What Do Slot Machine Symbols Mean (For the Average Gambler?)

You probably don’t spend much time thinking about different slot machine symbols if you’re an experienced player. But what do slot machine symbols mean for the average gambler?

Do slots symbols actually mean anything? Or are they simply tools or icons to entertain?

I’ve played slots so long that I rarely pay attention to the symbols. And I never think about what the symbols mean, or if they mean anything. All I usually care about is lining up enough of the same symbol to trigger a win.

So I had some fun researching slot machine symbols for this post. I hope you enjoy my slots game symbol research.

Traditional Slot Machine Symbols

The first slot machine, created by Charles Fey, was called the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell used the following symbols:

• Liberty Bell
• Heart
• Diamonds
• Spades
• Horseshoes

I’ve always wondered why Fey decided to use horseshoes instead of clubs.

Many early slot machines used the four main playing card symbols. They also used card ranks, and many modern slot machines still use aces, kings, queens, jacks, tens, and nines.

Fruit Machine Symbols

Fruit machines replaced slot machines when many areas outlawed slots games. Instead of offering coins for wins, the machines paid sticks of gum.

Common symbols on early fruit machines included:

• Stick or packs of gum
• Cherries
• Strawberries
• Lemons
• Oranges
• Pears

Some old time gamblers still call slot machines fruit machines. And some modern slots games use fruit symbols. But the original fruit machine came about when Bell Fruit Gum Company created machines to get around gambling laws.

The bar symbols seen on some modern slot machines represent the gum symbols used on these early machines.

Special Slots Symbols

Slot machine symbols were pretty plain until video slot machines started showing up in casinos. When video slots technology came into play, it opened a new world in slots symbols.

Basically, anything a designer can put on a video screen can be used as a slot machine symbol. And something else important in the history of slot machines changed symbols around the same time.

Old slot machines used mechanical reels to determine winners. The reels needed to line up a certain way to win.

While video slots games look like they use reels, whether you win or lose is determined by the computer programming on the machine. The machine determines a win or loss, then shows the results using reels and symbols to show the win or loss.

Because of these changes, slot machine developers can use special symbols. Here’s a quick overview of popular special slot machine symbols used today.

Wild Symbols

Wild symbols substitute for other symbols to help create winning pay lines. Many slot machines use wild symbols. In fact, when a slots game doesn’t offer a wild symbol, like Bejeweled slots, it seems strange.

Some slot machines use a symbol that says wild, while others use a special symbol matching the theme of the game for the wild symbol.

Check the winning symbols or payout page on each slots game to see if it uses a wild symbol and what the game uses for the wild symbol.

Scatter Symbols

Scatter symbols get their name from not needing to line up on a pay line to trigger a win or something special. Most slot machines using a scatter symbol require at least three scatter symbols to appear anywhere on the reels to trigger something.

Some games use scatter symbols to launch free spins, others launch bonus games, and some trigger big wins.

The scatter symbol can be anything the slot machine developer decides to use. Most scatter symbols are related to the overall theme of the game.

Bonus Slots Symbols

Many modern slot machines offer bonus rounds or bonus games. Some of these bonus games trigger from scatter symbols, but some slot machines have special bonus symbols.

And bonus symbols don’t always appear during regular spins. Some games only use bonus symbols during free spins.

Here’s an example:

A slot machine triggers 10 free spins when you get at least three scatter symbols. On your free spins, random bonus symbols appear. If you get at least three bonus symbols on a pay line during a free spin, you win a jackpot.

Stacked Slot Machine Symbols

Stacked slot machine symbols are another type of symbol some games use. And they can work in one of two different ways.

A stacked symbol usually fills two or more spaces on a reel. For example, a wild symbol can appear on each space of one reel.

The first type of stacked symbol expands on the reel. So when you trigger a stacked symbol that expands, it appears on one space on a reel and then expands to cover the other spaces.

The other type of stacked symbol already appears on a reel, taking up two or more spaces. To me, there isn’t any real difference between expanding stacked symbols and stationary stacked symbols.

Any symbol can be used as a stacked symbol. But wild symbols are the most common stacked symbol.

Sticky Slots Symbols

A sticky slot machine symbol appears on the reels and when triggered stays in the same spot for a number of spins.

Here’s an example:

You’re playing a slot machine and a wild symbol appears on the second reel in the top visible spot.

The wild symbol triggers a sticky symbol for five spins. On your next five spins, the wild symbol on the second row in the top spot remains in place while everything else spins normally.

Most sticky slot machine symbols are wild symbols, but they don’t have to be. It depends on how the developers designed the game.

Modern Slot Machine Symbols – Can Anything Be Used as a Slots Symbol?

Modern slot machines can use just about anything for symbols. As I mentioned earlier, anything a developer or programmer can display on a video screen can appear as a slot machine symbol.

And some video slot machines even incorporate videos and animation with their slots games and symbols.

Take a look at this list of famous slot machines. Almost every slot machine on the list has unique symbols. And the symbols are based on the theme of the machine.

Gonzo’s Quest and Wheel of Fortune are both on the list. And many of the symbols used on each slot machine are unique to the game and involve the theme of the game.

You can see some really interesting slot machine symbols on some licensed games. Check out the symbol on popular licensed slot machines like:

• Kiss
• Jurassic World
• Survivor
• Ozzy Ozbourne
• Terminator 2

But just because anything can be used for a slots symbol doesn’t mean one game or another offers better odds. Remember, video slot machines, including online slot machines, use programming to determine wins and losses, and then create the reels and symbols in a way to show you if you win or lose.

I enjoy playing slot machines with symbols I haven’t seen before. But after playing for a short time, the symbols don’t mean anything. I forget what the symbols show, and focus on whether they line up for a win. And the average gambler ends up looking at symbols the same way.

Land-Based Slots Symbols versus Online Slots Game Symbols

Modern slot machines all use some type of video graphics and computer programming. Even if a slot machine in your local casino looks like it uses reels, they’re probably just a video representation of reels.

I’m not saying there aren’t a few slots games left using reels, but they still use some sort of computer programming. In other words, no modern slot machines use mechanical reels to solely determine wins and losses.

Basically, any slot machine symbol used can be used on a machine in land-based casinos and in online and mobile casinos. Because all modern machines use video technology, the symbols can be exactly the same online and in land-based casino slot machines.

The only thing that keeps certain symbols on certain machines are branded symbols.

Here’s an example:

Some symbols found on Monopoly slots are unique and branded to the game. You won’t find the game-specific symbols on any other slots game.

But if there are online and land-based games available, they often use the same symbols.

Conclusion

Slot machine symbols don’t mean much in modern games. The symbols are simply graphic representations of the results determined by the RNG and programming on the machine.

For this reason, slots games can use just about anything for symbols. But the symbols used to mean something to some players.

Now you know everything you can about traditional slot machine symbols, fruit machine symbols, special slots symbols, and modern slot machine symbols.

The symbols don’t have anything to do with winning or losing. So find a slot machine that has symbols you enjoy and have fun. Or play slots like me, and ignore the symbols. Either way, you get the same results when you play slots games.