Online Slots
The history of slot games is long and complicated. Did you know that a lot of people who play online slots have never actually been to a real casino before? That’s right! So don’t feel intimidated if you have never crossed the threshold of a real-life casino in Vegas, Monte Carlo or some other fancy far-off place.
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Online slots are for everyone, and very often they are actually more fun online – not to mention that you get better choices when you play at an online casino as opposed to a brick-and-mortar one. Why is this? It’s because all “real” casinos only have so much room to put their slot machines in. And trust us – they are huge machines. In fact, some of the more modern slot machines have bigger screens and take up a lot more room than their older counterparts. Modern slot machine screens are curved and are geared t project exciting 3D graphics in order to entice a player.
But guess what? They often contain very similar software that online slot games use. Because of this, you have more access to a large variety of online slot games than you would at a casino – and this is from your mobile phone or tablet when you’re sitting comfortably at home! Also, when you play at an online casino, it’s easier to get a variety of rewards than any casino you might encounter in Las Vegas.
This is because a long time ago, it became standard practice to offer online casino guests “welcome bonuses” when they first sign up for an account, make their first deposit, or both. This might include a gift of “free cash” you can spend at casino tables, or what interests people who want to play slots – free spins.
“Real-world” casinos don’t have any of that.
What are Online Slot Games?
In order to explore online slot games more, let’s take a look at how slots got started. Here is a bit of your basic slot anatomy in order to understand what a modern digital slot machine is meant to look like:
Slots – the term that defines this fun game comes from the coin slots. Slot machines used to be big, clunky, heavy and loud – the gambling equivalent of a large, loud gumball machine. And guess what? During the prohibition and in areas where gambling was illegal, slot machines would actually spit out bars of fruit gum instead of coins.
Symbols – even if you have never gambled before, you will probably be familiar with the famous “bar” symbol, the cherries, the plums, lucky sevens, or liberty bells. In the first-ever slot machine, which came into being in the late 1800s in San Francisco, the symbols were actually cards. Hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs would spin around on the three reels, and the cards would come upon the one and only pay line in the middle. The first reel machine, or slot machine, took small change and was a huge novelty. Today, the symbols on slot machines can be literally anything you want. Games employ amazing graphics and special effects like advanced sound and cutting edge 3D animation. Some slots can even be played in virtual reality. As you can imagine, the graphic possibilities are totally endless. While some prefer the good old fruit machines, you can play 3D fruit that explodes when you hit the jackpot, You can also play Ancient Egypt themed games or slots that are based on your favorite movie, band, TV show, Greek Myth or another historic period. Today, playing slots means going on a real adventure.
Reels – The reels refer to the spinning reels where the symbols are painted. They look a bit like drums – and they are triggered by pulling the lever, or the “arm” of a one-armed bandit. This was completely mechanical on the first slot machines, and became electronic and eventually purely digital and algorithm-based as time progressed. Today, all online slots are purely algorithmic and are strictly controlled by gambling authorities. The first classic slot machine only had three reels. Some people prefer to play three reels in online casinos to this day, and there are a lot of software providers who make these simple yet fun slots possible. The most popular slots have five reels, and the biggest of them all, called “Big Berthas” have as many as ten reels.
Payline – the evolution of the payline over time is truly extraordinary. For a very long time, there was only one payline. Then, as the slot machines became more and more advanced, this turned to 3, 8, 10, 20 or more paylines. This means that there are more symbols and more winning combinations. In fact, sometimes people have to concentrate very hard to concentrate and see which payline they scored on!
Coin tray – this was an ever-present component in many slot games of old. This was a trough on the bottom of the slot machine – it would spit out coins when you hit a jackpot and make very loud clanking sounds, and trigger the machine’s bells, whistles and lights to flash. Of course, no coins come out of your computer or mobile device these days, and you won’t see it even in the world’s most famous casinos anymore. Most of the “coins” have gone digital, so even if you hear the flashing lights, coin sounds, triumphant music, and other exciting things – instead of a coin waterfall you’ll probably get a really flashy animation – and a printout!
The lever – last but not least, when it comes to slot machines, the lever is the most important and iconic piece of anatomy. In the old analog machines, it was used to spin the reels. It was very satisfying to pull it and feel the machinery grind its gears. This was replaced by the “spin” button on many machines, although in most of them there still is a lever, and you can still spin it, although it’s most likely digitally controlled and not mechanical at all. Of course, when you play online slots, this is the one piece of the traditional game that you won’t be able to have. You will always have the “spin” button, of course.
Online slots – with the advent of online gambling in the 1990s, it became very obvious that poker and blackjack weren’t going to be the only things that would drive the newly minted online casinos. Slot games are easy, fun, rewarding and most of all – they draw people in. People simply love to play them, and those who come and play only slots make up a large percentage of any casino’s clientele. Online casinos simply couldn’t afford to miss out on this. Thus, online slots were born.
Slot Machines Free or for Real Money
Can you really gamble for free? Well – not technically. But you can certainly figure out which game is your favorite and which online slots you enjoy the most. Many online casinos let you enjoy their games for free if you only create an account without actually depositing any money. This isn’t technically gambling, only playing to see how enjoyable a game is.
If you’re looking for a casino to make your first deposit, this is the perfect way to test out the waters and see what they’ve got. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of signing up for a casino and filling out any forms only for experiment’s sake, you can go and check out the official website of the online slot software providers. They will have a tester version of their game – and once you see that you love it, you can look here for a casino that has that game available in your region.
Free gaming doesn’t end here. If you find a casino you really love, you’re bound to get some free spins when you sign up and make your first real money deposit. Casinos will try to keep your business and they know there’s a lot of competition out there. This is why they want to make you test out as many of their games as possible.
Online casinos are very well curated – people care about which games they make available to the public, and they want you to love every one of them. Take it from us – we love to gamble ourselves, and the recommendations we make come straight from our gaming heart. This is why playing slots for free makes sense to us -the more you explore, the more rewarding your real money game will be in the long run. Why spend money on a game that you’re going to regret getting into after only 10 minutes of playing?
Free spins allow you to find the game you’re going to want to play and enjoy for a long time. The greatest thing about some of the newest games is the absolute change in gameplay. They are not like the classic slot machines at all! Some of the old-time players and gamblers from the golden age of Las Vegas would not recognize them. It’s probably because a lot of software developers have dabbled in a lot of game design before they turned their eyes to gambling. And if your career was based on creating enticing storylines, out of this world graphics and gameplay that you want to play start-to-finish, then you will continue doing just that after you join the ranks of gambling game designers.
There are online slots that have incredible storylines and plots, complete with different levels and rewards. Because casinos and game developers love to reward long-time players who they know are dedicated to the game, they will often make VIP perks available for those who play a game for a while. Leveling up in a slot game can mean extra free spins, or getting extra rewards when you hit special combinations of cards.
Best Online Slot Software
Speaking of great software companies, let’s go through a few reviews so you know which ones are worth trying out. There are many gaming software companies that specialize not only in slots but in live card games, games of dice and all sorts of other gambling game types.
Some of these companies have been around for decades, while others are only joining the party and are quite new. These new players are trying to become the best providers in a tight market that sees it’s share of competition and releases new slot games at a maddening pace. It gets really hard to keep up sometimes! But just like with new movie releases, the really good ones get recognized fairly quickly and gain a lot of following. Read on to see which software providers are worth a look!
NetEnt – or Net Entertainment is a company that is recognized by any gambler out there. They are the kings of digital entertainment, out of this world graphics and soundtracks. Their gamep[lay is mesmerizing and exhilarating and it’s worth checking out any casino that features their online slots. Thankfully, most if not all popular casinos do!
NetEnt is a large company that employs over 1000 people worldwide. They recruit the best designers, animators, musicians, software developers and professionals from a wide range of fields – this knowledge adds up to make every one of their games a powerful and well-designed adventure.
Because of their clout, it’s worth taking a look at the relationships they have built with popular rock bands, movie stars and more. They can also lay claim to a lot of awards, including multiple EGR B2B Awards across multiple years, International Gaming Awards, Global Gaming Awards also in multiple years.
One of the most exciting parts about playing a game from a company like NetEnt is that they draw a lot of gamblers into their fold – meaning, they are in the perfect position to offer pooled jackpots. Their games like “Arabian Nights” or “Mega Fortune” have an actual record-breaker. Imagine 17 million Euros on the line – and all you have to do is bet a little and see if you win. This winning money is pooled from all the players around the world who play these games. So no matter which casino you choose, if you play a specific NetEnt game, you will be eligible for a pooled jackpot.
Playtech – this is a powerhouse of online gambling – they offer online slots, platforms for betting on sports like horseracing or football – of course, this has to integrate incredible live-action performance and 3D software. Speaking of “live” – Playtech also has amazing live dealers who will entertain you with a game of Live Poker, Blackjack, or Crapps – any time of day or night!
They are one of the favorites when it comes to online casinos, simply because they are very professional and easy to deal with. If you don’t like gambling but you love investing, you can check them out on the London Stock Exchange – they are listed. Gambling has left the shady underworld a long time ago, and this is a wake-up call to those who think otherwise.
This is a much larger company then NetEnt, with over 5,000 employees around the world. They have 17 global offices with 140 global licenses and 20 regulated jurisdictions. They also have a lot of smaller gaming enterprises under their umbrella. These are:
- Playtech Origins – specializing in creative content creation and games like Age of the Gods, White King or Buffalo Blitz
- Ash Gaming – a very successful company before it’s acquisition, it continues to raise the bar with games like Ace Ventura, Classic TV Batman and Leprechaun’s Luck.
- Playtech Vikings – this offshoot has helped to create a ton of branded games like Justice League
- Psiclone Games – this is a UK based company that drives it home with player engagement and new slot games. They are based in London, UK.
- Quickspin – This is a Sweden-based company that concentrates on quality and design.
- Sunfox Games – an Austrian company, you might know them for The Glass Slipper or the ever-popular Call of the Valkyries. This is a newer company, and they concentrate on innovation and amazing 3D content.
- Eyecon – This Australian company was over 10 years old already when it was acquired by Playtech. It has a large portfolio of successful and exciting games like “Fluffy Favourites”.
With such a large portfolio of largely independent companies, you’re sure to experiment with playing a lot of Playtech’s games, even if you don’t realize it right away.
Online Slots Rewards for Arab Gamblers
When it comes to being rewarded at the slot machine and playing from an Arab country – your odds are global, even if you choose to play from a VPN address. In gambling, everybody gets a fair shot at winning, and because a lot of our casinos are international and use trusted software that blankets players from all over the world, you will get a shot at winning progressive jackpots.
What are the Odds at a Slot Machine?
Here are some odds explained- the fact is, slot machines have a lot of stigmas, fog, and mirrors and legends surrounding them. Does it matter what time of day it is? How should you bet? What are the payback odds and should you blindly follow them?
- Payback odds – when you’re looking at a slot machine, you will often see a percentage point – somewhere from 75 to 99 percent. What is it? These are your odds of getting your money back. Not of winning, but of breaking even. The problem with it is that these predictions were made after tracking millions of plays on a single machine. Because people pretty much never play long enough to make this percentage work out, the amount you walk away with is largely left up to chance. However, the higher the payback percentage, the “fairer” the game – or so gambler say!
- While there are a lot of myths surrounding the odds – know that all statistics are based on millions and millions of spins, and if you only sit down to play for about 10 minutes anything can happen. The only thing you can be sure of is that it’s going to be random – algorithms and audits by the higher powers of the companies who maintain licenses.
Are Casino Games Really Random?
There are several things that ensure that you get a random chance at winning – and with that, we mean fair. No one likes the odds to be artificially turned against them. We know that the house has an edge, but hey – everyone should get the same fair chance at winning right?
What are RNGs and How do They Work?
In history, things, like shuffling cards or throwing well-weighted dice, represents an exercise in randomness. But how do you make a machine pull up random numbers? This is where programming comes in – there can be no actual dice being thrown after all.
An RNG is a program that generates random numbers when you spin a wheel in virtual roulette (not live, of course!) or press “spin” on a video slot machine. This also applies to online dice and other games of chance that you don’t play “live”. All online slots are required to include these, and all software providers have to have a state-of-the-art RNG system if they want to be included in some of the world’s top online casinos.
While you can’t check if a casino’s RNGs are working properly, there are companies that do it for you. What you can do is make sure that all the casinos where you play have the proper certifications. Random Number Generators can be supplied by software providers such as iTech Labs, Yggdrasil or Quickspin.
