In a big ocean of pokies tips and tricks, what are actually the basics to know before starting on your slots endeavor?
We have put together a quick and easy “go to” dictionary that can be handy to have a peek through when certain rules, bonuses, and terms might be confusing.
Let us take a look at the most “common” fish to be aware of, in a very big casino pond.
Bet size
Choosing how much to bet can be a hard one to master but it isn’t something you always have to stick to. Experienced pokies players recommend that you begin betting smaller rather than bigger and with each lucrative win increase your betting amount. This way you manage to stay in control of your bankroll and profits in the making.
Making substantial profits is an important factor to many slot players, let us give you an example of what we mean by increasing your bet with time.
If you begin with betting 2 coins per pay line on your pokies game and you manage to get a winning combination then this would be the perfect time to bet higher to 3 coins on your next spin.
If you manage to come across a second win then you can increase your bet to 4 coins and so on….
However, if you should lose, return to your original bet that you started off with, in this case, would be 2 coins. Continue on this bet until you manage to land a winning combination on your pokies reels again.
Keep in mind that this is not a set amount to follow. If your finances allow you to bet more, feel free to do so as it’s only a general rule, to begin with, 2 coins.
You might be wondering, why is 2 coins the general rule? Betting with 2 coins allows you to keep down your losses which is the aim of the game. You want to lose as little as possible whilst increasing your profits as much as possible.
Return to player
Return to Player or as you may have heard it, RTP percentage is a term that is used to describe the amount that is paid back to the player over time.
For example.
Make a 100, 1 dollar bets on a pokies game with an RTP of 90%, means that you will possibly get back 90 dollars on a slot machine over time.
This is why it’s so important to pick a pokies game with the highest possible RTP as the higher the percentage is, the more you will get back. The highest possible RTP to play on is 99% and tends to come with certain demands such as betting on the highest coin.
As much as we play for fun, we should always invest our money wisely into a pokies game that can give us back as much as possible.
You should only be prepared to bet if you are prepared to lose as pokies are a game of chance, even if you play on a high RTP pokies game, losing is part of this exciting hobby.
Free spins
Free Spins are quite self-explanatory, they are a freebie bonus given to the pokies player as a reward for…. can you guess? Yes, FREE.
Grabbing as many Free Spins as possible is a brilliant way to not have to spend more of your own money. This way you increase your chances of winning without worrying about losing cash. Basically, you feel like you are not losing anything as it free rounds to use.
Bonuses normally come as a pokies bonus game feature or in promotions at online casinos. You don’t have to be an experienced pokies player or a high roller to be able to use the free spins.
The beauty of the free spins is that they don’t require a deposit and normally will reward you with the free spins instantly. The free spins might require some kind of wagering-requirement that you’ll have to meet to be able to have your earned cash approved and released into your account.
There are two types of free spins, which are free spins and free spins bonus. The free spins require no deposit, all you have to normally do to get your free spins verified is to register with the casino. Whilst the free spins bonus normally comes as a Welcome Bonus package where you’ll have them divided into sections of deposits.
Here’s an example for you how the free spins bonuses work:
Your first set of free spins bonus becomes unlocked when you register on the casino with a deposit. Then thereafter you’ll continue to get a set amount of free spins for your first, second and third deposit.
Free spins are a great way to use to your advantage as a pokies strategy to increase your winnings. It might feel like a rip off at first that you have deposit a certain amount to get your free spins, but in the long run, you will benefit so much more in investing in them as you tend to lose more money rather than earning winnings on pokies. This is why it’s better to go for that 20 dollar deposit and get a nice bunch of free spins so you don’t have to spend any more money.
Who knows, you might just be that jackpot winner during your free spins rounds and all you did was pay the first, second or third deposit?
Scatters
Here we have an exciting bonus symbol that will rock your reels when creating winning combinations. The scatter symbols are special because they differ from the other bonus symbols on the reels in two respects:
- You do not need to land on an active pay line to be able to reap from the benefits of the scatter.
- The wild symbols cannot replace the scatter symbols on the pokies reels.
In most online pokies games the scatter symbols will payout its rewards when you manage to land three or more on your pokies reels.
The payout depends on what activates the scatters and how many of the bonus symbols you manage to land on your reels but there will be an enjoyable reward or rewards for you.
If you’re unsure on what rewards you’ll get activated from the scatter symbols then you can always read about them on the payout table for the pokies game you’ve chosen.
We truly recommend that you always read the payout table and T&Cs for your slot game to avoid any form of surprises that you didn’t expect. It also puts you in a position of feeling in control of your gameplay as you will understand what they do for you. It will also make your pokies play more exciting as you know what to look out for.
Scatter symbols have a tendency to activate extra bonus games that will add even more excitement and fun to your pokies game. The extra bonus games also add even more rewards to your bank.
The extra bonus games that become activated differ depending on each pokies game but some extra bonus games will have options where you can pick rewards from a selection of rewards, in most cases, it will be free spins.
Scatters are brilliant as they are a kind of hybrid bonus symbol where you can enjoy their own benefits and extra bonus benefits.
Wilds
Wild symbols have many powers such as replacing any symbol except the scatter symbol. What these rewarding symbols do for is that they try to create a winning combination through replacing any “miss-matching-symbols”.
The power of substitute is what the wild symbols hold on your reels and serves as the highest paying symbols in your pokies game.
Wild symbols are completely random so there’s nothing you can control or influence here. However, they will only appear on certain reels such as a five reel pokies game.
The wild symbols are different and a few. They come with their own unique features that contribute to the slot game in its own way.
Here are some of the different wild symbols:
- EXPANDING WILDS – These wild symbols will fill your entire reel with wild symbols to create a winning combination.
- STICKY WILDS – These wilds are stickier than a piece of chewing gum and will not budge away from your reels. They will stick and place multiple spins on your game to try and get you to hit a rewarding round. You will enjoy more benefits with this bonus wild the more paylines you have bet on.
- SHIFTING WILDS – These wilds are very similar to the sticky wild but instead of staying put and stuck in one place they move across the reels horizontally with each spin.
- STACKED WILDS – Like a pack of wolves, these wilds will stack on top of each other on one reel until they fill up the entire reel.
Multiplier
Multipliers are probably one of our favorite bonus features as they, multiply, your profit on your pokies game. There are many different kinds of multipliers and can differ between x2 up to as high as x1000 your winning amount.
You can normally tell which symbol comes with a multiplier as it will have an “X” on it to make it clear for you. However, there are some pokies games that come with surprises and doesn’t make it as clear which symbol will multiply your wins.
In most pokies games you will find the multipliers within another bonus game on a higher level. Saying that there are slot games where you have multipliers appearing on a lower level of the bonus game.
Every time you land a symbol on your full paying your coins will be multiplied with whatever multiplier that pokies game has to offer. It can really make your days the multipliers and may even give a large jackpot amount.
So, regardless of which bonus feature you will encounter on your pokies adventure, they will all add to your profits and you lose nothing by being educated in what they are and how they work.
We hope this guide will help you to towards your journey on finding treasures within your favorite slot game.