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Pokies are by far the most popular games on mobiles and tablets
Ever since Charles Fey invented the very first slot machine, Liberty Bell, back at the end of the 19th century, the popularity of this generally simple form of entertainment has continued to grow and develop.
While there once was a time when casino games were the main attractions for visiting such places, such is the importance of the slot machine now that most casinos will offer hundreds or even thousands of the machines, both in the real world and the digital, as well as in mobile devices, in an attempt to entice punters through the doors.
The reason for that is simple; slots are big business. Indeed, research has shown that for both online and real world casinos, slots alone can generate between 70 to 80 per cent of a casinos turnover for the year.
Clearly, slots are the key element in generating turnover, but what is it about them that makes them so enjoyable to play? In this first article, we'll focus on general slots and in the next article in the series, we'll look at progressive slots and how they differ.
So let's begin with the obvious question of what exactly is a typical slot game?
What are slot machines, or pokie machines, as they are referred to in Australia?
The modern video slot played online is very different to the traditional, real world slot. In the first instance, it is simply a piece of software, rather than a machine however that is not to its disadvantage at all.
What this means is that a modern slot that you play online via your PC or mobile phone, is essentially a software program and this is precisely the reason why you can now count the number of slots available in their thousands, rather than their hundreds.
The reason for this is that as a piece of software, development companies can take the core elements of the slot and then alter them to produce a different slot. For example, many developers will have code that can be used as the central basis for a slot, but can then develop a number of different themes for the slot, to create several different slots all from the same basis.
Of course, having clone slots that are essentially the same other than the theme of the slot would become a little boring, so developers are somewhat cuter than that and what they will do is tailor the features of the slot to the game to make it stand out from the crowd and also more individualistic.
This is how some of the common features you find on the modern slots (which we will explore in more detail below) have come into being.
This allows developers to develop slots that are substantially different to one another, offering different payout percentages, high/low variance and a very different playing experience from one slot to the next.
What is absolutely true however is that at the heart of every slot, is a piece of software called a Random Number Generator (RNG). This is the slot's engine and it was the development of increasingly sophisticated RNG's that have allowed for the myriad of payouts, paylines and games that we see today.
The more calculations and options your RNG can generate for every spin, the more options you can have on your slot and as a result, the greater the prize money you can offer to a user when playing.
The modern slot still displays slots using reels for the most part. However, this is chiefly because players are happiest seeing the outcome of their spins represented this way and offers the user familiarity with the slot genre.
That is the modern slot summed up; a piece of software with a built-in RNG that can churn out random numbers from billions of possible combinations. It may not be as romantic as a mechanically built slot, but it offers players and casinos almost unlimited opportunity to develop a massive range of slot games and features.
So what are the most common features of the modern online slot? Let's find out.
What are the most common features I will encounter playing slots?
A modern online slot will look very similar to an old-style slot. You'll have a button to click to start your spins and you can use the banking options to decide upon the amount of money you wish ti spend per coin, and also how many coins you wish to wager per line on any given spin.
On some slots, where you can select how many lines to play, you can also decide this.
Once you have a funded account (or free spins) and have loaded up a slot ready to play, then you just click the spin/go button and the reels will spin.
The outcome of the spin is then shown across the reels and it is here you start to encounter some of the more common slot features.
The first is when you win, you'll see your winning payline highlighted and you will also see how much you have won displayed. Usually, these wins in the base game tend to be smaller wins (unless you hit five of a kind of the top symbol on your choice of game).
Another feature is the Wild symbol. A wild symbol will substitute for any other symbol on the reels (apart from the scatter symbol usually). Landing Wilds on a spin is a positive usually as their flexibility means you have more chance of success.
A Scatter symbol is a symbol which when landed in combination across the reels (usually three or more are required) then you trigger a bonus round. Usually in the form of a free spins bonus, though this is not always the case.
A free spins bonus is when the game awards you a certain number of free spins, which you do not have to pay for, as a reward for landing the requisite number of scatter symbols. Also in free spin rounds, other benefits to the player, such as an increased number of Wilds, or better rate of payouts, or higher multipliers for wins, may also be triggered.
Free spin games are usually the way a player can enjoy the biggest wins on most modern slots. In some games, it is possible to re-trigger free spins (that is earn more) by landing more scatter symbols across the reels in the free spins section. You can learn more about free spins at FreeSpins.com.au.
Occasionally in addition to, or in place of, free spins a slot may have a different bonus round. These can be simple selection based games where the player picks from a number of options, revealing cash prizes until they hit a symbol which ends the game.
How to play slots
Playing slots is extremely simple and part of the reason why they are so popular. A player simply enters their choice of bet, clicks the Spin/Go button and then awaits the outcome. There is no strategy involved and a player cannot influence whether a machine wins or loses. All they can do is play more often in the hope they will win more often.
What are my chances of winning when playing slots?
Slots generally have a payout percentage of around 75-95%, which means there is a huge degree of variance between slots. Most modern games however tend to have payout percentages nearer the higher figure (of between 93 and 97 per cent is relatively common).
How often a slot pays out money and the size of the prizes it pays out also affects how volatile the slot is, a game paying smaller amounts regularly will see more winners than a game that pays larger amounts less frequently.
In terms of comparison to other casino games, slot generally don't offer as good a chance of long term profitability. That is because you are playing a game with the odds in the house favour and where there is no strategic or skill element involved.
However, slots are fast and fun to play and while that remains the case, they will always be hugely popular with online casino customers and the like.
Byline: This article was written and published by Henry Regal.
