Whether you’re new to the realm of online slots, or a beginner looking for a quick refresher, one aspect of slots play that you always need to be familiar with is paylines.

All slot machines have paylines and they are instrumental in how likely you are to win and how much you will be paid out.

It’s important to know the meaning of online slots paylines and below you’ll find all you need to know about what they are and how they work.

What Are Slot Paylines?

Slot paylines are relatively easy to understand. Ultimately, each payline is a winning combination of symbols that will pay out to the player.

Each slot will have a different number of paylines. You might find that one slot has 20 paylines, while another will have 243. It really does depend on the particular slot.

Five reel slots tend to have the most paylines, and the number can increase depending on the number of wild symbols and scatter symbols in the game.

Generally, paylines run from left to right and can connect in a number of ways, most commonly horizontally, vertically and diagonally. However, there are many different winning patterns worth noting.

Betting & Paylines

You may not be aware but not all paylines are unlocked by simply playing. You might find that you can select how many paylines you wish to play on some slots whereas at others the amount of paylines available to bet on is fixed.

What is certain however, is that the higher the stake you place the more paylines you will unlock.

You may find that you have to pay per payline, so if you wanted to bet £1 per payline and there are 10 paylines, your total stake would be £10.

To unlock all paylines and boost your chances of winning you will have to place the maximum bet. This is also the case if you want to be in with a chance of picking up the jackpot prize.

How Can I See A Game’s Paylines?

You’ll find that new casinos will normally clearly display the number of paylines available to wager on for each slot game. This info will often be found in the slots descriptions and walkthroughs, but also you’ll find Pay Tables available to view which highlight how much you are required to stake in order to open up the various paylines.

Every slot will have a Pay Table, whether it be a traditional fruit machine or themed video slot centred around movies, history and more.

Most games will often take pride in the amount of paylines they offer, so you really can’t miss them.

Should You Always Maximum Bet To Open All Paylines?

While placing the maximum bet will offer you more paylines and chances to win big, the amount you bet should be more in line with the size of your bankroll and the amount of money you have available to bet with.

Betting within your means is the most important thing. If you have a significant sized bankroll, then opening up as many paylines as possible will boost your chance of winning and receiving a larger payout. However, there’s no guarantee of winning, so betting smaller amounts may be a more suitable strategy for some players.