5-Reel Slots

The 5 reel slot games first came to the fore in Vegas and have eclipsed the old 3 reelers in terms of entertainment and fun value - in most cases anyway! Most online casinos carry both, but frankly I don’t touch the old 3 reel slots anymore. My penchant is for free spins slots and most of the ones reviewed here have that feature. That’s not to say that some of the more standard bonus rounds aren’t fun, it’s just that the free spins slots give more scope for larger wins, in theory having no upper win limit.

Oh my word! For those of you already familiar with one of the greatest online slot machines to be designed in recent times, you might be interested to know that the excellent King Kong slot has now been made available to play online at Virgin casino. Previously it’s only been available at Intercasino and it got some serious acclaim - not least from me! - when it was first released in 2009. So what’s the fuss about? I’ll tell you! But first I have to apollogetically state that no USA players can play this slot. Sorry - it’s a legal thing.

The King Kong slot is all about the free spins! yeah, yeah…every slot machine has those now right? But how many give you up to 150 free spins and to top that off, allows retriggers! And it gets better. When you get a retrigger, it gives you the same again - so if you hit the 150 free spins and you get a retrigger - bingo - another 150 free spins. More…»

An interesting new online slot machine arrived at Virgin casino last week. IGT’s popular Treasures Of Troy slot game, using the patented Multiway system has gone live. For those unfamiliar with this slot machine, it’s unusual in a couple of ways. It retains the tried and trusted free spins bonus (10 - 20 games at 2x) but the look and feel of the Treasures Of Troy slot machine is not like anything else.

For a start, Treasures of Troy has 4 symbols per reel (20 panels) and what’s more, each of the 20 symbol positions is a reel in itself! So effectively it’s a 20 reel slot in More…»

Oh. My. God! I saw this slot at the ICE show on the Playtech stand in a kiosk and thought “wow”. Coulda played it for ages. And now…it’s come out online exclusively at Bet365! I don’t know where to start LOL. I’m trying to write this and play the damn thing at the same time and it ain’t easy!

Anyway, as slots go, I’m gonna put my rep on the line and say that you won’t see a better slot game come out in 2009! The graphics are stunning, the gameplay smooth, the music is great…the whole thing oozes class, but it’s the gameplay that will ultimately prove whether the Gladiator slot can fight with the best. And it’s good. It’s very good!

There are two bonus rounds, both trigerred by 3 scatters. One is the “Gladiator Bonus” (original name or what?!) and triggerred when the 3 “Wild” Gladiator symbols on reels 2,3 and 4 appear together, while the other is the “Colisseum Bonus” triggered by 3 Colosseum scatter symbols anywhere in view.

You know what? I’m going to finish this review later…this slot is too damn distracting. If you want to check it out, it’s exclusive to Bet365 Casino (No Americans, sorry!).

Now let’s be frank here, there aren’t going to be many people who can afford to bet $500 a spin on an online slot machine! So when you see a screenshot like the one above with a life-changing win of $240,000, that ain’t gonna happen to most of us, right?  Right. I mean can you imagine the adrenaline rush of betting max and pushing the button, then seeing a win like this come in? It would be enough to send most people over the edge, me included. If not emotionally, certainly financially. So my advice…don’t do it!

Anyway, when Intercasino announced this week that they were releasing their King Kong slot machine, it was too good to ignore. I played the King Kong slot in Vegas so had to check this one out to see if it was the same. It’s More…»

Wagerworks, a subsiduary of IGT UK, have just released a new online slot called “Triple Fortune Dragon“, a 243 payline slot with a Japanese theme based on the Land based casino slot game of the same name. I’ve just been playing it at Virgin Casino and am pleased to say it offers something a little different rather than just being a clone of an existing slot as so many new ones are these days. Actually it reminds me of the popular 50 Lions and 50 Dragons slots that you see in Vegas and even more prominently in Macau, although this one doesn’t have stacked wilds like those two do.

When I say 243 paylines (IGT term this “Multiway”), what this essentially means is that a symbol can appear on any reel of the slot and be in a winning combination. With the exception of 9’s and 10’s, you need 3 of any symbol to get a win. To initiate the free spins bonus, you need 3 bonus symbols (or more) on the first 3 reels (as in the screenshot here). The bonus round gives you 15 free spins where all wins More…»

Allslots casino is now running a mega-slots competition entitled the World Series Of Slots. Running on the excellent Microgaming software platfrom with the slot tournament module, the competition is free to enter and runs from September through to November with $500,000 of prizes on offer.

The competitions take the form of s eries of qualifiers with free buy-ins, leading to semi-finals and finals. Players can qualify for each stage or buy in to specific stages and compete for the top prizes.

Allslots casino is part of the Jackpot Factory group, a well-established and very reputable operator. US players are accepted from all bar 11 States, along with casino players from most other countries. The casino also offers a first-deposit sign-up bonus. Support is reasonably responsive, and cashouts are processed after 24 hours. Deposit opions are also very wide ranging and it’s a casino I have played regularly and trust implicitly.

If you’re a slot player and been to the Meccas of Vegas or Macau, you’ll probably be familar with Davinci Diamonds. I played it first at the Wynn in Vegas and again at the amazing Venetian in Macau and I couldn’t quite make up my mind if I liked it or not but thought I better add a heads up to Online Casinos & Slot Machines [.co.uk] at least as it’s a recognisable game and features “Tumbling Reels”! Ooh-er!

Now, Wagerworks - a wholly-owned subsiduary of slot machine manufacturer IGT - have released the anticipated online version and amazingly, on time too! It is now available to play online at Virgin Casino, Get Minted, Blue Square and Paddy Power Casino, although unfortunately for Americans you can’t play Wagerworks casinos (it’s the law!. Also available now is the Davinci Diamond freeplay slot - but again, no Americans

For those that aren’t familiar with Davinci Diamonds, it’s a slightly new concept More…»

Wagerworks this week released the new version of the popular Cleopatra slot - the originally titled, “Cleopatra 2″ - into their online casino software (Flash based, no-download). Virgin Casino are the first to get it (as usual) and by the time you read this it will also be available at Get Minted, Paddy Power and Blue Square casinos. But there’s bad news for Americans: Wagerwoks casinos do not accept US Players. Blame your “we-know-best” Republicans for that piece of legislation passed in 2006! Or get your own back and play the free version of Cleopatra 2 here.

But for the rest of us. YAY! Any slot fan who has been to Las Vegas or Macau will probably have seen this one on the floor already. It’s an IGT slot and crops up at most places in Vegas along with a few of the more recent casinos over in Macau (I played it at the Venetian on the Cotai Strip - a truly awesome place). If you haven’t seen the Cleopatra II slot in real life yet then More…»

Wagerworks - they who are owned by the world’s largest land-casino based game manufacturer no less - have just added the Las Vegas slot favourite, Wolf Run, to their flash casino software. 

The slot is currently being rolled out to the casinos using Wagerworks software but is already at Virgin Casino (No Americans - read on!) and will no doubt be at my other favourite, Blue Square Casino very soon. For USA players this is a bit of a bummer as US residents are not accepted at Wagerworks powered casinos - sorry, blame your politicians.

That said, if American players want something similar, check out the review of the Cashapilla slot which also has stacked wilds and free spins.

So what’s Wolf Run like?

Well, if you have played the original in Vegas then you shouldn’t be disappointed…the Wolf Run slot online is pretty much identical to the land casino version of Wolfrun, with just a couple of subtle changes to the music. And that’s about it. There was More…»

Microgaming’s most popular “random jackpot” slot, Mega Moolah, is now available on the instant-play Flash casino at 32Red (or King Neptunes for USA players). Mega Moolah combines 4 levels of random jackpot peaking at over £1 million, with a free spins bonus round which features 15 free spins, all wins trebled and since it’s (much delayed) release in 2007 has proved a very popular slot.

The largest of the 4 jackpots starts at £1,000,000 and as I write (July 2007) is currently standing on £2,300,000. Not bad considering it can be won from as little as £1 a spin. The lowest of the 4 jackpots is a measly £10 and there are two levels inbetween and Mega Moolah is a low/medium variance slot.

The jackpot is in itself a bonus round where you get to spin a wheel More…»