Best Online Casino Slots in the US 2021

If you’re looking to play online casino slots for real money, you’ve come to the right place. We provide a hand-picked list of top-rated US online slot casinos, reviewed by industry experts.

Browse our top list of trusted casinos or scroll down to learn more about payout rates, variance, and the basics of online slots.

Top Rated Online Slot Casinos in 2021

The Most Popular Slots in the US

There are thousands of online slots for real money, provided by various gaming software suppliers such as NetEnt, IGT, and WMS.

However, some online casino slots stand out from the crowd. Take a look at our list of the most popular online slots in the US:

This online slot machine list is a great starting point for beginners. Over time, you’ll develop your own favorites as you master advanced slots mechanics.

Which is the Best Online Slots Casino for You?

Each one of our recommendations is chosen from a large list of real money online casinos in the US. Moreover, these sites are thoroughly reviewed based on strict criteria by our team of in-house experts. We want our readers to enjoy a quality playing experience and the best games to choose from, without having to spend hours on the research.

Take a look at our detailed selection process and see how we ensure we only recommend the best slots casino sites to our readers.

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  Online slots library

  We look for US online casinos partnered with the best gaming providers, such as NetEnt, Big Time Gaming, IGT, Konami and NextGen. This ensures a quality slots selection with hundreds of titles to choose from. These providers are known to offer excellent payout rates, the best graphics, variety in themes and frequent new releases.

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  Game filters & user experience

  Most casinos have hundreds or thousands of real money slots. This is why we prioritize slots casino sites that have good sorting filters. You should be able to filter slots by category, payout rate, “Hot and Cold”, features, themes, and so forth.

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  Average payout rates (RTP)

  The best gaming providers have good overall payout rates. However, many online casinos only feature a small selection of a provider’s slot library. We analyze the average RTP to ensure satisfactory payout rates across the board.

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  Secure and fast payments

  Casinos are not all about slots. One of the most important elements is access to convenient payment methods and fast withdrawals. Online casinos that accept PayPal and fast bank transfers are an obvious choice.

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  Slots bonus offers

  As bonuses play an important part in your online slot machine experience, we analyze the different ongoing bonuses offered by casinos. We make sure to feature casinos that offer frequent slots bonuses. Some sites also offer free spins welcome bonuses, but they’re not very common.

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  Quick live support

  The key aspect of having smooth slot game sessions is fast access to live chat support. We test a casino’s availability, response times and knowledge. This way, you know you’ll be in safe hands if something goes wrong or you need help with something.

Types of Online Slots

Slots are categorized as classic, video, and progressives. Every slot machine online has the same basic elements: reels, paylines, and the spin mechanic. However, they can be different in gameplay, features, payout potential and graphics.

Keep scrolling for an explanation of each slot type and its main characteristics.

Classic Slots

Classic slots have 3-reels and are also known as “fruit machines” as they usually feature fruit symbols on their paylines. 

These games are known for simple gameplay, basic features, and vintage graphics. They aren’t the most popular types of slots out there. You’ll usually only find a dozen or two classic slots in a given casino.

Nonetheless, some players prefer the simplicity of classic slots. That is why they’ll likely have a place in online casinos’ gaming libraries for years to come.

Video Slots

Video slots are the modern, best online slot machine type of today. Nowadays, almost every new slot is a video slot.

Most video slots have 5 reels and exciting bonus features and symbols like free spins, Wilds, Scatters, and many variations of such symbols and features.

Video slots have the best graphics and sound effects, and they’re regarded as the most entertaining slot machine online. A typical online casino has hundreds of video slots.

Progressive Jackpot Slots

A progressive jackpot slot is a regular video slot with a huge jackpot. The jackpot keeps growing as more people play the game until someone wins. These are the kinds of slots that feature huge jackpots, often into the millions.

Because a portion of each bet contributes to the increasing jackpot, these slots often have lower payout rates than video slots. This is why we don’t recommend these slots for beginners or players on a tight budget.

Megaways Slots

Megaways Slots are a video slot variant with increased ways to win. The Megaways online slot machine, invented by Big Time Gaming, broke new ground in online casinos.

A typical video slot has 25 paylines, meaning 25 “ways to win”. However, Megaways slots have 1000+ ways to win. These games have outstanding winning potential. But they also have more complex reel mechanics, symbols and bonus features.

The downside of Megaways slots is they’re highly volatile and pay out less frequently. For many players, the risk is worth it, especially if you’re playing with a higher budget.

How Online Slots Work

There are different elements to video slots that sometimes confuse beginners: RTP, Volatility, Wilds, Scatters, and Bonus Rounds. Our experts put these in simple, easy-to-read terms to help you pick which online casino slots are right for you.

RTP & Volatility

RTP and Volatility are common terms attached to every video slot. Understanding these concepts is key to choosing what type of slot is best for you.

RTP

RTP stands for Return to Player percentage. It is a theoretical estimate of how much you should win by playing a certain slot machine online. For example, a slot with an RTP of 97% should give you back 97 cents for every $1 spent.

It’s important to emphasize that these estimates are theoretical and are based on millions of spins. That is why a higher RTP doesn’t mean bigger wins. Everyone’s personal experiences will differ.

Here are the top 3 slots with the highest RTP we feature on our site.

Volatility

Volatility, also known as variance, is an estimate of how frequently and how big a slot pays out.

Once again, it’s important to highlight that this is a general estimate. A low RTP can still pay out big, and vice-versa. The real results come over multiple play sessions.

• High Volatility: Bigger, less frequent payouts. High volatility slots are good for high-rollers and bigger budgets.
• Low Volatility: Smaller, more frequent payouts. Low volatility slots are good for players on a budget and using wagering bonuses.
• Medium Volatility: This is an online slot machine that offers a fine balance between payout frequency and payout size. They’re a great one-size-fits-all option.

Paylines

Paylines are an essential part of every video slot. They are “invisible lines” where symbols connect and winning combinations are formed. We always advise betting on the maximum number of available paylines.

The minimum bet depends on the number of paylines. For example, if a slot has 25 paylines and a minimum bet of 1 cent per payline, the total minimum bet is $0.25.

You don’t need to understand paylines to play slots for real money. It’s more important to be aware of a slot’s RTP and volatility.

Wilds and Scatters

Wilds and Scatters are special symbols that increase your chances of winning. These symbols don’t exist in classic slots, only in video slots, Megaways, and other more modern slot variations.

The combination of Wilds and Scatters make video slots exciting to play. They add a lot of variety and action that classic slots lack.

Wilds

Wilds substitute for nearly all other symbols in a video slot. They help in forming winning combinations by acting like a “wild card”, as their name implies.

If, for example, a winning combination is formed by three “Sphinx” symbols, that combination can be formed with two “Sphinx” symbols and a Wild.

Nowadays, there are many types of Wilds such as:

• Walking Wilds: These symbols move across reels on each successive spin.
• Expanding Wilds: This is one Wild symbol that, upon appearing, expands to cover an entire reel.
• Sticky Wilds: These Wilds remain in place once they appear for multiple spins.
• Stacked Wilds: These symbols cover an entire reel and help in forming huge winning combinations.
• Multiplier Wilds: These can double, triple or quadruple your win, depending on the number of Wilds on screen.

Scatters

Scatters are symbols that generally activate online casino slots’ bonus rounds.

Scatters are typically connected to the slot’s theme. For example, in IGT’s Cleopatra slot, the Sphinx is the Scatter symbol. Typically, 3 or more Scatters on a payline activate the bonus round.  

Bonus Rounds

The bonus rounds, typically activated through Scatter symbols, often hold the biggest winning potential. This is especially true for high volatility slots like Novomatic’s Book of Ra or NetEnt’s Dead or Alive.

Most commonly, bonus rounds reward free spins on the slot you’re playing. In many slots, these so-called free spins round can be retriggered while through more Scatters, generating even more free spins.

Online casino slots’ bonus rounds come in several forms, such as:

• Free Spins
• Simple “click-to-win” bonus games
• “Wheel of Fortune” style mini-games

The slots free spins should not be confused with casino free spins bonus offers.

Basic Slot Features

In terms of the basics, most slots have in common usability features for convenient gameplay like:

• Autoplay: You configure the number of spins and the online slot spins automatically.
• Turbo Mode: This makes spins play out faster if you want quick game sessions.
• Loss and Win Limits: In Autoplay, in many slots, you can pre-configure the slot to stop spinning after a certain amount of money has been won or lost
• Gamble Feature: Common in older slots, the gamble feature gives you a 50/50 chance of doubling your cash after a winning spin.

How to Play Online Slots for Real Money

Follow your simple, step-by-step guide for beginners that’ll have you playing in minutes.

Ultimately, the most important step is choosing a trusted online slots casino. The rest is usually pretty intuitive, as online casinos do their best to make sure you have a smooth experience.

Tips for Online Slot Machines

We can give you general pointers that will help you out when playing a slot machine online. You should keep in mind there is no magical way of beating the casino. Online slots are based on luck. Each spin is completely random and independent, and there is no strategy you can use to increase your chances of winning.

With that said, here’s our best advice that can come in handy when choosing or playing online casino slots.

FAQs