Slots

As long as slot machines have accepted wagers of more than one coin at a time, operators have tried to persuade players to make maximum bets.

In their day, the Trump Casinos in New Jersey and Indiana even had an anthropomorphic walking gold coin character called "Max Coins" urging players to bet the max for the highest paybacks.

Should players bet the max? Is betting the max the key to how to win on slots? Should you bet the max on any of online slots, video slots, three-reel slots? How do progressives figure into all this?

Pick'em-style bonuses have been an attractive element of slot machines for more than two decades. In the United States, they date back to the launch of Reel 'Em In in 1997.

They add interactivity to the games by making players feel part of the action. You choose icons on the screen to accumulate bonus credits, and that makes you feel as if you have some control of your fate.

New games are the lifeblood of online slots just as they are for offline slots. Players always are on the lookout for fresh bonuses, fresh intrigue and fresh interactivity, and new online slots are there to give it to them.

Naturally, there is overlap between the online and offline slot worlds, but each has its own needs, too. Some of the hottest online games won't be found offline.

With that in mind, let's check out four current online player favorites.

The Best Online Slots Are:

It takes multiple manufacturers working year-around to keep up with player demands for new slot games. Regardless of whether you’re playing online slots, or offline, once you’ve seen everything a game has to offer, you’re ready for something new to pique your interest.

Two of the game makers whose creative approaches have enabled them to claim growing shares of the slot business are Incredible Technologies and American Gaming systems.

There’s nothing difficult about playing slots. There are no complicated strategies to learn as in blackjack or video poker and no need to choose among wagers with wildly different house edges as in craps.

You don’t even need to learn where to place chips to bet on four numbers instead of six or some other total as in roulette.

Still, a little planning and preparation can help you get the most out of your time on the slot.

Many of the online slots players enjoy come from the same manufacturers that supply games to offline casinos. International Game Technology, Scientific Games, Aristocrat Technologies and others are giants online and offline.

Many of the games are even the same. IGT’s Cleopatra has been a hit both online and offline, and Scientific Games’ Jackpot Party variations have followed offline success as online hits.

Online slots and slot machine players love new game experiences, and slot manufacturers stand ever ready to offer them.

New games we can expect to see in 2020 include pop culture themes including the latest Monopoly game from Scientific Games, Jeopardy! from International Game Technology, and The Karate Kid and the Mask from Everi.

They include games with rewards for small cycles of spins, such as Ainsworth’s Super Lit Vegas and Incredible Technologies’ Happy 8’s. And there are progressives galore, including Konami Gaming’s Ba Fang Jin Bao series.

Slot machine players are among the most valuable players in today’s casinos, both online and offline. Casinos know it, too. They reward slot players with cash back or free play along with meals, free or discounted rooms and other comps.

In fact, modern player rewards systems that track how much you play evolved from the “slot clubs” that sprang up in the early 1980s, starting with the 24K Club at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City.