Slot Bonuses
All other things being equal, one of the things that separates online
slots are the bonuses. Slot bonuses are used to reward people for playing
and to encourage them to keep on spinning. Playing the slots is often a
losing battle, with the house taking more money than it is paying out. After
all, it has been estimated that 70% of a casino’s profit comes from its slot
machines.
Bonuses are either triggered by a certain symbol – a bonus symbol –
appearing on the reels after a spin or are triggered randomly by the random
number generator. There are many types of bonuses, but the most common are
free spins, free coins and a multiplication of the money already won by the
player. Each of the three provides the player with an opportunity to add to
their winnings and hopefully come out ahead. The multiplier is the most
desirable of the three, unless the player only has a very small amount of
money left. The bonus coins can be a large amount, but are usually the
equivalent of a free spin or two.
Bonuses can be awarded to players in one of two ways. Sometimes they are
automatically awarded to the player once the bonus is triggered, in which
case they are playing and are surprised to see the bonus added to their
totals. The awarding of the bonus is normally accompanied by an animation
indicating the bonus.
Other times, instead of automatically awarding the bonus to the players, the players are taken to a special bonus round, where they must perform some sort of task in order to earn a bonus. These bonus rounds come in a seemingly endless variety and are usually related to the theme of the game. There are slots with a Wheel of Fortune theme where the bonus round involves spinning the wheel, with the player winning whatever bonus the wheel lands on. There are slots with a Street Fighter theme where the bonus round requires the player to best an opponent in a fight. There are baseball-themed games where the player tries to hit a home run in the bonus round.
Slot bonuses are even more important in progressive slots than in regular slot machines. Progressive slots pay out less often than regular slots, which in addition to the linking of the slot to other machines, allows the progressive slots to have larger jackpots. Since they pay out less often, progressive slots rely heavily on bonuses to reward the players can keep them going. Free-spin bonuses are especially common on progressive slots.
Whatever the type of bonus, they all serve the same purpose, which is to prolong the game, which is beneficial to both the player and the casino. By adding to the player’s bank or giving them free spins, the casino gives the player more opportunity to make money, but also the longer someone plays, the more that house edge comes into play. For that reason, bonuses are beneficial to both sides.