In the world of slots, there are four main protagonists: reel slots, multi-line slots, progressive slots, and video slots. They each offer a different version of the same fun game, but it’s important to know the differences before you get into one versus the other.

Reel slots generally use three or five different reels. They physically rotate and go pretty quickly (three being faster than five), enabling bets to be lower than on some video options. These are the traditional online slots machines your grandfather played, albeit with better technology. They’re still fun though, so don’t forget to take on a three- or five-reel slot once in a while.

Multi-line slots is a shorter term used for multiple pay-line slots. That means that there are different payouts based on where the correct combination is located. If there are three different pay-lines of a five-reel machine that would mean that there would be three rows of five on top of each other and winning in different areas will produce different prize values. Since there are so many variables it’s a wild game and very popular. Just know that landing a jackpot in each row probably (meaning almost definitely) isn’t going to happen for you, so just play for the fun of it, not the exorbitant prizes flashing on the screen.

When playing progressive slots, always go big. The idea is the more you play, the bigger the jackpot. Now, this doesn’t mean you’re going to win big, it just means that if you get lucky and do win you’ll end up taking home an amount based on how many games you played. In this case, you should just set a budget at which point you’ll stop and play to that level because it’s very tempting. Don’t allow yourself to play “just one more coin.” One more probably won’t win, and you’ll be left in the very same situation you were in before you wasted another couple bucks.

Video slots are very popular because they’re intriguing. They offer unique animations and they can utilize different characters. It’s a lot easier to update a computer program than to physically change the reels, so they can be changed more quickly. However, one negative is the slower pace of video slots. Video slots often take longer to load so they may cost more per hand. That means the prizes will be bigger, but that doesn’t mean your odds of winning are any better.

Don't forget to read our online slots tournaments summary!