» home » casino slots

Casino Slots - Important Information

Playing online casino slots used to be a little more precarious than it is these days with a large number of rogue casinos baiting players with huge bonuses. Thankfully, the industry has matured and the good casinos now outnumber the bad ones. But for new players, it's still vitally important to know where you can play slots online safely before you risk your money. Here are a few tips before you start:

Quick Slot Tips
US players need an "RTG" powered casino (see right). The "download" versions of online casinos are useless for Apple MAC users - they need the Flash "Instant Play" versions invariably available on the casino websites but these are pretty good on casino slot games aswell. Understand the concept of variance!

Choosing a Safe Casino
Not all casinos are created equal, although many are similar. All the online casinos listed here at Slotjunkies are safe and reputable operators and I've listed them because they all provide a very good range of casino slots. Almost without exception, I have personally played at each at one time or another and if you understand and adhere to the Terms & Conditions, you'll have few problems. There is more detail on my selection of the best online casinos but bear in mind that not all humans are created equal either, so you may feel the need to experiment to find the one that suits your needs best.

Documentation and ID
You should be aware when you sign up that at some stage, all casinos will ask you to provide photo ID and usually a utility bill showing your home address, normally when you first cash out, to meet anti-fruad regulations. I tend to snap photos and email them over, but fax is an option. As long as you are honest when you sign up, you'll have no issues when it comes to cashing out that big slots win.

Playing With Bonuses
Every bonus comes with terms and conditions and you need to be aware of these. When playing slots, I tend to avoid sign-up bonuses as they restrict my ability to cash out when I want to, which affects my slot strategy. However, because I tend to stick with some casinos, I often accept the loyalty bonuses that come with time and these usually have lower restrictions. Some bonuses are credited automatically and if you don't want them, use the "Live Chat" facility to ask them to be removed before you start playing. Most casinos will oblige.

The Best Casinos For Slots Players
It's important to bear in mind that most online casinos use one of a few reputable software manufacturers to power their casino. The best of these, the safest and not by chance the most reputable software providers are Microgaming, Playtech, Wagerworks (IGT) and Realtime Gaming (RTG). SlotJunkies [.net] deals solely with slot games from these four providers and of those 4, only casinos using RTG software accept US players. For what it's worth, I play most at 32Red (Microgaming, no USA) and Virgin (Wagerworks/IGT, no USA). For USA players, my pick would be either of the RTG-powered casinos, Aladdin's Gold or the excellent iNetBet which has been around for over 10 years.

The range and quality of casino slots vary according to the provider. My personal favourite for choice and variation is Microgaming, but the others all have slots that rival the best of Microgaming's. Below are a selection of my favourite online slot games:

Videos of top online casino slots



Most casino slots that you find on the Internet have feature rounds similar to those you can find on the gaming floors of land based casinos, usually consisting of "free spins", by far and away the most popular slot bonus feature. If you look around this site, you can watch plenty of slots videos that demonstrate how each lot game functions and in most instances, you can watch the free spin feature in action.

Understanding Casino Slots
I need to reiterate the most important aspect of playing video slots in an online environment: understanding the concept of slot variance. Although online slots tend to have a higher expected return than in land casinos, variance is crucial because it relates to "risk" and not all slots are created equal. Fail to understand this and you could blow your budget in no time at all. So check out my article on slot variance if you are not familiar with the concept. It will potentially save you a lot of cash!

USA Specific Slots Information

For USA players, as previously mentioned, your choice of online slot gaming is limited to casinos using RTG software. This is because of US legislation in the area of Internet gambling being so grey that only RTG are prepared to take the risk in allowing casinos who licence their software to accept US player registrations. The good news is that RTG make some very decent slots. the bad news is that some of their licencees are on the dodgy side, or if not dodgy then certainly offering a poor service to players.

Consequently, there are only a few RTG powered casinos on this site, but they all have a very good reputation among US players so you'll be in safe hands if you play at the ones listed here. Regardless, it's always essential that you read the Terms & Conditions of any casinos you sign up to before you deposit. You need to understand the restrictions, especially on bonuses and cashouts.

OK so let's get started. Check out some of my favourite slots using the links below, watch the videos and choose a casino from the target page to sign up and check them out.

» Casino slots For US players

» My favourite online slots