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Multi-payline slot machines
The first slot machine ever built was just like any ‘first of its kind’ invention – it had a lot of room for improvement. It was an ingenious little invention, though, with innovations that had the potential to revolutionarize an industry. It had three reels with five symbols each, with a total of 125 possible combinations. It had an automatic coin identification device attached to it to prevent fraud, and an automatic payout system for all possible combinations.
Later the slot machines have become electromechanical, video, and finally online, and with this evolution came the increasing number of reels and paylines. If the first slot machine – the Liberty Bell, developed by Charles Fay in the 19th century – had only three reels and one single payline, modern slot machines have much more.
The number of winning combinations that can be achieved with a slot machine limits the number of the paylines of the machine. The most paylines that can be applied to a three-reel slot machine is five, wheres in case of five reels the number of paylines can reach even 25. With the increase of the number of reels paylines can be even more. Usually, multi-payline slot machines have anywhere between 3 and 25 paylines. The highest number of paylines I have ever heard of in case of a video slot machine is 243.
Selecting the number of paylines when playing video slot machines can be done by betting incremental amounts of credits. By betting one credit you activate one payline, and each further unit of bet placed increases the number of paylines by one for the next spin. Most online slots and video slots offer players the possibility to place bets on the maximum number of paylines by pressing (or clicking on) a single button, usually “Bet max”. In this case the average video slot machine will place the maximum bet possible and spin the reels automatically. Players should use this button with caution, though, as it can empty their bankroll in no time, especially in case of a high betting amount. Betting the maximum possible amount offers the highest payouts, though – some video slots offer bonuses for maximum bets, and most progressive jackpot games give players the chance to hit the jackpot in case of betting the maximum amount available.
Multi-payline slot machines are a fun way to spend your time – in case you play for ‘fun money’ – or money at online casinos. Also, the chances of winning increase with each further payline activated, but so does the amount you bet, so watch your bankroll carefully.