Slot Machine Variations: Evolution in Gambling

There is nothing that is static in the world. Everything moves, changes and evolves. This simple truth is evident in the many slot machine variations that are now available in the world of gambling and casinos.

The basic design of the slot machine incorporates the three reel system. With the three reel system, players use a lever to cause the barrels to move. One of the earliest design changes on this basic system is the replacement of the lever with a button. Soon the barrels of the slot machine were replaced with pictures on monitors. Soon enough, slot machines resembled video games more than they resembled the original three barrel or three reel designs.

The many variations of slot machines make choosing the best slot machine to play a little bit confusing. Players need to familiarize themselves with the terminologies and the relative chances of winning in order to really make an informed decision when playing for keeps.

A Class II slot machine is one of the many slot machine variations present on the casino floor. A Class II slot machine is played a la tournament style. Players are pitted against one another and there is only one winner for each game.

Class III slot machines are the most popular types of slots games. With the Class II slot machines, players play against the house instead of other players. Each game is independent from the previous game since there is a randomizer employed.

The straight slot is another basic slot machine variation that makes use of a standard pay table. This variation has other sub-variants as well.

Straight Slots – this is the basic type of slot machine variations that has a standard paytable. Straight slots can also have such the variations:

A “wildcard” is a symbol that can be used to substitute for another symbol.

A “multiplier” is a symbol on reels which multiplies the amount of cash prize that a winner receives, by the numerical value indicated. It is usual for multipliers to have numerical values of 2, 3 or even 5.

A “bonus multiplier” multiplies a bonus received further.

The multiple paylines is a slot machine variant that actually increases the chances of winning for the player. With the slot machine incorporating multiple paylines, players can win via horizontal, vertical or diagonal patterns. These slot machine variants were first introduced in the ‘90s and they have been popular ever since.

Another popular slot machine variant is the Multi-denomination slot machine. Players who play at the multi-denomination slot machine will have the choice to pick which denomination the game will be played with. When a bill is inserted into the machine, a screen of options is presented to the player. This screen allows the player to select which denomination to play. If a player inserts a five dollar bill and selects the dollar denomination, he will be given 5 credits.

One of the basic slot machine variations that casinos love to use is the tokenized slot machine. This type of machine is designed to only accept the proprietary tokens that are minted for the casino. This means that players need to buy these tokens first before they can play at the slots.