Logging onto that online casino and seeing the banner for a slots tournament may be a little confusing if you’ve never thought about slot machines in that way. However, they’re incredibly simple to understand and, if you’re a fan of slots, tournaments are a great way to increase your chances of winning without risking a lot of your money.

Slot tournaments essentially operate the same as poker tournaments. In poker, you buy into the tournament with X amount of players. At the tournament’s start, you’re handed a specified number of chips to bet with. Win chips and keep playing; lose them all and you’re out. It’s common sense, right? Well, a slot tournament works the same way.

When you’ve bought into a slot tournament, you will be given a specified number of coins or credits (depending on the online casino). The object is to play a certain amount of time. You’re free to use any strategy you want. There are no special restrictions on betting here. When the time ends on the tournament, the person with the highest total of credits wins. So, no matter what, there’s always a winner here.

Why is it lower risk? Let’s say you receive 1000 credits to play with for a buy-in of $10. This is your starting stack – your stake. In a non-tournament format, that $10 may only buy you 50 credits, so you’re greatly increasing your odds of not only winning, but not losing!

Just remember to read the rules of the site, and if you’re not familiar with online slots, you may want to learn your way around the slot machines before you buy-in for the big game. Use our online slots guide to see screenshots of the paytables and read on all the bonus features before you play.