Online Casino Spotlight

There are many features that add to the excitement of playing slots online.  One of them is the free spins bonus round.  As the name suggests, when triggered, then bonus round offers the player a number of free spins and payouts, which are provided according to the combinations on the slot reels.  The actual payouts are based on the wager placed on the spin that triggered the bonus round.  These bonus rounds are usually triggered when three or more scatters appear on the reels.  Although very rare, they can also be triggered randomly.  The free spins round can greatly increase your chip balance, giving you the opportunity to play longer and thus, increase your chances of winning big.

Popular Games with Free Spins Rounds

In online slots games, free spins rounds are defined by two parameters: the number of free spins and the multiplier.  With basic games, the house rules dictate that a specific number of spins will be given at a certain multiplier.  In more advanced games, the number of free spins and the multiplier are determined by playing a different game on a separate screen.  One example is the popular online slots game called Fat Lady Sings.  In this game, the first Fat Lady sings and the number of free spins is determined by the number of glasses she breaks.  Next, a different Fat Lady sings and determines the multiplier by the number of glasses she breaks.

The bonus game that collectively determines the number of free spins and the multiplier can also increase the element of chance in online slots.  A perfect example is Area 21, an online slots game recently launched by Cryptologic.  Microgaming’s Pedal Power is an example of slots games that allow you to select the combination you want from a list.  In Pedal Power, you have the option to choose from 25 free spins with a 2X multiplier, 10 free spins with 5x multiplier, or 5 free spins with a 10x multiplier.   Because you have to choose between a greater number of free spins and higher multipliers, making a decision is not always as easy as it sounds.

The free spins in slots games can be retriggered when playing at most online casinos.  This simply means that if the triggering combination appears on the reel during your free spin, you are rewarded with extra free spins.  However, some online slots enhance game play in more innovative ways.  A classic example is Sneak A Peek Doctor Doctor, a game in which a yellow capsule may appear on the fourth reel during your free spin.  When the capsule bursts, it provides you with additional free spins.  Likewise, the blue capsule may appear randomly on the fifth reel, which enhances the multiplier for the remaining rounds of the game.

Conclusion

Free spins rounds typically differ greatly from regular bonus rounds.  The background music often becomes more noticeable while colors of the reels or the background itself may alter to highlight the change in the game.  With online slots growing more popular by the day, new and innovative free spins features are sure to come in the near future.

Real Time Gaming is one of the leading providers of internet casino software and a major player in the world of online slots.  In this article, we will take a look at three of its most popular slots game to see why they have become such a big hit among online players.

Aztec’s Treasure

Real Time Gaming’s most popular attraction, Aztec’s Treasure is a slots game that revolves around the theme of ancient civilizations.  The reels have vibrant colors and symbols that feature the likes of the Aztec King, Warrior, and ancient artifacts that accentuate the theme of the game.  This slots game offers broad betting range, allowing you to be from $0.01 to a $100.  The maximum payout on scatters is 500while the payouts on fixed jackpots for five predetermined symbol combinations on an enabled payline range between 5,000 and 100.  When playing free spin rounds, payouts are tripled.  While Aztec’s Treasure is an online game of high volatility, which means it pays out larger sums less frequently, the fact that there is no bonus game to play on a separate screen helps to balances thing out.

Enchanted Garden

Enchanted Garden carries a mystical theme of charm reflected by the suitable symbols and overall ambiance of the game.  Just like Aztec’s Treasure, this one offers a broad betting range, allowing you to wager from $0.01 to $100.  The wild symbol pays out double and appears on four reels, demonstrating relatively high volatility.  However, the maximum payout for scatters is 200, which can be considered moderate compared to Aztec’s Treasure.  The payouts on fixed jackpots for five predetermined symbol combinations range between 2,500 to 100.  Although this indicates low volatility, the aspect of double payouts increases it.  Enchanted Garden offers more volatility with triple payouts in free spins rounds, but evens things out with the absence of an additional bonus game on a second screen.

Paydirt

Paydirt revolves around a gold mining theme.  This online slots game offers superb animation and graphics, particularly in the bonus games.  Similar to the games above, Paydirt has a broad betting range, allowing you to bet from $0.01 to $125.  The maximum payout on scatters is 200, which can be considered moderate compared to other games.  Payouts on fixed jackpots for five predetermined symbol combinations on an enabled payline range between 10,000 and 100.  Unlike Aztec’s Treasure, Paydirt offers a free spins bonus game on a second screen.  Free spins have normal payouts but can be triggered.  The good thing about this slots game is the high volatility, which is the direct result of the bonus rounds and additional winning possibilities.  This makes Paydirt an ideal choice for players who want to win big at online slots.

Conclusion

These are just a few of many online slots games in Real Time Gaming’s extensive portfolio.  Aside from being exciting and fun to play, they also give you a fair chance at winning a nice some of cash.  Therefore, you may want to keep these games in mind when setting out to hit the virtual slots.

Even after you decide to play a slots game at an online casino, there are still other important decisions that need to be the made before you spin the reels and try your luck.  These decisions involve the coin size, number of paylines and the number of coins bet per payline, the three essential factors that make up your betting options.  Many games allow you to select all three betting options while others have a certain number of coins that can be wagered per payline, thus eliminating this choice from your options.

Importance of the Payline

Most online casinos offer slots games that give you the option to choose the number of paylines.  When you think about it, this is only practical as it doesn’t make much since to play a game where all the paylines cannot be enabled.  With the exception of scatter wins, winning combinations typically only result in payouts when they occur in an enabled payline.  Online slots with progressive jackpots go the extra mile to emphasize the importance of selecting all paylines available.  For example, a progressive game usually only pays out when the predetermined winning combination occurs in the highest payline.  While this can be considered risky, selecting all the paylines can dramatically increase your total bet per spin.  This is especially true if you have opted for a game with 50 to 100 paylines.  In this scenario, your best bet would be to reduce your line bet so that you can remain within the limitations of your bankroll.

The Coin Factor

Collectively, the number of coins per payline and coin size contribute to the line bet.  Now you have some online slots games that only permit you to bet one coin per payline, but even then, they generally offer a greater coin size range in addition to an acceptable degree of options within that given range.  Those that give you the option to choose the number of coins often have a notably smaller coin size range and fewer choices within that range.  The good thing is that with either type of slots game, the end results are usually the same.

With some online slots games, you must choose the number of coins per payline and coin size together so that you can obtain your desired line bet.  In these games, the line bet must be selected in accordance to your bankroll for that particular session, and the number of spins you anticipate playing.  Let’s say your bankroll is compromised of 100 credits and you plan on playing 100 spins.  In this scenario, it would be wise to choose a 1.00 line bet, which can easily be done in some online slots games.  Others allow you to choose other denominations such as two 0.50 coins or four 0.25 coins.  Going back to the point of above, both of these variations essentially give you the same options, just in a different way.  Whatever you win, you can put it aside for another session.

Similar to many other casino games, the wild symbol in slots can serve as a substitute for another symbol to give you a winning combination.  More than any other, slots are games centered around specific themes.  In many cases the wild symbol is usually the theme’s most important symbol and therefore, a key aspect to the overall game.

Wilds and Multipliers

A large majority of the online slots games you encounter have wilds that also act as multipliers.  When this symbol is used to round out a winning combination, the payout for that combination is multiplied.  For example, in the popular online slots game T-Rex, the T-Rex is the wild and this symbol payouts double.  In this same game, five of the Stegosaurus symbols in a payline payouts out a total of 5,000 coins.  If you have four of these symbols along with the T-Rex wild, you are then paid out 10,000 coins.  The multiplier quantum is fixed with most casino slots games.  This means that the wild symbol multiplies payouts based on a fixed amount regardless of the number of wilds used to form the winning combination.  However, you also have slots games in which the multiplier depends on the number of wilds that show up in he winning combination.

Types of Wilds

Some online slots games have wild symbols that are designed to add to the excitement of the game.  These are games that incorporate a number of different wild symbols.  The most common of these symbols is the stacked wild.  When this symbol is displayed, all the symbols in each reel become wilds.  If these symbols show up in reels one or two, big payoffs are often the result as the number of winning combinations gives you a simultaneous hit.

The expanding wild symbol is another type of wild commonly found online casino slots games.  Similar to the example above, this is another case where the entire reel is filled with a wild symbol.  However, these symbols are not displayed individually as is the case with the stacked wild.  Instead, the wild expands to cover the reel as a single symbol, hence the name, expanding wild.

One of the newest type of wilds incorporated into online casino slots is the exploding wild.  With this variant, various other symbols are randomly converted into wilds for only a single given spin.  This wild symbol is an integral part of the Call of Duty 4 slots game, where the conversion is followed by an explosion, thus the name, exploding wild  The T-Rex game has exploding wilds but the conversion works in a different manner.  For example, the T-Rex eats every other dinosaur on the reel and then turns them into wild symbols.

When it comes to online slots games, the wild symbol is your friend.  In many types of slots, they are able to trigger bonus rounds to help you obtain extra credits and additional winnings.  Whether it is a stacked, expanding or exploding type, the wild is one symbol you definitely want to see one your computer screen quite frequently.

Slots go back to the 1800s, actually derived from the video poker concept originated by two entrepreneurs in Brooklyn, New York.  These games have certainly come a long way as today’s slot machines are fully computerized and more advanced than ever.  In fact, some no longer accept coins, requiring that you either insert your dollars for multiple spins, withdrawn tickets or prepaid cards.  There is certainly no shortage of slot action on the net as online casinos have many styles, themes and payout structures to try your luck with.  Believe it or not, people have won millions of dollars working the slots in both land-based and online casinos.  While it may not be your one-way ticket to financial freedom, these tips should go a long way when you sit down to pull the lever.

1.) Take the Max Bet

Most of the modern slot machines are far more than one-coin, centerline machines.  Today’s variations allow you to insert multiple coins for each spin.  Although you could end up losing more money faster this way, there are many advantages to be gained as well.  Some slot games multiply the amount you are paid on the winning spin, and others add additional lines you can be paid on.  The simple fact is that the more coins or bets you play, the greater your chances of winning big.  In addition, playing the max bet will get you qualified for the progressive jackpot, which refers to a huge prize for obtaining a rare combination that goes beyond the actual odds of hitting it.  If you really think you can win at slots, the max bet is the way to go.

2.) Get the Payback You Deserve

As you probably know, most casino games are played in accordance to the odds.  The house already understands that they have a certain edge in each game played.  For example, they could be aware that the house will win an average of $1 for every $100 bet on the banker in baccarat.  Similar to baccarat, slot games are designed to pay back a certain percentage of the money they rake in.  So a 99% payback machine may payback $99 for every $100 it takes in, while an 75% payback game would pay back $75 out of every $100 taken in.  If you get the option, the one you would rather play is probably quite obvious.  The moral to this story is that when playing slots online, try your best to make yourself familiar with the payback percentage of certain games and then choose the ones in your favor.

3.) Forget About Cold and Hot Streaks

Other than the payback aspect, there is really no reason you should expect a particular slot machine to be hotter or colder than any other one out of the bunch.  This essentially means a machine that has just paid out big still has the same percentage chance of losing or paying out on the next spin as it did before.  However, a slot machine that has gone a number of spins without paying out the player is more likely to hit on the next spin than any other with the same payback setting.  While it is all about chance here, this is a key strategy you can take with you when sitting down at the casino downtown or the one hosted by your computer.

Slots are among the some of the easiest casino games to play both on or offline.  However, one could argue that playing online is far less of a hassle because all you need to do is fire up the software, kick back in your computer chair and start playing.  It has been said that online slots offer slightly higher payouts in comparison to those found at land-based casinos.  In fact, statistics show that the payout percentage of online casinos is an estimated 95 to 98% while the their real-world counterparts are at around 85 to 90%.  This has given many the incentive to make their way online for a shot at the slots.

Types of Online Slots Game

What several enjoy about playing slots online is the wide variety of games they have to select from.  Some of the variations you might find at an internet casino include:

Classic Slots

Often referred to as basic slots, classic slots make up one of the most popular games you will find at an online casino.  This is mainly because the players believe they have a better chance of winning than with other types of slots.  With classic slots, you have single pay lines and multi-pay lines as well as three and five reel variations.  When pulling the lever on a game of classic slots, you can dramatically increase the probabilities of winning by going with max bets instead of low-balling your way down to nothing.

Feature Slots

These slots are a big hit in both online and land-based casinos.  They give you a number of components such as wilds, bonus rounds, multipliers and scatters.  These elements intensify the challenge of the game and increase the chances of winning as well.  Most feature slots function as multi-line slots, allowing you to win free spins or more cash.

Multi-line Slots

Multi-line slots typically consist of three or more reels; some actually go up to as many as nine.  Additionally, these slots almost always offer two or more pay lines.  It isn’t uncommon for the pay lines on a multi-line slots game to exceed the 40 mark.  What makes these type of slots so popular is that they offer bonus rounds and progressive jackpots that get pretty big, pretty fast.

Bonus Slots

Hence the name, bonus slots come bearing multiple bonus rounds.  While you need to trigger the bonus rounds, the triggers are often plentiful and vary between different games of bonus slots.  After finding out what the bonus round has to offer, you then attempt to multiple your winnings by playing the initial game.

Progressive Slots

Progressive slots are a major hit in the world of online gambling, primarily due to their huge jackpots.  These slots can either be single or multi-line and may also contain features such as bonus rounds.  Players flock to progressive slots because they usually run on quality gaming software, almost anyone can play and if we didn’t mention, the jackpots are crazy.

Conclusion

These are just some of the slots games you have to play with online.  While the rules vary slightly, all are simple to play and can be just as, if not more fun than the real deal.