2022's Best Irish Online Slot Sites

How Do We Choose the Best Irish Slot Sites?

We approach our recommended lists as you would hope we do: with our users foremost in our minds. There are a number of factors players need to consider before selecting an Irish slot site, and we look at them all before listing an online casino on our site.

You’ll have your own ideas on which areas are the most important – from the best welcome bonuses to the widest variety of casino games – but we can help steer you in the right direction by laying out all the information you need. Here are some of the critical areas we assess.

Licensing

Licensing is the first port-of-call in our online casino reviews. Unlike other countries, Ireland doesn’t have one singular regulator overseeing its gambling industry. This isn’t to say that gambling in Ireland is the Wild West; instead, Ireland issues licences to its operators via other approved gambling jurisdictions, such as the UK Gambling Commission or the Malta Gaming Authority.

Every casino site you find on TopRatedCasinos holds a valid licence, and to stay safe, you should never place a bet at an unlicensed casino. To do so would be to open yourself up to unfair practices, and leave you susceptible to malicious online threats. 

Slot Catalogue

Gambling is a form of entertainment, so users want to play at a casino that can deliver this through an eclectic mix of casino games. Not only does this include a variety of slot machines, table games, and live dealer action, but also depth within these titles. For example, does the casino offer plenty of blackjack and roulette variations, in addition to the most popular editions?

Among the best online slot games of ‘2022’ include Bonanza Megaways, Eye of Horus, and the intriguing Hell’s Kitchen, all of which include bonus rounds.  

Software Developers

We work independently of software developers, recommending casinos that host games from all the best developers in the world. This means we can recommend our users the best choices in terms of gameplay, bonus features, and aesthetics from both the most established in the business, and exciting up and coming talent. 

Bonuses

Bonuses are often a key priority on many players’ lists and they make up a critical part of our reviews of the top Irish slot sites. As we’re predominantly dealing with online slot games here, free spin bonuses are perhaps the most relevant, but we take a look at the full suite of player bonuses, weighing up their frequency, quality and accessibility.  

Mobile

Mobile-optimised websites that can adjust to the user’s browser preferences are now considered a minimum requirement for online casinos. The best mobile casinos will also have downloadable apps available on different operating systems, and these sites rank well in our list of recommendations.

Customer Service

If there are any problems relating to your account, you’ll want the security of knowing you can rely on great customer service. This involves friendly staff available throughout the day and through a variety of different channels. 

What Type of Online Slots are Available?

The best slot sites seen on this page have four major forms of slot games that you can play. These are explained in detail here:

Progressive Slots

Progressive casino slots games are a great way to hunt for those big jackpot wins. Each time a player makes a spin on a progressive game, the total jackpot increases until it is won by a player.

Classic Slots

These are the pub slot games classics that have made their way into the online slots experience. These are usually three-reel games, and the total number of payout lines for these slots can be significantly less than the modern-day games. The sites on this page do support these games, which only adds to the competition of our search for the best online fruit machines.

Mega Spins

This is a form of slots where you can play several games at once, and the number of reels that you can spin sometimes can go up to 45. This is a rather large amount, and players enjoy mega spins due to the excitement of playing so many slot games at once, as well as the potential for jackpot wins.

Video Slots

Video slots are where you can find themed slot games, great animations, in-play bonuses, and some rather cool sound effects. Some examples of these games include Rainbow Riches, Starburst, Deal or no Deal games, and hundreds of others. These forms of games also offer the largest number of reels on the best slot sites, and the pay lines are the highest out of the four categories.

How to Play Online Slots

It is incredibly simple to get going with the best online fruit machines.

1) Check the Paytable

A paytable shows you everything you need to know, including the return to player (RTP), how much you can win depending on your bet, and your minimum and maximum stake options. You’ll also be able to find out more about bonus features here too.

2) Set your Stakes

Slot games usually have virtual coins that represent a real money value. Make sure your coin value suits your bankroll – don’t gamble more than you can afford to lose.

3) Select your Paylines

Most slot games these days feature multiple paylines. Betting on more paylines can give you a better chance of winning more money, however, you could just as easily lose.

4) Spin the Reels

Ready to go? Simply click spin. If you get lucky, you’ll know about it; the extravagant visuals will make it very clear and payouts are made immediately.

How to Deposit Money at an Irish Slot Site

There’s no shortage of banking options when it comes to paying for your bet, with online casinos catering to a range of payment methods. Let’s break down the most popular.

Debit Cards

If you want a banking method that can offer fast withdrawals, debit cards may not be the choice for you. But if you want a steady, reliable and familiar option, then this is where to start. Debit cards are the most widely used payment method at online casinos and are accepted at almost every Irish slot site. 

e-Wallets

E-wallets are a popular payment choice at online casinos, with punters drawn to their high deposit and withdrawal limits and quick payout times — in some cases, withdrawals happen in an instant. PayPal, Skrill and Neteller lead the way and are all available at many sites. 

Prepaid Cards

Prepaid cards, such as Paysafecard, work similarly to credit cards, but don’t require any bank information at the point of transaction. Instead, users authorise their payments via a 16-digit PIN, and can enjoy high limits on deposits. However, prepaid cards don’t allow for withdrawals for gambling transactions, so you’ll need to use them alongside another banking option if you want to take home your winnings.

Pay by Mobile

Pay by mobile is a system that simply requires a contracted mobile phone number to pay for your bet. At the point of transaction, key in your number, and your mobile network provider will pay for your bet on your behalf before charging it to your monthly bill. Boku is the leader in this space, but again, pay by mobile services can’t facilitate withdrawals, and there are also strict limits on deposits.

PayPal Slot Sites

Simply put, for a site to be categorised as a ‘PayPal slot site’, they have to support PayPal as a payment option. Needless to say, PayPal is an incredibly popular online payment method, not just for online slots either. There’s a whole host of advantages.

• You’ll never have to share sensitive data with a third party such as the casino, simply log in to you PayPal to authorise payment;
• PayPal is free as long as there is no currency exchange occurring in your payment;
• PayPal has its own support team, in the off chance that anything goes wrong.

Top Software Developers at Irish Slot Sites

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some of the biggest software developers to look out for.

NetEnt

NetEnt is a master of online slot games, and is one of the most successful game developers in the industry. Among its legendary titles are Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest, and Blood Suckers — all of which are available at the best Irish slot sites and are worth checking out.

Pragmatic Play

Another major hitter in online casino games, Pragmatic is one of NetEnt’s main competitors, producing outstanding slot machines alongside its expert live dealer offering. Its most popular slot games are Wolf Gold, The Dog House, and John Hunter.  

Play’n GO

Play’n GO develops games that focus entirely on the mobile casino market. Diamond Vortex, Riddle Reels, and Rally 4 Riches are three of its most popular titles.

International Game Technology

Commonly known as IGT, this developer has been around since the 80s, expanding and evolving to meet the changing habits and technology of the gaming world. IGT’s best slots include Cleopatra, Da Vinci Diamonds, and Pharaoh’s Fortune Fortune. 

New Slot Sites

While you might be tempted to sign up with some familiar faces, new casinos are great options too. New slots sites often bring fresh new designs to the table, as well as player-friendly bonuses like no wagering and no wagering, no deposit deals. While they may not have as many payment options as more established sites —many new sites may not feature PayPal — they’re just as safe and reliable, as long as you stick with a licensed site.

Mobile Slot Sites

We select casinos on our site that have excellent mobile capabilities, including the availability of first-rate mobile apps on both Android and iOS operating systems. If you can, we highly recommend signing up to a site that offers a native app.

Not only have they been developed solely for the mobile screen, providing users with great functionality and fast loading times, but switching on push notifications also offers the best way to keep up with all the latest bonuses and promotions.

Casino Bonuses for Slots

Online slots bonuses come in all shapes and sizes. As there are so many different kinds available, it can be difficult for new players to figure out which bonuses suit them best. In this article, we will address some of the main offers your Irish slot site could have in store for you. In the process, we hope you will gain a better idea of which bonuses could be up your street. 

We’ll also touch on some of the other factors influencing slots gameplay. Before opting in to any of these offers, always make sure you read the terms and conditions carefully to give yourself the best chance of making your bonus count. 

Matched Deposits

Matched deposits offer a way of boosting your account funds by a certain percentage. For matched deposit welcome bonuses, offers tend to be around 100% up to €100. Players making use of the full scope of this offer would therefore receive €200 from a €100 deposit, effectively doubling their money. 

Of course, one of the best things about matched deposits is that players can decide how much of the bonus they want to access. Although the offer might stretch to €100 or beyond, players are free to deposit whatever amount they’re comfortable with, providing it meets the minimum deposit. Sticking with the example above, players could choose to deposit €30 instead, receiving an additional €30 from the online casino.

For existing players, matched deposit offers will be less generous than the examples above. If you’re already a member, these offers are more likely to be in the region of 50% up to €50; if you wanted to use this offer in its totality, you’d receive €75 from a €50 deposit. 

Free Spins

Free spins may also be included as part of a welcome bonus, rewarding players for signing up with a bundle of bonus spins to use on selected slots. If you’re an existing player, these free spins bonuses tend to be unlocked by qualifying deposits, such as an offer of ten free spins when depositing €5. Free spins bonuses may also be tied to a specific game, such as 25 free spins to use on NetEnt’s Starburst. 

No Deposit Bonuses

The best slot sites will offer players no deposit bonuses – a reward issued to new players simply for signing up to the site, without the need to make their own deposit. These bonuses might come in the form of account funds or extra spins, but since they require no deposit on behalf of the player, their value will be smaller than matched deposits. Indeed, most no deposit bonuses are in the region of €5 or €10. 

Reload Bonuses

Bonuses targeted at existing players are known as reload bonuses, so-called because they indicate a ‘reloading’ of funds into the player’s casino account. As such, reload bonuses can take any form, including matched deposits, free spins, and promo codes.  

Low and No Wagering Bonuses

Some top slot sites will offer low and no wagering bonuses, which reduce or remove the limitations that wagering requirements cause. We’ll address what wagering requirements are in greater detail below, but essentially these bonuses reduce the need to make additional wagers before withdrawing any bonus winnings.

While low wagering bonuses have requirements lower than the industry average, no wagering bonuses remove these requirements altogether. 

Slot Payouts, Paylines, and RTP

No two online slot games are the same. Indeed, game developers use all manner of culture as inspiration for the creation and design of their games – from ancient civilizations, to classical mythology, to DC Comics. Not only are the aesthetics of these games massively varied, but there are also lots of points of difference in the mechanics.

A slot’s payout rates depend on a variety of factors: the number of ways to win, known as paylines; the Return to Player (RTP) percentages, indicating average payout amounts; and variance ratings, which affect the size and frequency of these payouts. Let’s break these three areas down a bit further.

Paylines

The world’s first slot machines had a very simple payline structure – since there was only one reel in play, players only had access to one payline. When slot machines first migrated into the digital realm, they initially honoured this classical layout, replicating the much-loved fruit machines of the past. 

Slowly, slot developers started to change the scene by increasing the number of reels and the number of routes to success. This in turn increased the number of paylines initially to three, then to five, ten, and so on. Recent innovations in payline technology, such as Big Time Gaming’s highly-rated Megaways structure, has changed online slots forever.

These Megaways titles are available at all the top slot game sites, and offer an astonishing 117,619 ways to win, thanks to the changing number of symbols per reel throughout the game.

RTP

Return to Player rates give online gamblers an idea of how much they can reasonably expect to win from any one game. Expressed as a percentage, the industry average for online slots is around 96%, meaning that players wagering €100 on a slot with this RTP will receive €96 back on average.

Gambling sites should display the RTP percentages of all their games, although for casino games such as roulette, blackjack and poker, they will typically refer to the reverse figure of house edge. For instance, a game with an RTP percentage of 97% has a house edge of 3%.

However, players should always take the RTP percentages of online slots with a pinch of salt. Although these figures provide useful insight into average payout rates, the calculations are derived from machines that simulate millions of spins of the reels. As such, any one gambling session can deviate massively from the script, and returns from a playing session can be far higher or lower than the average.

RTP rates demonstrate the inherent house edge built-in to all casino games. These games have all been designed to ensure the casino makes money, and although players still have the chance to win cash, the more they play, the more likely they are to land on the game’s base RTP rate.

Variance

Of course, if everybody knew exactly how much they stood to win when they spun the reels, online casinos would quickly run out of business. What makes online slots worth playing is their variance, also referred to as volatility. The variance of a game is a reflection of the size and frequency of payouts when they occur.

Variance is typically referred to as low, medium or high – and preferences will come down to a matter of taste as well as budget. 

Slots with high variance are more likely to pay out infrequent but sizable rewards, while low variance slots will offer frequent but small cash prizes. Medium variance games, on the other hand, offer a balance between the two.