When you receive a payout in online slots it is important to understand how you have received the amount. The rules for the payouts are usually given along with the payout table. The rules also help players in deciding whether or not to play the game. Even though many players do not read the rules, these have to be mentioned in each slot game to prevent disputes arising later on. Some of the important rules are discussed below.

Most of the wins are related to combinations in paylines. Payline wins are awarded usually when three or more like symbols appear in an active payline, starting from the left most reel and appearing on consecutive reels. If a combination of like symbols appears in a pattern that has not been designated as a payline then there will be no payouts. More importantly, if a combination of like symbols appears in designated payline that has not been activated by you then also there will be no payouts. This is the most common rule. Some slots pay for two like symbols and some slots pay for combinations appearing from right to left.

One online slots rule is “highest win only on each selected payline”. Suppose five of a symbol appears in an active payline in a particular spin. Then you also have three of those symbols in an active payline and four of those symbols as well. However you will not get paid for the combinations of three and four symbols. In any one payline only the highest paying combination is paid out. But coinciding wins on different paylines are added. Suppose that the first three spots on a payline also contribute to another payline. Then like a symbol on these spots will pay for both paylines.

In online slots you bet a certain amount per payline. Then that is multiplied by the total number of paylines activated to give the total bet per spin. Usually the payout on the table is given in number of coins per coin wagered. For winning combinations appearing in designated paylines, the number of coins is multiplied by the line bet. In many contemporary online slots the payout table takes into account the line bet and automatically indicates the pay out in credits.

Scatter symbols are special symbols that usually pay out when the required number appears anywhere on the reels. They need not appear from left to right on active paylines. Scatter payouts are usually multiplied by the total bet instead of the line bet. That is the reason for the scatter payout ratios being considerably lower. The scatter payout is added to the line pay outs to give the total win per spin.