Slot multipliers instantly supercharge your payouts on winning spins. Basic multipliers will double or treble your winnings, but some will increase your payout by more than 1,000x.
We’ll explain how multipliers work, and we’ll break down the different types. You’ll also learn how multipliers combine to deliver enormous payouts on certain slots.
What Is a Multiplier in Slots?
A multiplier is a special feature that increases your payout by a set factor when playing online slots. For example, a game might offer 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, and 100x multipliers.
Let’s say you win $4.80, and you land a 10x multiplier. In that case, your payout would be boosted to $48.
Some multipliers appear during the base game, but the best multipliers are often reserved for an online slot’s bonus round.
Types of Slot Multipliers
Software developers have rolled out a wide range of slot multipliers in recent years. Some trigger at random, while others build as you keep winning. These are the most common types of slot multipliers:
- Random multipliers: These can trigger on any spin during the base game and increase your winnings by a set amount. They’re unpredictable by design, which keeps the base game interesting. However, they don’t stack up or carry over to multiple spins, so each random multiplier gives you a one-off boost.
- Wild multipliers: Some multipliers are attached to a game’s wild symbol. The wild substitutes for all other symbols (apart from scatters) to help you form winning combinations. If a wild helps you complete a winning line, your payout will be multiplied by the displayed multiplier, usually 2x or 3x.
- Multiplier symbols: Unlike random multipliers, these standalone symbols land on the reels. Several can land at once, carrying specific values, such as 2x, 10x, 100x, and so on. If you land a winning combo, the multipliers will be applied.
- Cascade multipliers: If you play slots with cascading reels, any winning symbols will disappear, and new ones drop into their place. This means you can earn several wins from a single spin. Some of these games add a progressive multiplier to the cascading reels feature, so your payouts will be boosted by a larger multiplier with each consecutive win. For example, Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt goes 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, and it resets as soon as a cascade fails to produce a win.
- Spot multipliers: These multipliers are found in grid slots like Sugar Rush, marking the positions where winning symbols explode. If another winning combo appears on a marked spot, it becomes a 2x multiplier that doubles each time you hit it again.
- Free-spin multipliers: Some slots apply a fixed multiplier to every win during the bonus round. It’s often 2x or 3x, but some games go higher. You may also be given a choice, such as 15 free spins with a 2x multiplier or 10 free spins with a 3x multiplier.
- Persistent multipliers: These multipliers grow throughout a bonus round, without ever resetting. You may then benefit from huge multipliers on any wins you earn during the latter stages of the bonus round.
How Multipliers Combine
On some online slots, you can land two or more multipliers on a single spin. That will lead to a significantly larger payout, as the multipliers will join forces to amplify your winnings. There are two ways in which multipliers combine:
- Added together: The various multipliers are added up and applied to your win. For example, let’s say you receive a 2x and a 10x multiplier. They’ll be added together, so your payout will be multiplied by 12.
- Multiplied: This is even better, as your multipliers are multiplied. For instance, if you receive a 2x and a 10x multiplier, your payout will be multiplied by 20x.
Check the game rules before playing to see how the multipliers combine to deliver a larger multiplier win.
Do Multipliers Improve Your Odds?
Multipliers don’t change a slot’s RTP (return to player) rate. They’re essentially baked into the total return you can expect when playing the game.
Instead, they change your win distribution. If a slot features lots of huge multipliers, it’s more likely to deliver large, infrequent wins. You may need to ride out dry spells when waiting for the multipliers to appear.
Slots Known for Multipliers
- Gates of Olympus: Zeus drops multiplier symbols worth anywhere from 2x to 500x onto the reels of this Pragmatic Play slot, and they can land on any spin. In the free spins round, every multiplier that lands adds to a total that never resets, which is how the game delivers its 5,000x max win.
- Bonanza Megaways: This is the slot that made Big Time Gaming’s Megaways mechanic famous. The game uses a cascade multiplier in its free spins round, which increases by 1x with every cascade. Unlike most cascade multipliers, it doesn’t reset between spins, so a long bonus round can send it soaring.
- Wanted Dead or a Wild: In this Wild West-themed slot from Hacksaw Gaming, VS symbols spark a gunslinger’s duel and expand into full-reel wilds with multipliers of up to 100x. Land a few on the same spin and your payout can escalate fast, which is how the game reaches its 12,500x max win.
FAQs
A 2x multiplier in slots means your winnings will be doubled. For example, if you win $25 and a 2x multiplier applies, your payout will be $50.
Yes. Individual multipliers usually have a set maximum, such as the 500x symbols in Gates of Olympus. Even slots advertising “unlimited” multipliers, like Bonanza Megaways, are capped by the game’s max win, so once you hit that ceiling, the round ends and pays out.
Multipliers stack on certain online slots, delivering supersized payouts. You may be able to rack up lots of multipliers from a single spin. For example, if you land 10x, 5x, and 7x multipliers, they’ll combine for a 22x multiplier if they’re added, or 350x if they’re multiplied.
Ilija is a CCN writer with 7 years of experience covering all things crypto. Ever since a fateful run-in with Litecoin in 2013, he's been an avid investor and writer in the space. When he's not maniacally hacking away at his keyboard, Ilija spends his time either hiking in nature or holed up in his apartment gaming.
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