Low Stakes Slots
For their ability to be played with as little as one penny per spin, the low limit slots are referred to as penny slots in most instances. The free online penny slots might seem boring to guarantee an exciting game time at the casino but with the promise of winnings once they hit, many users start to get interested. With different sets of casino users available, these low-limit slots tend to serve those with a reduced bankroll/tight budget wishing to spend more time on the slots while gaining profit albeit minimal.
In a nutshell, low limit slots will be those slots that accept pennies or cents per line. What’s interesting is that these slots can either be classics, video slots, jackpots, megaways, among others. The availability of video slots and megaways accepting pennies makes it possible to enjoy the thrill, excitement, and engagement that comes with gambling thus negating the ‘boring’ misconception. Read through our guide and find every detail including the best penny slots you can play!
Best Penny Slot Machines to Play
History of Penny Slot Machines
Today, slots are undeniably the most popular casino games. This applies to both offline/land-based/brick-and-mortar casinos and online casinos and goes on to explain their huge prevalence in the casinos. It is almost normal to find most casino titles leaning on the slot side. But how did we get here? What makes players come back again and again to spin the reels on penny slot machines or high limit slots?
Some hop into their casinos to blow off steam after a long day, others are interested in the thrills that accompany the slots from the immersive themes that may capture cultural practices, movies, music bands, and TV shows, while others have their reasons.
Slots Journey
In all the above, it is important to understand the transition of the slots to where they stand today been achieved by technological advancements over the years. The history of slot machines generally dates back to the late 18th century where the likes of Sittman from New York, Pitt from Brooklyn, and Charles Fey from California were among the pioneers of introducing the slot machines. It is Charles Fey’s product, however, that came out simpler thanks to its automated mechanisms.
The machine featured 3 reels and was accompanied by five symbols including Liberty Bell (that inspired the machine’s name), diamonds, horseshoes, spades, and hearts. The success of the Liberty Bell was immeasurable and for the next decades, many developers emulated and improved it. In 1990, the evolution of video slots started and laid a foundation for further advancements including online slots that are in play to date.
Penny Slots
Penny slots have long existed and as the casinos went online in the mid-90s, 1c or 1p slot machines were available for play. This meant that with as little as 1c or 1p, slot lovers would take a spin. Through the advancement of technology and economy coupled up with the skyrocketing popularity of these slots, the machines were improved further.
This time, nickels and quarter slots were being churned out meaning the number of coins that users would play in a single spin was improved. Besides this, the improvement in the number of paylines was also going on. This would help in accepting numerous coins per line and explains why a variety of games are taking different minimum denominations per line today. Players can now try out 5p, 10p slots, among other low limit and high limit slots.
Categories of Penny Slots
From the evolution of penny slots, players today are spoilt for choice. Whether one wishes to play with a single line or all of the lines, a selection of penny slots will be available and will be categorized in the following parameters:
Number of Reels. Penny slots are available in different styles. Players can access a penny slot with the popular 3 reels and 5 reels. Further ahead, the technological advancements over the years have seen mechanisms employed that can expand the 5 reels on video slots to 7 reels. The major highlight probably is the evolution of penny slots from the aforementioned to Megaways that provide players with thousands of ways to win.
Number of Paylines. The misconception about penny slots is that a player only needs a penny or cent to wager. While this may be true in some of the slots, it isn’t the case in many of them since you will be prompted to bet on all paylines. Betting on all the paylines at the highest coin denomination is referred to as max bet and comes with loads of benefits to the players. Among them include improving the chances of winning jackpots. Keep in mind that if the penny slot has 300 paylines with one line taking £0.01, betting on all the paylines on this slot will cost £3 per spin.
However, with these slots functioning as normal video slots, players can choose the number of paylines in some instances and wager on them. For example, if the slot with 300 paylines allowed users to choose the paylines (often referred to as free penny slots) and one player opts for 150 paylines, they will bet £1.5 for the reels to start spinning. Most offline casinos have their paylines fixed meaning players have no option to choose the paylines and will have to bet on all of them. In most cases, they will allow wagers of as low as £1 at a time.
Availability of a Jackpot. Penny slots function normally and as you would expect to find bonus features including jackpots in standard slots, the same applies to penny slots. The jackpots may either be fixed or progressive jackpots. However, there is a catch on them. Those eligible for a jackpot will have to bet the maximum amount on every spin. This calls for the importance of viewing the pay line information.
Keep in mind that while penny slots are known for the minimum bets, the size of the jackpot prizes will also be small. A 5000x jackpot, for example, will only award £50 for a player betting with a penny on a pay line. That is the main drawback of these slots in the sense that while the risk of losing huge amounts is lowered, the grand prize value is also reduced.
With progressive jackpots, players can win millions from a penny bet. However, the catch with progressives is that players who bet more are granted more chances of winning the grand prize. This means that the odds of winning the prize favour more those betting higher amounts. In a nutshell, the idea of grabbing a jackpot while playing for a penny is to bet max.
Best Way to Play Penny Slots
With the notion that penny slots only churn out low returns, this guide differs from the notion and demystifies every concept of how sizeable wins can be made from playing penny slots. While every slot game is random in its payout and has no ‘cheeky’ way to manipulate the RNG, some strategies need to be employed by the players. So, which is the best strategy for penny slots? Keep in mind that no strategy is 100% accurate. Instead, the strategies will play a big part in improving the chances of a good payout.
Wondering how to win on penny slot machines? Below are some of the tips/strategies to employ:
- Bet on all paylines
As stated earlier, betting on all paylines grants an avenue to trigger a variety of bonus features and one such feature is the jackpot. While your budget may be stretched a little more while betting on all paylines, the rewards are more valuable in comparison to betting on a single pay line.
- Take a look at the payback percentage (RTP)
The Return to Player (RTP) percentage is another vital parameter to check on the slots. The percentage is simply a reflection of the average payout one can garner after multiple spins on the slot. For a chance of better payouts, avoid penny slots with incredibly low RTP rates. While most will have an RTP of around 90%+, some have their RTP extremely high at 95%+ and this should be a gem for penny slot lovers.
- Look away from high volatile slots
Volatility will go hand-in-hand with RTP in determining the payout. However, volatility involves the risk and frequency of how the slot pays out. High volatile slots involve high risks and while their payouts are impressive, the frequency of triggering them is very low. This makes them not ideal for penny slot lovers since a high budget is required in such slots. Instead, penny slot lovers should give a shot on slots with low or medium volatility. They offer better hit frequency, involve a low budget, and while the payout is small, it is ideal for penny slot lovers.
- Progressive jackpot? Go for it!
If you are in a position to choose between a game with a progressive jackpot and one without, go for the one with the jackpot. While it will demand more from your budget to bet on all lines, nothing beats winning a huge jackpot prize and to make it better, from betting on a penny slot!
- Take advantage of the deposit bonus
The affordability of penny slots can be eased further by taking advantage or maximizing the bonuses. Imagine this. If you get a £50 deposit bonus and wish to spin the reels of a penny slot, it means that you can spin the reels 5,000 times without accessing any of your real deposit!
However, a catch is there with the bonuses. Wagering requirements are introduced on the bonuses before they can be withdrawn. The requirements signify the amount one is required to wager before the bonus is released for withdrawal. This might require a player to wager loads of pounds before the few are withdrawn. With penny slots, this is a process that might seem impossible or time-consuming and for this reason, it calls for players to up their bets to make it easier to meet the requirements.
- Bankroll management
This can also be equated as a benefit of playing penny slots. The avenue to play using a limited bankroll and possibly extend further bankroll is provided on these slots. In a nutshell, the slots help maximize your limited bankroll as it helps you minimize losses and liabilities. For efficient bankroll management with a limited budget, the best strategy is to play minimum bets. This will extend the playtime and while at it, grab some vital wins that will further extend the existing bankroll.
Why Play for Low Stakes?
Low stake slots do not only attract players with a limited budget. Far from it. While many players prefer them for efficient bankroll management especially those on a tight budget, there is more to these slots. Below are other reasons why players, including those with huge budgets, play for low stakes:
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Less risk involved – Chances of draining the budget on a low-stake slot are incredibly minimal. This is simply because the minimum bet per line or maximum is easily affordable. For beginners and players who are not risk-takers, these are the ideal slots to sharpen the skills and stretch the budget further for more spins and ultimately more chances of triggering a winning combination.
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Entertainment – Low stake slots are the perfect slots to try for entertainment. While slots may offer demo mode which is a highlight, playing for a penny with a window of winning some real-money returns is a mouth-watering opportunity that is entertaining.
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Accessing bonus features – With the bankroll spread for further plays, a player will likely trigger most of the bonus features provided on the base game. Some of these bonus features include free spins and bonus rounds.
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Try out other games – Despite having a small budget, a player can try out various low stake slots. This helps them gain insights into each game and for the undecided players, this is an option of getting to decide the best slot game after going through a variety of them.
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Can trigger big wins – Despite the chances being minimal, a player who bets max on the low stake slots can land on big wins such as jackpot prizes. However, a rule of the thumb is to avoid the big-money progressive jackpots that involve players chasing big money while taking great risks. The odds of winning on such slots are extremely low.
How to Choose Penny Slot Casinos
With every information one needs to know about penny slot machines, another crucial section is introduced ─ how to choose casinos with penny slots. The process doesn’t differ much from the aspects to look out for in an online casino. Since real money is involved while playing penny slots online, players should be cautious about the casinos they play. The aspects to look out for include:
- Licensing information – Arguably the most important aspect to check. A legal casino will be fully regulated, reliable, and accountable to every player. The operator should provide the licensing information and some of the top global regulators to look out for include the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Gibraltar Gambling Commission, Alderney Gambling Control Board, and the Curacao eGaming license.
- Security – The next aspect is to check for the security measures placed by the operators to protect every information. Some of the measures will include the use of SSL encryption technology, 2-factor authentication, among others.
- Game variety – Casinos with a huge selection of penny slots to play online for money will be the favourites to choose from. A limited number of options will not be an enticing aspect to players.
- Game fairness – The next bit after checking the penny slot portfolio is to check the fairness of the games. This can be easily seen at the bottom of the casino’s website. The operator must have seals from independent institutions such as TST, iTech Labs, or eCOGRA. The bodies are known to test the Random Number Generators (RNGs) of the games for fairness.
- Bonuses & promotions – Remember one of the strategies of playing penny slots? Having bonuses to maximize on is another aspect that will help out while choosing penny slot casinos. One can spread the bankroll and spin severally without using their real money.
- Payment options – Since one will be playing for real money, the best penny slot casino will offer a variety of instant, easy, safe, and secure payment options that are convenient for the players. This will help in quick transactions.
Penny Slot Machines on Your Mobile
The world of casino gambling is on an upward trajectory and aside from the new products popping up daily, the mediums of access are also being improved. Today, most online casinos are not a one-trick pony. Instead, gambling enthusiasts are provided with alternatives including mobile devices. This is from how the casino and the games are well-optimized for mobile devices and tablets.
Software developers are launching no download free penny slots accessible for iOS, Android, Blackberry, Linux, and Windows users. This means that no requirement is placed on the users to download any penny slot game to play. Instead, they are instantly accessed for play either on mobile browsers or tailored online casino applications. For the latter option, players will be required to download an iOS or Android app to play free penny slots.
In some instances, the developer may launch slots that require a special download. After downloading the games, one can play them on the go and the major highlight is that this can be done without an internet connection. Finally, penny slots can be played for free on mobile without any deposit required. This will be done via the demo mode and is yet another avenue to try out the games but this time with no real-money returns.
