If you are new to slots online, you will find plenty of Canada-friendly sites among our listings. Before you embark on your slots exploration, however, it helps to know a few terms to make navigating the playing controls easier.
Whether online or mobile, slots layouts vary slightly from developer to developer, but the terms used to define various slots functions have become pretty standard. Here are the basics:
Slots Reels
The reels are the vertical lines of symbols that cascade past when the slots spin. They originated with the actual physical reels used in the first mechanical fruit machines, but on digital slots they are rendered in a variety of animation styles, from realistic 3D cabinet-style graphics, to invisible reels with symbols that spin past unsupported.
Five reels are most common on modern digital slots, although retro three-reelers harking back to the mechanical slots are also available, and some developers offer six or more reels.
Slots Paylines
A payline is a line across the reels on which matching symbols win prizes, if you have a bet on that payline. The original fruit machines had three reels and a single payline, although the player could vary the total wager, and so increase the prize for each symbol combo.
The more paylines you play, the more chances you have of each spin winning something. When budgeting for long-term slots play, adjust the bet per line to a level where you can play the maximum number of paylines affordably.
Online slots generally offer five or more paylines, with some slots offering up to 100. Some slots titles dispense with paylines completely, making combos from adjacent matching symbols anywhere on the reels, which results in 1000 or more ways to win. Whichever system is in use, winning combos usually need to start on Reel 1 and run consecutively, left to right.
Slots Payouts According to Pay Tables
Winning combinations pay out according to the pay table, which will have a set value or multiple of the bet assigned to all possible wins. The player wins a slots payout for every payline containing a winning combo at the end of the spin, so one spin can result in multiple different pay table prizes, totalled in the payout at many online casinos in New Zealand.
Most slots add payouts directly to the player’s balance at the end of a winning spin, but many games also have a gamble feature, allowing the player to risk a win in the hope of doubling it. Gamble features may continue until the player loses, or reaches a set maximum, or decides to take the payout.
Slots Auto Spin Features
Successful slots play is a long-term game. Canada’s most successful online slots enthusiasts know that they may have to play for a while, balancing moderate wins and losses, until they hit a high-value win big enough to allow them to end the session ahead of the game.
Auto Spin and Auto Play features on online slots games make this easier. The player can set a specific number of spins, while adjusting the bets per line to remain within their budget, even if they hit a long losing streak, and skip the repetitive clicking on the ‘Spin’ button.
Several games’ Auto Play settings also allow the player to set limits; the automatic play stops if a certain minimum balance is hit, or conversely if the player hits a big enough jackpot.
