The online casino industry is slowly reaching its peak. In the past 2 years, their total global revenue was a total of $125.6 billion – $58.9 billion in 2019 and $66.7 billion in 2020. Thanks to their rising popularity, experts believe that by 2023, their revenue will increase to $92.9 billion and most likely cross $100 billion in 2025.
Thanks to the fact that they have tons of advantages, players are more than open to register and play their favourite casino games. Speaking of the casino games, the most popular category at every operator is slots. These games are classics and millions of people adore them due to their variety and simple gameplay. Hence, we are going to take a close look at online slots and provide you with a full guide on how to play them.
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Registering At An Online Casino
The first step involves finding and registering at an online casino. When thinking of registering at a chosen site, you should always check whether it is licensed or not. The license can be domestic or by international authorities such as the Malta Gaming Authority, the UK Gambling Commission, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, etc.
After you’ve confirmed that the casino is licensed and reliable, then you can register. You do that by filling out an online application with some basic information about yourself. You will also be asked to select your preferred method through which you will deposit and withdraw funds. The final step includes verifying your identity via email or by sending the online casino a valid document that confirms that you are a real person.
Before you start searching for slot games, it is worth checking bonuses. In most cases, many of the best online casino bonuses can be used on slot games. The most popular bonus is Free Spins. So, if you find a bonus that applies to slots, read its terms and conditions and use it.
The Game Provider
The more reputable the game provider is, the better the slot game will be; the math is simple there. Some of the most reputable providers on the market are the likes of NetEnt, Play’n GO, Yggdrasil, Microgaming, Playson, and Red Tiger Gaming.
Check whether the online casino features reputable brands and browse their games.
RTP and Volatility Rate
Next up, you should always take a look at the RTP and volatility rate. If you are not familiar with what they mean, let us explain. RTP stands for Return to Player and it represents the stakes a game that the player receives in percentages. For example, if a slot has a 96% RTP, for every $100,000 that are won, you will receive $96,000. The rest is the house’s edge. When checking for the RTP, the higher it is, the better it is for you. The average is 96%, so anything above that is decent.
As for the volatility rate, it is a representation of how rewarding the jackpot is and how often it drops. There are three volatility levels – low, medium, and high. The higher the volatility rate of the slot is, the more rewarding the jackpot is, but it drops less often. In most cases, medium volatility slots are rewarding and have frequent hits, which is why they are the most popular.
Paylines
Before online slots took over the world, these games had a very simple payline math. Each slot had a certain number of fixed paylines on which players could form winning combinations. The winning combinations were rewarded from left to right.
All of that has changed now. You can find slots with adjustable paylines, as well as slots that pay from left to right, from right to left, or both ways. Recently, two more interesting mechanics proved to be extremely popular – Cluster Pays and Megaways.
Cluster Pays are not your typical paylines. Instead of forming winning combinations in a line, the Cluster Pays mechanic will reward you if you manage to land groups of 5 or more symbols that touch horizontally or vertically.
The Megaways mechanic is very interesting as it can provide you with up to 117,649 paylines. The number of paylines changes with each spin. The beauty in this mechanic is that there are thousands of ways through which you can form a winning combination.
The best choice for novice players is to start with slots that have fixed paylines. As they progress and learn how slots work, they can try the other mechanics.
The Jackpot
Finally, it is worth mentioning that slots have one of two jackpot types – standard, or also known as fixed, and progressive. As the name suggests, standard jackpots remain the same and have maximum exposure. A majority of low and medium volatile slots have a standard jackpot, which is why they are the perfect choice for novice and casual players.
But, progressive jackpots are different. The more players play the specific slot that has a progressive jackpot, the more the reward increases. It is worth noting that slots with progressive slots are highly volatile and more suitable for high-rollers.
