Five Reel Slots

All modern day video slots have five reels and at least five pay lines. While they often come in nickel or penny denominations they can really be quite expensive to play as you can bet up to 5 coins per line which means on a nine line game that can be as high as 45 coins per spin or $2.25 on a nickel game.

5 Reel Slot Machines

As the name suggests, five reel slot machines have five spinning reels. Its is common misconception that the odds of winning are worse on a 5 reel slot compared to a three reel game. This would have been true in the very early days of slot machines but is not true today.

The reason for this is that if two slot machines are set at the same payout percentage they will over the long run return the same amount of money to the player. So a five reel slots and a three reel slots set at 95% will in the long run give an equal chance of winning.

You will actually find that 5 reel slot machines tend to have a much higher hit rate due to the fact that there are many more winning combinations. Winning combos on 5 reel games usually range from 3 to 5 symbols so you should find yourself hitting winners more often.

Below we have two images of a 5 reel slot machine. Image 1 is an example of a popular 5 reel game found online called 5 Reel Drive. Image 2 highlights the spinning reels layout in purple.

Five reel slots can also have the following features:

Bonus Games
Many of the newer games have a free spin feature or some sort of bonus game. Quite often the free spin feature is accompanied by a bonus multiplier throughout the free spins which can really boost your winnings.

Scatter Pays
Due to the fact that there are 15 different symbols displayed after each spin the scatter pay has become a popular addition. A scatter payout symbol wins if it appears anywhere on the reels. The symbols don't have to be on a win line.