Top Real Money Slots Sites
Almost all online casinos allow you to play for money, but only some operators offer the best real money slots in the industry. We’ve tested all slot sites to understand who has the best welcome package, provides the best RTP slots, and pays out winnings quick and effortless. Here are our top three slots sites!
Before signing up, you might wonder whether it’s even legal to play online slots for real money. While we touch on the topic of legality more further down this page, here are the good news; if you live in the following countries, it’s 100% safe and legal to play real money slots:
- the United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Canada
- New Zealand
If you live in the United States, it will depend on state laws as online gambling is not regulated on a federal level.
A Guide to Real Money Slots
When playing real money slots, it’s important to focus on the features that matter rather than aesthetics. We know it can be tempting to play online slots based on their theme, soundtrack, or design elements. However, if the slot machine lacks features such as a high RTP, medium or high volatility and in-play bonuses, you might be deemed to lose your money sooner or later.
Don’t get us wrong; there are some good reasons why playing slots with low RTP can make perfect sense, but as a matter of probability, you should choose slot machines where you have the highest chance to win.
Let’s look at some slot features and understand what is important when talking about real money slots.
RTP
RTP stands for Return to Player and refers to the percentage an online slot will return to its players over time. Ideally, you should choose a slot with at least 96.5% RTP when playing for real money. It’s one way to increase your theoretical chance of making a profit when playing online slots.
However, RTP is just one side of the story as Mega Moolah only pays back 88% yet is the online slot that has turned several players into millionaires. At this point, we recommend reading a little more about progressive jackpot slots.
Volatility
Next on the list is volatility. This feature is relatively new but has quickly risen to one of the most crucial slot features. Real money slots often feature medium or high volatility while only a few have low variance.
Low volatility means that you will win relatively frequently on this slot machine, although the amounts will be most likely on the lower side. Playing real money slots that are highly volatile means that you might find yourself not winning anything for quite a while, but if you do hit a winning combination, it’s likely going to be a larger amount.
As you can see, volatility is a matter of handling risk. If you have a healthy bank balance and can sustain a drought period, playing high volatility slots is a good choice as you increase your chance of winning big. Many players choose slots with medium volatility to balance their risk.
Multiplier
Multipliers are an often overseen feature in real money slots that can make all the difference. As the name suggests, this feature has the potential to multiply your winnings. When you receive free spins while playing a real money slot, these often have a multiplier attached to them. Let’s suppose you’ve received free spins with a 5x multiplier, and you hit a winning combination worth $150. Not bad in itself, but multiply this times five, and you suddenly pocket $750 in one spin!
As you can see, multipliers are powerful, and it’s well worth choosing a real money slot with this feature enabled. Here’s a complete list of the best online slots with multipliers.
Other Bonus Features
More bonus features can increase and decrease your chances of winning big in real money gambling. The sort of available bonus games, number of paylines and the option to respin while freezing reels are some of them. At this point, we recommend you do some reading on the different features available in online slots. If you’d rather dive straight into the action, here are some of the best real money slots that have all the vital features built-in.
Our Top 10 Real Money Slot Games
A guide to the best real money slots wouldn’t be complete without a top 10 list. Since you shouldn’t focus too much on one single feature – like payout or volatility – we’ve sorted through all our slot reviews and put together games that we deem to balance risk, opportunity, and fun.
| Slot Title | RTP |
|---|---|
| Mega Moolah | 88% |
| Big Bass Bonanza | 96.71% |
| Gonzo's Quest | 96% |
| Wolf Gold | 96% |
| Book of Ra | 95.5% |
| Hot Chilli Megaways | 96.49% |
| Twin Spin | 96.55% |
| Blaze of Ra | 96.40% |
| Aloha Cluster Pays | 96.42% |
| Mega Fortune | 99% |
We didn’t focus on one provider because each software company has a unique twist to its games. However, if you do prefer games of a particular maker, head over to our software overview page and start your search from there.
Are Real Money Slots Legal?
Now that we talked about all the fun parts, we’re getting more serious and would like to talk about the legality of real money gambling. As so often, the answer to such a question is “it depends”. However, let’s not stop here but go more in-depth.
The legality of real money slots greatly depends on your jurisdiction and where you’re playing from. In the United Kingdom, online gambling is fully regulated and therefore legal. Thanks to the UK’s Gambling Commission, all online casinos need to obtain a license to promote real money slots and other casino games to UK players. This means that you can safely play using your money without having to fear that casinos hold back winnings or trick you otherwise. The same applies to Ireland, where real money gambling online is perfectly legal if you’re an Irish citizen.
In Canada and New Zealand, the current legislation isn’t as clear. While no law prohibits real money slots and other gambling activities on the Internet, there is equally no law that allows them. As such, it’s fair to say that real money gambling is in a grey area. What makes it more complicated in Canada is that gambling regulation is a state-by-state rather than a federal matter. However, at the time of writing, you can access online casinos in both Canada and New Zealand, play real money slots, and cash out your winnings without any problems. We do recommend only playing at legit online casinos to ensure you don’t have any negative experience regarding payouts or customer support. If you choose one of the following three operators, you won’t face any issues as we’ve tested them thoroughly.
Slot Sites That Pay Out Fast
Now, you’ve learned that you can play legally in your jurisdiction, and you’ve chosen a real money slot with the best chances to win; what’s next?
One question we get often is to recommend slot sites that payout fast and hassle-free. We couldn’t agree more with the latter; if you win, online casinos should not make it harder than necessary to withdraw your winnings. However, choosing the correct payment method is more important than the online casinos when it comes to speed.
In the United Kingdom, where real money gambling is fully regulated, online casinos must obey strict laws to process transactions. For example, it’s illegal for operators to allow players to reverse their withdrawals before these have been processed. The new feature is called lock withdrawal, which means that once you request a payout from an online casino, the amount must be paid into your account or web wallet. As such, online casinos don’t profit from withholding your payout anymore.
E-Wallets and Real Money Slots
What’s crucial when it comes to payout speed is your payment method. As so often, bank transfers take a long time. Don’t be surprised if you have to wait up to ten business days to receive winnings transferred into your bank account. For that reason, many players turn to e-wallets when playing real money slots.
E-wallets like Neteller or PayPal allow you to transfer money in and out of an online casino quickly. In most cases, deposits are available instantly, and withdrawals hit your e-wallet within 24 hours or less. However, this record speed comes at a price as fees tend to be higher.
As such, many players decide to deposit from and withdraw straight to their debit card. It’s safe, relatively quick, and comes with lower fees. Please remember that it’s no longer possible to play slots for real money using a credit card, at least in the UK. The Gambling Commission banned using credit cards last year to protect people with a tendency to gambling addiction.
Welcome Bonuses at Slots Sites
Whether you’re an experienced real money slot player or just starting out, you’ve probably come across an online casino’s welcome bonus. These special promotions target new players and act as an incentive to register with an operator’s website. Often, a welcome bonus sounds like this:
100% Match Bonus up to $500 + 200 Free Spins
Sounds great, right? Who wouldn’t want to double their first deposit up to $500 and get 200 spins on top? Someone who plays online slots for real money might want to decline such an offer, and here’s why.
Welcome offers at slots sites sometimes sound too good to be true, and often they are. As you can imagine, no online casino would give away $500 and 200 Spins for fun and allow players to hit the jackpot with it potentially. Instead, new player bonuses are bait to attract real money players.
When you accept a slot site’s welcome bonus, you automatically agree to its terms. Just as the promotion, these terms are also special. Frequently, you will find that any winnings resulting from promotions have to be wagered several times – often up to 40 times. As well, the slot site might cap your winnings at $100 or $200.
As you can see, welcome bonuses are not as impressive as they seem at first glance. It’s a perfect way to try out an online casino and gamble for fun, but you might be better off declining the welcome offer if you’re in for real money slots.
No Deposit Bonus for Real Money Slots
Some online casinos, although rarely in the United Kingdom, still offer no deposit bonuses. These usually come in free spins, which you can use on either pre-selected real money slots or across the entire range. However, what’s true about welcome offers is even more true regarding no deposit bonuses.
When you accept a promotion that doesn’t require a deposit, you will face harsh bonus requirements. Whether it’s a hard cap on winnings or high wagering requirements, no deposit offers won’t help you hit the jackpot at any slot site.
As such, we don’t recommend accepting such offers when playing real money slots. No deposit bonuses are perfect for having fun, trying out a new slot site, or playing with friends. When you’re in for the big bucks, on the other hand, you’re better off declining these promotions.
Real Money Slots App or Website
Last but not least, let’s talk about the difference between a real money slots app and a website, as many players are still unsure about the pros and cons of either.
Some slot sites still offer native apps that you can download straight to your iPhone, Android or Windows mobile device. These real money casino apps usually ship with some games pre-installed and allow you to download other games one-by-one. So far, so good, but there is a massive downside.
While it can seem handy to download a slot site to your mobile phone, it has more disadvantages than benefits, such as:
- Storage
- Seamless login
- Variety
- Accessibility
If you’re an avid photographer, your phone might have told you that you’re about to run out of storage. This couldn’t be more true for real money slots apps. Online slots are games with high-quality graphics, sound effects, and complex gameplay, requiring many resources. Can you imagine having to download hundreds of these games to your phone? It might literally blow up at some point. On the web, however, things are different. When you log into a slot site through your browser, games are hosted by the operator, and you simply load them over your internet connection. Since you’re likely to have unlimited bandwidth, you can access as many games for as long as you want.
A second significant benefit of websites over a real money slots app is the seamless login. If you play in-browser, you can use the same login details on your smartphone, tablet and laptop—no need to remember two passwords or go through the registration process twice. Playing in-app is different since slots sites usually don’t integrate the apps with their web casinos. It means that you cannot start playing in the app on your smartphone and continue on the web later. It’s like having two separate accounts, which is rarely a good thing.
Summary
As this guide has come to an end, let’s sum up the most important factors of real money slots. First, make sure to choose a slot game that has all the core features to increase your probability of winning big, including:
- High RTP
- Medium to high volatility
- Multiplier
- High jackpots
Don’t choose design over features when playing for real money. Instead, keep online slots with your favourite theme for when you play for fun or with friends.
If you’re in for the money, we recommend declining any welcome offers such as deposit match or free spins. The wagering requirements and win caps usually don’t make them worthwhile. Bonus packages are perfectly fine for trying out new slots sites or giving a new game a spin, though.
Last but not least, we advise you to play real money slots in your browser rather than downloading an app. It’s quick, easy, and you can continue your play from any device. What’s more – playing in-browser means you have instant access to hundreds or thousands of slots.
We hope this guide touched on all the important topics. If you are still left with some questions, here’s a quick FAQ on real money slots.
FAQ
How do I find the best real money slots?
Looking for online slots with high RTP, medium to high volatility, and a decent jackpot size are a good start to finding the best real money slots.
Are real money slots rigged?
No, you don’t have to worry about rigged games at licensed online casinos as they all feature RNGs (Random Number Generators) by law, making each spin unpredictable.
Should I play progressive jackpots slots for real money?
Progressive slots are tempting since the jackpot grows over time, similar to the traditional lottery. While chances are low to hit the grand prize, progressive jackpot slots are often the most fun.
Can I actually win real money playing online slots?
Yes, you can. Real money slots are designed to pay back most wagers, so players frequently win decent amounts. If you want the chance to win a life-changing amount, you should opt-in for a progressive jackpot slot.
Which real money slots have the highest payout?
Progressive slots usually have the highest payouts – sometimes worth millions – but chances of winning are low. It’s always a good idea to check out a slot’s RTP, which indicated the percentage the game pays back to its players over time.
Should I accept the bonus from a slot site?
Bonuses and free spins are a great way to give a new slot site a go and try out games, but if you want to win real money quickly, we recommend turning down such offers to avoid high wagering requirements or win caps.
What are the most important slot features for real money gambling?
We recommend keeping an eye on RTP, volatility, paylines, and multipliers when hunting down real money slots.