When it comes to playing slot games, it never ceases to amaze us just how many people dive right in and start spinning reels without first taking a look at the pay table. This handy guide to the game’s symbols, payouts, bonus features and more, is normally shown in a pop-up window and can usually be accessed by clicking an icon on the screen or, on some machines, via a button that is located close to the machine’s reels.
This information is very important because it can help you to increase your chances of winning by understanding the odds of a certain game and how they relate to each other. It also helps you to decide whether or not a slot is worth your time and money. The best way to do this is to use a slot search engine that allows you to enter your preferred game and see how much it pays out in average. A good site should also display the POP and RTP (probability of a machine to payout over a lifetime) percentages, as well as an overview of how often a particular slot game has paid out in the past hour or month.
Despite their simple appearance, slot machines are complicated in practice and require a fair amount of instructions to get to grips with. In the days of mechanical slot machines, these were simply displayed above the reels, but modern online slots tend to be much more high-tech and require screens full of info to explain what’s going on. The key to this is the pay table – which is normally found in the info tab or “paytable” on the main game screen.
A paytable is a list of all the symbols in a slot and how they work together to trigger a win. It will usually be displayed in a grid or table format with each symbol represented by a different colour. It will also show you how much each symbol pays out and how many symbols you need to land on a payline to trigger a win. In some cases, the pay table will also explain how to trigger any bonus features and what they entail.
In addition, the paytable will also give you the minimum and maximum betting limits for that slot. This is especially important if the slot offers multiple pay lines or has a jackpot feature that you need to activate in order to be eligible to win.
Finally, the paytable will include any special rules for the slot in question, such as how to activate its free spins round or a mystery pick game. Some slots may have multiple bonus features, while others will only offer one or two. It’s also worth noting that some slots have a higher volatility than others, meaning you’ll win less often but when you do, the payout will be bigger. This is typically the case for bonus rounds and progressive jackpots.