Although it now seems that All Ways Win Slots have always been on the market and it is quite difficult to imagine the time when choice was limited (or non-existent), for a long time slots only had 3 reels and generated no more than a single payline. In time, the design evolved, transitioning into 5 reels slots, taking the gambling world to storm and becoming a smashing success in a short amount of time. The number of paylines was gradually increasing, reaching up to 100 paylines and boosting both the payout rate and the overall stake – one thing that did no sit well with the players.
Something had to change and it wasn’t long before one of the best software developers in the world managed to find a solution and create the very first “All Ways Win” structured slot. In 2009, Microgaming launched Burning Desire, first online slot that offered 243 different ways to win without taking your bets through the roof. Essentially, not much has changed when it comes to actual gameplay – betting systems have remained the same, only this time the players do not need to select the number of active lines and the chances of landing the winning combination are a lot higher.
How Does It Work?
With multi stake lines slots, especially the ones where the lines are fixed and the player is forced to bet on all of them, budget can become a huge problem. This may not be a considerable issue to some players, but most players find it to be a major turn off and tend to avoid any game that has the potential of draining their budget too early on in the process. All Ways online slots on the other hand, divide the total stake (which can start at a pretty low amount such as $0.25) to all lines. The payout is calculated in accordance to the total amount of the bet, meaning that if 10 lines generate winning combinations, the total payout will be the line bet multiplied by winning combinations.
Other Types of All Ways Win Slots
Along with 243 Ways Win slot and after its sparkling performance on the online slots scene, manufacturers decided to step up the game and soon 1024 and 3125 paylines slots appeared on the market.
1024 slots have a potential of 1024 winning ways and have 4 symbol positions per reel. Multiplying the number of the symbols and the reels will give you the number of possible ways to win.
One of the most popular slots that has this particular structure is Arctic Fortune, another Microgaming creation with 50 coins minimum bet, each worth $0.01.
Other variation is 3125 Ways Slot, with 5 visible symbol positions. Obviously, 3125 possibilities to win on just a single spin sounds pretty exciting, as it offers a life changing total payout potential. Dolphin Coast by Microgaming can potentially accumulate up to 7,500,000 coins, assuming that a player is fortunate enough to land a screen full of the highest paying symbol. The best thing about these types of slot is that you do not even need to be that lucky; due to their paying combination potential, they are often called “No Paylines” slots and payouts just seem to keep on coming.
Characteristics: RTP Percentages and Bet Limits
Probably the main reason most players are so easily attracted by All Ways Win is a somewhat higher rate of the return to player percentage. The percentage in most All Ways Win can range from 97 to 99%, which is much more beneficial to the players in comparison to standard multi line slots that can go as low as 95% and rarely go over 97 or 98%. This, of course, is not a norm, as casino software developers can deliberately decrease the payout percentage to level out with the Hit Frequency rate. The payout frequency matches the number of winning ways and players will often be pleasantly surprised with the game’s dynamics.
Because of the bet splitting system, high rollers may not be the main target of All Ways Win structure, but for those of us who are on a budget, this type of slot is perfect. The minimum bets are set at a reasonable amount and there is no danger of being pushed out of the game abruptly and find yourself freshly drained out of the budget.
Advantages of All Ways Win Slots
Probably the single greatest thing about All Ways slots is the minimization of those frustrating dead spins. A lot of players agree on one thing – long dry spells in between the winnings are enough to unsettle even the most composed of us, which is exactly why you should stay clear of standard, limited lines slots if you do not posses the nerves of steel.
Payout frequency aside, one other advantage of such slots is how the line and total bets are calculated. With standard slots, the total bet is the sum of the line bet multiplied by the active lines. In All Ways slots, players are not actually staking on every one of the possible paylines. In other words, the same amount of bet that you would normally use on 20 lines slot is in this case applied to all 243, 1024 or 3125 lines, but with a much higher chance of actually generating a winning combination.
An extra perk is that there is no pressure of keeping track of paylines and having to figure out how many lines you want to keep active. The game itself is taking care of that and pretty much all you need to do is spin and stack your coins.
Disadvantages of All Way Win Slots
The same thing that makes All Ways Wins so cost effective and suitable to the majority of players can also be counted towards the slot’s shortcomings. The individual payouts awarded can seem low to those who are used to standardized slots.
Since the bet is divided on a number of lines as oppose to covering only 20 or 25 paylines, there will be no crazy payouts and you can end up getting only a couple of pennies on a dollar’s bet. However, the Hit Frequency of the winnings will compensate for the modest amounts and the overall RTP can turn out to be higher than average, only due to the number or successful spins and accumulative winnings.
