The world of online casinos is dominated by slot games, and they are one of the most often picked genres among gambling enthusiasts. But what makes slot games so popular?

Well, it is a combination of a couple of different things. First of all, slot games can be fun and they are designed in a way to attract people with all the visual and sound elements. But the biggest factor why slot games are so attractive lies in the lucrative benefits that are usually offered.

Slot games are known for having huge life-changing jackpots, which makes them appealing to people, although the chances of winning one are slim.

Since we are talking about a genre that is quite popular among people, it’s time to learn how slots work just to know if there are any ways of increasing our winning chances.

Being knowledgeable about a certain casino game is the first step toward success, so without further ado, let’s dive deeper into the world of slots and find out how they work.

The Progression of Slot Games

Back in the day, slot machines were purely mechanical. You had to pull the lever and let the gears and springs determine your fate. These vintage slots were often referred to as “one-armed bandits”, and were operated with levers that physically spin the reels.

If we fast-forward to today, we can find that slots advanced a lot and the technology used to come up with the winning outcome is entirely different. Nowadays, the world of slots is dominated by digital technology and complex algorithms.

Most of the slots nowadays are digital and are powered with something called a Random Number Generator (RNG), which is a technology that comes up with a unique outcome unaffected by any previous results.

Even when we are talking about slot machines featured on social casinos where you don’t win any real-world prizes.

The system works in a way of selecting a random outcome across all the different variations, and there is no way to increase your winning chances or know when the jackpot is about to hit.

The Heart of Modern Slots

As we mentioned before, modern slots work very differently from their ancestors. They are now powered by RNG, but in order to really understand how they work, we need to dive deeper into the Random Number Generator technology.

This is basically software or a complex algorithm that ensures every spin is entirely random and independent of the previous one.

Let’s see how it works in practice. When you press the spin button, the RNG starts generating a number that corresponds to specific symbols on the reels. This is a process that happens in milliseconds.

The algorithm goes through all the combinations that the slot machine has and picks a random outcome deciding which symbol should appear on every reel. There is no way to outsmart the random number generator – it is a process all about chance and luck.

What Are Your Odds?

The random number generator isn’t the only thing you need to understand in slots. There are also paylines and payouts. These can indirectly impact your winnings in the long run.

Modern slots have anywhere from 5 to 100,000 paylines. This is a Megaways mechanic, which was quite innovative and changed the entire online slot industry. This allows reels to change the size and offers a mind-boggling number of ways to win.

On the other hand, every slot comes with payout percentages or as most people know it “Return to Player” (RTP). This is a figure that indicates how much a slot pays back to players over time. Most of the popular slots nowadays have an RTP between 90-98%, which means that a slot with 96% RTP, theoretically, pays back $96 for every $100 wagered.

But there is no way of knowing when this outcome is going to happen. The slot machine uses this principle of percentages based on a long period.

Volatility: Highs and Lows of Winning

Another important thing to know about slots is their volatility. Volatility, or variance, determines how often and how much you win. We’d all want a slot that pays more frequently right?

Well, it is a bit more complicated than that.

As you can see, a slot with lower volatility has frequent but smaller wins. These types of slots are for people who want constant action and regular payouts to keep the excitement going.

On the other hand, high volatility slots are slots that pay out less frequently, but the wins are significantly bigger. These are perfect for people who are attracted by big wins and don’t want to need that constant dopamine hit from small wins.

Modern Features of Slots

Modern slot machines come with a slew of features designed to keep you entertained and, let’s face it, playing longer:

• Bonus Rounds: Free spins, pick-and-win games, and multipliers add an extra layer of excitement.
• Wilds and Scatters: Wild symbols can substitute for other symbols to create winning combinations, while scatters often trigger bonus games regardless of their position on the reels.
• Megaways: A game-changer introduced by Big Time Gaming, allowing up to 117,649 ways to win on a single spin​.

Slots have a randomized nature, and the outcome is entirely based on luck. There is no way of predicting future outcomes, and the only thing you can manage is your bankroll and how you use it.