Perplexing Payouts: Comparing the Payout Structures of Slots and Crypto Pokies
When you go to a casino, what you see is what you get. Bright lights, lots of games, usually a bar and people all around going about their business. We are used to the appearance of casinos because of their prominence in pop culture and the world. Even the popularity of casino games is somewhat defined by film and television, with poker and slot machines being some of the most recognisable games.
Slots are one of the oldest additions to the casino, the first one was invented in 1894 by Charles August Fey. The popularity of slots has remained because they are simple. The basic concept is that on each spin, the slot machine will generate a random which gives a payout or an outcome based on the symbols that the machine lands on. Some machines will need combinations for a payout, others may not.
Online slots operate a little differently and are fondly known as pokies because they refer to “poker machines”, affectionately named by the Australians.
The same slot machine concept is in online pokies although this is done through random number generator technology and algorithms that generate the symbol sequences and the payouts. The difference in online poker is that payouts aren’t given in cash and are calculated by return-to-player rates, and the payouts given are often in cryptocurrency.
Those who try their hand at crypto pokies will find that payouts are all related to digital technology a lot of the technology is automatic and they are different to casino slots, but the structures are what is important when discussing crypto pokies and slots.
1. Payout Percentages
When you are dealing with physical and online technology, there are bound to be differences, especially in games. The return to player as it's known is the percentage of money returned to the player after they’ve played money to play the machine. In slots, this differs per machine but is estimated to be around 80-95%, although it depends on the slot.
In a physical casino, this is influenced by previous players on the slot, as that is how it is calculated.
Crypto pokies also need return-to-player rates to calculate payouts but they vary because online gambling is not usually restricted to one place and players are playing from all over the world. Return-to-player rates in crypto pokies aren’t guaranteed amounts. They are defined by the game makers and the online casinos and aren’t set by the game.
2. the Volatility
In slot speak, volatility is the frequency of payments that are made.
Slot machines are measured by their volatility from low to high. Players can assess the volatility before playing by researching the specific slot machine and its stats around payout amounts and the game rules.
Low-volatility slots mean payouts are tiny but come often and high-volatility machines produce big payouts but not many times.
Crypto pokies also have varying volatility but these aren’t on a machine-by-machine basis. Payout frequencies of crypto pokies depend on the brand and the online casino as they design and use payout structures according to the customers they want to attract. Some crypto pokies though are defined by having progressive jackpots. Gradually this means that the payouts will get bigger and bigger the more a player plays. Then once the set amount is one, the jackpot, or the payout amount will reset again for the next player.
Some players find this kind of slot payout structure fun because it gives them a challenge to try and raise the prize as much as possible.
3. How Payouts Are Made
As we briefly discussed, payouts in physical slots and with crypto pokies are made differently. In physical casinos, you are typically rewarded payouts in cash or game credits that can be used for other games or bets. You also have to go and collect your payments and verify them with an attendant.
Payments are instantaneous or very private, as slots in the casino usually make a noise to let you know you have fun. Crypto pokies payments are paid in digital currency, cryptocurrency.
The rise of cryptocurrency has meant that casinos have had to implement digital wallets to store payments. Payouts from crypto pokies will be stored in a player’s online wallet and do not require identification or a third-party person to verify them because everything is encrypted.
4. Payout Incentives
The payout incentives for online slots are the traditional free spins and bonuses that you might receive if you start playing or win to encourage you to play again. Crypto pokies keep the same features of slots and add to them. It’s typical in online crypto games to receive welcome bonuses to start the game.
There are even more options for multipliers, which work to multiply your winnings by the amount and however many multipliers are present in the game. The flexibility of game designs in crypto pokies and crypto games enables multipliers to be easily integrated into the game and gamification can be put into the game mechanics to add multipliers if the player completes certain scenarios like a certain number of spins or wins a specific amount.