Beginners Slots Terminology 

Over the last several hundred years the gambling industry has grown by a considerable amount, evolving countless times in the process too – check out casino and slots promotions. It’s funny really, because although humans have been gambling for tens of thousands of years as a species, it was only a few hundred years ago that the Venetians established the world’s first casino. You would have thought this would have happened a long time before, but for various reasons it didn’t!

Regardless, in a comparatively short amount of time the casino industry has absolutely ballooned in size, especially over the last century, where it has become unimaginably huge and complex. One of the main reasons for this has been, of course, the rise of slot gambling, with online slots in the 21st century contributing massively to the success of online casino and online gambling. Keep reading for some beginner slots terminology… 

Reels

As a complete slot beginner there are bound to be a load of things that will need some clarification, but let’s start with one of the most important bits of slot terminology there is: reels. Pretty much all slot machines, land-based or online, will work using the basic concept of reels, as these things are the main component of slot machine architecture.

In the modern online slot world the common reel configuration is 5×3, which means there are 5 rows and 3 columns. These reels are what the symbols sit on, and they are also what you spin each time you have a go. 

Pay lines

Pay lines are also immensely important when it comes to understanding the main basics of slot machine gambling. The reels hold the symbols, but the pay lines are what are normally necessary to actually make slot wins on. Let’s use the example of a simplistic vintage 3 reel slot first. On these simple games there is just one pay line that runs in a straight line horizontally from left to right, and if you encounter a matching symbol combination here you win.

On more modern slots, however, there are several different pay lines, and these come in different sequences across the reels. It can be confusing, but as long as you study the slots pay table first you won’t find it too difficult to deduce what is going on. 

Wild symbols

The first slot machines in the world didn’t have wild symbols, but nowadays they are a very common staple in the design of these games. In most slots the wild icon will be able to swap with most other symbols on the reels, thereby making winning combinations at times you weren’t expecting them. 

Scatter symbols

Scatter symbols are also new additions to the slots world, and just like wild symbols they can be extremely exciting. Scatter symbols are often your ticket to a free spins round, or even a slot bonus round!

Slot bonuses

Slot bonus features are only getting more and more exciting, which is great as they are also the best times to win money whilst gambling. Take a look at some of these slots with the best bonus rounds:

•       Vikings Go To Hell
•       Bonanza
•       Rainbow Riches Pick N Mix