Slot Attributes - Paytable

There are many players, even veterans who ignore the importance of a slot paytable and many new players who are unfamiliar with the term. In this article, we will teach you what the paytable is and how studying it can greatly improve your chances of winning at that slot or making better decisions. 

Read it till the end to find out everything there is to know on the subject, become a better slot spinner, and make the most out of the latest slots!

What is the paytable?

In simple terms, a slot’s pay table is a list of all the symbols, features, and values that can be found in the game. It can usually be accessed from a special icon, either present on the main screen or from the menu.

Once you click on it, you will be redirected to a list where all symbols are shown along with their potential value present in different winning combinations. 

The pay chart doesn’t only show the list and values of all the winning combinations but will also show you the special symbols like Wilds, Scatters, Multipliers, or other Bonus Symbols along with a little description for each.

In the slot machine pay tables you can also find out if the specific titles offer a form of a jackpot, either a fixed one or a progressive jackpot. By carefully studying the slot paytable, you will also find out what conditions are required for the jackpot.

It’s amazing that even today, a lot of players still continue to rush straight into the gameplay without actually checking the pay table or knowing what does pay table mean in slots. Studying the paytable should be the first thing every gambler should do before starting to play the game. It can save you so much trouble and headache and will give you a slight advantage. 

How is the paytable useful

For new players, the slot machine paytable acts as a quick guide because it teaches them a bit about what the game has to offer and what symbols or combinations they should keep an eye out for.

However, the pay table slot machine is also useful for veterans and seasoned slot players. If you know where to look and what to analyze, you can get an idea of how volatile that specific title actually is.

Discover the symbols and their payouts

Take a look around at the symbols and see what is available. Regular 5 reel online slots, will typically offer a number of themed symbols along with the classical playing cards numbers and a couple of special symbols like a Wild or a Scatter. 

The paytable will clearly show you right away what you may encounter on the reels once you start spinning. 

Along with these symbols, you will see their payouts and the number of identical symbols required to score a win. 

Typically, slots have a minimum requirement of at least three-of-a-kind symbols landed simultaneously on a winning payline to offer a prize and a maximum of five of a kind which is considered the “the jackpot” for the highest paying symbol in the game. 

Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule, as some slots may offer a payout for two-of-a-kind symbols when it comes to Scatters, which are also not required to land on a payline to be considered a win. 

The math behind a payout

Not all slots will pay the same, that’s for sure and even if the software providers do usually display the maximum payout of a slot on their website, it’s unrealistic to check all the games you want to try on the providers’ websites.

There is an easier way to do that right from the paytable. Let’s say in our paytable example that we have a five-of-a-kind jackpot of 10,000 coins for the highest paying symbols which would be Wild. 

Now, you can easily find out how much that potential win is actually worth by multiplying the 10,000 coins by the value of your bet.

Some slots will make your life easier and instead of showing you the value of a winning combination in a fixed number of coins will instead display something like 3x, 5x, etc. which represents the multiplier of your wager value. 

So for example, if you see a three-of-a-kind combination with a payout of 3x, that means that if you land that combination, you will get three times your initial bet value. 

When checking the paytable for payouts, keep in mind that the paytable will automatically adjust to your selected wager. If you select a bigger or a lower wager, the paytable will adjust itself accordingly. 

​​Study the bonus features

This is one of the biggest benefits offered by studying the paytable. You will get a detailed list of what bonus features are available in that slot like Free Spins or Bonus Rounds and what are the symbols or the conditions for triggering them.

For example, most slots will require a minimum of three Scatters landed anywhere on the reels to trigger the Free Spins feature or will display an option to trigger it right away by paying a certain amount of cash.

Finding out the Volatility of Online Slots

When it comes to a slot’s RTP (Return to Player), things are simple. It is usually displayed both in the paytable and on the software provider’s website. This RTP measures the theoretical amount of cash that returns to the player over the long term, taking also into consideration the house edge.

Unfortunately, things are not as simple when it comes to slot machine volatility. If RTP measures the potential return, in the long run, the volatility measures the risk-reward relationship.

Keep in mind that volatility is not displayed on the software provider’s website or in the paytable and you need to figure it out yourself.

Technically, the more volatile a slot is, the bigger the prizes, but also the lower are the chances of actually hitting a winning combination. At the opposite pole, the lower the volatility, the higher the chances are to land a winning combo, however, prizes will be substantially smaller.

Knowing this principle, you can roughly estimate just how volatile a slot is by looking at the table payouts. If the payouts are fairly small and there is no progressive jackpot available, you can expect the volatility of that specific title to be low. 

If on the contrary, you see stunning payouts and even a progressive jackpot available, know that you are facing a highly volatile game that can be classified as a high-risk/high-reward slot. 

Design the strategy

Now that you know what a paytable is and what to look out for when selecting a slot, it’s time to use that knowledge to come up with a strategy. With slots, it is a bit harder to come up with a good strategy since they are simple games of chances as opposed to skill games like Poker or Blackjack.

The result of a spin is determined by an RNG (Random Number Generator) which is an algorithm that randomly generates a result. Due to this RNG, there is absolutely no way to control the outcome of a spin, no matter how much the myths on the internet would state otherwise.

When playing slots, you can only control your betting strategy and adjust it accordingly to what you wish to accomplish.

If you are a casual player or a low roller, you should probably stay away from volatile progressive jackpot titles. Even if the top potential prize is absolutely colossal, remember that being very volatile titles, these slots tend to go through long dry periods without any wins which will rapidly drop your bankroll. 

If you want long, balanced gameplay sessions and you just want to see winning combinations keep popping on the reels without caring too much if they are big or not, you should go with a low volatility title.

High rollers and those that can afford to sustain the long dry periods without wins can try their luck with a progressive jackpot title or other fixed jackpot titles with big prizes and big volatility.

However, here comes the tricky part: knowing when to bet max. Most of these slots will require you to bet with the maximum Coin Denomination in order to qualify for the progressive jackpot. 

Meaning that you need to usually play the maximum wager available to have the chance of getting the jackpot. Going for the jackpot is the only situation when you want to go full in and only if the game demands it. If the slot states that all bets qualify, just adjust the wagers according to your budget.

Final Words

As shown in this article, you should never ignore the importance of a slot paytable and you should study it carefully before deciding whether that slot is actually right for you or not. 

Also, you should, whenever possible, test the slots for free before actually risking your money right away. You can do so right here on our free online slots page without having to invest anything. 

Use this chance to find out everything that the slot has to offer and what to expect when you actually start to play it for real money.

If you find a couple of features or terms that you don’t understand when checking out a paytable, just check our Slot Features & Terms page where we have explained them all in detail.