After reading this article, you’ll know all of the slot machine secrets, and how to make the most winnings off of this wily game. Mechanics of the slot machine When you think of slots, you may picture a stereotypical machine – three reels painted with 7s, cherries, and the occasional pot of gold. Deposit Bonus: 100% up Bingo Pattern Slot Machine Tips to $/€300; The minimum qualifying deposit is €10. Country, payment method and game restrictions apply. The bonuses are subject to 30 x deposit + bonus Bingo Pattern Slot Machine Tips amount wagering requirements.
- Bingo Cards On Slot Machines
- How Bingo Slot Machines Work
- Bingo Patterns On Slot Machines
- What Are Bingo Slot Machines
- How To Read Bingo Patterns On Slot Machines
To understand how, or even why bingo-based slot machines exist, it helps to have a quick background on Native-American (NA) gambling.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The IGRA was signed into law in 1988 and established the framework for Indian gaming. It gave the authority to tribes to conduct, license, and regulate gaming.
Class I, II, and III Games
For legal reasons, the IGRA created 3 different classes of gambling. Class I refers to simple, traditional social games for small prizes and is not controlled by the IGRA. You won’t find these at casinos.
Class II games are games of chance based on bingo and similar games, like pull-tabs or lotteries. Class II games are most attractive to NA casinos because not only do they not require tribes to enter into state compacts, but tribes don’t have to pay taxes on Class II gaming revenue.
Finally, Class III is a catch-all classification for games that don’t fall under Class I or II classifications. Class III includes traditional casino games such as true slot machines, roulette, craps, etc.
How Bingo-Based Slots Work
Many early NA casinos were nothing more than bingo halls. As time marched on and customers flocked to slot machines, companies innovated what essentially were (and still are) fancier displays of bingo games.
When you play a slot machine at a NA casino and there’s a bingo card somewhere on the screen, that’s a good indication you’re playing a Class II machine instead of a true, Class III slot machine.
Whereas Class III machines operate in a independent manner, Class II machines are really just an elaborate display for the bingo games running in the background. When you hit the spin button, you enter into a game of bingo. Like real games of bingo, Class II games require at least two players. If you’re at a small casino that’s not busy, the reels may spin for an abnormally long time while it waits for someone else to join the game.
And while each slot manufacturer may design their Class II game slightly differently, they always involves the same bingo elements: multiple players attempting to match certain patterns on their cards compared to numbers centrally called.
Are Bingo-Based Slots Fair?
Native American casinos often get a lot of criticism for their self-regulating nature and lack of transparency, especially when compared to Vegas casinos which are required to publish all sorts of information like payouts and revenue.
But the fact is bingo-based slots can actually be more transparent than their Class III counterparts (if someone does the legwork). Within Class II machines’ paytable will be a list of all the winning bingo patterns and resulting pays. With a little bit of effort, you can actually calculate the odds of each pattern and win and combine them to create an “expected return” value which is equal to the game’s payout. Trying to figure out the payout on a traditional Class III machine is impossible without running it through millions of spins.
Class II vs Class III
Bingo Cards On Slot Machines
Though what’s going on in the background varies between Class II and III games, the player’s experience is basically the same. Both types of games have a specific payout associated with them. The bingo balls and cards generated by Class II machines come from random number generators, just like Class III machines.
So while some are suspicious of Class II games and their operation, the end result is practically no different from any normal slot machine.
A slot machine is a gambling machine with at least 3 reels (classic slot machines) that spin after the player presses a button. Most modern video slots contain 5 spinning reels or more. The aim of the game is to get a winning combination out of symbols on the reels and get paid. Slot machines may be also called one-armed bandits (the first machines had levers instead of buttons), fruit machines and poker machines. IIn addition to buttons lots of modern slot machines have levers which in fact are used for decoration. Today slots are one of the most popular casino games and are a big part of land and Internet casino income. According to statistics, more than 70% of Internet casino revenue and more than 80% of land casino income is generated from slot machine games.
Slot Machine Buttons and Features
How Bingo Slot Machines Work
All slots machines are based on a RNG (random number generator) which means that the game results are totally random and can't be predicted. To operate slot machine the players use a set number of options. As a rule, most slots, no matter the number of reels and paylines, use the same options and buttons. Let's study them by an example of a 5-reel video Wild West slot game.
5-reel Slot Game
- Payline indicators - special indicators which show on which paylines the player bets and in case of win they show the winning paylines. By clicking on each indicator the player can choose the total number of paylines.
- The Payline wins - when the combination on the reels wins, a corresponding indicator is activated and the player can see according to which payline he is paid out. In this example the player is paid out for getting a combination of 2 symbols according to the 1st payline To be winning any combination there MUST have at least two identical symbols one after another, and the first one MUST occur on the first reel.
- Number of paylines (Lines) - to choose the number of paylines to bet on, the player can use the '+/- Lines' buttons in the game menu.
- Balance - a special window which shows the current money balance of the player which changes after each win or loss.
- Lines Bet - the buttons allowing to select the coin denomination. The player can increase the coin denomination by clicking '+' button or decrease it with the '-' button.
- Bet/Win - payout meter which shows the size of the current bet and payout after each win.
- Paytable - this button allows the player to switch between the game and the paytable which explains the symbols, paylines, and payouts.
- Spin - by clicking on the 'Spin' button the player activates the slot game and the reels start spinning.
- Bet Max - a special button which allows the player to make the maximum bet and activates the game automatically.
5-reel Slots Paytable
- Wild - the slots symbol which can count as any other symbol to create a winning combination but scatter or bonus symbols. Wild is sometimes called the Substitute symbol.
- Payouts - the number of coins paid out for each winning combination. The total amount of winnings is the number of coins multiplied by the coin denomination selected by the player. For example, if the player bet $0.10 on the 1st payline and wins he is paid out $0.40 because there are two matching symbols in the combination which pay 4 coins (see the paytable). Thus the payout is $0.10*4=$0.40.
- Return - - a button which allows the player to switch from the paytable back to the game window.
- Payline patterns - patterns with straight or zigzagged lines of slot symbols that create the game paylines.
- Scatter - a special symbol on the reels which is used to create combinations which pay out jackpots, or any of the bonuses or multiplies the winnings.
Bingo Patterns On Slot Machines
NB: Above we have described the buttons and features of an online slot game created by SlotsDoc.com. If you choose to play slot games provided by a different software, the arrangement of the buttons may vary. Also, some slot machines have extra buttons such as Autoplay, Bet One and Coins.
Autoplay option allows players to set the slot machine reels spinning automatically according to preset parameters.
Bet One button is used by the player if he wants to bet the minimum amount for the next spin. This option is opposite to the Bet Max.
Coins - in some slot games the player can bet several coins on each payline and in such case he is offered to choose the number of coins.
If you play at a slot machine in a real casino, the names of the buttons can be different. The button used to bet the maximum amount may be called Bet Max Credits (or Bet 2 Credits, Bet 3 Credits, etc.), the Bet One button case is called Bet One Credit. There could also be such option as Cash Out which allows to get the payouts from the machines that do not pay out after every win. Some of the slot machines installed in real casinos have levers in addition to the Spin button.
Slots Instructions
Slot game is very easy to play. The player just needs to select a slot machine, place a bet and wait for the outcome. The machine pays the wins based upon the payline patterns of symbols displayed in the paytable when the reels stop. So, the basic steps of playing slots are:
1. Choose the slot machine you prefer (classic, video, progressive, or bonus slots).
2. Select the number of paylines if you are playing multi-line slots.
3. Choose the coin denomination and place your bet.
4. Press the Spin or Bet Max button to activate the slot machine.
What Are Bingo Slot Machines
5. Check the paytable after the reels stop spinning.
The aim of the game is, of course, to win money from the machine. The game checks matching symbols on the reels that have stopped. These symbols are usually of bright colors and can be easily recognized. Most of the time, the symbols are fruits, numbers or letters, or simple shapes like bells, hearts or spades. Modern slot machines have symbols like cartoon and movie characters and so on. If you want to try themed slots, use the slots directory where we have grouped all slots together according different themes. If you wish to master slots and learn more about slot machine games visit our slots rules page.
Slots by Theme
How To Read Bingo Patterns On Slot Machines
Looking for online themed slot games? We have grouped all slots according to the most popular themes offered by software providers. Slot games based on different themes use various symbols, original design, sounds and bonuses. See all the themed slots and use the slots directory to choose the game you really like.
- American
- Classic Symbols
- Food
- Holidays
- Magic
- Retro
- Space
- Animals
- Entertainment
- Fruit
- Horror
- Movies
- Riches
- Sport
- Travel