How to choose an online slot

How to choose an online slot in five checks

Slot lobbies list thousands of games, and the tiles all look appealing. The trouble is that the tile tells you nothing about how the game behaves. Two slots with similar artwork can feel completely different: one pays small amounts every few spins, the other can go 150 spins without anything worthwhile and then pay hundreds of times the stake. Choosing well means matching the game's maths to your money and your mood.

Start with your budget and stake

The number of spins you can afford shapes everything else. A small budget at a high stake gives only a handful of spins, which leaves almost no room for a feature to land. The same budget at a lower stake buys a proper session.

Wins get replayed, so real sessions run longer than the table suggests, but it shows the starting point. If your stake gives fewer than about 100 spins, a high-volatility game is likely to end the session before it gets going. Our guide to what stake to play on slots goes deeper, and the UK caps any stake at £5 per spin (25 and over) or £2 (18 to 24).

Match volatility to the kind of session you want

Volatility describes how a slot's return is spread out. Two games can both return 96% over the long run, but one does it through many small wins and the other through rare large ones. Our guide to slot volatility explains the measurement; here's how it plays out in practice.

• Low volatility: frequent small wins, slow and steady balance movements, modest max wins. Suits small budgets and longer, relaxed sessions.
• Medium volatility: a balance of regular hits and features that can pay a few hundred times the stake.
• High volatility: long dry spells, features that can pay thousands of times the stake but often pay much less. Suits players with a bigger cushion who accept many sessions will end with nothing.

A simple rule: the higher the volatility, the more spins you need to give the game a fair chance to show its range. If your budget only covers 40 spins, a high-volatility game is mostly a lottery ticket.

Check the live RTP before you play

Return to player is the share of stakes a slot pays back over millions of spins. It doesn't predict a session, but it sets the long-run cost. Many slots are released in several RTP versions, and a casino picks which one to run, so the figure on a review site may not be the one in front of you. The game's help or info screen shows the live figure; our guide on how to find a slot's RTP shows where.

The difference adds up with volume. Over 1,000 spins at 50p, you stake £500 in total:

Progressive jackpot slots often have a lower base RTP because part of each stake feeds the jackpot pool; Mega Moolah's 88.12% is an example. That's a trade-off to make knowingly.

Pick features you actually enjoy

Features are where most of a modern slot's value sits, so it's worth knowing what you're signing up for. Some common types, each explained in our guide to slot features:

• Free spins with a special symbol: the classic book-style mechanic, where one symbol expands to fill reels during the feature.
• Cash collect: fish or coin symbols carry values that a collector symbol gathers, as in fishing slots.
• Tumbling or cascading reels: winning symbols disappear and new ones drop in, allowing several wins from one spin.
• Multipliers: values that multiply a win, often building up during free spins.
• Hold and win: coin symbols lock in place for a set of respins, often with fixed jackpots.
• Progressive jackpots: a prize pool that grows until someone lands it.

Read how the main feature triggers and what usually drives its value. If a feature relies on a rare multiplier to pay well, expect most triggers to be modest.

Read max win as a ceiling, not a promise

Max win is the largest multiple of your stake a single spin or feature can pay. A 5,000x max win on a 20p stake is £1,000, and that number is reached extremely rarely. Most slots also stop the feature when the cap is hit, which our page on what max win means covers.

A higher max win usually goes with higher volatility, because the game's return has to be paid for somewhere: if a few spins pay enormous amounts, most spins must pay little. If you like the idea of a big ceiling, be honest about the cost: longer dry spells and more sessions that end with nothing.

Eight well-known slots compared on the numbers

This table compares eight popular slots using their published figures, so you can see how differently games with similar reputations behave. RTPs are the developers' published figures; your casino's version may be lower.

Which type of slot suits which type of player

New players will find more pointers in best slots for beginners, and our slot comparison tool lets you put any two reviewed games side by side.

Signs a slot isn't the right choice

• The help screen shows an RTP well below the developer's usual versions and you didn't expect it.
• Your budget at your chosen stake gives fewer than 50 spins on a high-volatility game.
• You're choosing it because of a big-win video, rather than how it plays.
• It's on a site you can't find on the Gambling Commission register.
• You're picking a slot you think is “due” to pay. No slot is ever due.

A step-by-step routine before you spin a new slot

1. Set your session budget and stake, and work out how many spins that gives.
2. Shortlist games whose volatility fits that number of spins.
3. Open each game's help screen and note the RTP version, max win and how the feature triggers.
4. If you can, try the age-verified demo to see whether you like the pace and features.
5. Choose one game, set a deposit or session limit, and stop when the budget is gone.
6. Afterwards, note whether you enjoyed it, rather than whether it paid.

Where to play the slot you choose

Play at a UKGC-licensed site and check the RTP in the help screen there. PlayOJO gives new UK customers (excluding Northern Ireland) 80 free spins at 10p on Big Bass Bonanza with a £10 first deposit, no wagering; Coral gives 100 free spins at 10p on selected games when you deposit and bet £10 on slots, valid 7 days, no wagering on winnings; Ladbrokes gives up to 500 free spins (50 a day for 10 days, 10p each) when you deposit and spend £10 on slots, no wagering. 18+, terms apply.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Set a deposit limit before you play: how to set limits. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.