Tucked away at the bottom of all online slot games pay tables or game help files is a small message which states, “A Malfunction Voids all Pays and Play”, and this is a very important rule that is there for a reason.
Should anything go wrong when you are playing that particular slot game then any winnings or losses you achieve when the slot is malfunctioning can and will be voided, and you will be given a refund of your stake money!
You may be wondering just how can an online slot game malfunction, for each slot released will have gone through a lot of testing before it has been made live and available, and many licensing jurisdictions insist that every slot game works and plays exactly as it has been designed to do.
Today we shall take a look at just how online slot games can and do malfunction, which will ensure that should something out of the ordinary happen when playing an online slot you know what to look out for and how you should handle that situation to make sure you are never out of pocket!
Graphical Errors
One of the ways in which a modern online slot game could malfunction is by displaying the wrong reel symbol graphics on your screen, whilst these incidents are very rare they can and do happen and this is usually due to an error occurring when you have downloaded the casino software.
This type of slot malfunction could see you lining up what you think is a winning combination on the paylines you have in play, when in reality, due to a graphics error you have in fact lined up a losing combination, the opposite could occasionally happen and as such you may line up what you think is a losing combination when in fact a winning one has been awarded to you!
Design Faults
One type of slot malfunction that is quite topical at the moment is in regards to a slot game being released that is not playing out as it should have been designed to do. Real Time Gaming recently launched a slot game by the name of Orc v’s Elf which had such an error attached to it.
The slot had a collective type of bonus game which should have awarded a winning payout based on the amount of cash wagered via the stake setting chosen on previously played games but when players increased their stakes this increased stake was not taken into account and resulted in some overly large winning payouts being awarded.
Real Time Gaming did of course address the issue and the game was corrected by a software patch, however as the game did malfunction, some players amassed very large winning payouts when it was playing incorrectly and as per the game playing rules those winnings were voided.
Reels That Keep On Spinning
When you are playing slots online, occasionally you may set a slot games reels into play and discover that the reels keep on spinning and do not stop, this is down to the internet connection between you are the casinos’ game server becoming disconnected, and that is why those reels keep on spinning and do not stop.
Should you experience such a phenomenon when playing online slots simply shut the slot game window and re-launch the slot and this should sort the problem out!
It is worth noting that if a slot game is disconnected half way through one game playing out then when you re-log into the casino the outcome of that game will be shown on the game screen, if a bonus picking game had been triggered when the connection failed then you will be able to continue playing it when you re-log into the casino!
Slots Won’t Load and Launch
Many online slot games will occasionally be updated when you log into any one of the many downloadable casino sites, and when you try and launch any particular slot game you may discover that it will not launch or load.
Should you notice this happening then you are best off waiting for several minutes as that slot game may be queued to have any software updates downloaded. You can usually tell a slot is being updated as a small message or progress type bar will be displayed alongside it.
Very occasionally some slot games will not load at all, and a message saying that you are already logged into that game may be displayed on your screen. Should this occur then log out of the casino and get in touch with the casinos support team for by doing so they may be able to manually remove you from the game and/or reset your gaming session.
As mentioned slot errors are quite rare these days but from time to time they can and do occur, however the better run online casino sites will always help sort the problem out.
Should you experience any online slot game not working as it should then you should try and take a screen shot of that game as it is performing strangely as by doing so you can then email the screen shot to the casinos customer support team and that will enable them to understand more clearly the problem you are experiencing, and they should be able to sort it out for you!
Conclusion
Whilst it is extremely rare that an online slot games will malfunction, there has been the odd occasion when they do, if you are disconnected from an online casino when half way through playing any slot then the software is designed to make that game available to you from the point you left it when you next log into the casino.
Should at any moment something not appear right when you are playing any online slot game, stop playing it immediately and contact the customer support team at the casino at which you are playing at, for they will be able to assist or answer any questions you may have.
