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Types of Slot Machines
Slot Tips
Tips For Winning
Slots Budgets
Slots Budgets Part 2
Slots Mistakes
Slots Mistakes Part 2
All About Slots
House Edge
Slot Fairness
Slot History
Slot Jackpots & Payouts
Slot Percentages
Slot Myths
Slot Reels & Paylines
Slot Terms
Why Online Slots
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Best Slot Machines Looks at Tournaments
How Slots Tournaments Work
June, 2023 - Slots tournaments have become very popular with players across the globe. Best Slot Machines has taken a look around the current scene to make sure you have the most up to date information about how these competitions work.
Slots tournaments started to catch on a few years ago and created a lot of online excitement. Players found the competitive tournament structure to be exciting and they liked the fact that they got more bang for their buck.
Slot Tournament Basics
Slot tournaments all work in the same basic manner. There are five common features to these events.
- Each participant gets the same number of tokens
- Each player uses the same machine
- Tournaments last for a predetermined amount of time
- A player completes the tournament once they use all of their tokens
- Winners are determined by who accumulates the most points
Within each of the five features, there are variations. The number of tokens may be 500, 1000 or some other number. But for a specific tournament each player gets the same number of tokens to use.
The machines will also vary from tournament to tournament. One tournament may have players using Cleopatra’s Gold and another may put everyone at Diamond Mine. Casinos will tend to feature machines in tournaments that are popular and have a bonus round and various bells and whistles. That helps to make and keep the competition exciting.
The amount of time allotted for a tournament varies greatly. It may be 20 or 30 minutes, a few hours or a few days. If a tournament offers big prizes or a lot of them, it will often go longer than something like a freeroll, which has fewer and much smaller prizes.
Types of Slot Tournaments
There are a few different types of tournaments with certain sites offering variations on these.
- Freerolls
- Sit and Go
- Scheduled Tournament (with Buy-in and Fixed Payout)
- Scheduled Tournament (with Buy-in and Accumulated Payout)
- VIP Tournament
Freerolls cost nothing to enter, and although they offer prize money, it’s usually a small amount ranging from around $10 to $50. Some sites hold scheduled freerolls on a daily basis. Sometimes freerolls are designated for new players or they may actually require the player use some frequent play points when they sign up. Still other freerolls cost nothing at all. They really are free and open to everyone.
Slot sit and goes, like poker sit and goes, are scheduled to start once all of the players are registered. This type of tournament requires the player pay a buy-in. It will have a cap on the number of players and once the cap is reached the tournament starts. The Sit and Go lasts a short amount of time, usually less than an hour, and the accumulated buy-ins make up the prize pool.
There are two basic types of scheduled tournaments. Both have buy-ins and a predetermined starting and ending time. Often they will have a limited numbers of seats. The big difference is that some of these competitions have a fixed payout that is predetermined, while others come with an accumulated payout that is comprised of all of the entry fees.
Many believe that the accumulated payout is the best slot machine tournament in which to play. That’s because the casino keeps none of the buy-in cash. It all goes back to the players.
The VIP tournament is designed for the casino’s most active players. This is an invitational tournament for those who are members of the site’s VIP Club.
More Information on Slot Tournaments
After a player is finished playing, their results will appear on a leader board. As the slot tournament progresses, players can monitor the board to see where they stand. Once the tournament comes to a close prizes are given out with anywhere from one to over 50 being awarded. Most slots tournaments offer at least three prizes with the top finisher getting 50% of the prize money, second place getting 30% and third being awarded 20%.
Players tend to enjoy slot machine tournaments due to the fact that they get a lot of spins for a small entry fee (these fees range from nothing to around $50 with the average fee being about $15). The payouts tend to be generous and they are often plentiful as many sites host multiple tournaments each day. For more information on slots tournaments see our Best Slot Machines article on slots tournament tips.