How-to-Play
Contact | Getting Started | FAQ | System Requirements
Introduction | Game Categories | Game Payback/Payout Ratio | Game Volatility | Denominations and Paylines
Introduction
At our Casino we have over 70 games, most of which can be separated into these categories: Classic Casino Table Games, Slots, Instant Win and Video Poker.
Nearly all of the games can be played for free as well as for real money, so it may be worth checking out my informal guide below before you start playing them. I've done my best to cover the main aspects of these games including an attempt to explain often-used industry jargon like 'Game Volatility', 'Denominations', 'paylines', 'Payout Ratios', 'bonuses' and the dreaded 'wagering requirements'. However, if there is anything missing, or if you have any particular questions which you cannot find an answer for below, please drop me an email to casinomanager@gamesxtra.co.uk.
Game Categories
Once you enter our Casino Lobby you will be immediately presented with our current most popular games or 'Favourites'. Whilst this section showcases quite a few games; some recent, some classic, you're probably better off going to the 'Index' category first to view our entire game collection. The games in the Index section are listed in alphabetical order.
If you have a specific game in mind, then you should be able to find it in one of the remaining categories:
- Slots - This section has over 20 games but unless you're actually logged in you won't see the progressive 'Megajackpot games'.
- Blackjack - There are 10 variations of Blackjack games available, all of which have different features.
- Roulette - You will see 7 versions of Roulette within this particular section.
- Poker - Here you will see all our single-play Poker games including 3 card poker and Video Poker.
- Instant Win - What you will find here are Bingo, Keno and Hi-Lo games.
If you are not logged in and click on any of the games in these categories, you will be given a choice of playing these games for Free or for Real money. If you for opt 'Free' then you will head straight to that game. If you opt 'Real Money', you will be prompted to log-in with your account details or indeed create an account. If you wish to play for cash then the next section below will definitely be of interest to you...
Game Payback/payout Ratio
A Payback Ratio (or in some cases 'Payout Ratio) reflects the odds of each game and what you can typically expect to receive over a number of goes. Payback Ratios are explained in percentages. If a game has 100% payback ratio then this means you have an even chance of winning back your bet. Anything above 100% means you have more than an even chance of making a profit. Slots games have lower payback ratios than Table games as they are based on chance whilst some Table games, like Blackjack, have an element of skill to them. How do we define skill? Well skill in game terms means that you have an opportunity to affect the outcome of the bet. For example, in Blackjack you have the choice of sticking with your given cards or taking another one to achieve the score of 21. By selecting a new card that could either get you closer to 21 or in fact make you go over it and ending your game. If we look at European Blackjack for instance, that game has a payback ratio of 99.70%. To find what a payback ratio of a game is before you play it, select the 'Paytable' option from within the game console itself:
If you go through the pages you will find a 'Payback info' button, which will tell you about the payback percentage:
Below are all the Slots with their individual Payout Ratio:
| Game Name | Payout Ratio |
| Enchanted Unicorn | 97.39% |
| Texas Tea | 97.35% |
| Wheel of Fortune Triple Action Frenzy | 97.00% |
| Wheel of Fortune 5 reel | 96.99% |
| Monopoly Pass & Go | 96.01% |
| Cluedo | 96.00% |
| Vacation USA | 96.00% |
| 3 Reel Hold up | 95.76% |
| Monopoly here and now | 95.76% |
| Elvis Multi-Strike | 95.38% |
| Cleopatra II | 95.13% |
| MegaJackpots Monopoly | 95.11% |
| Double Diamond | 95.08% |
| MegaJackpots Cluedo | 95.04% |
| Cleopatra | 95.02% |
| Vegas, Baby! | 95.02% |
| The 50,000 Pyramid | 95.01% |
| Bananarama Deluxe | 95.01% |
| Captain Quid's Treasure Quest | 95.01% |
| Jeopardy! | 95.00% |
| Lil Lady | 94.98% |
| Wolf Run | 94.98% |
| Elvis ALMA | 94.97% |
| Da Vinci Diamonds | 94.93% |
| Arabian Riches | 93.87% |
| Triple Fortune Dragon | 93.01% |
Game Volatility
Now I will attempt to explain a term that causes much confusion in the gaming industry - game volatility.
Volatility is essentially how we measure the payout size and frequency of any game. This has nothing to do with the payout ratio, as all games have fixed odds, but it does give an indication of how the awards/payouts are distributed.
A low volatility game tends to award smaller payouts at a high frequency. A high volatility game does the exact opposite - pays out less often but when it does payout, the award is quite high. It's important to know the volatility of a game before you play it with real money as quite often there is a distinct difference between some games - especially our Slots. To help you, I've produced a game table below which shows their individual volatility (The more stars, the more volatile the game):
| Game Name | Volatility |
| Cleopatra II | ***** |
| 50,000 Pyramid | **** |
| 5 Times Pay | **** |
| Captain Quids | **** |
| Cleopatra | **** |
| Megajackpots Cluedo | **** |
| Vegas Baby! | **** |
| Elvis: A Little More Action | *** |
| Elvis: Multistrike | *** |
| Enchanted Unicorn | *** |
| Jeopardy! | *** |
| Monopoly Here and Now | *** |
| Triple Fortune Dragon | *** |
| Wheel of Fortune Triple Action Frenzy | *** |
| Wolf Run | *** |
| Bananarama with Bonus | ** |
| Cluedo | ** |
| Da Vinci Diamonds | ** |
| Megajackpots Monopoly | ** |
| Monopoly Pass Go Bonus | ** |
| Texas Tea | ** |
| Wheel of Fortune 5 Reel | ** |
Denominations and Paylines
Once you've selected a game to play for real money, you will be presented with a 'Denomination' pop-up page, which essentially asks you to choose the minimum amount of money you wish to bet with. The range of denominations varies between games but all Slots have a 1p option. For example, Elvis Multistrike has 10 denominations to choose from: 1p, 2p, 5, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2, £5 and £10:
Table games tend to have fewer options. An example is Blackjack, which has only 3 denominations - 10p, 50p and £1. For Slots however, before you select a denomination, it is wise to find out the paylines...
Each Slots game displays at least 1 payline. The more paylines a Slots game has, the more opportunities there are to win. Typically, a Slots game at our site will have 15 paylines or more. However, you can of course play as many or as little paylines as you wish - even one payline if you so desire.
So, to give you an example of how denominations and paylines work together, let's say you pick a 5p denomination for Elvis Multistrike, which is a game that has 60 paylines. If you choose to play all these paylines, then your total wager per spin will be £3 (60 x 5p). However, you will have the option before each spin to reduce the number of paylines you want to bet. You can also change your denomination if you desire by using the 'change denomination' option on the right panel:
