A Slot Machine is a Slot Machine. Right?

When you watch a movie or show that has a scene with a casino floor in it, you see banks and banks of slot machines, and you can pretty much assume they’re all about the same, but that’s not quite true. Whether you’re looking at banks of machines in Atlantic City or Las Vegas casinos or choosing a slot machine at an online casino, there are a lot of different options, and they’re not all the same.

The first thing you should be aware of is the coin value of the machine. There are slot machines that ask for five dollars every spin, and slot machines that ask for ten cents a spin. It’s important to choose a machine that fits your budget. If you have ten dollars, a five dollar machine won’t give you much play, so you should look for a machine with a very low coin value.

The next thing to be aware of is how many paylines the machine has. In the old days, a machine had a single winning line. If the three symbols in the middle held a winning combination, you won a prize. It didn’t matter what happened in the lines above or below the middle line. Some machines are still like that. Other machines allow you to play the lines above and below the middle line. Still others allow you to play additional paylines which cross through the reels in a number of patterns. Since often you are only eligible for top prizes if you’ve played all of the paylines, you should be sure to be aware of the cost of playing all of the paylines at once.

Another thing to be aware of is the subject of progressive jackpots. If you’re a high roller, this is one way to make a fortune, but it’s risky. The chances of hitting the jackpot is quite low. On the other hand, the jackpot on a progressive jackpot machine is always growing. Frequently, a progressive jackpot machine is networked. Players throughout Las Vegas may be contributing to a single jackpot, or all of the players on a online casino network may be connected in order to contribute to a jackpot. Every time a player adds a coin to that machine type, money is added to the jackpot, making the jackpot’s potential all but infinite. The downside, however, is that machines with a progressive jackpot tend to have a lower payout overall than regular ‘flat top’ slot machines.

Once you are aware of these main differences, all that remains is choosing a theme you enjoy and having a great time!