The different types of slot machines
Myth: “All slot machines are the same”.
The Reel Story: There are five main types of slot machines, usually differentiated by number of reels, number of paylines and type of jackpot. Take a look in our slot machine slang dictionary if these expressions are new to you.
First, you have the 3 reel slot machine; the classical version with three spinning wheels, which you would typically find on the slot room floors in Las Vegas. These machines have 1-5 paylines and either static or progressive jackpots. Maximum bet is usually three coins for the one line machines, whereas the number of lines usually equals the maximum bet on multi-line machines.
Increasingly popular is the 5 reel slot machine with five reels and everything from five to several hundreds of paylines. Maximum number of coins can be one or several per payline. The five reels can be actual reels although it is much more common for the games to use a video screen.
Some slot machines have jackpots which grow as they are played, hence the name; progressive jackpot slot machines. The jackpots keep growing until someone hits, and then starts over but usually not entirely from 0. A certain share of every bet wagered on the progressive jackpot slot machines is set a side for the progressive jackpot, and the progressive jackpot can be linked together in a network of casinos or slot machines. One example is the gigantic Mega Moolah at Spin Palace.
The first slot machine was the Liberty Bell, invented in 1895 by car mechanic Charles Fey from of San Francisco. A spin resulting in three Liberty Bells in a row gave the biggest payoff, wait for it… fifty cents! Compared to today’s jackpot sizes that is just ridiculous, even if you compare the stake and the historical exchange rate. The slot machines have also had quite the face lift when it comes to appearance since then, and a popular modern version is the bonus video slot that uses a video screen for displaying the reels and has a bonus stage as the name suggests. This bonus stage comes in many shapes and sizes.
The typical slot machine comes from North America. The equivalent in the United Kingdom is the Fruit Machine which is very similar but with a few differences. The Fruit Machine usually comes with more gameplay options, like holding reels, nudging reels and the double or nothing feature.
Gary Globetrotter says: Slot machines are also known as poker machines (Australia), one-armed bandits, coin machines and gambling machines.
