The Slot Machine is a mechanical slot machine where players can place bets with the opportunity to win money. The first slot machine was released sometime between 1887 and 1895. As you would expect, the machine was very simple and consisted of three coils and five different symbols, one of which was the Liberty Bell, which also became the name of the machine. The invented machine was a huge success and was found in many barbershops, cigar shops, bowling alleys and salons.
Since then, the history of the slots has continued to evolve. Slot machines quickly got nicknames such as fruit machines, bars atoms, puggy, pokies, and one-armed bandit (due to the lever you pressed to start spinning).
After about 100 years, when Internet technologies spread all over the world, and ordinary people began to access the World Wide Web, the idea of an online slot machine began to develop. The huge success of physical slot machines needed to be carried over to the online version. However, it was not so easy. For crypto casinos to be successful, many smart people had to invent new payment systems for painless and safe online money transactions. In addition to this, online casinos had to make sure that potential customers trust them enough to play online.
Online slots today is a term that encompasses a vast and varied set of features, themes and settings, and is an area that is constantly evolving. One thing that all casino slots have in common is that they don’t require any real playing skills. You just have to click on the “Spin” button to start playing.
How do slot machine work?
The creativity of gaming providers is unlimited when it comes to gaming options. However, some basic features are usually included in almost every online slot. Here we will briefly explain these general slot capabilities for you.
RNG provides an unbiased chance of winning – slot machines (both physical and online) are driven by a random number generator (RNG) that has been certified by third party agencies for fairness and functionality. RNG technology ensures that each spin is independent of previous and future spins, which means that every time you spin on the machine, the chance of winning is always the same.
Virtual reels are vertical spinning wheels that display different game symbols and eventually receive one specific symbol on each reel when the spin ends. The behavior of the reels in online slot machines is programmed in the gaming software. This includes graphics, symbols, and landing probabilities of various game symbols.
Paylines – the number of paylines can vary from 1 to several hundred thousand (in rare cases). Usually there are 1 to 100 paylines (or ways of winning, as it is sometimes called), but there are many exceptions.
Paytable – The paytable tells you everything you need to know about the winning symbols and payouts for each combination.
Bet size – all slots have a minimum and maximum limit on the amount of the bet, but this limit may vary slightly depending on the game. Typically, however, the limits are both low and high enough to satisfy most players.
Wilds, Scatters and Multipliers – Almost all online slots come with Wilds, Scatters and Multipliers. Wild symbol replaces any symbol (except scatter) to maximize your winnings. Wilds can have different traits, including sticky Wilds (which are the most common). A certain number of scatters (usually at least 3), randomly distributed over the reels, activates the Free Spins function in most slots. The multiplier will increase your winnings by at least 2 times, and it sometimes appears in combination with Wild symbols.
Free Spins and Bonus Games – The number of Free Spins you get usually depends on the number of Sketters you hit, and sometimes you can get extra Free Spins by getting more Scatter Spins during Free Spins. Many slots also come with bonus games that can take many forms. For example, a click-to-pick game is fairly common.
RTP, variance (volatility), drop rate and maximum winnings
The theoretical payout potential – commonly referred to as Return to Player (RTP) – can vary significantly from game to game, but the industry average is around 96%. This means that the average bonus received by a casino for online slots is around 4%, which is significantly lower than most physical slot machines.
Another thing that varies a lot for online slots is what is called volatility (or variance). While the RTP can be very similar (or even the same) for 2 slot machines, you will find that some games are rarely paid out in large amounts, while others pay smaller winnings almost all the time. There is also a middle here, and each player must decide which he prefers.