Best Online Slots UK

Video slots stay at the forefront of the gambling industry because of their unmatched diversification in many possible aspects: themes, bonuses, size of cash prizes, etc. Some casinos offer games from only one provider, others go well into the dozens. Whichever online casino you prefer, you will find there plenty of video slot brands including the likes of one-armed bandits and other retro games as well as modern five-reel slots with huge prizes and grasping visuals. Most notably, there are no casino games other than slots that would award millions of Pounds Sterling after one single spin. Jon Heywood from the United Kingdom, who won over £13.2 million in Mega Moolah in October 2015, can affirm that it is true.

Online slots UK come from many providers, the best ones being:

  • IGT: a famous UK provider, a real slot heavyweight with hundreds of exciting slots online. Many are unique and deny established trends, for example, Wolf Rising with a 5×8 field, Elvis Multistrike with three sets of reels, and Bubble Craze with an unconventional hexagonal field shape
  • NetEnt: a Scandinavian company with global presence is widely deemed to be among leaders in casino slot making. Their Gonzo’s Quest, Planet of the Apes and Arabian Nights are well-known to every novice, and their commitment to quality games is highly appreciated by experienced players
  • Big Time Gaming: A prominent developer that engineered an innovative Megaways scheme, now used by many other providers. Megaways slots have variable-height symbols, which results in an ever-changing number of winning ways on every new spin.
  • Microgaming: A slot giant that seems to have excelled in every smallest thing related to the production of video slots. They are known to widely develop film-based slots (Terminator 2, Game of Thrones) and also to have come with about 10 iconic progressive slots that paid out over 1 billion dollars since their inception.

The above list of providers is not exhaustive as online casinos tend to host UK online slots from other major and minor companies such as Scientific Games, Blueprint Gaming, Play’n’Go, Playtech, Red Tiger Gaming, etc.

The way casino slots are structured

Modern slots as we know them today are modelled on old mechanical slot machines. Given that, video slots have actually the same logic and structure behind them. There are reels (vertical elements) and rows (horizontal elements). Symbols are the smallest primary components of each UK online slot and are principal contributors to winnings. There is a Spin button instead of a mechanical lever, and all other buttons, normally designed at the bottom under the reels, are needed to change a bet size to player’s needs. Bet sizes fluctuate in a very wide range but the minimum bet is most often equal to one penny per line. When you are satisfied with a current bet, just click Spin to initiate a round.

Bonus features are the main driver of real online slot winnings

Players already got used to the fact that most real money slots have at least one bonus feature (or at least a special bonus symbol), this being especially true for five-reel video slots. If the aim was to recite all bonuses ever invented and implemented by slot providers, the list would number many hundreds of entries. The most widely used features in the best real-money slots are:

  • Wild symbol: Substitution for regular symbols in video slots
  • Scatter: It is counted for a win when in any position
  • Free Spins: All winnings from free spins go directly to player’s money balance, no strings attached
  • Pick-to-win bonuses: A player has to select from a number of items, each revealing a certain cash prize, free spins or other bonus
  • Cascading Reels (Avalanche): Symbols making a win disappear and new symbols fall into empty spots for new winnings
  • Stacked symbols: Pictures go adjacently on a reel, thus holding more than one position. This contributes to greater cash prizes.

Winning real money in video slots

Prizes are won in several ways:

  • By getting a proper combination of symbols. Normally, matching icons need to run rightward and start at reel 1. The more symbols take part in a combination, the higher the cash reward is. It is advisable that a player look into the paytable as it contains all related financial info
  • In the course of free spins. Given the player spends no penny during free spins, net winnings are always higher than zero, unless free spins have produced no winnings at all (this does occur but rarely)
  • As a result of the Gamble feature. Some real-money online slots enable one to gamble the recent win, trying to multiply it by x2 or x4 or even better by x8
  • By hitting a progressive jackpot.

An important prerequisite to the above is playing slots for real money. If a practice mode has been selected, no wins are possible however fantastic they could be.

Classic slots and video slots

The difference between them mainly lies in how they are built. Classic casino slots, also known as fruit slots, consist of three reels and have a predominantly standard set of symbols such as BAR, dollar signs, cherries, lemons and coloured sevens. Paylines are normally straight and number 1 to 5. Bet sizes are on a low side and rarely exceed £15 per spin. This however does not translate into low winnings. As a matter of fact, many classic slots produce winnings in excess of 2000 coins per spin.

The term “video slots” usually applies to games with five (and more) reels. They are kind of new-generation games as compared to the above. Unlike classics, online video slots have more intensive gaming process with frequent application of bonus features or special-purpose symbols (wilds, scatters). The gameplay is sometimes eclectic and flamboyant, with vibrant graphics and complex animations, like in Betsoft and Net Entertainment UK online slots. Rewards are also bigger compared to classic slots: In some situations, they are 10,000 times a line bet (or even a total bet).

Progressive slots online

This is where real bread is won. Players of the United Kingdom have a vast choice of progressive slots in our reviewed casinos, mainly from Microgaming, Betsoft and Playtech. In the likes of Mega Moolah (Microgaming), a jackpot starts at £1,000,000 and spirals into an eight-digit territory. Other slots, e.g. from RTG, have a local coverage, accumulating within one casino and thus reaching only £10,000 or so. Anyway, progressive slots are the key to becoming a multi-millionaire when playing for real money. Read our reviews in AUCasinosOnline to locate the best progressive slots from top providers.

Know this hints and tips while playing online slots UK

Bet, spin and win. These three verbs describe what 99% of casino players know about slots. But if you want to be among the 1% of advanced players, just memorize and follow these simple but practical hints that will be useful in some gaming situations:

  • Never leave a single payline uncovered. If a slot has 20 lines, do not try to save money betting 10 pennies instead of 20 pennies because the winning chances would reduce dramatically. Always bet on all lines
  • Switch to different tactics and do not hesitate to change slots if needed. If you are on a winning streak, there are two choices: continue playing the same slot or load the other one. Both options have a right to exist and no one can say exactly which one is right. Another example: try different betting patterns. Start a session with five coins per line, at £0.01, then after some spins leave only one coin at stake but increase its value. By doing so, you are going to test the UK online slot from different points of view and determine an optimal approach
  • Read the paytable and make sure to have understood everything accurately before you play slots online. A paytable gives a concise summary on bonuses, payouts and symbols. If you are not satisfied with something (low payouts, unimposing bonuses, etc.), try a new slot online
  • If you have a very limited budget, look for penny slots. They are usually separated into a special category and feature a very small bet, at just one penny per spin, hence the name
  • In some three-reel slots, a top win is possible only when betting max coins
  • Try not to go beyond the max bet limit when playing through a bonus you have claimed. Failure to do this will baulk your progress and make you spend more than expected.