, you will see the Slots section that will take you to the wonderful world of online slots gaming!
How do you start? If you’re not familiar with any of the games, you can sort the games on the right side of the screen for easy selection! Click the sort drop-down menu and you can select any of the following:
- Popularity
- A-Z
- Volatility
- Hit Ratio
- RTP
On the lower right of each game, you can click the information icon to know more about the game:
- Minimum bet
- Maximum bet
- RTP
- Volatility medium/high/super high
- Paylines
- Hit ratio.
Once you have your account, you can safely place your bets. All you have to do is to click the ‘Deposit to play’ button. At Bitcasino, click the Deposit button on the upper right of your screen to open your ‘Fund’ page and you will be asked to select one of the following options:
- Purchase crypto with Card
- Purchase crypto with MoonPay
Any one of these options will ask you for permission if you want to use your card to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies you can use for bets.
Types of payment methods
You can use any of the following payment methods to deposit to your online casino account:
Debit/Credit card:
- Visa
- MasterCard
eWallets:
- Skrill
- PayPal
Cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Tron (TRX)
- Tether (USDT)
- Cardano (ADA)
On the Funds tab, select the cryptocurrency of your choice. If you don’t find your preferred cryptocurrency, just click on ‘Add new currency’ to select the one you want.
Popular Bitcoin slots you can try
Crash
Straightforward and immersive, Crash is set in the outer reaches of space and carries the awesome potential to rack up mega-wins straight from the start—that is if you’re fast enough!
All you need to do is get in your rocketing red race car, place a wager and watch the multiplier grow. The objective here is to cash out before the car crashes!
Jammin Jars
Jammin Jars is a slot game that features an infinite number of combinations you can win. With its mouth-watering graphics and cute theme of fruits and jam jars, alongside its funky disco soundtrack, each spin will make you want to dig your hands in fruity goodness! Jammin Jars slot game will take you on a sweet ride towards the jackpot worth 1,000x your stake!
Reactoonz
Humanity needs you to defend planet Earth from the swarm of aggressive but adorable aliens coming to conquer your home! Lead the rest of the mighty defenders and fight your way to freedom in this alien-themed slot game.
The ever-creative game providers Play’n GO does not disappoint with their colourful and playful take on the beloved sci-fi genre. This 7×7 reel game will take you on an intergalactic adventure of a lifetime where you can get the chance to claim the aliens’ prized riches worth 4,700x your stake!
Discover life outside Earth and exotic treasures beyond the realms of your imagination with every cosmic spin at Reactoonz.
Book of Dead Demo
Embark on a grand adventure with archaeologist extraordinaire, Rich Wilde as he sets on a perilous path across ancient Egypt where the forbidden riches of the Pharaoh lies in wait. This slot game will take you to an exhilarating experience of finding the jackpot worth 250,000 coins with every spin of the reels!
Money Train 2!
Rush to the train station and don’t forget your ticket aboard the train of fortune! Choose the best seat and enjoy every moment of this amazing ride brought to you by Relax Gaming. The next stop is a whopping 50,000 times your total stake so hold onto your seat and rush towards gold and glory at Money Train 2!
Crazy Bomber
Save the kingdom and find the stolen treasures in casino slot Crazy Bomber. Help Hero Bomber fight against the evil creatures lurking around the empire and be rewarded with a jackpot worth 200x your stake!
