In most brick-and-mortar casinos, the award for the most popular slot games goes to video slots. However, the longest lasting slot games on the casino floor are invariably three-reel classic slots. Online slot games are also invariably more profitable than the slot machines in a physical casino. While the above might appear contradictory, it is really not. There are viable reasons why three-reel classics maintain their popularity for decades on end, while hot new video slots make a big splash at launch and disappear shortly after. Regardless of how they are constituted, slot games must turn a profit. They must pay for their cost of purchase and earn enough to obviate the need to seek a replacement. Read on for the explanation on issues regarding slot popularity and more. It’s All Classic, Mate! Slots that are equipped with physical reels and had stepper motors that drove those same reels were and still are insanely popular. Video slots soon came along and displaced these sorts of slots from their perch. These physical slots are not all that similar to video slots. Video slots are usually made to be massively entertaining, with lots of sizzling graphics, animations, and audio effects. Three-reel slots, on the other hand, shun such pretensions and are all about gambling in its purest form. There are some recent three-reel slots with bonuses. The main attraction in such games is, however, the massive winning potential. Most three-reel slots have just a single payline. Each winning spin can pay off multiples of the wager. Video slots, on the other hand, are usually equipped with 30 and up to paylines, with most winning spins paying less than the total bet. Three-reel slots are popular with folks who prefer to gamble in peace without being bothered by newfangled animations and graphics. The rules of such games are known and well liked and while their fans are not as populous as video slot players, they do tend to be more devoted to their gameplay. Due to their popularity, three-reel slots provide a steady level of income to casinos and do not appear to be going anywhere any time soon. Players of video slots sure do want to get their hands on some sizable wins. They, however, wish to be massively entertained while engaged in this endeavour. Such slots are loaded with lush eye-candy graphics, startling animations, immersive video clips and do more than entertain to the limit. Examples of such slot games include Top Gun and Men in Black. The former notably not only features clips from the iconic movie but has gameplay that essentially puts players in the cockpit of a high-performance fighter jet. That is immersive! Video slots normally feature a slew of bonuses, free spins, wheel spins and more. Some of these slot games have special icons like expanding wilds that fill up entire reels with the same icon and make for sizable wins. However, over time, most video slots lose their initial oomph and no longer seem as exciting as they once were. Video slots peak in popularity in like 3 to 4 months after release, before newer slot games must replace them. Such new video slots usually try to top the features offered by their predecessors, only to be replaced by others several months later. Online Slots Same as video slots, online slots are designed to be massively entertaining. Such slots are required to earn their keep or risk being replaced. Such a replacement merely sees the online slot game relegated to the background, while newer and presumably better slots take up the vacated position.