Last Updated on 23/04/2026
Every slot game comes with a built-in reference guide called a paytable. Before you place a single bet, it’s worth knowing what’s in it. If you’re playing at an online casino UK, whether you’re trying Slots for the first time, using your free spins or other promotions, or are returning to a familiar title, the paytable contains information that can help you understand what you’re playing before a spin takes place.
Here’s what it covers and what to look out for.
How to find it
The paytable isn’t hidden. In most online slot games, you’ll find it by clicking a small “i” icon, a menu button, or a tab labelled “Game Rules” or “Help”. It loads a separate window, often with multiple pages you can scroll through. It’s worth opening before you start rather than mid-game.
Symbol values
The first thing most paytables show is a breakdown of every symbol in the game and what each one is worth. Symbols are usually split into two groups: higher-value ones, which typically match the theme of the game, and lower-value ones, which are often generic card-style icons (A, K, Q, J).
Payouts are shown as a multiplier of your stake or as a fixed credit value, depending on the game. Three matching symbols in a line will typically pay less than four or five, and the paytable will set out each combination clearly.
Wild and scatter symbols
Most modern slot games include wild and scatter symbols, and the paytable explains what each one does.
A wild acts as a substitute. It can fill in for other symbols to help complete a winning combination. Some games include expanding wilds, sticky wilds, or walking wilds, which behave slightly differently – all of this will be explained in the paytable.
A scatter doesn’t need to land on a specific payline to count. Landing a certain number of scatters anywhere on the reels often triggers a bonus feature, such as a round of free spins. The paytable will tell you exactly how many are needed, and what happens when you get them.
Bonus features
This section of the paytable varies the most from game to game. Some Slots include free spins rounds, hold-and-respin mechanics, multipliers, or bonus games. Others keep things straightforward with standard line pays only.
Whatever the game includes, the paytable will describe how each feature is triggered and what it does. Reading this section in advance means you won’t be left wondering what just happened when a feature activates during play. It also helps you understand when a round has ended.
RTP and volatility
These two figures are often listed in the paytable, and they’re worth understanding as they describe the game’s underlying structure.
RTP stands for Return to Player. It’s a percentage that represents how much of the total credits wagered on a game is expected to be returned to players over a very large number of spins. A game with an RTP of 96% theoretically returns 96 credits for every 100 staked, calculated across many thousands of spins. It’s a long-run figure and not a guarantee of what any individual session will return.
Volatility, sometimes listed as variance, tells you something different. A low-volatility game tends to produce smaller wins more regularly. A high-volatility game may go through longer gaps without a winning combination, but the potential payout when one does land is typically larger. Knowing where a game sits on this scale helps you decide whether it suits the way you want to play.
Bet limits
The paytable usually also shows the minimum and maximum credits you can wager per spin. This is straightforward information, but it’s useful to check before you start.
One last thing
The paytable is the most accurate source of information about how any individual slot game works. It’s produced by the game’s developer, not the casino platform, so the figures and rules it contains are specific to that title.
Reading the paytable doesn’t change how the game plays out – all outcomes are determined by a Random Number Generator (RNG) and each spin is independent of the last. But it does mean you’ll understand what’s happening on screen and what the game is designed to do.
