The prizes can be big! Unsurprisingly, the biggest prizes tend to be where casinos are also asking for ‘buy-in’ which funds the prizes. Here, prizes can be worth several thousand pounds. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for big promotions run by online sites as well. The biggest slots tournament prize pool was for €1.3million with a top prize of €1million run by 32Red in 2009 for the Grand Slam of Slots in which all players had a preset amount of coins to play with for 15 minutes.

Smaller prizes tend to be common on the slots tournaments that run more frequently – here prizes may be £100 or lower, occasionally there may not be cash prizes at all – but instead 100 or more free spins. Still, if you are playing in a slots tournament because you love the game, then this could be a good way of winning more spins to keep you playing – and with the chance of winning – without depleting your account!

There are also social or free tournaments, (especially in the US, where gambling online is not legal) and where a ‘buy-in offers a number of spins only. In these, cash prizes for those at the top of the leaderboard take the place of the normal wins you would expect to receive during a play session.

Topping the leaderboard offers some pride in its own right, of course. What better way is there of showing that – for today at least – Lady luck is with you!

Most won – this is the simplest and perhaps the most common type of tournament. In an online world, players are permitted a certain number of spins (sometimes at a given stake level) to complete within a period of time. The player who has won the most as a multiple of their bet at the end of the session is the winner. There may be a first, second and third prize or it may be winner takes all. Other prizes may sometimes be awarded for particular events – perhaps even for the person who won the least! In a ‘battle of the slots’ it may even be that the prize is distributed amongst all the players playing on a particular slot where the most was won on that slot.

In order to be fair to differing players, there may be a fixed stake per spin, or the amount won will be seen not as an absolute number, but as a multiple of your bet. That is a player who had a big win of 100* a $1 stake might win compared to a player who has a 20* a $10 stake, even though the first player won $100 and the second $200.

Points – other tournaments offer a more complex scoring system where points might be awarded for big wins but also might have some form of consolation for a losing streak with points awarded after several spins with no hits, for example.

Most tournaments, especially the larger ones, are scheduled for ‘high volumes’ times – like a Friday or Saturday evening. But there are often others which take place every hour – or even more frequently. Give how many operators are running tournaments online, if you search you can normally find one that will suit your particular preference.

Remember that you will normally need to have registered an account in order to play – and depending on which country the tournament is in – you may also need to complete identity verification and even affordability checks, so be sure to leave enough time for these steps.

Make sure you read the tournament rules so that you understand how the prize pool is being paid for and what is needed in order to win. Check whether the amount you might need to spend in time and money is right for you. Make sure you’ve read all the terms and conditions and not just the headlines! For example, if there’s a bet limit, you want to be sure not to play outside that as it won’t give you any extra credit. You should also be sure you understand exactly what the prizes are and any conditions attached – you don’t want to be disappointed.

Finally, be sure you’ve picked the tournament that’s right for you – are you choosing a big tournament with a massive prize pool, or a smaller tournament but which is easier to win?

If the tournament happens over a short set time – perhaps a total number of spins in 15 minutes or an hour – you may be able to see your place on the leaderboard changing dynamically as other players also get wins or points. At the end of the time period set for the tournament, winnings will be paid out – definitely to the top player, maybe to the second and third places as well – and occasionally for the bigger promotions to everyone in the top 50.

For much longer-running tournaments (over a weekend or a week), you may need to check back in frequently to see what is happening. Some will allow you to play some more – others will have limited the number of spins to a set amount.

Tournaments definitely add a bit of extra excitement to the game for some people – and it can be very satisfying to know that you are luckier than anyone else at the moment – and, of course, it’s great to win the prize pot! But for all those good points, we believe that tournaments today lack a few key things.

Multiplayer – it’s not REALLY multiplayer. Instead, everyone is playing alone, with absolutely no interaction and where the most you see of other players is how many are in the tournament and perhaps the leaderboard at the end. Compare this to the kinds of multiplayer games we’re used to playing on our phones and computers where you battle enemies, collaborate with allies and share with friends…

It would be fantastic if tournaments meant truly playing against others – and being able to see and respond to their play.

Just wins – many of the tournaments are about biggest win only, or even more annoyingly for those which don’t weight wins, biggest spend – since those who are betting more will win more. That feels kind of unfair and certainly one-dimensional. It’s just luck – and yes, we know that’s the point of slots – but give that tournaments are normally competitive in ways that aren’t about pure luck, it makes them a tiny bit unsatisfying.

Wouldn’t it be good if tournaments were about true competition where what you did mattered and where winning was a matter of real and lasting pride – as well as cash!

Promos and Puff – often tournaments are being paid for by a game maker or operator to promote a particular game or suite of games. That may mean it’s not the game you want to play, leaving you stuck with features you don’t specially like. Where a choice of game is allowed, it’s not always obvious which one offers the highest volatility and paytable and whether there’s any advantage (or at least choice as to which type you prefer).

It would be great if you could choose from a range of games – and where it was clear about what each game’s paytable type led to – slow and steady wins or high volatility big infrequent payouts.

Watch and wait – one you’ve finished your own spins, there’s nothing to do except watch your position on the leaderboard change. It’s pretty dull. Plus even sites which have a lot of tournaments don’t have them on demand, so you need to find out when they are and choose to enter – at a time that’s not always convenient for you. The most frequent running tournaments are also the ones that pay the least perhaps not even cash, but free spins with attached wagering requirements.

It would be far better if tournaments could match you instantly with other players from around the world.