Online Casino Video Slots Basics

One term that’s used quite frequently in the casino gaming world is video slots. In fact, many of the biggest casino games today are video slots, which definitely interests many players. Assuming you want to know more about video slots, and how you can cash in on these games, here is an in-depth look at the basics of video slots.

What are Video Slots?

A few decades ago, there was no such thing as online slots, and everything was based off of casino slot machines. Going further, every slot machine operated on gears and mechanics, which really limited what could be done with the games. And most of the slots were classic 3-reel machines where only one payline could be played.

Fortunately, a man named Walt Fraley changed the game forever when he invented the first video slots machine in the mid-70‘s. The big difference in Fraley’s game was that it didn’t operate on gears and wheels, and instead used software to display symbols and reels. With the advanced technology featured in video slots, operators were no longer hampered by mechanics, and could offer more reels and paylines.

Unfortunately for Fraley, people were wary of video slots in the early years because it was brand new technology, and people were afraid that the machines could easily be manipulated. However, those fears have gradually subsided over the years - especially with the advent of online slots, where people have thousands of video slots to choose from. And as you’ll see, these video slots games give people lots of options when playing!

As mentioned before, video slots have expanded the amount of things that game designers are able to do. And the biggest department where this reigns true is with the reels and paylines. Now there are games commonly offered in the 3-reel, 5-reel and 7-reel category; plus many games offer as many as 20-30 paylines. What this means is that people have quite a bit of variety when it comes to playing both land-based and online slots.

Sticking with the options offered in video slots, players also have plenty of leeway in the betting department. It’s not uncommon to be able to place bets worth anywhere between $0.01 and $5.00. Assuming you already have the desired betting options selected, you can pick the “autoplay” feature, and let the software do the work for you. When you’ve seen enough spins go by, you can deselect the auto play feature and start manually picking bets again.

Moving to the jackpots, video slots have helped increase the top prizes to enormous amounts. This is especially true with land-based casino slots because the new technology enables these establishments to link progressive jackpots, and create prizes worth tens of millions of dollars. With the online game, linking jackpots is already fairly common; however, video slots are extremely popular among players, so this has helped boost online slots jackpots to be worth millions of dollars.

As with any type of slots, there is no special secret that’s going to help you consistently pull in profits with video slots. Doing the basics like searching for games with high payout percentages and good payback frequency (how often games make payouts of any kind) will help you out quite a bit.

However, it’s especially important to focus on bankroll management when you’re playing video slots. After all, these games give people a ton of betting options, so you have to be responsible with your bankroll. Now the ideal would be to play all of the paylines and make max bets so you can go for the jackpot. But the truth is that most people don’t have enough money to place bets this high, so it’s important to play within your means.

Assuming you only have $100 or $200, a better idea would be to play one payline and make bets worth $0.50 or less. By doing this, you ensure that you’ll be able to play slots longer and keep chasing big prizes. On the other hand, if you’re playing a progressive jackpot that requires maximum bets to win the top prize, don’t play this game unless you have the bankroll to do so.

In the end, being able to properly manage your bankroll will help you have a much better time while playing video slots, and enable you to stay in the game longer.