Gearfuse Technology, Science, Culture & More
Did you know that slots are currently the most popular casino games in the world? Some would say that although many play them passionately, there are only a few who really understand how slots work. There are even fewer who know what their chances of making money are.
The basic rules of this game have not changed since 1899 when one of the most famous names related to slots, Charles Fay, invented the first slot machine. The player bets and spins a set of drums with symbols in order to get a certain combination of those symbols. Each of these rotating drums stops in a random position.
If you are a beginner, what you need to know right away is that there are symbols that appear more often but bring fewer gains. However, there are also symbols that rarely appear but combining them brings great rewards. The size of the winnings for all winning combinations is predefined.
How Slots Worked in the Past
The distant predecessors of modern slots were mechanical slot machines whose central part consisted of a metal shaft with drums. The shaft represents the heart of the mechanical slot machine, and it is connected to the handle with which the drums rotate. Since the slot machine needs to be stopped at one point, a kind of braking system is applied to it, which is today computerized. The main disadvantage of mechanical braking systems was that they often broke down and thus created large costs for manufacturers. Today’s modern slot machines work flawlessly and can hardly be broken.
Of the other parts, there are of course groups of sensors that determine where the drums stopped and whether the player won something or not. In addition to them, there are sensors that determine whether enough money has been paid to be able to play at all or not. The older slot machines did not have sensors but all that was determined with the help of mechanical devices that monitored whether the exact amount of money was inserted or not.
As for the drums themselves, they were attached to a mechanical shaft that worked on the principle of a tightened-up spring that moved them. A certain stopping mechanism was placed right next to the drums. Of course, players who do not know how slots work, could not see any of this because all this takes place inside the machine itself.
Today, random stopping of drums has been replaced by random numbers generated by a computer (RNG – Random Number Generator) but the main principles remain the same. These random principles are followed by all licensed slot manufacturers. It is important for bettors to get acquainted with this randomness so that they can choose better devices and get better acquainted with their chances.
Although most slots are now electronic, they still use drums to display the results of each spin. Despite the fact that the display is done by computer today, the math of the game still has 3 to 5 sets of symbols (virtual drums) that stand in random positions. However, modern online slots have many new features that would not be possible with mechanical drums such as expanding wilds, symbols for free spins (fruits), free spins, bonus rounds, and many others.
How Slots Work Today
On today’s modern slots, by pressing the spin button, RNG generates a random number. The math module of the game takes that random number and calculates where the drums should stop. The game then visually shows them how they stop at certain positions and calculates the outcome of the spin. The same outcome is then shown to the player who spun the slot.
Your win or loss in each round is determined only by your luck. The random outcome of RNG is not affected by previous gains or losses. This means that nothing is predictable in the slots – everything is actually pure luck. But the fact that the final outcome depends exclusively on your luck does not mean that there are no more and less favorable devices for a gambler.
For all of you who are beginners in the world of gambling, it would be advisable to get acquainted with certain types of slot machines and their advantages and disadvantages, and how slots work. Only with a deep knowledge of the game and all its variations can you choose the most favorable machines and thus ensure the best chances of winning, which can be cashed out through various payment methods that are linked here.
Different Types of Slots
Knowing how slots work will not guarantee you winnings. In fact, nothing can guarantee that you will emerge victorious by playing them. But what you can do is choose the best machines. Therefore, we have prepared a list of several different types of slot machines that you will encounter, as well as their characteristics:
- Free slot games
- Classic slots
- Video slots
- Progressive slots
- Licensed slots
Free Slot Games
These slots do not require players to put in real money but are played completely free of charge. These games are perfect for beginners as they allow them to experience the pleasure of real slot games without risking real money, while also learning how slots work.
Through the demo version of real online casino slots to programs for learning new players, the choice is abundant. All quality online casinos allow players to try slots for free before putting in actual money. If you want to try your hand at free slots, you can find hundreds of games.
Classic Slots
This term has several meanings and can mainly refer to traditional mechanical slot machines. These classic slots have a lot of fans around the world, mainly because of their simplicity and nostalgia.
Prior to modern 3D graphics, licensed themes, and progressive jackpots, these slots were the kings of the market. Today, they are not easy to find, but there are still some bars around the world that offer them. These slots generally have the most unfavorable probabilities for a gambler, so we do not recommend them if your goal is to chase big winnings.
Video Slots
The video slot is a modern type of slot machine that can accommodate 99 % of all slots today. Each video slot has a display, graphics, animation, and music. As generations who grew up playing video games are slowly getting old enough to enter local casinos, it is no surprise that more and more people are turning to them and discovering the mystery of how slots work.
But it is not just millennials who have fallen in love with better graphics, superior effects, and interesting plots enabled by today’s more powerful technology. Many old-school players have found a new love in video slots. That is why many of the most famous slot manufacturers have decided to try their hand at making these devices. The spread of this type of slot machine has also led to the flourishing of the online gambling industry.
Progressive Slots
They belong to a special type of slot machine that is interconnected via a network. The essence of this connection is to unite the prize fund of the progressive jackpot. These jackpots are one of the largest in the industry and work on the principle that we are about to explain.
Game providers award a small percentage of all spins that players make to the prize pool, i.e. progressive jackpot. This prize is won at random at any turn and can be won by any lucky gambler who plays one of the provider’s slot machines. These games can be connected to each other in one casino, but also between several different casinos.
The largest and most popular networks of progressive jackpots regularly give jackpots that reach several million dollars. These progressive games have an army of loyal fans, so know that your competition is great, but the reward is even greater.
Licensed Slots
Any slot that has a character, voice or any other licensed intellectual property in it is called a licensed slot. For example, if you play a game that has the character of one of Marvel’s heroes (Thor, Iron Man, etc.), a game built on the character of a famous actor, or a slot whose theme is a board game like Monopoly, then it is a licensed slot machine.
The advantages of such machines are multiple – people like to play slots with celebrities or characters from movies or games on them. Such slots first gained popularity in classic casinos throughout Las Vegas but soon spread to all over the world (including online casinos).
Unfortunately, licensed games are generally less favorable for the player (due to the price of the license) than ordinary video slots, so if your goal is to provide yourself with the best chance of winning, these devices are not a good choice.
How to Choose the Best Slot Machine
There is no universal answer to this question, as having fun should always come first, but there are a few things that make some machines more favorable to the player than others. Two key concepts that can help you make a decision are:
- RTP
- Volatility
These two terms are the most important elements of any slot game. By getting to know them, you will have some insight into how the slots work and thus provide yourself with the best chances of winning. Let’s see why…
RTP (Return to Player)
This term is also known as the payout percentage and is a long-term statistical parameter that shows how much money a game pays out to gamblers in the long run in relation to how much they put in it.
Here is a simpler explanation – if the RTP of a game is 95 %, it means that if you roll 100 rounds in a slot with $ 10 bets per round, you should statistically win $ 950 per $ 1,000 bet. This is probably the simplest answer to the question of how slots work in essence. Now, if you play less than 100 rounds, the RTP could vary from 30 % to 100 %, but the longer you roll, the more likely you are to reach the statistically displayed RTP.
Keep in mind that these are statistics, so victory is not guaranteed. If luck is not on your side, you can play tens of thousands of spins without big winnings since these probabilities are calculated in millions, if not billions of spins. We will note that the industry standard in the casino world is the following – the RTP of most slot games is 96 %. Of course, there are devices with a lower, but also with a higher RTP.
Having in mind the above, we can freely say that RTP is an excellent measure by which you can determine the probability of payment on slot machines – the higher the percentage, the more favorable the slot machine is for a player. This information is public with all well-known slot manufacturers, so even beginners can get information before they start gambling.
Volatility
Finding RTP statistics is generally easy but, if you want to take the game to the next level and gamble like true pros, then volatility is also an important item you need to keep in mind.
Volatility in slot machines is a rather complex concept and is much more difficult to determine than RTP. Volatility is actually the frequency of machine payouts. If the volatility is high, it means that you will win less often but your gains will be higher. If the volatility is lower, you will win more frequent but smaller amounts of money.
Slot machines often have a large number of repetitions and there are a large number of payout combinations. That is how slots work but it is something that makes calculating volatility difficult. Therefore, game providers usually classify their devices into three categories:
- Low volatile
- Medium volatile
- Highly volatile
Although these terms do not directly affect how the machine is favorable to a gambler, different people have different playing styles. Namely, for some, highly volatile slots will suit them better because they like big winnings, while some will prefer to win smaller amounts of money but more often. So when choosing a slot machine to play on, keep this in mind and choose according to your affinities.
