Any Slot machine will consist of a number of vertical reels across the screen as well as a number of horizontal paylines across the screen. Apart from branded and cosmetic differences (which have no effect on the rules of the games), the main difference between the machines is the number of paylines and the number of reels. Most machines have a variety of winning combinations which are usually displayed somewhere on the screen. The machine will pay out whenever a player matches any combination as specified in the rules of the specific machine.
Online slot machines can be classified into two main types machines, namely Progressive Slots and Straight Slots. The only difference between the two is that a Straight Slot machine will pay out a predetermined fixed amount for the jackpot. A Progressive slot machine is linked to a group of machines that continually contribute to a jackpot called a progressive jackpot. This is done to spur players on to play more frequently as the winning jackpot gets bigger and bigger the more they play. Straight Slots can have only 3 reels and 1 payline, but can also have more than 5 reels and up to 20 paylines. The player can decide what he/she wants to bet on and how many paylines they want to bet on.
If the player chooses “Bet Max” on a multi-payline machine, all the lines will automatically be played. If a player chooses to only bet on a few, he/she can do this simply by adding bets with the “Bet One” button. Each time the button is selected, a line gets marked as being played for. The amount wagered can simply be altered with the “+” and “-” buttons next to the wager box on the screen. Each line has its own chance to win and winnings are calculated and combined for all lines, displaying the total winnings in a box that says “Win”.
When the player selects the spin button, the machine starts spinning and then displays the results and the winnings. On some online Slot machines, an additional payline is spun separately at the bottom of a series of paylines. Ahold tab appears under each of the symbols which the player can select. If a symbol is selected, all the paylines for that reel will adopt the symbol. After selecting which symbols to hold, the player hits the spin button again. This time only the reels that have open symbols, not selected to hold will spin.