Top Online Slots for Real Money

What’s the most popular casino game in the UK? Slots, no doubt! There is no game that comes close to this player favourite both in terms of popularity and number of game titles offered. Furhtermore, that goes for both online and land-based locations. Players love the simple yet exciting experience that the modern fruit machines provide and they are thrilled by the chance to win life-changing amounts of money on a very small bet. Though every site offers a good portion of the game, you should be smart to play at only the best online casinos and, without further ado, here they are:

Before you head over to our top-rated operators, however, do take some time to get acquainted with the rules and options of online slot machines first. We’ll explain what the different types of slots are, what symbols and paylines mean, and we’ll give you a detailed table with the 10 most popular titles at the moment. We’ll show you how to personalise your gaming and how to modify your stake. We’ll present the best slot software manufacturers and explain everything you need to know about free spins, re-spins, and bonus games.

A Guide to Slot Machines

Although slots are a game of chance and, hence, it would be ridiculous to discuss strategies, a shrewd player would want to be prepared before they start playing. If you want to guarantee yourself the best chances at winning on any real money casino game, you have to be familiar with all its features and options. It’s not as simple as pressing the ‘spin’ button. If you underestimate the game, you’ll be at the risk of losing money. Since we don’t want you to lose any cash, we’ll explain the most important slot features in the next few paragraphs.

Types of Slots

When most people hear the word ‘slots’, they usually picture the old-school 3-reel fruit machines with the legendary symbols of cherries and bells. Because, if you aren’t playing them online yet, you’ve probably only seen them at land-based casinos and the local pub. Well, while a few decades ago those were the only types of slots that you can play, today most of the available slots, at both online and land-based casinos, are the modern 5-reels ones. They are way more diverse than the classic ones as they offer more winning combinations, bonus rounds, exciting themes and many free spins. And that’s what makes them so popular!

If we look at the number of reels, there are the classic 3-reel and the modern 5-reel slots. If we focus on the type of jackpot, there are progressive and non-progressive ones. Naturally, most operators including the top 10 online casinos in the UK categorise their games in different ways, so you may also see categories, such as ’10-line slots’, ’20-line slots’ and ’25+ line slots’. There are some unique variations that offer 243 ways of winning, i.e they pay for every three symbols of the same kind which stop on adjacent reels from the left. So, there are many other ways in which slots can be categorised but the classic/5-reel and the progressive/non-progressive categories are the main ones.

Symbols and Payouts

Every slot consists of 3 or 5 reels on which there are many different symbols. You win when three or more symbols of the same type stop on one of the pre-determined patterns across the reels, called paylines. Three, four or five of the same symbols offer different payouts which you can check out in the paytable section of the game. There are also some special symbols such as the wild, which substitutes for all other symbols and the scatter that triggers either the bonus round or the free spins but we’ll discuss this in detail below.

Game Options & Personalisation

If you think there’s no way you could personalise your game, you’re wrong. Though the options vary from one slot machine to the next, there are plenty of things you could modify. First of all, you can adjust the amount you want to spend per spin. Most slot games have two settings that the player can work around to find what works best for them – bet level and coin value. By changing the coin level you select how many coins you want to bet per spin. Coin value is self-explanatory.

Mega Moolah

Gladiator

Twin Spin

Additionally, most slots have an autoplay option. If you’re bored with constantly spinning, you can select a predetermined number of spins and see the reels go. Sometimes you can enter a number of spins to be played automatically. Usually, you can stop the auto spins if for some reason that’s what you want. Other possible options are the quality adjustment, quick spin and audio settings. One slot that has a unique setting is Guns N’ Roses – it offers you the chance to switch between your favourite songs.

Bonus Rounds & No Deposit Spins

One of the best and most exciting features of any real money slot is its bonus features. In most cases, the bonus feature consists of a certain number of bonus spins and is triggered when you get three scatter symbols on the reels. Sometimes, though, there are other bonus rounds which look like a totally different game where you must choose items, spin a wheel, open boxes and so on. If the slot has both free spins and some other bonus feature, there would be an additional bonus symbol, different from the scatter.

Free spins are great but re-spins are even better. Those are extra spins that are rewarded during the free spins feature and are triggered by a certain occurrence. For example, in the popular NetEnt slot Starburst, when you get a wild the reels will spin one more time, for free. Another interesting bonus feature is the multiplier. If a game offers you multipliers, it means that in certain situations it will give you the chance to increase your winnings a certain number of times. For example, the slot Gonzo’s Quest offers growing multipliers. When you have consecutive wins, the multipliers grow up to 5 times in the base game and up to 15 times during the free spins.

The Best Online Slot Developers

There are dozens of companies that develop real money online slots out there, but there are certain ones that are way more popular than the others. There’s a reason for that – those software companies really go out of their way to make slot fans happy. As a result, their games look better, have more exciting features and more chances of winning and are, thus, more engaging. Below, we’ll present the top 8 among those companies.

Mobile-Friendly Slots

Luckily, the most popular real money slot games out there also have mobile-friendly versions which are compatible with all the relatively recent Android and iOS devices. In fact, if you have a smartphone or a tablet running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread or more recent or an iPhone or an iPad with an iOS version 6.0 or later, every single mobile slot game will run seamlessly on your device. This is great because playing on the go is one of the best ways of enjoying your favourite game – it’s convenient and comfortable as you can do it anytime, anywhere.

Conclusion – Play Slots Online!

As we have shown you in this review, online slots have a lot to offer, but how do they stack up against the land-based ones? While it’s really fun to go to a real casino or your local pub and play slot machines surrounded by other players, playing slots online is definitely more convenient and profitable. Why? Well, first of all, the UK casino online bonuses are the rule at online casinos while they are an exception at brick-and-mortar ones. Then, there’s the fact that the online slot machines are set at higher theoretical RTPs compared to land-based ones, which actually makes them more advantageous for the players. Finally, you can play online slots any time and anywhere, which means you won’t have any reason to miss out on this fun activity.