Since 1891, when two gambling lovers, Sittman and Pitt, invented the gaming machine that was an ancestor to today’s modern slot machines, the frenzy for slots started to exponentially enlarge. Don’t forget you can play slots on the internet, find a site today over at Slotsmummy. The term “slot machine” itself originates from the slits on the machine that served for inserting and extracting coins.
Online Slots – The Pandemic of the Modern Age
Online slots are spreading at the speed of light. The number of players is exponentially growing every minute. This is shown by the fact that the annual revenue of an online slot industry rose from 2.2 to 3.4 billion dollars in last two years, which reflects the uprising popularity of online slots; this is especially apparent in the almost endless selection of online slots games on sites as Simba Games here in the UK, and numerous other ones.
A social study that was conducted at the University of Houston has shown that online slot players don’t fit stereotypes. Among them, one can find people of different age, gender, education and social/financial structure. For example, in Spain in 2016, the majority of online slot players were between 26 and 35 years (39.4%). On the other hand, in the same year in Australia, the most of the online slot players were between 40 and 50 (23%) and between 50 and 60 years (22.2%). This data confirms the diversity of online slot players, which was proven in the study mentioned above.
So, there is no doubt that online slots are slowly but surely overcoming classic slot machines and sending them to history. Here in the UK in 2017, several slot apps made it to the top 20 mobile gaming apps, and there are UK slot sites that gained immense popularity all over the world. One doesn’t need statistics to come to a conclusion why the online slots are on the rise, as people have the chance to play slots for real money, on Prime Slots for example, a UK slot site.
The fact that there are far more online players in autumn and winter speaks for itself – why go to a casino when you can play your favorite slot from the comfort and warmth of your home? The development of mobile slot apps has gone even further; one can now take a spin literally everywhere and at any time!
Transition from Analog to Digital – Online Slots in a Nutshell
The fact that the online slot is, in general, a computer program, allows the manufacturers to include more interactive elements (all kinds of bonuses and jackpots) as well as to develop different backgrounds and gaming themes. This is done in order to bring slots closer to players’ interests, which wasn’t possible with classic slot machines.
Although there are differences between various kinds of online slots, the essence of the game is the same. You have to practice your skills to play at real money slots and hit the jackpot. Here are some essential characteristics that follow the vast majority of online slot machines:
- The number of reels usually goes from 3 to 5;
- Payline – represents the line that crosses the symbols on the reels, along which a winning combo is estimated;
- Paytable – stands for an option through which the player can get familiar with the rules of playing and payment as well as with symbol values, bonuses, and jackpots;
- Most of the online slots can be played for free with no registration needed. Of course, if one wants to try his luck, he can always switch from free to real money gaming.
Controls are mostly universal; there are buttons for determining the amount of the bet per line, total bet, then the spin button that starts the columns rolling, etc. In majority of cases, there is a dialog box in which a player can see his/hers remaining balance as well as the value of a slotxo payout.
Symbols – The Core of Every Slot
All symbols can be divided into regular ones and special ones. Regular ones carry a smaller payout, while the special ones are usually the Scatter, the Wild and the bonus icon (if there are any bonuses included in the game). The Scatter, in most cases, brings Free Spins, the Wild can replace any symbol except for the Scatter, and the bonus icon unlocks the bonus feature.
All info about symbols and rewards they bring you can find under the Paytable option. It is also useful to try out free slots and read their reviews before playing for real money. Happy spinning!
Article by Alex Walker