A game of chance that can be fun, addictive and exciting but it can also cost you a lot of money so you need to know your limits and only play with money that you can afford to lose. The best way to learn how a slot works is to try it out for free first and then once you’ve honed your skills invest your hard-earned cash.

Expert insight:

The term ‘slots’ has been around for over a century and, while the technology has evolved from physical coin slots to digital platforms that allow players to load credits in-game, the basic gameplay remains the same. Players pull a handle to spin a set of reels (typically three) that have pictures printed on them. If those pictures line up on a pay line (which can be a single horizontal line or an overlapping pattern) and match a payout table symbol then the player wins.

Many modern video slots feature five or more reels and can have a huge variety of bonus features. These can include retriggerable free games, sticky wilds, multipliers, expanding wilds and more. Some slots even offer a progressive jackpot where a proportion of every spin goes into a pot that can be won by landing a specific symbol.

You’ve probably noticed that you can often miss a win on a slot machine by just one or two symbols. This is because near-misses are a big part of how a slot is designed to keep players engaged and to balance out the number of payouts they receive.