Ways-to-Win Slot Machines Explained

Ways-to-win (also called all-ways pay) slot machines replaced traditional fixed paylines with a system that pays on any left-to-right adjacent symbol match, regardless of row position. Dragon Link, Buffalo Link, and Lightning Cash are all ways machines. Understanding how ways are calculated, how betting works, and what this means for advantage play will help you evaluate these machines accurately.

What Ways-to-Win Actually Means

On a traditional payline machine, wins only count when matching symbols land on a specific predefined line — a horizontal row, a diagonal, or a zigzag pattern drawn across the reels. If three matching symbols land but not on an active line, you win nothing.

Ways-to-win eliminates this entirely. The rule is simple: if a matching symbol appears on reel 1, and another matching symbol appears anywhere on reel 2 (in any of its rows), and another appears anywhere on reel 3, that is a winning combination. The exact row position of each symbol is irrelevant — only adjacency from left to right matters.

All ways are always active on every spin. There is no configuration screen, no line selector, no option to reduce the active paths. You bet once and all ways are covered automatically.

How to Calculate the Number of Ways

The total number of ways equals the product of the number of rows on each reel. For a 5-reel machine where every reel shows 3 rows:

3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 3⁵ = 243 ways

Common configurations across modern slots:

• 243 ways: 3 rows × 5 reels. The most common configuration. Used on Dragon Link, Lightning Cash, Lightning Link, Lock It Link, and many others.
• 720 ways: Mixed reel heights (e.g., 4 rows on some reels, 3 on others). Less common but appears on certain Konami and IGT titles.
• 1,024 ways: 4 rows × 5 reels = 4⁵ = 1,024. Used on Buffalo, Buffalo Link, and related Aristocrat series.
• 3,125 ways: 5 rows × 5 reels = 5⁵ = 3,125. Used on some expanded-reel variants.
• 4,096 ways: 4 rows × 6 reels = 4⁶ = 4,096. Used on 6-reel Aristocrat titles and others.

If a machine has different row counts per reel, multiply the rows of each individual reel together. A machine with 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 rows across five reels has 2 × 3 × 4 × 3 × 2 = 144 ways.

Why “All Lines” Is Automatic on Ways Machines

On older variable-payline machines, players could choose to play 1 line, 5 lines, or all 50 lines per spin. On ways-to-win machines, this choice does not exist. The entire ways configuration — all 243, all 1,024, all 4,096 paths — is always active on every spin with no exceptions.

This is one reason ways machines simplified the casino floor. Casinos no longer had to deal with players misunderstanding why their symbols “won” but were on an inactive line. On a ways machine, if the symbols are adjacent left-to-right, it pays. There is no such thing as an inactive path.

The practical implication: the published RTP on a ways machine applies at every bet level, because the full ways configuration is always active. On traditional variable-payline machines, playing fewer than all lines effectively lowers your personal RTP below the published figure.

How Betting Works on Ways Machines

Instead of choosing a line count and a bet-per-line, ways machine players choose a single total bet amount or bet multiplier. The interface typically offers options like:

• Bet 1 / Bet 2 / Bet 5 (multipliers of the base denomination)
• Or a direct dollar amount selector (e.g., $0.50, $1.00, $2.50)

That single bet covers all ways. Payouts scale proportionally with the bet multiplier — a win that pays 10 credits at bet 1 pays 50 credits at bet 5. There is no mechanic where higher bets unlock additional ways, because all ways are already active at every bet level.

AP Relevance: Max Bet Significance Differs from Payline Machines

On traditional payline machines, max bet sometimes unlocks features that are unavailable at lower bets — notably, certain jackpot symbols may only pay on lines that require max bet to be active. This creates a genuine AP consideration: on those machines, you must play max bet to be eligible for all winning combinations.

On ways-to-win machines, this distinction largely does not apply. Because all ways are always active regardless of bet level, there is no hidden configuration that max bet “unlocks.” The bet level scales payouts proportionally but does not change which combinations are eligible.

The exception to watch for: some ways machines have a separate jackpot bet feature (sometimes called a “jackpot ante” or bonus bet) that is an additional charge on top of the base ways bet. This extra bet may be required to qualify for the top progressive or mystery jackpot. Always check the machine's help screen to determine whether a jackpot ante is present and what it covers — this is where bet-level significance reappears on ways machines.

Ways-to-Win and Hit Frequency

More ways means more symbol paths that can produce a winning combination on any given spin. This generally increases hit frequency — you will see small wins more often on a 1,024-ways machine than on a 9-line payline machine with the same RTP, all else being equal.

The tradeoff is that each individual win pays less on a per-ways basis than each individual line win on a low-payline machine, since the same RTP is distributed across many more winning events. A 243-ways machine may hit “something” on 40–50% of spins, while a 9-line machine might hit on 20–30% of spins — but the average win size per hit is larger on the 9-line machine.

For AP purposes, hit frequency matters mainly in the context of how quickly your bankroll depletes while you are holding a +EV position. A high-hit-frequency ways machine can extend your session time at the same total cost-per-spin compared to a volatile low-payline machine — giving you more spins to trigger the elevated jackpot or bonus state you are targeting.

Famous Ways-to-Win Machine Series

The majority of modern linked-jackpot and accumulator-style machines use ways-to-win. Some of the most widely played series on casino floors:

• Dragon Link (Aristocrat) — 243 ways, 5 reels, 3 rows. One of the most common AP targets due to its must-hit-by jackpot structure.
• Buffalo Link (Aristocrat) — 1,024 ways, 5 reels, 4 rows. Free-tier guide available on SlotStrat.
• Lightning Cash (Aristocrat) — 243 ways, hold-and-spin bonus mechanic.
• Lightning Link (Aristocrat) — 243 ways, hold-and-spin, widely deployed across U.S. casinos.
• Lock It Link (Scientific Games / Light & Wonder) — 243 ways, hold-and-spin format similar to Dragon Link.
• Dollar Storm (Aristocrat) — 243 ways, linked progressive jackpot pool.
• Mighty Cash (Aristocrat) — 243 ways, hold-and-spin with regional jackpots.

Nearly all Aristocrat hold-and-spin titles default to 243 ways. Scientific Games and IGT have followed with their own ways-based jackpot series. If a machine has a hold-and-spin bonus, there is a strong likelihood it is a ways-to-win machine.

Frequently Asked Questions