Of all casino games categories you’ll come across in the United States, the slots genre is, without a doubt, one of the most versatile. It’s a classic game with the creative liberty to express itself in a wide array of reel structures, symbol configurations, and themes.
That said, while a slot game’s mechanics might be rigid when it comes to its symbols and reels, the actual configuration of the number of symbols in play, reels, and even how payouts are determined differs significantly from one slot game to the next.
A Slot Game’s Ways to Pay
Since most (if not all) of us play slot casino games to win real money, a key element to note is how the different kinds of slot games pay. Is it from right to left, left to right, or all ways? What about active pay line counts? Are they adjustable or fixed? More importantly, does the slot game restrict wins to just a single payline, or are many bet lines in action?
All those are questions that’ll not only affect your win rate but will also help you understand the difference between all ways pay and traditional slots.
Traditional Slots
In the past, slots only had defined paylines. These traditional slots had up to five paylines and paid from left to right horizontally. So to win, you needed to line up identical symbols on reels one, two, and three, precisely adjacent to one another. In fact, to this day, that structure persists in some reel games, like the ever-popular Sevens & Stripes slot.
Note, though, that as years went by, casino game developers added more paylines to slot games by supplementing traditional horizontal bet lines with paylines that created all kinds of arrangements across the reels. Eventually, an entirely new generation of conventional slot games was born.
Even then, the only rule was that “identical symbols” needed to appear precisely adjacent to each other from left to right. This rule still applies in most cases today, and if you visit several casinos, expect to find slots with more than 50 different paylines arranged into distinct patterns.
All Ways Pay Slots
Slot machines have come a long way since their first, mechanically operated cousins appeared at the end of the 19th century. They have not only evolved into graphically awesome games but have also been overloaded with a tone of special symbols and extra features.
With that in mind, to date, one of the most revolutionary upgrades came in the form of All Ways Pay slots. This refers to a category of slot games that utterly overturned how conventional one-armed bandits played by doing away with the concept of the traditional payline while at the same time increasing the number of ways players can use to win. In fact, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to categorize All Ways Pay slots as one of the best RTP slot games available out there today.
So, how do All Ways Pay slots work? Well, here, all symbols act like scatters, implying that while matching icons need to land on adjacent reels to pay, the symbols’ positions are entirely irrelevant.
A general rule of thumb is that one needs at least three identical symbols on adjacent reels to win a cash prize, and more often than not, payouts are awarded on the condition that the matches appear from left to right on the reels.
As you may have already figured out, this significantly increases a player’s possible winning combinations. If that’s not yet clear to you, allow us to elaborate.
You find only three reels with three symbol squares per reel on traditional slots, which translates to 27 different possible ways to win across the reels (because 3 to the 3rd power is 27).
However, most modern slot games have up to five reels with three visible symbol grills on each. This translates to 243 possible winning combinations across the reels (since three to the 5th power is 243). When playing All Ways Pay slots that utilize the standard 5×3 symbol option, this is the case.
Also, note that All Ways Pay Slots have higher hit frequencies, with a winning combination occurring nearly every few spins.
The 4 Common Types of All Ways Pay Slots
While this advanced slots games category began with only 243 Ways to Win games, it further evolved to award players even higher possible winning combinations. Here are the four most common All Ways Pay slots types you can find online:
- 243 Ways to Win
- 720 Ways to Win
- 1024 Ways to Win
- 3125 Ways to Win
Note, though, that you won’t find too many of the 720 and 3125 Ways to Win games at most online casinos. They are still slowly growing in popularity.
Which One Is Better? Value vs. Frequency of Wins
It’s time to answer the big question on everyone’s minds. Which of the two slots types is better? All Ways Pay Slots or Traditional Slots? Well, that depends on the kind of player you are.
The main advantage of All Ways Pay slots is the probability of hitting wins every few spins. Better yet, while these games do have higher win frequencies, you won’t actually have to pay for each of these. For instance, a slot with 243 Ways to Win might cost you a total of 30 credits, which should be the same cost of a spin on a traditional slot.
The only disadvantage, though, is that the pay is meager, and you should not expect to become an overnight millionaire with All Ways Pay slots (unless a jackpot is in the mix.) This is where traditional Slots come into play.
If you’d like to make bank overnight, traditional slots are the way to go. Rest assured that you won’t win on each spin, but the payout will be pretty impressive when you hit a winning combo.
Basically, the difference between which one you should choose comes down to the number of wins vs. the quality of wins.
