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Virtual Reels Save Space, Make Big Bucks

The generation of multi-million dollar jackpots just would not be possible without the usage of virtual reels. What are virtual reels, you might ask? The answer is both simpler and more complicated than you might think. On modern-day progressive jackpot titles, the top prizes are HUGE. They are able to grow this large because they don’t pay out very often. Accordingly, the odds of hitting the jackpot are very low. It makes sense that, in order to keep the odds of landing that magical combination minuscule and the progressive jackpot growing for a long time, there must be many, many non-winning combinations. A slot machine with a smaller number of non-winning combinations will have a greater probability of winning, and a lower jackpot.

Back when slot machines had actual reels, the number of spaces, or “stops” on a reel might only number twenty. Otherwise, the reels would become too huge to fit into a slot cabinet. With twenty spots on each reel, the probability of winning was still too high to bring jackpot thresholds over one million dollars. The dawn of video reels solved that problem.

Virtual/video reels are an innovation because a video slot machine has no physical reels. The random number generator is programmed with a (large) number of outcomes, one of which is randomly generated when you spin. In the case of virtual reels, the RNG simply “tells” the machine what the result would be, and the video screen produces those images. Smaller machines and bigger jackpots? It’s a win/win situation!

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