Just like any other slot game, dragon-themed slot machines require a player to get a winning combination on the screen. However, the thing that makes these games truly special is that they involve particular symbols which may include Treasure Boxes, Knights, Spellbooks, Female Elves, Potions, Crystal Balls, Archers and others depending on a specific game you play. To learn how to beat slot machines, you need to first know how they work. Slots are amongst the most popular casino games throughout the world, both in land-based and online casinos.
Slots are one of the easiest things to play in the casino but you need to understand all the terms and options before playing.
The goal for the slot machine glossary was to put together one of the most extensive slots terms documents online. I feel the goal has been accomplished. See if you agree when you finish reading.
Take a look and see if you can learn any new slot machine terms.
Action or Play – Action or play is the total amount of money wagered on a slot machine in a session or over a different time frame. Player’s club benefits are usually based on total action. When you put your club card in the slot machine it tracks your total play or action.
Bank of Slot Machines – A bank of slot machines is a group or row of machines sitting beside each other. Some of them may be physically connected, but they don’t have to be. The machines may share a common name or theme or they may be entirely different.
Basic Slots or One Line Slots – The simplest slot machines are one line or basic slots. Usually using only three reels, these slot machines are what dominated casino floors before all of the video slots became popular. Most of these machines have a simple pay out structure and only use a few symbols. Rarely will a basic slot machine have any type of jackpot because of the limited number of possible combinations.
Bet Max or Bet Max Button – Pay out charts are almost always based on a maximum wager. The bet max button automatically places a wager of the maximum amount based on your coin size. If the maximum bet is 10 coins per line and you set your coin size to 10 cents, the bet max button will bet $1 per line.
Bet One or Bet One Button – This button places a bet of a single coin when pushed. I don’t recommend using the bet one button because most of the top pay outs give a bonus based on a max bet. If you can’t afford to place a max bet find a slot machine that offers a smaller coin size.
Betting Units or Credits – A betting unit or credit is based on the size of coin you’re using and how much money you have in the machine. If you have $100 in the machine and are using a quarter coin size you have 400 betting units or credits.
Big Bertha Slot Machine – A Big Bertha slot machine is a marketing gimmick in the form of a huge slots game. Usually placed near a main entrance to the casino floor, these machines can have multiple reels (even more than normal slots) and take up as much space as a regular bank of machines.
Big Hit or Big Win – A big hit is simply a big win. One slots player may tell another they had a big hit after hitting a top pay out or jackpot.
Bonus Feature – A bonus feature is one of the new things that became available after the introduction of video slot machines. A common bonus feature is unlocked by hitting a certain combination of symbols and opens in a new screen. A bonus feature can be a different game entirely or include a mini movie or just be a different area with reels like the main game. Usually players have the chance at larger wins during a bonus feature than during normal game play.
Bonus Multiplier or Bonus Modifier – A bonus modifier or multiplier is a symbol or series of symbols that multiply a win by a certain amount. Common multipliers are two times (2X) and three times (3X) but they can be any amount the game is programmed for.
Branded Slots – Branded slot machines are themed after popular television shows or movie franchises. Examples include Wheel of Fortune Slots and Lord of the Rings slots.
Cashback or Cash Back – Cash back is exactly what it sounds like. Some player’s clubs offer cash back on slot machine play. Others only offer non cash comps, but if you look around you can find cashback slots offers both online and in land based casinos.
Certified Slots – Some casinos run promotions featuring certified slots. A certified slot machine has a payback percentage that’s been certified and is then advertised by the casino. Most certified promotions feature slots or groups of slot machines that pay out 97% or higher. Occasionally you may even be able to participate in a promotion that offers certified slots that have a 100% pay back percentage.
Coin In and Coin Out – Coin in is the total amount of coins or credits played in a machine and the coin out is the total amount of coins paid out of the machine.
Coins – Coins are the size of the base wager on a slot machine. In the past you could play with actual coins or tokens, but most slot machines today are played with cash or slots vouchers or tickets.
Coin Size – The coin size is the amount each coin is worth. Some machines only have one coin size but some allow you to adjust the coin size. Coin sizes include penny, nickel, dime, quarter, fifty cents, dollar, and five dollar.
Cold Slots – A cold slot machine is one that hasn’t paid out in a long time. Many players believe machines run hot or cold, but mathematically machines simply pay out the percentage that they’re programmed to pay out over time.
Comps – Comps are earned through a player’s club for playing slot machines and other casino games. Comps can include free hotel stay, free meals, free flights, cash back, coupons, special deals, and just about anything else of value the casino may give you in exchange for your play.
Credits – When you put money into a slot machine it’s divided by the coin size to get the total number of credits you have to play with. If the machine has a coin size of 50 cents and you put in $60 you have 120 credits.
Denomination – The denomination is the size of the coin for the slot machines. Some machines let you change the denomination but some have a set coin size.
Fixed Value Slots – A fixed value slot machines has only one size bet available. You can’t pick how many lines, coins per line, or the coin value. These machines aren’t as rare as many think. Some players prefer a simple playing decision and these machines fit the bill. All you do is put money in and hit the spin button.
Five Line Slot or Five Liner – A five line slot machine simply has five possible pay lines. This isn’t a term used often now because of the explosion of availability of 25 line and higher machines
Free Spins – Free spins are exactly what they say. Most free spins are part of a bonus situation or game or a multiplier or other special feature.
Hammer A Machine – Hammering a slot machine is a slang term used to describe playing a single machine for hours on end. The most common reason for hammering a machine is when a progressive jackpot is high and the player is hoping to hit it.
Hit and Run – Hit and run describes a slots player who plays a few spins on a machine and then moves on to the next machine. These players usually are looking for a hot machine so if a slot doesn’t hit in a few spins the player moves on until she finds a machine that hits a win in the first few spins.
Hit Frequency – Hit frequency is how often a slot machine pays out a winning hand. Some machines pay out less on a greater number of hands while others pay out fewer times but larger amounts when they do pay. You’ll find players who like both types of machines, but generally they like to win more often, even if the wins are smaller than on tighter machines.
Hold Percentage – The hold percentage is how much the slot machine keeps as a percentage of total play or action for the casino. If a slot machine pays back 96%, the hold percentage is 4%. This means that in the long run the machine earns $4 for every $100 that’s wagered.
Hot Slots or Hot Slot Machine – A hot slot machine is the opposite of a cold one. A hot machine seems to be paying out at a higher than average rate. Many players jump from machine to machine in hopes of finding a hot machine.
Jackpot – The jackpot is the top pay out amount on a slot machine. Sometimes the jackpot is a progressive top prize that climbs with each spin until a player wins it.
Line or Pay Line – A line is usually from left to right and is the plane or area where you need to line up matching symbols to win a pay out. You activate one or more lines on most slot machines and if a line isn’t activated you can’t win for combinations on that line.
Linked Progressive Jackpot – Some progressive slot machines are linked to other machines. Most of the time the machines are all the same brand, but they don’t have to be. This helps progressive jackpots climb faster because more machines are feeding the top prize. The machines don’t have to be in the same casino to be linked. Online casinos often offer progressive games shared by hundreds of different casinos.
Loose Slots –A loose slot machine is one that is paying out more often than normal, or one that appears to be doing so. Loose slots is another name for hot slots.
Multiplier – A multiplier is an amount a winning spin is multiplied by. Multipliers usually are associated with free spins, scatter symbols, or another special feature or symbol.
Near Miss – A near miss is when a symbol lands just above or below a line that would have made a nice pay out.
Nickel Slots – Nickel slot machines are ones using a 5 cent coin size. While you can generally play for only a nickel a spin, most of these machines require a larger bet size per spin to have a chance to win the top amount. The coin size is still five cents but you have to bet more than one coin per line and / or more than one line.
Nudge Slot – A nudge slot machine moves a symbol that’s close to making a winning combination the little extra it needs to line up for a win. This is just a gimmick on how a winning spin is displayed, but some players enjoy the thought of nudging the machine to make a losing spin a win.
One Armed Bandit – A one armed bandit is a term for a slot machine with a lever on the side. Many slot machines don’t have levers now, but in the old days they all had arms on the side you had to pull down to activate the reels.
One Liner or One Line Machine – A one line slot machine only has a single pay line. Fewer and fewer one line slots are available as multi line video slots games have become more popular.
Payback Percentage – Payback percentage is the amount of money the slot machine pays back as a percentage of the amount wagered trough a machine. A slot machine that has a 93% payback percentage pays back $93 out of every $100 on average to the player. In the short run the percentage will vary a great deal, but in the long run it’ll average out correctly.
Pay Line or Payline – A pay line is a line where matching symbols must line up to match winning combinations listed on the pay table. Most machines have multiple pay lines that must be activated to be eligible to win.
Payout or Pay Out – A pay out is how much you get for a specific winning combination of symbols. For example, you might get a payout of 25 coins for lining up four matching symbols from left to right on any pay line.
Pay Table – The pay table is the screen or card that explains which matching symbols pay and how much they pay.
Penny Slots – Penny slots are set for a coin size of one cent. Rarely can you actually play for a penny a spin because you have to activate multiple lines and play more than one coin per line.
Primary Jackpot – A primary jackpot is the top paying jackpot on a machine that has more than one jackpot. Some machines have a secondary or group of secondary jackpot amounts.
Progressive Slot Machines – A progressive slot machine has a top payout that grows with each spin. Most progressive jackpots are tied to multiple machines so the jackpot grows quickly. A percentage of each spin is added to the progressive amount.
Quarter Slots – A slot machine with a set coin amount of 25 cents.
Reels – Reels are the wheels that spin inside the machine or appear to spin on the screen of a video slot machine. The most common machines have three or five reels, but other sizes are sometimes available. I’ve seen seven and ten reel machines, but they aren’t common.
Random Number Generator or RNG – The computer program that controls the outcome of the slot machine is called a random number generator. Each possible outcome has a number or numbers assigned to it and the RNG picks a number at random for every spin. A particular losing combination may have hundreds of numbers attached to it and the top pay out may only have one number assigned to it.
Scatter Symbol – A special symbol that can land anywhere on the reels and still pay out or unlocks a bonus of some sort without landing on particular lines. The symbol is scattered all over the screen instead of lining up.
Second Screen Bonus – Video slot machines sometimes have a bonus round that launches after certain combinations are hit. A second screen bonus is one that opens on a second or different screen from the regular game play screen.
Secondary Jackpot – Some slot machines have more than one jackpot. The highest jackpot is called a primary and all of the others are called secondary jackpots.
Select Lines – Used to select the pay lines you want to activate for the next spin. Most players either play the maximum number of lines or a single line.
Slots Club or Player’s Club – The slots club or player’s club offers rewards or comps for your slots play. The more you play the higher the possible rewards.
Slots Host – The casino employee who takes care of slot machine questions or issues is called a slots host.
Slots Schedule – A slots schedule is another name for a pay chart or pay out chart. Most players don’t use this terminology now.
Slot Machine Tournament – A slot machine tournament is when you pay a set entry fee and play for a set period of time for the chance to win cash and prizes. The players with the highest amount at the end of play win the listed prizes.
Sound of Rain – The sound of rain is an old saying that slots players used when actual coins were used in the slot machines. The sound of rain was the sound of coins hitting the metal tray at the bottom of the machine after a big win.
Spin or Spin Button – The spin button is used to start spinning the reels. The spin button replaced the lever on the side of the slot machine.
Streaky Slots – A streaky slot machine is one that players believe runs hot or cold in streaks. A machine is usually believed to run both hot and cold at different times if it’s streaky.
Symbols – The symbols are the pictures of different items on the reels of the slot machine. You need to line matching symbols up on an activated pay line to win. Symbols can be anything from a bar to an elaborate portrait. Popular symbols include cherries and pictures that match the theme of the slot machine.
TITO Ticket In / Ticket Out – Slot machines have mostly stopped accepting coins and use cash and tickets to accept money and pay out money. You may put cash or a ticket in the machine but when you cash out the machine prints a ticket. You take the ticket to the cage when you’re ready to cash out.
Tight Slots – A tight slot machine is one that seems to be paying out at a lower than expected rate. It may be paying out fewer times than expected or fewer coins than expected.
Total Bet – The total bet is the total amount of coins or money wagered on a slot machine for the current spin.
243 Pay Lines Machine – Some new slot machines have 243 pay lines, claiming to cover every possible pay line. They simplify things in one way, but if you try to figure out all the possible pay lines you’ll probably end up with a headache.
Video Slots – A video slot machine has a picture of reels on the screen, like a video game. You won’t find any actual reels inside the cabinet of a video slots game.
Voucher or Ticket – A voucher or ticket is the same thing I described in the ticket in ticket out section above. A ticket is printed when you take money out of the slot machine and you can exchange the ticket for cash in the cage or use it at a different slot machine.
Wide Area Progressive or WAP – A wide area progressive is one with slot machines from different areas connected for a single progressive jackpot. Any player on one of these machines can win the jackpot and all the players are making the progressive amount go up as they play.
Wild Symbols – Wild symbols, usually found on video slot machines, are used in place of other symbols to help you form winning pay line combinations. Some wild symbols offer a multiplier bonus when used in a winning pay line. See the pay chart on your machine for more details.
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Above, you’ll find a selection of free slots that you’ll likely recognize if you’ve ever been to the Las Vegas Strip.
These are the tried-and-true favorites. From Monopoly to Cleopatra, these are loved at both online and land-based casinos for their exciting gameplay, unique themes, and incredible winning potential.
Playing free slots online is one of the best ways to try out these popular titles and practice your strategy. Many players also enjoy free play to relax and experience casino fun risk-free.
The fastest and easiest way to play online slots is to find free slot machines. Of course, this page features 10 of the best free online slot machines that you can enjoy right now.
But this isn’t the only site that hosts free slot machines. Thousands of sites host a free version of some of the most popular titles in the world. In fact, if there’s a slot you played at a casino that you’d like to revisit, a simple web search would likely pull up the free version.
You can play free slots via your desktop or mobile browser. These streaming versions of the game require nothing more than a click, and you can start playing. Another option is to play free slots apps, and many exist in both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store for Android.
The reason people play free slot machines is for a variety of reasons. The most common is simply for entertainment. Like some would play mobile games like Candy Crush or Words with Friends, fans of slot machines like to play the free versions every now and again.
Another good reason is to practice on the free version and take what you learn to the paid version. The goal is to get more wins or improve your Return to Player (RTP).
Legal online casinos with paid slots only exist in a few US states:
After recent changes in legislation, online casinos will soon launch in Michigan. If you’re not physically located in one of those states, playing real-money online slots is technically breaking the law. At the very least, the online casino operators are violating the law by offering their games to people in the state.
However, the consistent introduction of online gambling legislation in states across the country means that list may grow beyond these five states in the future.
In states where online casinos are legal, you can deposit money, bet on the slots, and withdraw any winnings. Like the brick-and-mortar casinos, the most popular slots at the online casinos have progressive jackpots, which can grow to over a million dollars.
You can also play any of the slots at online casinos for free in “demo mode,” where you’re using practice credits instead of real money. You can often do this before you even create an account.
In all of the US except for the State of Washington, you can legally play at sweepstakes casinos, a category of social gaming that also includes online poker and sports picks. This is a great option in states like California, Florida, and Texas, where real money online casinos are prohibited.
The two main sweepstakes casinos are Chumba Casino and LuckyLand. Both offer a large selection of slots that you can play for two different types of currencies: Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins.
Gold Coins are used simply for fun and can’t be redeemed for a cash prize or gift card. However, you can also play in Sweeps Coins. Any Sweeps Coins that you win can be redeemed for cash prizes or gift cards. You just need to have the minimum number of won Sweeps Coins before you can redeem.
To receive Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins, no purchase is required. Once you join, you’re given both types of coins for free to play with. You can also purchase additional Gold Coins. Some Gold Coin packages of include Sweeps Coins.
Check this out to learn more about How To Play Sweepstakes Casinos.
Playing free online slots is the same as playing paid online slots, minus the need to deposit any money or even create an account. That’s why playing slots for fun online is free in every US state, including the State of Washington.
You can play any type of slot for free. This includes classic three-reel slots as well as 3D five-reel slots with immersive bonus games and other special features.
The gameplay, including the odds of winning, is the exact same between the free slots and the paid slots. However, if the slot normally has a progressive jackpot, that will be absent from the free version.
No. And, in most cases, there’s no way to create an account much less make a deposit.
However, some land-based casino websites, which do offer player accounts, have free online slots on their website. This came into even more prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yes. Just like in the paid version, you can win without limits on the free online slots. But what you win is additional freeplay credits, and refreshing the web browser will reset your bankroll.
Slots are by far the most popular casino game for a few key reasons:
Once you know the basics of slots, you’ll be able to play any type that you’ll come across. While each title can seem wildly different, they all work in fundamentally the same way.
The object of a slot machine is for a winning combination of symbols to appear when the reels stop. This is true whether it’s a three-reel or a five-reel slot.
A winning combination of symbols is based on paylines that run across the reels. A slot can have as few as five paylines or over a hundred.
Usually, the symbol combinations are left to right across the paylines, and each payline can win independently. That means the more paylines you play, the higher your chances of scoring a payout.
In slots, wins are multipliers, not set amounts. So if you’re playing a slot with 25 paylines and your total wager is $5.00, each payline would have a value of $0.20. If one scored a 100x multiplier, you’d win $20.
To play all paylines for the highest possible value, you can select “Max Bet.”
No. You should always play with however much you’re able to lose.
However, playing max bet does two things: gives you the best chance of winning the highest possible prizes.
Further, you may need to play Max Bet to qualify for certain prizes, including the progressive jackpot. Check the rules of the specific slot to make sure.
A slot’s payback is how much a player can expect to keep of their bankroll based on the average net wins. This is also known as Return to Player (RTP). A high slot payback is 90% or higher, and a low slot payback is 70%.
No slot has an average lifetime payback that’s equal to or greater than 100%. However, some players seek out the games with the highest RTP to ensure the highest chances of regular wins. Others prefer the longshot slots, which have the lowest RTP but normally the highest potential prizes.
A slot’s biggest selling point aside from the jackpot, RTP, and overall theme are the bonus features. These are usually triggered when three or more “scatter” symbols appear on the reels. You then have the opportunity to win more money, either through free spins, a minigame, or selecting a hidden prize.
The Wild symbol usually best matches the theme of the game. For example, Cleopatra is the Wild symbol in the Cleopatra slot.
Wild symbols can take the place of any other symbol aside from the scatter (and possibly other specialty symbols) to create winning combinations. Five wild symbols will often trigger the top prize fixed jackpot.
When a slot has a progressive jackpot, it means a portion of every bet placed by everyone playing the slot contributes to a running total. The total progressive jackpot continues to increase as people play until it’s won by a lucky player, then it’s reset and starts again.
How to win a progressive jackpot depends on the slot. In some cases, it’s simply randomly awarded at the end of a spin, and you may need to “Bet Max” to qualify. Others will involve a bonus game.
Because slots are always innovating, it’s difficult to create a list of the different types. Instead, let’s look at the key factors that separate one slot from another.
Three-reel slots are usually the simplest, where one payline runs across a maximum of three symbols.
Five-reel slots are the most common and can range from a handful of paylines to 743 All-Ways-Pays slots, which covers every possible combination of symbols going up and down and left to right across the reels.
Four-reel, six-reel, seven-reel, and other slots are pretty much nonexistent in physical casinos but you can find some online relatively easily.
Video slots are the most common form of five-reel slots and often feature bonus and free spin features. 3D slots are the same, except they use 3D animation and graphics whereas video slots use 2D.
Penny slots earned their name by allowing players to bet with just $0.01. But some slots can cost a minimum of $1.00 per spin, and betting the max can make your overall wager climb to as high as $125 or more.
When a slot is labeled low volatility, it means it pays out low wins regularly. When it’s labeled high volatility, it means you’ll often go for several spins without winning, but the winning streaks are often larger when they do come.
Coin play means you’re simply setting the coin value that applies to the multiplier wins. Some variations, called Buy-Your-Pay Slots, won’t allow you to win certain amounts or activate certain features unless you increase your coin value.
Paylines are either fixed or variable. For both, you set the value of each individual payline, and multiplier wins apply to that payline. But with variable paylines, you can set the number of lines you want to play as well as their value. With fixed paylines, you automatically play all of them.
The most common place to play slots is at a land-based casino. In most states, casinos are either commercially operated or tribal-owned and located on Native American lands.
The ten states that do not have any land-based casinos are:
The highest concentration of casinos and slot machines in the United States can be found in Las Vegas, Nevada. And not only that, it’s also where you can find the largest jackpots of all time. In fact, the top six biggest casino wins ever were all on Vegas slots.
Another major hotspot is Atlantic City, New Jersey, where several casinos operate in close proximity. But if you live in the continental United States, there’s a good chance that there’s a casino with over a hundred slot machines within driving distance.
Slots can make up 75% or more of a casino’s total gambling revenue. That means the rest comes from all table games and poker tables combined. Why? Because slots are fun, attractive, and can turn relatively low wagers into multi-million-dollar payouts.
It should come as no surprise that the easiest way to get people to play a slot is by offering an enormous potential jackpot.
Enter the slots area of a Las Vegas casino, and you’ll find dozens of options with a top prize that can be well into the millions. All it takes is one single spin to win it all. That’s hard to resist.
So it’s no wonder that the progressive jackpots are the most popular. The most talked-about usually is.
Yes. No matter where you’re located in the US, it is completely legal to play free slots online.
Because you’re playing with demo credits rather than real money, it’s not considered gambling. And if you download a free slots mobile app, you don’t even need an internet connection to play.
Yes, you can win real money playing slots online. However, you’ll need to be in one of the three states (DE, NJ, and PA) where it’s legal to win money legally. Michigan and West Virginia will soon offer legal online gambling as well.
To win cash prizes, anyone located in the US (except for the State of Washington) can legally play at sweepstakes casinos, which have a wide range of online slot machines.
You can also play free slots using demo credits that cannot be redeemed for prizes right here at bonus.com and elsewhere.
No. You do not need to create an account to play free slot games online. Even if you’re playing in demo mode at an online casino, you can often simply go to the site and select “play for fun.” Only online casinos and sweepstakes casinos require signup to play.
No. You do not need to download anything to play free online slots. The titles are instantly available directly through your web browser. However, there are a number of free slots on your phone whether on your Android or iOS device.
Yes. Most of the popular Las Vegas slots are available to play for free online. That’s because a lot of the gaming software developers provide their titles to both brick-and-mortar casinos as well as online casinos. Plus, the demand for the most popular options make them particularly readily available.
Yes. Because you do not have to create an account, you’re not providing any of your personal information. Unsafe slots are those run by illegal online casinos that take your payment information. Free slots are always completely safe simply because they don’t accept real money.
The benefits of playing free slots include: