Slots Tournaments: The Definitive Guide - Updated 2025

Ever wanted to know how to win a slots tournament? This exclusive guide is for you.

Starburst is a popular choice for slots tournaments

Guide to Slots Tournaments

How do slot tournaments work?
How to win a slots tournament
Mobile Casino Slots Tournament
Slots Tournament Strategy
Slots Tournament FAQ

Slots tournaments: the ultimate test of endurance. These rare casino competitions allow slot machine fans to pit their spinning skills against each other. But that's not all: there are also huge real money prizes up for grabs. And the 1st placed player can expect the biggest slice of the pot.

In this article, we will show you how to win a slot machine tournament and different strategies you can try. Before we get into the good stuff, let's start simple: how do slot tournaments work?

How do slot tournaments work?

A slots tournament is a type of competitive gambling competition where participants play slots. The format of this competition is usually in a leaderboard style. The main objective is simple: to place as high on the leaderboard as possible.

To do this, competitors will collect points by playing a selection of designated slot games. And the games selected could revolve around a set theme (like TV themed slot games) or around a software provider (like NetEnt).

No two slot tournaments will have the same mechanics. Especially with regards to the point collection system. And depending on the type of tournament, this can vastly change your strategy. The different types you will find include:

Staking Tournament: This one is simple, the player with the most wagers wins. For every x amount you bet, you will earn a certain amount of leaderboard points. Keep an eye on special booster promotions to get more points.

Winners Tournament: Again, another simple one. The player with the most wins takes the gold. Typically, the casino will look at the player's total win balance to determine the prize winners.

Prize Draw Tournament: In all honesty, we recommend staying away from these. For every x you bet, you will receive a prize draw ticket. And the winner will be picked at random on a certain day. But like we said, this is picked at random. That means no matter how much you win or stake, you still might lose out.

Mission Tournaments: A special type of tournament that utilises in game features. You will be asked to complete certain missions in the least amount of spins possible. A common type of mission is to activate a bonus round a set amount of times. Commonly found in Yggdrasil slots games.

How to win a slots tournament

We come to the million dollar question: how to win a slots tournament. You may think winning is based on random pot luck. But that is untrue. In fact, there are a number of ways you can improve your chances of winning. What are they? Let's take a look:

Get familiar with what you are playing: If you want to be a champion slots player, then you want to know your chosen game inside and out. Where's the autoplay? Is there a way to increase your spin speed? We recommend looking at the selected tournament games and trying several in free mode to find one you like best.

Go for games with less flash: We all love a slot game filled with flashy effects. In fact, we are huge fans of games like Starburst Slots. But a game like this isn't great for a tournament. Long win animations and flashy features will eat up your time for more betting opportunities. Go for something more simple and basic.

Optimise for speed: A casino slots tournament is some competitive business. You will be spinning against players who will be gunning for that 1st place prize. So take advantage of what the game offers to decrease your spin time. Switch on turbo spin, press the spin button again after spinning for a quick spin: there are loads of ways to get in more betting chances. And more betting chances means more points - and a better position on the leaderboard.

Take advantage of autoplay: You don't have to stop collecting points just because you are going to be away from your device. Set autoplay and keep making progress in the tournament. Better still: most software providers offer a set of excellent controls to manage what you are spending.

Never join a tournament late in the game: Joining a competition late is one of the worst things you can do. For starters, there will already be people at the top of the leaderboard, poentially with thousands of points in the bag. At that point, it's an uphill battle trying to gain the amount of points you need to even break into a prize winning position. Instead, join slots tournaments early and try to establish a dominant lead early.

Don't lose out when you're about: Related to the tip above - there's no need to lose your place when you are away from your home. Thanks to mobile technology, we can now play on the go. Simply pull out your tablet or phone and keep making progress.

Mobile Casino Slots Tournament

A mobile casino slots tournament is a brave new frontier for competitive gamblers. Now we don't have to go to a brick and mortar casino to get our tournament fixes. And we don't have to be strapped to our desks.

All we have to do is pull out our Android and iOS devices. With just a few taps, we are back in the game and (hopefully) heading for a first place finish. But the newfound portability does give us some interesting options. And these options may even make mobile devices better for online slots tournaments.

A far more comfortable playing experience: You can't beat the feeling of lounging on your couch enjoying some top slots action. And thanks to smartphones, you can spin to win wherever you fancy.

Special perks for portable players: On rare occasions, you may find that slots play on a portable device is actually incentivised. This could be in the form of more leaderboard points - or special prizes for mobile only players.

Slots Tournament Strategy

Due to the random nature of the games in question, there isn't a decisive online slots tournament strategy you can use. These games aren't like online roulette, where you can adopt an outside or inside betting style. If the tournament favours the highest number of wins - or asks you to complete missions, you are at the mercy of RNG.

While a faster approach will certainly give you more chances to win or activate casino bonuses, there's no guarantee you can achieve either goal. You are going to have to hope that lady luck is on your side.

But in the case of a cash stake tournament? Your strategy is simple: spin faster and harder than your rivals. This means following the slots tournaments tips above and optimising for speed over flashy gameplay. If the prizes are defined by the most amount of money staked, then you want to be splashing the cash more.

Considering the top prizes for these competitions can reach into the thousands, this is well worth your time and effort. Before you engage in any competition, make sure you understand the rules of the tournament.