Slots rules for beginners: how to play slots explained in 3 minutes

The very first thing you need to do to start is pick up a slot to play on.

You can find more information about what slots to pick and why in our slots strategy section, but everything else being equal. If you are completely new to slots, you can simply pick the one you fancy the most.

Even if it is not the machine which is the most likely to pay you, differences are usually not that big, and you also want to have as much fun as possible while playing.

Once you have made up your mind, check out the game info to see how many paylines there are. Greater the number of paylines, greater the minimum bet, but your chance to hit big also increases.

This is important to understand for anyone looking to learn slots: the machine payments are made according to combinations of symbols on these lines and your basic bet is the bet per line.

That number is then multiplied by the number of lines you decide to play (up to the maximum available).

The next thing to look for is the pay table. This is a graphic explaining how much is every particular combination of symbols worth.

Slot games often have a lot of symbols divided into a few pay categories, which could be described as:

When you have familiarized yourself with the game environment and payouts, you can go ahead and select the number of lines you want to play as well as the amount to bet per line.

The money you bring to the slot will usually be displayed as a number of credits, with every credit having a certain monetary value.

Per default, one credit is usually worth $0.01, but you can change this value easily if you would rather have every credit worth $0.05, $0.10, etc.

For example, if you brought $20 to a particular slot, with the value of one credit set at $0.01, you would begin with 2.000 credits.

If the slot has 20 paylines and you decide to bet 2 credits per line, every spin would cost you 40 credits (or $0.40).

Depending on what slots you prefer to play, there may be various ways for you to win.

Connecting a big payline is always exciting, but it is triggering the bonus when the fun begins.

You will usually only find these features on 5 reel video slots, while most 3 reel slots are pretty straightforward and the pay table is pretty straightforward.

Bonus games on videos slots can be very funny, exciting, and quite imaginative.

Slots manufacturers know that players are not only after the money, but also want to have good time and enjoy themselves while playing, so you will run into all sorts of mini-games to keep you entertained.

Free games with multipliers

Many online slots will have particular combinations which will trigger a certain number of free spins, usually with a special multiplier.

Most often, free spins are triggered when three special symbols, known as scatters, appear anywhere on the board, but sometimes three bonus symbols on any payline can serve as a trigger as well.

The multiplier can range anywhere from 2x to 10x (or even more), so all regular payouts are multiplied with the bonus number, which means you can win a lot of money during free spins.

This is one of the reasons you should always play all the lines available, as explained in our slots tips & tricks section, since you do not want to miss on any value once you are lucky enough to trigger free spins.

Various bonus games

Video slots, thanks to advancements in technology, have come to offer players a wide selection of funny and interesting bonus games.

While there are too many individual variations to mention them all here, these games will usually challenge you to do things like open boxes, make your way through the map to reach the final destination, etc.

Apart from bringing additional element of fun to the table, these bonus games can also pay you quite handsomely, and potential payouts increase as you move through the levels.

Jackpots

Many online slots offer progressive jackpots and sometimes potential winnings are really impressive.

Make sure to read particular game slots rules before you start, however, as there may be a minimum bet required to make you eligible for the jackpot payout.

If you are wondering how to play slots when there is a jackpot involved, apart from the possible minimum bet requirement, nothing changes.

You still play the game and win according to the available pay table. The game mechanic does not change for progressive slots.

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Slots are one of the funniest and most exciting casino games. These slots rules for beginners should help you make your first steps, making sure you know what to expect and what you need to do to start playing.

Overall, most games are quite intuitive and self-explanatory, so you should not have any problems finding your way around.

If there is anything you find confusing in this text, make sure to visit our slots terms page, where we have covered the majority of common phrases and expressions from the world of online slots.

Whatever it is that you are uncertain about, it should be explained and defined there.