Everything You Need to Know About Playing Bitcoin Slots Online

Pop into any bitcoin casino (well, almost any bitcoin casino), and you can find bitcoin slots galore. In the past, crypto bettors had to make do with a handful of proprietary, in-house games that were scarcely worth their time. That’s no longer the case. Over the last few years, many established, white label providers have striven to make their games BTC-friendly. The result is that you can now find virtually every major slot playable with bitcoins if you head to the right site.

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The Evolution of Slots

Most people would agree that the Liberty Bell was the very first slot to make an impression. Developed in 1894 by Charles Augustus Fey, the design of this machine has been copied and reproduced countless times to give us the machine we love today.

Most slots refrained from paying out cash prizes throughout the prohibition era, instead, handing out fruit-flavored gum and candies. They naturally utilized a wealth of fruit symbols to fit in with this, and the humble fruit machine was born. Flash forward to the founding of Las Vegas as the world’s gambling capital, as one-armed bandits that paid real money prizes were back on the menu.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the very first electronic slots appeared. Known as video slots (because they were digital and used television monitors), they were the first to introduce second screen bonuses, multiple paylines, and features such as wilds and scatters. Within two decades, the first online slots would appear, and shortly afterward, they would diversify and evolve once more, to include first mobile-friendly slots, then cryptocurrency-friendly games.

The current era of bitcoin slots has occurred at a time when there has never been so much diversity in the genre. There are hundreds of different types of thousands of games for you to choose from, and we’ll take a closer look at the options that bitcoin slots players have in front of them shortly. First, though, let us explain the basics of bitcoin slot gameplay for those of you who are eager to learn but haven’t yet tried them.

Understanding the Basics of Bitcoin Slots

The basic slot machine hasn’t changed much since the days of the Liberty Bell. Payline structures have expanded, and a wealth of new features are consistently being added, but the basic notion of lining up symbols on reels or drums remains. Here is how it works (in most cases):

Basic Gameplay

The basic slot consists of several reels, and upon those reels sit both symbols and paylines. The paylines are effectively invisible and represent pathways across the reels. You must match identical symbols on those paylines, with at least three required to bag a prize in most games. Each symbol has its value, so some are worth a lot more than others, depending on how much you bet.

Betting on BTC Slots

Betting on slots first requires you to choose your “coin value”. After doing this, you can often decide how many “coins” you want to bet per spin. In older bitcoin slots, you may be able to alter the number of lines you play with, but this is a feature that is disappearing from the newer releases. A basic bet typically consists of your coin value multiplied by the number of coins, and that figure is multiplied by the number of paylines. In newer games, your stake may just involve the value of your coin multiplied by the number of coins you stake.

Special Features and Bonuses

Nowadays, most bitcoin slots come with a host of special features. Each BTC slot may be unique in terms of features or have the same features as other games. Wild symbols, scatter symbols and free spin bonuses are the most found features, so let us walk you through these as we continue this guide.

Winning on Bitcoin Slots

To win, players will often need at least three identical emblems appearing on a line. These will typically need to appear on adjacent reels, starting with the first (leftmost) reel. There is often a paytable button present in each game, and this will inform you if there are rule changes you need to consider. Our bitcoin slot reviews are also a great way of learning how each slot works. To work out how much you can win with your current stake (and the symbols you need to pocket those prizes), you can refer to that handy “paytable” table.

Key Things to Note About Bitcoin Slots

There are a couple of key things that you need to jot down before playing bitcoin slots. Most of these relate to the features found in the games. As each game is quite different from the others, we’ll be brief but still provide you with enough information to understand what is going on…

Wild Symbols

These act like a joker in a deck of cards, counting for any standard paying symbol you need to land a win. They won’t often replace other special symbols. Wilds can appear in many varieties, including stacked, expanding, colossal, sticky, multiplier, walking wilds, cloning wilds, and many more.

Scatter Symbols

Slot scatter icons get their name because they count wherever they land, even if they are “scattered”. They will often pay out a prize without appearing on paylines, and many will trigger bonus rounds if three or more appear during a single spin.

Bonus Symbols

Bonus symbols work a little differently to scatters but also trigger bonus rounds. These usually need to appear on specific rules, such as the first and fifth reels or the first, third, and fifth reels.

Random Base Game Modifiers

Many modern bitcoin slots come with base game modifiers. These are randomly triggered events that boost your odds of landing a win in some way. They may include increasing the number of reels and paylines, adding wilds to the screen at random, or even simply providing you with an instant cash prize.

Buy-a-Bonus Modes

Being able to buy the bonus round outright (rather than triggering it via symbols) is becoming more common. We’re not a fan of this, as it is often considerably costly to do so, but it is an option worth considering if the bonus round is tough to trigger by default.

Free Spin Bonuses

Arguably the most common type of slot bonus is the free spin round. This is usually triggered with scatters and allows you to spin the reels for free. The free game feature ends when you run out of spins, although it is not uncommon to be able to win additional spins and other goodies while the round is in play.

Instant/Click and Win Bonuses

An instant win or click and win bonus is another commonly triggered bonus round. This will usually involve picking from a series of objects. Behind them will be cash sums, booby traps (which end the round), or collect signs (which pay out your winnings). They may be multi-tier events or a straightforward, one-round feature.

Progressive Jackpots

Progressive jackpots are what every bitcoin slot player wants to win. These are uncapped jackpot prizes, and they may be triggered at random or by completing a bonus round successfully. Not all bitcoin slots offer them, but some have prizes worth the equivalent of millions of dollars.

You Can Afford to Be Picky

The sheer number of bitcoin slots available is immense. Assuming you sign up for a top crypto casino, you won’t be short of games to play. With potentially thousands of titles to choose from, it is worth stressing that you can afford to be picky. Never play games that don’t offer you great value for money. If one slot doesn’t look appealing, but you like its “theme”, don’t panic. There is bound to be an imitator slot or a similar game from a rival provider that offers you the same theme but with arguably better features and cheaper stakes.

Common BTC Slot Games

All the sites we recommend to our bitcoin slot players come packing a wealth of games. These come from some of the biggest and most reputable providers out there. Some BTC slots will suit you more than others. It is worth highlighting a few of the better ones so you know what you’re dealing with.

Classic Slots and Fruit Machines

Classic slots and fruit machines follow a very similar format to the original Liberty Bell. They often have just three reels and a single payline (maybe up to five if you’re lucky). They commonly feature fruits, evens, sevens, bars, and bell symbols and seldom offer any special features.

Video Slots

BTC-friendly video slots make up the lion’s share of BTC slots you can play online. They almost always have five reels and multiple paylines. They usually come bearing gifts such as wilds, scatters, themes, and special bonus rounds, too.

MegaWays Slots

MegaWays slots are a relatively recent addition to the bitcoin slot world. These are played over a unique engine, where as many as 117,649 random ways to win can appear instead of paylines. They also offer “collapsing reels” where new symbols drop down to take the place of winning ones.

Cluster Pays Slots

Cluster Pays are older than MegaWays slots but work similarly. They don’t feature paylines, with players winning when they group clusters of identical symbols. They also have a collapsing reels mechanic, allowing you to potentially win multiple times on a single spin.

Progressive Jackpot Slots

As mentioned, progressive jackpot slots are those with uncapped jackpots. Every bet made on the game raises the value of the jackpot. This will continue to occur until a player wins it. It is worth noting that progressive jackpot BTC titles are networked, though. Any casino offering the game could see a winner, and if somebody wins the prize at a different bitcoin casino to yours, the jackpot will disappear from your casino, too. There may be several jackpots up for grabs in progressive games, though.

Understanding Volatility and RTP Rates

Two of the most important things to grasp concerning bitcoin slots are volatility and RTP rates. Allow us to explain them to you below:

Volatility is the level of risk involved in a game. For instance, low volatile bitcoin slots pay out regularly, but the prizes tend to be petite. By contrast, highly volatile bitcoin games pay out infrequently, but they tend to churn out massive wins when they do. Highly volatile games are dangerous if you don’t have a decent balance to sustain losing streaks, but the rewards are worth the effort if you can.

The RTP rate of a bitcoin slot (Return to Player) is the opposite side of a coin that also includes house edge. It is the percentage of every bet that a bitcoin casino will put back into a pot for its players to win. For instance, if you wager $1 on a slot, and the RTP is 95%, this means that $0.95 will be available to be won (to all players), and $0.05 is kept by the bitcoin casino. The higher the RTP rate, the fairer the game.

How to Find the Best Bitcoin Slot Games Online

Theoretically, you can pop into any bitcoin casino, and we’re sure you’ll find an array of top bitcoin slots to play. However, if you want to have the biggest library of top titles to choose from, you should be sure you select one of our recommended casinos. Our sites are all licensed and are RNG (random number generator) certified for fair play. At the same time, don’t hesitate to check out our top bitcoin slot reviews. If you want the inside track on the best bitcoin slots to play and how they work, you can’t go wrong with our reviews.

FAQs: We Answer Your Bitcoin Slot Questions

Before spinning those reels, take the time to have a closer look at this brief FAQ. If you’ve got questions, we’re sure we can help with our answers below.