In the early days of slot machines, all the games used mechanical reels. But now, most slot machines display reels on video screens, and they usually take and dispense payment through bills, vouchers, and tickets rather than coins or tokens.
Denominations
Different denominations are offered by slot machines, and each token represents a credit that was used. Some of these include $100, $20, $5, and penny. When you pay with a credit, it becomes a credit in the machine. There are also varying amounts that can be accepted per play, ranging from 45 to 500.
After the money has been deposited into the currency acceptor’s account, the meter displays the total amount of credits. In reel-based slot machines, you can press the “play one” button repeatedly until you have selected the appropriate amount of coins. You can also choose to play with the maximum credits by pulling the handle on the slot’s “spin reels.”
Paylines
When playing video slots, press one button to select the number of pay lines, and another button to choose the amount of credits bet per line. A typical setup includes nine pay lines where you can wager between 1 and 5 credits. Video slots can be found with 5, 15, 20, 25, or even 50 or more pay lines, allowing for up to 25 credits per line.
The icons landing on a payout line are what decide if a player is successful. The traditional symbols include cherries, bars, two stacked bars, three bars, and sevens. However, there are numerous other options available, including fruit, playing card symbols, and visuals aligned with the game’s theme.
Reels
Different types of video slots have five reels each, and they each have their unique pay lines. These include straight lines, zigzags, and inverted V’s. In addition to regular gameplay, these also have scatter and bonus rounds, which are triggered by the symbols that appear on the screen.
Bonus Events
Similarly, special symbols will trigger a bonus event. For instance, the bonus may take the form of free spins, pick-a-prize interactions, or mystery bonuses. The player may be presented with a “second screen” bonus.
An example of a second screen bonus comes in the long-popular WMS Gaming Slot “Jackpot Party.” If three-party noisemakers appear on the video reels, the reels are replaced on the screen with a grid of packages in gift wrapping. Players touch the screen to open a package and collect a bonus payout. They may keep touching packages for more bonuses until one package finally reveals a “pooper,” which ends the round.
These bonus rounds helped video slots grow in popularity, but they aren’t as prevalent today, as game designers experiment with format.
Cashing Out
When you hit a winning combination, winnings will be added to the credit meter. If you wish to collect the credits showing on the meter, hit the button marked “Cash Out,” and on most machines, a bar-coded ticket will be printed out that can be redeemed for cash. In a few older machines, coins still drop into a tray.
