How To Read Online Slot Machine Paytables

Paytables of online slot machine games can sometimes be confusing. How can a player be sure he is reading the multipliers in the tables correctly. Obviously the multipliers set along side these symbols are there to guide us in the understanding of the payouts. But what do we multiply by these numbers. Is it the total wager or only the wager on the line? It used to be that there was only one line to read. You could sit in front of the slot machine looking at the reels and know during the spin how you are doing by seeing 3 cherries accumulating one by one before you. Now with 10, 20, or 50 lines to win on, we basically sit back and let the program do the calculating for us after the reels have come to rest. Yet a good knowledge of how it is calculated is basic to being a good slot gambler. So how can a player be sure he is reading the paytable correctly? Well there are some logical rules you can apply to make sense of it all in a fast and certain way. Lets go over these simple rules.

There are two simple things that can clear up 90% of this issue. Most online slot machine slot games pay from left to right. The symbol needs to start at the very left, or first reel and continue to the right, to constitute a win. But there are exceptions, however rare. This should be posted clearly on the paytable. This is basic and perhaps should be your first observation. The second thing to know that will clarify the payout is this. Scatter symbols pay over the entire board. So their multipliers correspond to the bet placed over the entire board. These are not line specific. So do not confuse them with the multipliers you will find on the Wild symbols.

Wilds can be a bit more confusing to decipher the win on a betline. Wilds are line specific and therefore are concerned only with the wager placed on a line. Wilds are many times referred to as wild substitutes because the idea is that they can substitute for any symbol on the reels to complete a winning combination. This is simple in and of itself. But perhaps the wild symbols themselves carry a multiplier just like the symbol that it is substituting for. How do you calculate your win. Let’s illustrate with an example. Lets say you have 2 wilds and two cherries on an active bet line going from left to right. This is a total of 4 cherries when you substitute the wilds for the cherries. The paytable says that 4 cherries win a multiplier of 5. If you had one coin on the bet line your win would be 5. The paytable says that 2 wilds pay a multiplier of 10. You would use the higher win on that bet line. This would be the 10 for the wild substitutes. Always use the higher win for your calculation.

But let us not stop unraveling this puzzle here. Many times a wild symbol will not only carry a multiplier in and of it’s self, it could pay also 2 or more for any win on the line. So continuing with the example above, your win would be 10 for two wilds multiplied by 2. Confused? Don’t be. Take a few minutes before you place the reels on Auto Spin and just observe. Place some coins on bet lines and do a few single spins one at a time. Look at the automated calculations that come up and do some simple math until you are comfortable that you understand how the paytable works.

Many times the paytable does not give you all the info. Many times you might have to study the instructions in combination with the paytable to get all the data necessary for understanding your wins. I have seen many things missing from instructions and the payables on various online slot machine games. My suggestion is to find a good online slot game orientated gambling portal web site that is focused on the software provider that you are playing with. If the web master is worth his salt the slot machine game review should have detailed instructions already studied and prepared for you in a legible manner. They also should comment on the particular frequency of payouts as well as the payout %. But don’t take it for granted that every web site will do this for you. When you find a sight that has put the work into their job of analyzing online casino slot machine games, book mark them.