The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Right Slot Machine

For the past 10 years, the popularity of online casinos has skyrocketed, largely thanks to the allure of online slots. The shiny, whizzing reels of these fiendishly difficult to beat games are what drives the majority of people to online casinos.

Slots have been with us for a long, long time and we can all say with certainty that each one of us has played this game at least once in life. Younger generations benefit from online casinos and they probably know only the digital variant of the slot game, but we that are a bit older surely know the thrill of yanking that lever and hearing that sweet sound of spinning reels just before a Jackpot.

The digital age means digital slots with varieties that will make your head explode. If you have logged into your favourite online casino these past years and found yourself feeling overwhelmed at the choice and the offer, you’re not alone, plenty of us found ourselves in the same predicament.

Fear not though as we’ve gone to the effort to come up with the ultimate guide to picking a slot machine that’s right for you. Read on to find out how you can become confident enough to know what you like and don’t like from a slot machine and after that hit VirginGames and pick one that is just right for you.

What Type of Player are you?

The first thing that you need to evaluate before you can find your perfect slot is yourself. What type of player are you? What things are important to you when playing? Do you want to play a game that will give you as high a chance as possible of winning?

Are you more interested in the aesthetics of a game? How does it feel, how does it looks and how does it plays? These are all the questions that need answering if you are to find the best slot machine game for you. Since the choice is huge and the variety of games is nothing less, you can easily find yourself in a problem of going through all of the online slots until you find the right one. This is both time and money consuming so stick to the end of the article and find out which ones are for you.

The Money Conscious

The vast majority of us play online slots after a hard week at work to relax and unwind, knowing that we are unlikely to make any serious money. For a small few,  though, spinning the slot reels is all about making money and turning a profit.

If that sounds like you then the things you need to look out for from an online slot are:

RTP: This simply means ‘return to player and is a percentage that represents how much money you could expect to see returned to you for every £100 wagered. If you’re a money interested player you’re going to want to play a game with a high RTP which is anything over 97%.

Bonuses: The way that you make money from a slot is from the bonus rounds, so prioritize a game with plenty of opportunities for bonuses. The one big thing to know is that these slot games try to draw you in with huge bonuses but you shouldn’t expect that you will hit every one of those, every time you put money into that game.

Progressive Jackpots: These are jackpots that grow and grow until they are randomly allocated to one player. Games with progressive jackpots tend to have low to medium RTP’s, but if you want to win some serious money these are your best opportunity. Since these are online slots, no one is rushing you and no one is standing over your shoulder. The best way to familiarize yourself with all of this information is to read through the manual and the rules of each slot game. It will explain a lot what you are looking for and by doing so you can also see if that game is for you.

The Experience Conscious

If new is always better and you find yourself constantly craving a novel experience playing slots then you most likely fall into this category. To satiate your need for ever-better experiences, prioritize the following:

The Weird Factor: A lot of slots are the same and most of them are based on the tired old clichés of ancient Egypt, horse racing and leprechauns. Some even mix all three in a nauseating mixture. To get the best experiences playing slots, always be on the lookout for weird and wonderful games to play. Get started with slots like Karate Pig and Cyrus the Virus, but don’t shut your eyes to other ones that are out there.

Gameplay Features: What makes a slot stand out from its competitors is the feature round. Some opt for boring features like spinning a wheel, but in others, you can complete skill-based tasks like trying to hit a hole in one. Do your research and search out slots with quirky, fun and engaging feature rounds.

The Theme Conscious

You know what you like and you stick to it. There’s no messing about with new genres and different styles, better the devil you know after all. That’s what a huge amount of people tend to be like, especially as they get older.

If that’s you then here are a few things to consider:

Licensing: If you’re a James Bond fanatic and can’t get enough of the books and films you might want to carry that passion over into casinos. If you then find an unlicensed 007 game with weird ‘Bondesque’ music and characters like Miss Cashpenny you’re going to be disappointed. So be sure to check whether a game is officially licensed or not before playing.

Realism: You might spend your Saturday evenings religiously watching Match of the Day and waste your lunch break reading up on all the latest transfer news but you’re certainly not a child. That’s despite what some slot developers might think of football fans.

Just because you like football doesn’t mean you’re going to enjoy a slot with cheesy sounds and cartoon footballs. To avoid this read the reviews of your favourite theme of slots to check that they’re not overly simplistic and childlike.

In Summary

At the end of the day picking an online slot, all comes down to personal choice. To make a good decision you’ll need to sit down and work out exactly what it is you’re looking for from an online slot and use that as the basis of your search.

One thing that we might recommend you is to never go hard at a slot machine that someone else praised. Maybe that someone had more luck than you, maybe it was his/her personal preference, maybe it was just their day. Try the slot machine and see how it feels but never go all-in with it just because someone else has all the best words for it.

Fortunately, with spins as low as a penny, you can afford to shop around and try as many out as you want before settling with a new favourite. In the end, as always gamble responsibly and always have fun in the process.