What Do Progressive Slot Machines Look Like
The number-one thing that you should understand about progressive slots is how volatile they are.
Progressive slots are slot machines for which the jackpot continues to grow. The jackpot is progressive, growing with each bet gamblers make. The final jackpot, which is only determined when someone wins, is taken from a percentage of all the bets played on a group of machines or a single slot machine. Look for progressive slot machines with the highest possible existing jackpot. While statistically your odds of striking said jackpot remain the same, as all today’s online slot machines use random number.
Volatility refers to how closely short-term results correlate with a statistical average. This concept is helpful when deciding how often you can expect to win in any casino game.
Here’s an example using baccarat.
- The banker hand features a 1.06% house edge
- The banker bet pays 1:1
- You win 50.68% of these wagers (minus 5% commission)
- The fact that you win over half of your bets makes baccarat a low-volatility
Slot machines differ greatly from baccarat and other table games because payouts aren’t made at a 1:1 ratio. Instead, slots feature a wide variety of payouts that can range from a single coin tothousands or even millions of credits.
Here’s an example using a generic slots pay table.
- 5 diamonds = 10,000 coins
- 5 triple BARs = 2,000 coins
- 5 gold bars = 500 coins
- 5 silver bars = 100 coins
- 5 rubies = 25 coins
- 5 copper bars = 5 coins
You can see that payouts range from 5:1 to 10,000:1 compared to your original bet (per payline). For example, betting five credits per line and getting five triple BARs on one line would deliver10,000 coins (5 x 2,000).
Slot machines’ wide payout disparity from top to bottom means that they can’t pay with the same consistency as baccarat. These games have to make up for disproportionate prizes at the top bypaying you less often.
Progressive slots with huge jackpots are even more volatile than the average slot machine. If a game developer seeds a progressive payout at $1 million, then it’s guaranteed that the slot willhave lower hit frequency.
Of course, progressive slot machines don’t always have to pay less often than the average slot. Games with smaller jackpots can offer a fairly even payout distribution.
Common examples include older online slots developed by RealTime Gaming (RTG). RTG’s older games have progressive jackpots ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 and see you win small payouts morefrequently.
Most people will be familiar with slot machines in their most basic form, but like everything else, the machine with three reels and a lever on the side has developed considerably over the years. Although there is still very much a place in Colorado gaming for the old-school mechanical machines with their three reels and single win line across the middle, there are a number of other slots today for you to enjoy. Here we take a look at what’s out there to help you decide which ones are for you.
Classic Slots
There’s more to classic slots today than just the most basic three-reel machines mentioned above. Now there are five-reel variants and it’s also possible to increase your potential winnings by playing more than one coin at a time, effectively increasing your stake. Three-reel classic slots will often have a single win line across the middle, but some now also offer three and even five win lines. Three line machines will pay out on the three horizontal lines, while five-line machines add the two diagonals. Playing more than one coin brings additional win lines into play.
Progressive Slot Machines Tips
Video Slots
The overwhelming majority of slots these days are video slots. Although they follow the same format as classic slots by having spinning reels, video slots employ a screen instead of mechanical reels, which allows for all manner of different games, features and ways of winning. Most video slots usually have five or seven reels, although there are ones now that can have as many as nine reels. This creates the opportuning for as many as 25 or even 50 win lines that zig-zag all across the reels to offer many more opportunities to win.
Keep in mind that you pay for each win line you operate. If you are playing 25 lines on a 25-cent machine for example, it will cost you $6.25 for each spin to have all win lines in action and twice as much if you’re playing a 50-line machine.
The versatility of video slots means they come in all kinds of well-known brands and themes, from comic-book superheroes to blockbuster movies and TV shows.
Progressive Slots
What Do Progressive Slot Machines Look Like Money
Although a progressive slot will also be a video slot, these are not stand-alone machines, and that means they offer the chance to win big, really big! Progressive slots are found in both online and land-based casinos, and they can be linked to other machines in the same bank, the same casino, or even in other casinos. Every time one of these linked machines is played, a small proportion of the stake is added to a progressive jackpot that can be won on any of the machines in the group.
Bonus Slots
A bonus slot is one that has an extra game that is activated when the player gets a correctly positioned line of a special symbol. These bonus games give players an opportunity to win extra money without having to place extra bets. Bonus slots are another type of video slot and they can also be part of a progressive jackpot pool of machines.