Are Way Wins Better Than Payline Wins?

If you have played a few slot games online already, chances are you have encountered a few way-wins slots. But have you ever thought about whether this winning format is better than the traditional payline format?

We thought we’d look at that topic now, to see if the ways-to-win slots are better than the payline ones.

All potential winning lines are counted in the way wins

Lots of slot games are based on the 5 x 3 format. This means there are five reels with three icons on each one. If you play a slot with paylines on it, you must get three or more identical icons on a paid line to win. These must usually appear from the leftmost reel too.

This means you could get three consecutive icons and not win because they weren’t on a valid line. That won’t happen in way-wins slots. In that case, you’d win because all possible permutations are included.

You get more ways to win than you would if paylines were used

That 5 x 3 format might have between 20 and 50 paylines in the average slot game. However, if way wins are included instead, you can win up to 243 ways per spin. In games where a 5 x 4 matrix is used, you’ll see lots more ways to win as well. The bigger the grid, the more ways there are to win.

You can still cover all the ways to win with a small bet

The smallest number of ways to win you will see on a 5 x 3 slot is 243, as mentioned above. However, you won’t pay a penny per way like you would if you were playing a game with paylines included. Instead, you’ll usually bet around 20, 30, or 40 cents per spin. This varies depending on the game.

It does mean you will be required to play that amount as a minimum bet per spin. However, we always recommend choosing a game where you can affordably cover all the paylines anyway. So, if you are happy to bet 20 cents and up per spin, you can find a 243-ways game that suits your budget. You know you won’t miss out on any potential winnings because all the permutations that could appear will be included.

You can see you get far more interesting spins in store with these games, can’t you?