Before 5-reel slots came into existence, and well before they became accessible online at casinos, there were only 3-reel slot machines available at casinos—that’s what San Francisco resident Charles Fey invented towards the end of the 19th century. Fey’s invention was essentially an improvement on the poker gambling machine, which was too complicated to be able to offer patrons automated money payouts. Instead, people could win drinks or cigars offered by the establishment when they landed winning hands during their play.
Fey simplified the machine at casinos by using three reels instead of five drums, and by reducing the 50 game icons to five symbols instead. The modifications made it possible for Fey to create an automatic payout thus kickstarting the slot machine play era at casinos.
Slot machines have undergone many changes since Fey’s original creation, and one significant change was the addition of two more reels. When you go from three to five reels, you change the nature of slot machine games, creating a more layered and complex experience for the player. In this online slots casino guide, we’ll explain how 5-reel slots casino games differ from 3-reel games. We’ll dissect the standard real money paytable for these casino slots games and give you some 5-reel casino options to consider for your next play session. If you decide that 3-reel slots are better in the end, be sure to check out our three-reel slots guide.
What Five Reel Slots Are and How They Work
If you’ve found this online five-reel slots guide, you’re probably just getting started with the world of online slots at casinos, so we’ll start with a basic slots explanation of what these slots are. 5-reel slot casino games are essentially a slot game that uses five reels to hold the game icons. The slots' reels are the vertical columns that spin around, slowing to a stop as the game concludes. Ever since slots went from electronic to video, they began using random number generator technology instead of mechanics or electronic motors. With this innovative technology, complex algorithms are relied on to generate randomized numbers that are associated with stopping points on the reels. As soon as you play “Spin,” the algorithms spit out numbers that tell the reels where to stop—the time it takes the reels to spin and come to a stop is now done just to build suspense.
3-Reel vs 5-Reel: Which One is Different?
If you were to start by playing 5-reel slots and then switch to 3-reel ones, you might feel like something is missing. That’s because 5-reel slots have the capacity to offer a much more complex slot casino experience than their simpler online three reel slots games. By virtue of having five reels, they can accommodate more casino paylines, more bonus features, and offer second-screen bonus rounds. Although some slots traditionalists will always be loyal to 3-reel slots at any casino, the natural progression is to start with three reels and then progress to five reels when you’re ready to level up at casinos when you play for real money.
5-Reel Paytables Explained
Since five reels take up a lot of space on the screen, the real money paytable is often tucked away in the game menu at Bovada's online casino. When you open it, you’ll see a list of all the different winning combinations along with the payout based on the number of coins wagered. For example, you might see something like a “K” symbol with the following payout rows:
X5=60
X4=15
X3=4
This means you’d get paid 60 coins when you play five K symbols on a payline, 15 coins when you play four, and four coins when you play three. Unless stated otherwise, icons must start on the first slots payline and progress to the right, with no gaps in between them.
In addition to the real money payouts, the paytable will also provide a rundown of all of the different bonus features included in the slots game. Standard bonus features include wilds, which take the form of other icons to create winning lines, scatters, which offer rewards when three or more land anywhere on the reels, free spins, which often get boosted with multipliers, and bonus rounds, where you can collect extra coins for completing a simple challenge.
At the end of the real money paytable menu, most 5-reel slots contain a list of all of the casino paylines found in the game. Casino paylines for 5-reel slots typically range from 9 to 100, with the majority having 25.
How to Bet and Maximize Payouts for 5-Reel Slots
If you’ve had the opportunity to play online slot casino games before, you’re probably familiar with the “Bet Max” button. When a slot has multiple betting play options, Bet Max provides players with a quick and easy way to wager the maximum number of coins possible for each slots payline.
Some online slot games in our casino offer progressive jackpots as a reward for landing the top line, but in order to be eligible for the jackpot, oftentimes, players must bet max, which would be stipulated in the game rules. Take Food Fight slots for example; this 5-reel, 9-line slot game has a progressive jackpot that is triggered when five Pudding icons land on a payline. The online paytable says that you must bet five coins per payline (for a total of 45 coins per round) to be eligible for this real money jackpot.
When games require a max play bet to be eligible for real money jackpots, you don’t need to break the bank to join the action. Part of the betting configurations includes selecting one of several coin denominations. With Food Fight slots, you can go as low as penny coins, which total up to $0.45 per spin when you wager five coins per payline.
Most Popular Five Reel Slots at Bovada
If you want to play five-reel slots games online, but don’t know where to begin, try any of the following five slots games.
Zombie FC
The world has been overtaken by zombies, including Europe’s biggest football clubs. Spin through gory images of the undead as you attempt to line up three or more matches on the game’s five reels when you play online. There are no slots paylines in Zombie FC.
Shopping Spree
Everything is on sale at Shopping Spree, online when you play for real money—a 5-reel, 9-line slot game that showcases shelf after shelf of must-have products. Designer purses, trendy new cosmetics, and mystery grab bags spin through the reels. Play five Diamond Ring symbols, and you get your choice of nabbing the game’s progressive jackpot, or joining us for a big New York City shopping spree online.
Gridiron Glory
In this 5-reel, 243-ways-pay slot, scores are settled on the gridiron. Game play officials, cheerleaders and football players all spin through the slots reels, offering real money payouts when you win three or more matching icons on consecutive reels.
GoodFishes
You’ve heard of Goodfellas, but have you heard of GoodFishes? In the bay surrounding Manhattan, gilled mobsters rule the water. Make sure you stay in their good play books, or you could end up in Frankie’s butcher shop when you play this slots game online for real money.
Birds of Fury
A 5-reel, 25-line slot, Birds of Fury showcases a crew of angry birds bent on destruction. These feathered fowl are carrying bombs, saws, dynamite, and a wide range of bonus features. A random progressive real money jackpot can be triggered at the end of any given spin play online.
Where you can Find 5-Reel Games at Bovada
Finding our 5-reel slots is easy. Simply launch our online casino page, and then go to the slots section, where you’ll find a drop-down menu with various filter options. Choose the “Five Reels” filter to populate all of the 5-reel slots games in our casino. Then you can find the games listed in our suggestions above, or trial any of the other 100+ games at your disposal to play for real money. Good luck spinning the reels.