Basic Training

Brief History

This is the traditional type of Slot machine. Way back when, the early casinos used to be men only gambling establishments; and they only offered Table Games like Baccarrat, Roulette, Blackjack and Poker. The owners of these casinos noticed that the men would bring their wives along; and these poor women would spend the time chatting among themselves. The owners hit upon a great idea. They installed simple machines that took small size coins and offered huge potential payouts.

A slot requires no complex knowledge about the game, they have no rules. The slot is simple and easy to use; but more than that – it’s exciting. There is something that gets the adrenaline going when those reels spin and slowly, one by one, come to a halt. The lights hopefully flash, and the coins stream out.

As proof of their effect on people, today almost 90% of traditional casino floor space is taken up by slot machines, and they have morphed into a much more complex beast – the Video Slot. But there is space for the traditionalists. Even online, you can find the simple, easy to use, 3 reel slot machine.

Jargon Buster

Coin Size: Think of the original machines – they would have had a coin slot for you to pop coins into. This is the same thing. To use American Speak: Quarters, Dollars, Fiddy Cents …

Number of Coins/Lines: Machines can have multiple coins, offering bigger rewards for more risk, if they only have the 1 payline; alternatively, newer more complex reel slots have multiple paylines, and you insert a coin per payline you wish to play.

Payline: The imaginary line drawn through all the reels that the symbols must line up on to trigger a payout.

Wild Symbol: A symbol on the reels that will substitute for any other symbol. These generally carry a multiplier, so that the winning combination’s payout is increased if you make that combination using the wild symbol.

Payout Percentage: This is the amount of coins the machine pays out to gamblers on average, as a proportion of what it brings in. In most traditional casinos this is around 75% (every dollar you bet, you can expect to get back 3 quarters). In the online world, mainly because the casinos don’t have to pay rent, this percentage is closer to 95%!