Best Real Money Casinos for Online Slots in 2023

Overview

Very few casino games have achieved the popularity of slots. However, since gaming machines were first introduced, real money slots kept coming up in the gambling world, with more and more players taking them up as their game of choice. It might be fair to say that slots are the single greatest invention that the gambling world has ever seen.

Merging simplicity of play, entertaining graphics, extensive winning possibilities, and the ability to play them for penny stakes or more significant amounts alike, real money slots offer everything a player could wish for. Whether you're a high roller or someone just depositing an occasional C$20, these games can be equally exciting. It is no wonder, thus, that there is no Canadian online casino without a relatively extensive library of slots.

The Appeal of Real Money Slots

It wasn't by chance or accident that real money slots have achieved such success with players and continue to thrive today. Unlike other casino games, where you at least need to know the rules to play, slots are available to everyone, and there is nothing a player needs to know to get started.

When you put in the money and press the spin button, you have the same chance of winning as someone who has played real money slots for decades. No strategy is involved whatsoever (in most cases, at least) and whether you'll win or lose is purely down to luck.

Apart from this simplicity, real money slots are entertaining, especially modern-day games that often incorporate stunning graphics, visual effects, and enjoyable and engaging features. As a result, modern real money slots are more like good video games, appealing to many players.

Last but not least, slots are probably the only casino game where players can put only a tiny amount of money on the line and hope to win big. It isn't unusual for players to start with C$10 or C$20 and run it up to nice three or even four-figure sums. You'll hardly ever do Penny betting playing blackjack or roulette, primarily because betting limits are usually higher and your maximum wins are limited. 

Behind the Scenes: How Do Real Money Slots Work?

Players see plenty of colours and animations when they sit down to play slots; This is often referred to as "eye candy" because it only exists to make the games more entertaining. However, everything essential for your winnings happens behind the scenes, deep inside the machine chip or algorithm.

Real money slots found at Canadian online casinos are governed by an RNG (Random Number Generator). RNG is a piece of code that runs in the background and determines the outcome of every spin. The RNG will result from the vast table of possible effects when you press or click the spin button. Everything that happens afterwards is there for our pleasure, but symbols appearing on the screen are just the representation of the particular spin selected by the Random Number Generator.

RNG results are also why there is no skill involved in playing slots. Whether you try and stop the reels yourself or let the spin finish on its own will never change the outcome of that particular spin. The return is generated at the start of the spin, and you can't change it later, so trying to "catch" that third scatter may be fun (and satisfying when you do "catch it"), but players can't influence the game.

Fairness, RTP, and Volatility

Since RNGs govern slots, it isn't strange for players to wonder if games are fair and random. So what is there to stop casinos from creating games where players are guaranteed to lose and where the software keeps track of your spins and ensures you don't win too much?

Suppose we're talking about reputable game providers and online casinos available to Canadian players. In that case, something like this can never happen because there are measures intended to prevent such manipulations. Licensing bodies, such as The Malta Gambling Authority, make sure games offered by casinos licensed by them are fair and in line with what's being advertised. Furthermore, many casinos regularly employ third-party auditors such as eCOGRA to check their games for fairness and randomness.

The term RTP stands for Return to Player, and it is closely connected to real money slots. The term explains the percentage of money any particular game pays back.

Like all casino games, slots have a house advantage of a few percentage points while the rest goes to RTP. For example, a slot with 96% RTP will pay back C$96 for every C$100 that players put in. Of course, this is a long-term figure calculated over millions of spins, and it doesn't mean that someone playing with C$100 will always get back C$96 back, as we all know too well.

Not all real money slots realize their RTP in the same fashion. Some will often pay frequently and throw out small wins; others can take hundreds of spins with almost no wins only to pay huge on a single spin – and anything in between. How a slot realizes its RTP is termed volatility. The higher the volatility, the higher the bankroll one needs to play; simultaneously, high-volatility slots are great if you're chasing a big win. Conversely, lower volatility slots are a good choice if you want to play longer sessions on a smaller bankroll, but they are less likely to throw a huge win.

Types of Real Money Slots: Paylines, Ways to Win, and Megaways

Real money slots started straightforwardly. Initially, there was just a single payline across the middle, which wasn't exciting. Players still loved slots, but it was hard to get excited about the games as there wasn't much going on.

Over time, slot developers started to introduce more paylines to their games. Moving from one to three and five, and, eventually, nine and ten paylines helped make the game much more exciting as players were offered more ways to win on any particular spin.

With the development of technology and the introduction of video slots based on virtual reels instead of mechanical ones, game designers were finally free to go crazy with paylines. That's why we have many real money slots with 20, 25, 40, 50, and even 100 paylines.

Revolutionizing Slots With Win Ways and Megaways

On a standard 3x5 real money slot, there are only so many paylines one can develop. Players, on the other hand, always want more excitement and entertainment. The enormous increase in popularity led to slot developers coming up with somewhat revolutionary ideas of "ways to win". Instead of having traditional paylines, these games pay as long as symbols forming a winning combination are located on adjacent reels from left to right (and right to left, in some cases), regardless of their positions on respective reels.

On a standard 3x5 grid, the maximum number of win ways is 243 (3x3x3x3x3), and there are hundreds of 243-ways real money slots available to Canadian players. These were quite revolutionary when they first appeared, as they introduced utterly new gameplay and gave players something to be excited about.

However, the gambling industry constantly changes, and so do the players' expectations. With time, slots with 243 and 1,024 ways to win became standard, and it was time to take things to the next level. Some game developers came up with the idea of "mega ways," introducing games where the number of ways to win goes well beyond these numbers and into the six and even seven-figure territory. These days, you'll find real money slots with potentially millions of win ways, which can translate to some truly head-spinning wins.

Real Money Slots and Bonus Features

Apart from paylines and ways to win, real money slots are exhilarating because players can look forward to various bonus features. Although most slots can also pay during the base game, it is during bonus features that the most significant wins are realized, and slots wouldn't be nearly as thrilling if it weren't for bonus rounds.

Generally speaking, there are several types of bonus features available on real money slots:

• Free spins
• Pick & click bonuses
• Expanding or sticky wilds

Of course, there are other types of bonus rounds as well, and, more often than not, various features are combined to create more exciting gameplay. Free spins are one of the oldest and most popular bonus features there are and will often come with things like:

• Win multipliers (fixed or increasing)
• Additional expanding symbols
• Extra wilds
• Mystery symbols

Usually, to trigger a free spins mode, players need to land two or more "scatters," i.e. symbols that pay when they land in any position on the reels (regardless of paylines). The "scatters" are usually designed in such a way as to stand out from other symbols and are easy to recognize.

Pick-and-click bonuses are what they sound like. Players are presented with different choices and need to click on one or several of them to reveal their prizes. These prizes can, once again, be credits (cash), free spins, win multipliers and others.

Expanding and sticky wilds are another unique feature that can be contained in a bonus round but is sometimes also available in the base game. Wild symbols usually substitute for all other symbols when forming winning combos (except for scatters). Having them expand to cover additional positions or remaining sticky (held on the reels) for future spins significantly improves winning chances.

The Colorful World of Slot Themes

Real money slots may have modestly started their existence, but things have changed radically over the past few decades. These days, Canadian players will find real money slots covering themes from different walks of life, from classic fairy tales, books, movies, pop culture references, and much more.

Game developers understand that it isn't just the gameplay that makes a slot entertaining. Many players are equally interested in the background story or the game's theme. That's why there are so many slots based on hit movies such as Terminator, Robocop, and Highlander or beloved fairy tales like The Wizard of Oz, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and more.

Modern technologies have also enabled designers to add that special touch to their games with fitting animations and original soundtracks, allowing players to enjoy the slots and become fully immersed in the story. The story behind the slot is why modern real money slots represent much more than something you'd play just for a chance to win a quick buck, and many people even enjoy playing them for free.

Betting Options

Why Play