Paylines or Ways? Follow the Red Stag Online Slots Trail!

You probably pick a slot for its theme, its bonus round or its look, and few of us check how a win is counted. Here at Red Stag Casino, we think that hidden bit of machinery is the most interesting thing on screen! On some of our online slots, wins are paid along one line, and on others there are ways to win all over the screen in patterns that look random until you know the rule. Once you've learned both, you'll know why each spin ends in a win or a miss!

Which camp are you in, then? If you can't say for sure, don't worry, folks, because we've mapped out a short trail through four online slots in our lobby, from the 3 Reel Slots tab all the way over to Video Slots. The trail starts at a classic one-liner and finishes on a candy-coloured grid where the number of ways to win changes on every spin! We'll take the stops in order, from the simplest count of a win to the most complex one on this trail…

One Payline on Crazy Cherry: How a Classic Win Is Paid

First stop on the Red Stag trail is Crazy Cherry, a three-reel classic with a pair of bright red cherries on its logo. There's one payline across the middle of three reels, and a win is paid only when the symbols line up on it.

You pick a coin value from a single cent up to $10 and play one to five coins a spin, so there's a stake for a tiny budget and a big one alike! It's rated High volatility on its lobby tile, so expect fewer, larger wins.

Our favorite part of this little three-reeler is a cheeky rule-breaker, though… a Crazy Cherry logo is worth a prize in any position on the reels, payline or not! Every other symbol has to line up on that single line, and each prize on the paytable gets bigger with each extra coin you play, up to the maximum of five.

We've picked two prizes from the paytable at the full 5 coins so you can see how far apart the top and bottom really are:

• Three Crazy Cherry logos on the payline are worth 5,000 coins, the top prize!
• A single Crazy Cherry logo anywhere on the reels is worth 10 coins.

That last line is the one we'd frame, because one stray logo is enough for a small win on a spin that missed the payline completely, and a stray pair anywhere is worth even more. It's a lovely old-school touch, and we'd happily spin Crazy Cherry for that rule alone, at any coin size! Do you fancy far more than one line to aim for, though? On our next stop there's no payline at all, and every row on the grid is part of the ways to win…

243 Ways on Piggy Bank Bonanza – Left to Right Across 3 Rows

Piggy Bank Bonanza, a Dragon Gaming title in our Red Stag lobby, is where the grid on our online slots gets wider. There are five reels with three symbols on each, and between them there are 243 ways to win! Where does a number like 243 come from, you ask? Any symbol on reel 1 can be matched with any of the three symbols on reel 2, then any of the three on reel 3, and so on, and every one of those combinations is included in your one stake.

There's one firm rule on every ways grid, though – each win is checked from the leftmost reel. Matching symbols are needed on that first reel and on each neighbouring reel after it in turn, and they can appear in any of the three rows. It's a lot like hiking a trail through the reels, since you can zigzag up and down as much as you like, as long as you never skip a step! We've set the rule out in three steps from the game's own rules screen:

1. A win starts with a matching symbol on reel 1.
2. The same symbol must appear on every reel after it, without skipping one.
3. Only the highest win in each combination is paid.

Our top pick here is the Nudging Multiplier Wild Reel, and we took to it after only a few demo spins! A partial stack of wilds on reel 3 nudges up or down to fill the whole reel, and any win through it is multiplied by up to 10x. Land six or more special coin symbols instead and you'll trigger Hold and Win, where your three re-spins reset to three every time another coin appears. Here at RedStag Casino, we'd give this piggy bank a good shake any day!

Up to 7,776 Ways on Sugar Surge & a New Count Every Spin!

Further along the trail, the count climbs to 720 ways to win on Helena's Haunted House, where the grid forms a diamond. Its reels are three, four, five, four and three symbols tall, and that layout stays fixed. You can win up to 15 free spins with three or more Free Spins symbols, and the Bingo bonus is worth up to 200 times your bet! It's rated Medium volatility in the help screen, so expect a steadier ride than on Crazy Cherry.

One stop further, Stags, you'll reach the sweetest point on our Red Stag map – Sugar Surge Multiways, where the reels change height on every spin! Each reel can be two to six symbols tall, so the number of ways to win changes with them, up to 7,776 when every reel is at full height. A counter above the reels displays the count for each spin, and watching it jump around is pretty rad. We found a few more treats in the game's info panel:

• You receive 10, 15 or 20 free spins for three, four or five scatters.
• Four jackpots, from the Mini up to the Grand, can be won through the wild on reel 3.

For all that movement, Sugar Surge is rated Medium volatility in its own info panel, the same as Helena's Haunted House, even with 7,776 ways to win on a full grid. That detail tickled us, because a bigger grid and a bumpier ride are two separate things here at Red Stag Casino! Piggy Bank Bonanza, with 243 ways on a fixed grid, is rated High on its lobby tile, so it's the bumpiest of our three ways games. Do more ways make online slots a better bet, though…?

Is a Slot with More Ways a Better Bet? Let's Compare!

No, online slots with more ways aren't a better bet on their own, and your stake is the reason why. More ways to win means more ways a combination can form on each spin, and the cost of all of them is included in the one bet you place. A spin on Piggy Bank Bonanza costs 25 fixed coins, and all 243 of its ways are part of that cost. To see the difference in real terms, we've set our one-line classic beside our first ways grid here at Red Stag Online Casino:

	Crazy Cherry	Piggy Bank Bonanza
Reels and ways	3 reels, 1 payline	5 reels x 3 rows, 243 ways
Bet per spin	$0.01 to $50	$0.25 to $100
Top award	5,000 coins (1,000x the stake)	2,297x the bet

Now for our favourite surprise of the whole trail… the top line on Crazy Cherry is worth 1,000 times your stake, and the Grand jackpot on Sugar Surge is worth 1,000 times your bet. The top multiple is the SAME for one line and 7,776 ways to win! A win is formed differently on a bigger grid, but on our online slots the top prize is set game by game. We think that's the best reason to give the old one-liner a spin before you try the bigger grids!

Which one is yours, now that you've seen both? If you love the suspense of one line and a payout you can trace with your finger, Crazy Cherry is your match, and if you'd rather chase wins that zigzag across the whole grid, our three ways to win slots are the ones to try next! Are you playing with bonus funds? Each spin is capped at $5 at RedStag Online Casino, and the smallest spin on all four of these online slots is well below that – one cent on Crazy Cherry.

Quick FAQs on Ways to Win Online Slots at Red Stag Casino

Gamers, have you still got a question or two about ways to win before you head off? Our support team is on live chat and phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so a quick message to them is always an option if you're scratching your head over a rule on any of our online slots. We've answered four quick ones below, and our Certified Fair Gaming page is published for you to check here at Red Stag Casino. Play is strictly for adults aged 18 and over.

Q: Are ways-to-win prizes paid from right to left as well?

A: No - on all three ways-to-win online slots on this trail, every win is paid left to right from reel 1. Helena's Bonus and Free Spins symbols are the only exception.

Q: Do I bet on all 7,776 ways in every spin of Sugar Surge?

A: Yes - all the ways to win on the grid for that spin are included in your one bet of $0.50 to $50, so a full 7,776-way spin costs the same as a spin with far fewer ways!

Q: Can I try a ways-to-win slot in demo mode first?

A: Yes, and we love this one! Each of our online slots has a DEMO button on its lobby tile, with instant play in your browser on desktop or mobile here at RedStag.

Q: What is the top prize on Piggy Bank Bonanza?

A: 2,297 times your bet, the maximum win in the game's rules. Fill all 15 spots in Hold and Win for the Grand prize of 2,000x your bet - that's $200,000 on a $100 stake!

Choose 1 Line or 7,776 Ways - Spin Online Slots at Red Stag Casino!

Will you spin one payline or 7,776 ways first? Start with one tidy line on Crazy Cherry or head for the candy grid of Sugar Surge, and try either one with the DEMO button before you stake a cent. You can deposit from $5 with Bitcoin Lightning, and Casino Mail contains the live offers for your account. Whether you're Team Payline or Team Ways, all four online slots from this trail are in our lobby at Red Stag Casino, ready for your first spin!