Types of Slot Machines

How to play slot machines really depends on what type of machine you're using, although the rules are relatively constant across different types. The same may be said about slots strategy.

A Note on Slot History

For those of you who are curious, slot machines are a new invention, or at least new when juxtaposed with the age of gambling. Charles Fey, a mechanic, developed the first one in 1894. Nevada Restaurant has the Liberty Bell, Fey's slot machine, on display. It wasn't until the Great Depression years that slots really became all that popular, and Las Vegas didn't see them 'til the '40s. About two decades ago, slot machines really started taking over, and now they account for 67% of casinos' yearly earnings.

Playing the Slots

Old-time Las Vegas slot machines live on in the form of online slots. If you know how to play slot machines of one kind, you basically know how to play them all. You want to line up your symbols in a specific fashion. Your prize for succeeding varies- it can be anywhere from a mere twenty-five cents to millions of dollars. That's the part that usually depends on the slots types, so it's probably important for you to know the various types of slot machines.

A three-reel slot machine has three reels and one bet to represent them all. Anything that would affect how to play slot machines is dependent on the number of reels because that is what determines payout. With online slot machines, you have a table listing the payout levels on a sidebar or on a separate window linked to the game screen.

Here we'll take a moment to note the differences between reel and video slots, whether they're played progressively or straight. A reel slot has three reels, and has anywhere from one pay line to five. Video ones, on the other hand, usually have five reels and as many as forty pay lines but never just one. The sizes of the coins for video slots vary a lot more and the maximum bets are much higher because of the greater number of pay lines.

Knowing how to play slot machines only depends on a few basic rules, which are constant for the most part, with slight variations for differing numbers of reels and pay lines.