What is a Pay Line slot?

A pay line slot is arguably the most simplest form of slot game that there is. It is essentially a slot game that has a stated number of ways you can win across the reels. These patterns of symbols across the reels are called 'lines' and because if you land symbols on these reels they will offer you a payout, they are called pay lines.

So a slot that has 20 pay lines will have 20 different ways symbols can be combined across the reels in order to trigger a win. A slot that has 30 pay lines, will have 30 ways you can win and so forth.

The earliest slot games started with just a single pay line and it was with the advent of modern technology, such as the microchip and online slot gaming, that we saw the number of possible pay lines in play on a slot game increase from generally lower numbers up to 20, 30 and beyond.

Technically, all slots have pay lines, but slots that cover all possible combinations of symbols across the reels and will pay out on any combination of symbols on those reels, are called Ways to Win slots. A 5x3 reel slot has 243 Ways to Win across the reels, a 5x4 slot has 1024 Ways to Win.

A line slot simply has just a selection of these possible ways to win across the reels available for players to win on.

Pay Line patterns

In theory, a slot could have any particular combination of symbols across the reels as a pay line, indeed on a Ways to Win slot, every possible combination of symbols is a winning line. However, on a pay line game, it tends to be easier to recognise patterns of symbols that are used across the reels to signify a win.

The most commonly used pattern is the straight line and you will often find that the three straight lines across a standard 5x3 reel set are the first three winning lines, the centre, top and bottom rows of symbols.

After those three pay lines things get more creative. Some pay lines are in the shape of recognisable patterns such as a zig zag pattern or 'W' pattern. These patterns can also be inverted too, so as well as a 'W' shape pay line, you may have an "M" shaped pay line.

What you tend to find is that the simpler and more easier pay lines to follow are used first and as the number of pay lines increases on a slot, the more unusual and less popular pay lines are used in these higher pay line games.

All this is a moot point though as a player doesn't actually need to recognise a pay line for them to win on it. All wins on pay lines on online slots are recognised automatically by the software and paid out to the player.

Pay Line confusion

One thing to note with Pay Line slots is that if you move from playing a Ways to Win slot with the maximum number of ways to win across the reels and then move to playing a Pay Line slot, you can think you have landed a winner, but not have done so.

It can take you aback when you see three symbols on the first three reels on a pay line slot, expect to see a win, but then nothing happens. Has the game glitched? Have you been swindled out of your winnings?

No, you haven't. What has usually happened is that you have been playing a slot that offers more ways to win, switched to a slot that has fewer and as such, some patterns on those reels are now no longer winners. So when you land symbols that was a winner on the other slot game, but is not on the one you are currently playing, it is easy to think that the game has gone wrong.

The effect will generally only last a couple of seconds, but it does happen to me frequently when switching from a game with lots of pay lines, to one with fewer. It is worth remembering though that slots are infallible when it comes to recognising payouts, so it will not be an error that you have not been paid.

What are popular pay line slot numbers?

Originally, slots just had one pay line but over the years and particularly in the digital age, the number of pay lines in play on slots has increased, although there does tend to be more games with certain numbers of pay lines than others.

A few years ago, 9 and 10 pay line slots were something of a fashion but over time, games that have 20 or 25 pay lines have been much more in fashion and that has remained the case today. You can find games that offer 30, 40, 50 or even more pay lines in play, but there are generally fewer of these.

It certainly seems that the sweet spot in pay line gaming is between 20 and 30 pay lines. That is ostensibly because these games are generally affordable to play, but also offer players a solid number of pay lines across the reels.

There are also slot games that have increasing numbers of pay lines in play when you trigger a bonus feature. For example, the recent Diamond Inferno slot sees you increase the number of pay lines from 20 in the base game up to a maximum of 50.

Do more pay lines in play on a slot mean I will win more often?

It is easy to assume that the more pay lines are on a slot, the more you will win. After all, if you play a 5x3 reel game with 10 pay lines and then play one with 20 pay lines, you are doubling your chances of a win aren't you?

Well while on the face of it that seems a reasonable argument, it isn't actually the case. There are a number of other factors other than the number of pay lines in play, that will determine how often a slot pays out to its players.

Some of the factors to consider here are the RTP percentage of the slot (the closer this is to 100% the more money the slot generally pays out over its lifetime, most slots have a RTP percentage of between 90 and 97%) and the volatility of the slot, higher volatility slots will pay out less often but can pay larger amounts, whereas lower volatility slots pay out smaller amounts more often.

However, one factor often overlooked when determining how often you will land a win is the number of symbols on the reels. Some slots may have just a small number of symbols on the reels (say 10 or below), others can have 13 or more symbols on the reels.

The more symbols on the reel in a game, then the more difficult it is to land wins, regardless of how many pay lines are in play. As such, it is a combination of all these factors which will decide how often a slot pays out, so unfortunately, more pay lines in a game is not indicative of a player winning more often on a game.

Win both ways

One particularly popular type of slot that operates using special pay lines is the Win Both Ways slot. These games tend to have a small number of pay lines in play (10 seems to be the optimum number) but they also pay out from right to left across the reels, as well as left to right.

These games offer players generally good value for money as they tend to pay for just 10 lines on their bet amount, but by paying both ways across the reels, you in effect get 20 pay lines for your money, the same 10 lines, but you can win both ways across them.

Games like Aurora Wilds, Banana Odyssey and the new Atlantean Treasures Mega Moolah slot utilise this relatively new and increasingly popular form of pay line slot.

Popular Pay Line slots

When it comes to standard pay line games there are a massive amount to pick from. Some of the best you can play include the following:

• The original Mega Moolah slot
• Mega Vault Millionaire
• Treasure Nile
• Major Millions
• Cash Splash
• Miami Glow
• Arthur's Gold
• Banana Drop
• Mayan Eagle
• 11 Champions
• Aurora Beast Hunter
• Wild Catch
• The Vault

You'll find our reviews of all of these slots in our Game Reviews section, or you can search for a particular game from our Search page.