- Maths reviewed by Josh Miller
- Tested by Diana Westfield
How do Megaways slots work? The first time you play one, the reels look broken. One column holds two fat symbols, the next is crammed with seven little ones, and the number in the corner jumps from 324 to 46,656 to 2,940 between spins. Nothing’s broken. Each reel lands a random height every spin, a win needs the same symbol on neighbouring reels from the left, and it can sit in any row. Multiply the heights and that’s your ways to win for that spin. The free CasinoCalcs calculator above does the multiplying.
Megaways ways to win, worked out
We used 5, 7, 3, 6, 4 and 7 as the default, because it’s a fairly ordinary spin. For three of a kind you need a matching symbol somewhere on reel one (5 spots), somewhere on reel two (7) and somewhere on reel three (3). That’s 105 possible routes. Carry on across all six reels and you get 17,640.
Now compare that with the 117,649 printed on the loading screen. You’d need all six reels at seven high at the same moment, and in our experience you’ll see that a handful of times in a long session, if at all. If every height from 2 to 7 were equally likely you’d average about 8,300 ways a spin. Real games are weighted towards the short reels, so the true figure is usually lower still.
Do more ways mean more money?
This is where people get caught out. A payline slot splits your stake: 20 lines at 10p is a £2 spin. Megaways doesn’t split anything. Each winning combination pays a fixed multiple of your total bet, and the ways count just says how many combinations are on the table this time. A tall spin finds more small wins, so it looks generous. The return over thousands of spins is still the RTP, and for most of these games that’s about 96%, same as everything else in the lobby.
What really changes is how bumpy the ride is. Cascades knock out winners and drop new symbols in, and free spins often come with a multiplier that climbs on every cascade. That’s where the big hits live, and it’s why you get long, quiet stretches between them. Run a few thousand spins in the slot machine simulator to feel it, and check the hit frequency calculator for how often a slot pays anything at all.
Reels, top reels and the variations
Six reels of two to seven gives you the classic maximum: seven times itself six times, 117,649. Plenty of newer titles bolt a sideways reel across the top of reels two to five, which adds one more spot on each and pushes the counts up. A few go to seven or eight reels and quote millions. It doesn’t matter which one you’re looking at. Add or remove a reel in the calculator, type what you see, and the answer is still just the heights multiplied together.
Ways to win aren’t chances to win. BeGambleAware.org has free support if slots are taking more than you’d like.