Upping Your Game with Multiline and Multiple Slot Machines
If there’s one constant in the gambling world, it is change (not just the kind in slot machine buckets). New variants of old favorites increase a casino’s traffic, and help keep gamblers playing longer. Even a tiny increase in traffic and/or play time can make a difference of millions of dollars.
With that in mind, casinos are heavily promoting variations of their top moneymaker: Slot machines. Two popular slot machine variations are “Multiline” and “Multiple Slot Machines’’.
A multiline slot machine is a slot machine that uses multiple lines. Multiline slot machines usually look like ‘normal’ slot machines. There are three reels (although some have five or more reels) but the multiple lines are there. Take the line in the middle and add the top and bottom lines. Make a few crisscross lines and others that start straight and others that zigzag for more lines. Basically, if you can imagine a forward traveling line then you can bet on it. Think “tic tac toe” in regards to lines.
So why do casinos prefer multiline slot machines? Because when you play multiline, you’re going through money faster, because you usually have to bet the max to take advantage of all the possibilities. There’s also the feeling that you haven’t spent that much since “I only played a few games at the nickel slots.” Bet twenty lines and those nickel slots become dollar slots. Still, it doesn’t feel like you’ve been playing as much and with nickel credits you think you’re thrifty even though you’re probably spending more.
Multiline slot machines aren’t just helping the casino. With multiline slots you have more chances to win. Play multiple lines (or the maximum bet) and if a certain symbol is found anywhere on the screen (or on chosen lines) you might get a payout or a bonus game. It’s win-win for both parties.
Multiple slot machines have two definitions – first, they are slot machines that are connected together so a group of people can compete for a shared prize (sometimes these are called progressive machines as well). Instead of one machine providing the funds for the jackpot, several machines offer a small percentage of each bet. This allows the casino to offer bigger jackpots to entice more people. After all, a “One Million Jackpot” draws more people than ten machines with a “Hundred Thousand Jackpot”.
The second kind of multiple slot machine is a machine that has another “minigame” built into it. Certain combinations trigger the minigame, which can be a big-six type wheel, a smaller slot game, maybe a race, etc (Oh, we forget one other definition of the term… there’s also Sweet Old Gracie, who staked out slot row 4 and is playing four machines at once. Let’s leave Gracie alone, as in this state, she’s not all that sweet.)
Multiline / Multiple machines are fun, and we hope you decide to give these two slot machine twists a try. Let’s face it, there hasn’t been a major change in slot machines between its invention in the late 1800s to the mid nineties (when we first saw these new additions). Multiline slot machines and multiple slot machines keep one of gambling’s icons around and gives us a little more fun in return.
Good luck!
