Welcome to the wonderful world of slot play and all the excitement and fun that the “One armed bandits” can bring! It’s funny to me how gamblers like  myself just love to give money to machines that are  nicked named “bandits” but yet it <!--more-->gives me such a thrilling time to deposit my coins and click the spin buttons on these mechanical wonders. For those of you who have never gambled online at a slot machine get  ready to have a great time  with you new found adventure into online gambling which you may enjoy so  much you will never feel the need to travel to a land based casino again!

The purpose of this article is to educate the novice <strong>slot games</strong> player on the how to’s  and  what not’s of online slot machines, with the end result being a confident slot player who  has  all the needed information to take that first step  into  online  gaming and come out  hopefully richer than  when you went in! There are some cardinal rules to playing the slot machines which I will cover a little later, but first let’s talk about the different types and styles of slot games you will find at online casinos. 
<em>
Types of Slot Machines</em>

<strong>Classic Slots</strong> – The original slot game that you  are probably most familiar with which has 3 reels [reels are the platforms that the slot machine symbols appear on and spin independently of each other] with symbols on them and one payline [paylines are the areas on the machine where you need to hit your winning combinations on.] Some classic slot machines have one payline while others have 3, or 5. 

<strong>Video Slot Machines</strong> – These are the  slots machines with more than 5 paylines, they also usually have some type of bonus  round [an extra feature that you can trigger by hitting predetermined symbols which will take you to a separate screen where you play a bonus game for bonus money!] free spins, wild symbols and fun themes. These slot games machines have coin ranges that start as low as 1 cent per line bet and goes as high as $10 per line bet depending on the casinos.

<strong>Progressive slots</strong> – The “big daddy” of the slot games, these slot machines can have jackpots reaching into the millions at some casinos and are always available to win by hitting a predetermined symbol combination and usually at maximum bet. There are many winning combinations to hit on these slot games but only one certain combination will win you the main prize.

Now that you have learned the major slot games and their differences, let’s talk about the “cardinal” rules to safe and smart slot play.

<strong>Coin size</strong> - Always make sure you know the coin size of the slot machine you are playing. Unlike land based casinos where you know exactly how much money you are  betting with on any given slot machine because you actually hand  deposit  the money into the machine, online slot machines are  different because you don’t deposit separately at each machine, you cash balance is universal on all  machines regardless of coin  size, so it is entirely  your responsibility to check each game that you chose to play on to make sure that the coin size is set at the amount you wish  to gamble with. Online slots give you the choice of coin range on every slot game, so you can play for pennies or for dollars on almost all of the slot machines. So always check what coin size your machine is set for.

<strong>Paylines</strong> – Finding the right slot machine for you also depends on how many lines you wish to bet on. Each line will cost you one coin per bet unless you chose to bet more than one  coin per line, so if you  happen to be  playing a multi payline slot game that has 20  paylines, and your betting 10 cents per line than your total bet is  $200 per spin, but if you do not check to make sure your only betting one coin per line then this could become  very  costly for you especially if you happen to be betting 5 coins per line don’t realize it which I have done before and didn’t know until I had spent over $50 without realizing it!

<strong>Gamble Feature</strong> – Do not use this feature unless you have money to throw away! At the end of every “winning spin” some slot machines offer a gamble tab located on the bottom of the screen which you can click and try to double your winnings from your last spin. Usually a game of High/Low card games where you have to decide if the next card is higher or lower than the dealers faced up card. If you win the first round you can go on to try and double your winnings again, but if you lose any winnings you got from your last spin is gone forever!

Well that’s enough for now, I hope this information has helped to make you more confident in your slot play adventure and here’s to getting as many winning combinations that you can! Happy Gaming!