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VIDEO MACHINES – In lieu of physical, spinning reels, this variety of slot machines feature a video display that shows the player a random symbol or number corresponding to an outcome or prize level. These kinds of slot games were designed to circumvent state laws against traditional pokies in politically conservative (anti-gambling) locales like Minnesota, but have really failed to gain much popularity. This sort of machine is still pretty new, so there’s no saying for sure what new developments might emerge to make this niche of slot machine gambling more attractive to players biased in favor of more traditional games.

WEIGHT COUNT – A weight count is a less precise means of counting coins from a slot machine to determine how much money was in there. It is the opposite of a hard/hand count, in which an attendant actually counts out the cash (by hand, as the name implies!). Casinos have special scales that are calibrated to calculate how much cash has been placed on them based on the weight of an average coin. Weight counting is the easiest and most convenient means of counting coins. The precision of this method is very good if the mechanism has been correctly calibrated, although a hand count is still considered the end-all method of determining the contents of a slot game.

WELCOME BONUS - Online slot machine casinos will use welcome bonuses to entice new players into spending their money there. Basically, the internet gambling world is extremely competitive. There are far more casinos on the World Wide Web than there are players to fill them up, so basic laws of supply and demand are in play. Players need to be enticed to choose one casino over another, and that means tempting new punters with matching bonuses and perks for signing up. As a player, it definitely behooves you to shop around for the best bonuses when deciding where to spend your online gambling bucks!

WELL – This is the coin tray, where any winnings you might receive are going to come out!

WILD - This highly sought-after slot machine symbol can stand in for any other on the reel. Imagine the Joker in a deck of cards, or a two in a game where deuces are wild. If you have two bells and a wild symbol on a three-reel slot machines, celebrate! You have just won, the same way as you would have by getting all three winning symbols. Oftentimes, you will actually win more, because a wild symbol doubles (or triples!) the payout of any combination it completes. Some pokies use the jackpot symbol as the wild symbol. Thank goodness for automatic paylines, since it can get downright boggling trying to keep up with multiple lines and all the various ways one can win playing the slots!

WINDOW – This term, naturally, applies to any open display area on a slot machine terminal. The main window on a slot machine is the one that shows you the reels, and is where all the action takes place. Another important window to watch is the one that shows how many credits you have played, won, and/or still have available to you. This term applies only to land-based, electromagnetic devices. Video slot machine terminals have LCD screens in the place of windows, and online slots obviously have neither!

WINNING COMBINATION – As the name implies, a winning combination is one that stands for a prize-winning outcome on the slot machine that you are playing. If the reels align to end up all displaying identical symbols, it’s probably a good bet that you have scored a winning combination. Given wild and scatter symbols, however, it’s not always a given that winning combinations need be matchy-matchy.

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