Video slots are among the most popular online casino games ever. They attract players with their simplicity and the features that they offer to all gamblers. Moreover, video slots have magnificent graphics and sound, which makes them stand out from the most popular casino games. If you are new to this kind of online casino entertainment, you will find a lot of useful information about video slots themselves and their main features.
The Origins of Video Slots
Casino slots appeared long ago, even longer than you can even imagine. The first machines were developed in 1891. Therefore, the history of fruit machines goes back to the XIXth century. The first slot machine ever had five reels and included 50 cards (therefore, slots started as an automated card game).
Unlike other casino games, slots can be found in bars. If a visitor wanted to play it, he or she had to put a nickel into a special coin slot and spin the reels. As for payouts, one could receive a remuneration for landing a poker combination (as you can see, video poker originates from the first slot machines too).
There was one trick that increased the house edge of such machines. They lacked two cards – ten of Spades and Jack of Hearts. With this small upgrade, the machine reduces the odds of getting a royal flush by as much as 50%. As there was no special payout mechanism, the winnings were paid directly at the bar. As for the payouts themselves, one could win beer, other alcoholic drinks, or cigars.
Slot machines were officially banned in 1902, but their production continued. Moreover, at the beginning of the new century, such games were widely spread in North America. They can be found in various bars, salons, stores, and even in most tobacconists. As there was no way to have cash payouts, such machines allowed players to receive various prizes like cigarettes, drinks, etc.
For a long time, slots were fully mechanical. In 1964, however, the first electromechanical machines appeared. It was called Money Honey and was operated electrically. One thing that was unfamiliar to the players was that the game wasn’t powered by the lever anymore. Players had to press a button to launch a new round. Such machines became very popular and were installed in many establishments.
In 1976, the first true video slot game was manufactured. It was created by Fortune Coin and used a modified Sony TV. It was installed at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. In the next several years, the game was approved by NSGC. In 1978, Fortune Coin was bought by IG Tech, one of the leading video slot and online casino gaming software manufacturers.
The next big leap was made in 1996 when the game Reel’Em was released. The title included a second screen with a bonus round. When a bonus round was triggered in the game, a totally different screen appeared. It gave players additional payouts and was a lot of fun. It should also be mentioned that slots became very popular in land-based casinos, giving them around 70% of their net income.
With the development of Internet technologies, a new era of online slot games took place. When the first online casinos appeared, they hosted only blackjack and roulette. However, things changed when they started to offer video slots. Such games became very popular soon, and the cycle repeated.
The first video slots were similar to their “twins” from brick-and-mortar casinos. However, new technologies allow such games to have significant transformations. Old classic games were substituted by new five-reel multi-payline titles. Moreover, video slots have a lot of great features like in-game bonus rounds, free spins, re-spins, multipliers, and other excellent options that players from the Netherlands can enjoy nowadays.
Online slot games were growing in numbers along with the number of companies that were engaged in this race. Nowadays, you will find hundreds of software providers that have dozens, even hundreds, of games of this type in their portfolio.
A new era of real money slots began with the appearance of jackpot games like Mega Moolah from Microgaming. Apart from giving you the joy of spinning the reels and watching for winning paylines, you can try your luck at winning huge prize amounts.
Types of Video Slots
While it may seem that all the video slots are similar and have many deviations, you will change your mind once you get in touch with such games and have a closer look at them. To tell the truth, video slots have a lot of variations, and you will learn more about them if you continue reading this article.
Classic Video Slots
The first thing that should be mentioned is that video slots are based on random number generators, a special function that defines the outcome of each round. As you can guess from the name of this program, it uses a random machine mechanism that makes each round unique.
Classic slots have three reels (like these land-based one-armed bandits that you can find in most offline casinos) and one payline only. In most cases, video slots of this type may have various symbols, but in most cases they offer fruits that are “printed” on the reels.
Modern classic fruit machines (this is another name for classic slots) are very popular among the online gambling community as they combine classics with some up-to-date features like several paylines, progressive jackpots, etc.
One of the advantages of classic video slots is their speed. They are played much faster than other games of this kind. As for the variance, it is high, meaning you can win a lot of money or lose a huge sum as well. With a reduced number of reels, the number of winning combinations is also lower.
Five-Reel Video Slots
This is the most common type of video slot game that you can find in most online casinos in the Netherlands. As you can guess from the name of this category, all the titles inside have five reels, meaning you have more winning opportunities. However, with the higher chances of winning, the payouts are smaller, if you win a standard round without any additional feature or option.
Five-reel video slots come with a 5×3 grid layout, which is kind of a standard nowadays. However, you can also find some games with a 5×4 or even a 5×5 grid, which are also very popular as the more symbols are on the layout, the more opportunities you have to win the round.
Moreover, it should also be mentioned that such five-reel video slots come with a lot of additional features. If a multiplier is landed, the stake amount will be multiplied according to the number you see. For instance, if you have placed a EUR 1 bet and received a 10x multiplier, your payout will be EUR 10 in this case.
Video slots of this type come with decent graphics and impressive background sounds. Various software providers tend to make these games even more attractive by mixing them with history and adding adventures. For instance, you will be able to go back in time and visit Ancient Greece or even examine the ruins of Maya shrines to find the old treasures of this famous tribe.
One of the most important advantages of five-reel slots is that they come with multiple payouts. The number of winning lines may reach 243 or even more. It should also be mentioned that five-reel slots may have both fixed and floating paylines. This means that you can choose the number of ways to win in some cases. As you can guess, the more lines you make active, the less money you will win. Also, such games have a higher return on player values.
More-Reel Video Slots
Five-reel slots were the most popular games of this kind for decades. However, nowadays you have a chance to try video slots with six, seven, eight, or even nine reels. The number of rows is also higher.
As you can guess, with more reels to be played on, you have even more combinations that will pay you out. Such games may have 243+ lines, which makes it even more attractive to play multi-reel titles.
As for the rest, they look similar to five-reel games. In particular, software developers employ various historical events to build the whole gameplay around them.
Progressive Jackpot Games
This is a very special type of video slot that allows you to win a huge amount of money. Progressive jackpot games are designed in such a way that they accumulate part of the player’s stakes to form a jackpot prize fund. It grows over time until one wins it.
The progressive jackpot amount may reach hundreds of thousands of euros, which means that you can become a rich person quickly. However, you should bear in mind that there are a lot of players, meaning you will have many competitors on your way to success. Winning a jackpot is like playing and winning the lottery. You always have chances, but they are tiny.
Progressive slots are designed like any other game of this type. They have reels and paylines. They also have return-to-player value, which is, normally, lower as compared to standard five- and multi-reel games of this type.
VR Slots
With the development of modern technologies, video slots have become more and more attractive as they add all the modern features like 3D and virtual reality. The latter allows you to use special VR devices to play your favorite reels.
One of the features of such games is that they go beyond the standard limits. Some video slots of this type allow you to not only enjoy the reels, but also explore the outskirts, meaning you can have a virtual trip around.
3D Video Slots
Three-dimensional games became very popular in the late 2000s. Nowadays, you can’t surprise gamers with another 3D shooter or even a sports game. The same is for video slots. There are a lot of games of this kind that offer you three-dimensional elements. At the same time, such titles preserve all the features that make them popular among gamblers, like multiple paylines, a lot of additional options, etc.
Bonuses to Claim when Playing Online Slots
Most modern online casinos that accept players from the Netherlands offer a lot of lucrative promotions. The list of bonuses normally includes welcome promotions, reload bonuses, birthday gifts, cashback offers, free spins, etc.
Welcome bonuses are among the most desired campaigns as they allow you to grab hundreds, even thousands, of euros that you can spend later on various online casino games, including video slots. Most gambling sites that accept players from the Netherlands offer combined welcome bonuses that include both cash and free spins. The latter allows you to play video slot games for free.
How to Find the Best Online Casinos to Play Video Slots in the Netherlands
To enjoy slots and to have the best gambling experience, you need to choose the best online casino. While there are plenty of websites around, not all of them offer top-notch services to players from the Netherlands. Below you can see some important criteria that you can use to pick the top platforms for gambling:
- License and reputation. Always check what other players think about a particular gambling site. You can do it right here, on our website. Moreover, when analyzing a particular casino, check if it has an international license.
- Range of games. You will normally find thousands of slot games in modern online casinos. The best sites offer top video slots and cooperate with famous and reliable software providers.
- Bonuses and promotions. When searching for the best online casinos, make sure that the gambling site you are checking offers lucrative bonuses with fair wagering requirements.
- Payment options. Playing for real money means that you need to transfer funds to top up your account and have a lot of suitable options to withdraw winnings. Make sure that the banking options that a particular gambling site offers are suitable for you.
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