Guide · Updated July 2026
It's tempting to spin a slot without ever opening its paytable, especially on mobile where the menu icon is small and the game itself is designed to pull you straight into play. But the paytable is the single most information-dense screen in any slot — it's where the game discloses exactly what each symbol pays, how its bonus round actually triggers, what the maximum win is, and, on any properly licensed operator, the game's return to player (RTP) percentage. Skipping it means playing without understanding what you're actually staking against, which matters for setting realistic expectations about volatility and bonus frequency, not just theoretical odds.
Reading a paytable is also the fastest way to compare two slots you're deciding between, without needing to spin either one first. A quick look tells you whether a game is likely to be high or low volatility based on the spread between its lowest and highest paying symbols, whether the bonus round is easy or hard to trigger based on the scatter requirements, and what the realistic ceiling on a win looks like. For background on how volatility itself works, see our slot volatility guide, and for the deeper mechanics behind the numbers in a paytable, our how slot machines work guide and RTP explainer.
Step by step
Nearly every online slot has a small "i" or menu icon, usually in a corner of the game screen, sometimes tucked into a settings or hamburger menu on mobile layouts. Tap it to open the paytable and rules.
This is usually the first screen shown — a list or grid of every symbol in the game alongside how much each pays for landing 3, 4 or 5 in a row (or, on cluster-pays games, a minimum cluster size).
Scatter symbols, bonus symbols and wilds are usually explained in their own section, specifying exactly how many are needed to trigger free spins or a bonus round, and whether they need to land on specific reels or anywhere on screen.
This explains how wins are actually counted — a fixed number of paylines, all-ways-pay, or cluster pays — which changes how you interpret the symbol payout numbers you just read.
Usually near the bottom of the paytable or rules section, licensed slots disclose their theoretical RTP percentage and the maximum possible win, expressed as a multiple of your stake.
Multipliers, buy-bonus options, tumbling reels or expanding wilds are typically explained in a final section — features that materially affect both volatility and how the bonus round plays out.
Symbol tiers
| Symbol tier | Typical appearance | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Low-value symbols | Card ranks (10, J, Q, K, A) or simple shapes | Small, frequent payouts — these fill most of your winning combinations |
| Mid-value symbols | Theme-specific icons (fruits, gems, animals) | Moderate payouts, less frequent than low-value symbols |
| High-value symbols | Premium theme icons, often the largest or most detailed graphics | Big payouts for 4–5 in a row, but land far less often — a wide gap here signals higher volatility |
| Wild symbol | Usually labelled "WILD," substitutes for other symbols | Fills in for regular symbols to complete winning combinations, sometimes carries its own payout too |
| Scatter/bonus symbol | Distinct icon, often triggers on any position | Doesn't need to land on a payline — landing enough of these triggers the bonus round or free spins |
The gap between your lowest- and highest-paying symbols is one of the clearest visual signals of a slot's volatility. A small gap (say, 2x stake for the lowest symbol up to 20x for the highest) suggests a smoother, lower-volatility game. A large gap (2x up to 500x or more) signals a high-volatility game built around rare, large payouts — common in many Pragmatic Play titles like Gates of Olympus and Big Bass Bonanza.
Mzansi Pro-Tip
Before you ever deposit real money into a new slot, open its paytable and specifically check three things: the scatter/bonus trigger requirement (how many scatters, and do they need to land on specific reels), the maximum win multiplier, and the RTP figure. Those three data points alone tell you almost everything you need to set realistic expectations — a slot needing 4 scatters out of 6 reels to trigger a bonus is going to feel very different in practice from one needing 3 out of 5, even if their headline RTPs look similar on paper.
RTP (return to player) is the theoretical percentage of all money wagered on a slot that's returned to players over a very large number of spins — millions, not the handful you'll play in a single session. It's calculated by the game developer through the same simulation process used to build the paytable itself, and licensed operators are required to make this figure available to players, typically inside the paytable or rules screen itself, sometimes under a separate "game info" or "RTP" tab.
Most reputable slots sit somewhere in the 94%–97% RTP range, though this varies by title and, occasionally, by which version of a game a specific operator has licensed — some providers offer multiple RTP configurations of the same slot for different markets or operators to select from. It's worth actually checking the figure disclosed in-game rather than assuming, since two visually similar slots can carry meaningfully different RTPs. It's important to be precise about what RTP means and doesn't mean: it's a long-run theoretical average across millions of spins industry-wide, not a promise about your next session, your next hour, or even your next thousand spins — short-term results can and do vary widely above or below the disclosed figure in either direction. Our RTP myths vs facts guide covers common misconceptions about how this number actually plays out in real sessions, and our online vs land-based slot RTP guide explains why online slots tend to disclose higher RTPs than their physical-machine counterparts.
How wins are counted is one of the most misunderstood parts of a paytable, because it changes what a "symbol payout" figure actually means in practice. Fixed-payline slots pay when matching symbols land along a specific pre-defined line across the reels — the paytable's symbol values assume a match along one of these lines. "All-ways-pay" or "Megaways" mechanics instead pay for matching symbols landing on adjacent reels regardless of vertical position, dramatically increasing the number of possible winning combinations per spin — our Megaways slots guide covers this mechanic in detail. Cluster-pays games, common in titles like Sweet Bonanza, abandon paylines entirely in favour of rewarding a minimum-sized cluster of matching symbols touching each other anywhere on the grid — see our cluster pays vs payline slots guide for a direct comparison.
The paytable's stated symbol values only make sense once you understand which of these three systems the game uses, since a "20x stake" payout for five matching symbols means something different on a 10-payline game versus an all-ways or cluster-pays game with hundreds or thousands of ways to form the same combination. Always check this section of the paytable before assuming you understand a symbol's real payout potential, particularly when comparing games across different providers — our casino game providers guide covers how different studios structure these mechanics.
Once you're comfortable reading a paytable end to end, it becomes a genuinely useful screening tool for choosing which slots suit your bankroll and play style, rather than picking based on theme or graphics alone. If you're playing on a smaller session bankroll, look for a tighter gap between low- and high-value symbols and a more achievable scatter trigger — signals of lower volatility and steadier, if smaller, returns. Our low-stakes slots for small budgets guide builds on exactly this approach. If you're chasing bigger, rarer wins and can tolerate longer dry spells, a wide symbol-value gap and a high stated max-win multiplier point toward the high-volatility end of the spectrum — see our high-volatility slots guide.
It's also worth cross-checking the paytable against our dedicated guides for specific popular titles — our Gates of Olympus guide, Sweet Bonanza guide and Big Bass Bonanza guide all walk through the specific bonus triggers and symbol structures of those Pragmatic Play titles, confirmed as available at Pantherbet. Pairing paytable literacy with sound bankroll management — see our bankroll management tips — gives you the clearest possible picture of what you're actually playing before you ever place a real-money stake.
Before you spin
Look for a small "i" or menu icon, usually in a corner of the game screen or inside a settings menu on mobile. Tapping it opens the paytable, rules and, on licensed slots, the RTP disclosure.
Symbols are typically grouped into low, mid and high value tiers, with high-value symbols paying more but landing less often. The size of the gap between tiers is a strong visual signal of the slot's volatility.
A scatter symbol doesn't need to land on a specific payline — landing a set number of them anywhere on the reels (commonly 3, 4 or more) triggers free spins or a bonus feature. The exact requirement is listed in the paytable's bonus section.
Licensed operators disclose RTP inside the game's paytable or rules screen, sometimes under a dedicated "game info" tab. Most reputable slots sit between 94% and 97% RTP.
Not necessarily in the short term. RTP is a theoretical average calculated across millions of spins, not a guarantee for any individual session, which can vary significantly above or below the disclosed figure.
Fixed paylines pay for matches along specific pre-set lines. All-ways-pay (including Megaways) pays for matches on adjacent reels regardless of exact position. Cluster pays reward a minimum-sized group of touching matching symbols anywhere on the grid, with no paylines at all.
Occasionally, yes — some providers offer multiple RTP configurations of the same title for operators to select between. Always check the RTP disclosed in the specific game you're playing rather than assuming it matches a figure you've seen elsewhere.
Yes — it takes under a minute and tells you the game's volatility signals, bonus trigger difficulty, RTP and max win before you risk any money, letting you set realistic expectations rather than guessing.