Contrary to what people think, Fruit machines and Slots are not actually the same thing. There are big differences between the two. A fruit machine is technically a type of slot machine, but it is equipped with particular capabilities that are not found in slot machines.

To be categorised as a fruit machine, the game must have specific features like a nudge, hold, skill stop, and bonus rounds. There is an element of skill with fruit machines and they continue to be very popular in the real world. That’s why you still find them in pubs and clubs around the UK.

They initially started off quite well once they went online. However, they soon got overtaken in popularity by the online slot machine. They require almost no skill whatsoever. Winning is all about luck.

Online slots are big business. There isn’t an online bookmaker or casino that doesn’t offer hundreds of different online slots to its customers. And for good reason. There is a lot of money to be made and, potentially, won on them.

HOW TO PLAY ONLINE SLOTS

Firstly, you have to have an online account with a slots provider. All reputable and trusted bookmakers in the UK have both casino and games sections on their websites. Once you open your account you are ready to play slots online.

As mentioned, there are hundreds of options so you will need to narrow it down to find the one you want to play. Pick one that you like the look of. Click the ‘Play’ button and a new screen will pop up and the game will load. Most of these games will operate on ‘flash’ so you may be asked to ‘allow’ it. You need to do this so the game can be played.

A basic online slots game will have five reels and 20 pay lines. When deciding how much to spin for it’s important to know that the price is often ‘per line’. So if the minimum is 2p per line and you want to play all five lines, it will cost you 10p per spin.

You can adjust this by using the up and down arrows on the game’s controls. Always check the default ‘bet per line’ as it can be higher than you want to pay. So change it before you spin.

So now you have the game you want to play and the price you want to play for, all you have to do is hit ‘Spin’.

The reels start to turn and after a second or so they stop. If you have matched a winning combination, the winning pay line will be highlighted on the screen as well as the amount of money you have won. Any winnings will instantly be added to your online money account.

CAN I PLAY FREE SLOTS ONLINE?

The simple answer is yes. Most online casinos and bookmakers offer the option of trying slot games in demo mode. This makes them free.

However, you cannot win real cash when you play in demo mode. The idea is that you get a feel for the online slot before spending any real cash on it.

There are a couple of other ways to play slots for free. The first is if it part of a new customer welcome bonus. Often casinos will offer a certain amount of free spins when you open an account. However, they are generally on a very specific game and for the minimum amount per spin. But they are free.

The other way is if you hit on a free spins bonus round within a game. A lot of new online slot games have this as a feature. Of course, the only problem is that you have to play for real money in order to get to the free spins. Even then there’s no guarantee that you will actually get into the bonus round.

WHAT ARE THE BEST ONLINE SLOTS TO PLAY?

Depending on the type of games you like to play, online slot machines will offer different features. Many will have wild symbols and special icons that have the potential to boost your winnings.

Others focus on the highest numbers of ‘way to pay’ or have expending or cascading reels. And then there are those with the mega jackpots.

The best slots to play are those that offer a high RTP percentage (return to player). The higher the rate, the bigger your chances of winning. Every game has an information symbol and if you click on it you can read through all of the features for that particular game.

Great graphics, excellent bonus features, and fun ways to win will all add to the gaming experience. So pick a game that is fun for you to play and never gamble more than you can afford.

HOW TO WIN BIG ON SLOTS

Sadly as online slots are luck-based, your chances of winning are as good as anybody else’s. The only known way to potentially win big is to spin for higher amounts of money.

The theory goes that the more you spin for the greater your odds of a win. In fact, some jackpots can only be won if you play for more than the minimum. The good news is that a lot of slots have multiple jackpots. There are usually three or four of them so the amount you spin for corresponds to one of the jackpots.

This is an excellent way of ensuring that everybody has a fair shot at a jackpot no matter what their budget is.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST SLOT JACKPOTS?

One of the huge benefits to playing slots online is the size of the jackpots. There is almost nowhere else where you can win a life changing amount of money.

So before you start spinning for your life, you should take a look at the different types of jackpots. That way, you can decide which ones to try and play for.

The biggest type of jackpot is the Progressive Jackpot. This is where a jackpot is attached to a particular game, or group of games and it increases with every spin, until it is eventually won by a player.

The premise is simple. Everytime somebody pays for a spin on that game, a small amount of the money is added to the jackpot. The more people that play, the bigger the jackpot gets. Eventually it will be won by a single player.

The second type of jackpot is the Timed Jackpot. This is where a specific casino, like Paddy Power, will have daily jackpots that must be won on that day. So there’s the jackpot that must be won before it hits a certain amount. And there is the jackpot that must be won by a certain time in the day and has no fixed amount.

The third type of jackpot is offered by Jackpot King. These tend to be up in the millions and are some of the most popular online slots that you can play. Quite a lot of UK casinos offer Jackpot King so if you want to play a specific game, have a look around the various online casinos first.

There’s a good reason for this. The Jackpot King jackpots are not shared between online casinos. So, for example, the Cop The Lot slot jackpot on one site could be £2m but on another casino site, it could be £4m. It will completely depend on when it was last won on any given site.

NOTE: It is really important to note that ONE jackpot covers a LOT of games. So if the Jackpot King jackpot is worth £3 million, then it can be won on ANY of the Jackpot King games. It doesn’t matter which online slot you play in the group, you can still win the jackpot. And there are 25 games in the range.

HOW DO SLOT MACHINES PAY OUT?

This is a very easy question to answer. If you are playing slot machines online then all of your winnings will be added to your online casino account.

If you’re not over familiar with the process, you must sign-up to a casino or a bookmaker in order to play the games. When you create your online account, you give details such as your name, address, email address etc… You also add actual cash to your account, from your debit card, and this is the money you use to play the games.

You can always see your balance on the screen so you know how much you have left to spend. If you spin a slot, any slot, and you win for example £1, that £1 is then automatically credited to your balance.

If you are lucky enough to win a lot more and you want to withdraw it, then you simply move to the ‘My Account’ icon – usually at the top right hand side of the screen – click on it and the option to withdraw is right there.

You simply choose the amount you want to withdraw and the cash will transferred back on to the debit card you used to make the deposit in the first place.

In a real world casino slot machines pay out differently. Some will print off a receipt for your winnings when you are finished playing the game, which you can take to the cash desk and cash out. Others will be old school and the coins you win will simply come of the machine as you win them.