Best Online Slots in the UK 2020

Slots are the staple of casino games, and have been around since the nineteenth century in the form of those traditional 3-reel slot machines. Thanks to technological developments and the creative minds of several game developers, online slots are now the most popular games at most casinos, with some online platforms sporting hundreds of slot games to choose from. So whether you're new to online slots or you're an experienced slot player looking for the most rewarding ones, keep reading our Best UK Online Slots  Guide below to discover the greatest slots online and where to play them.

Discover the latest Online Slots in the UK

Online slot developers come up with new titles on a regular basis, so you can always find new slots to enjoy. To discover the latest online slots, you simply need to join an online casino that has partnered up with the provider whose games you’d like to play. Check out our guide to new online slots in the UK, which we update every month with the hottest new titles that make it to our recommended casinos.

What are Online Slots?

Online slots are games of chance, involving different kinds of symbols on a set of reels. The aim is to land on certain identical symbol combinations in order to unlock wins. Slots online are inspired by the traditional three-reel slot machine, and the principle of matching symbols to get a corresponding payout remains the same. However, nowadays these online slots come with extra features, and sometimes even with a completely different mechanism, to make things more exciting for players. 

Where to play the best UK Online Slots?

The below slot sites offer a huge variety of games to suit all tastes and preferences, from top providers that have been taking the industry by storm. Click on the links to try their slots for free or to claim a generous casino bonus that you can use on slots!

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How do online slot machines work?

Online slots work by means of what we call a Random Number Generator (RNG), a computer processor that randomizes all possible outcomes. Therefore, the outcomes of your slot spins are not pre-programmed, and do not depend on your previous spins. Instead, they are determined by the number at which the RNG has arrived to during that millisecond when the spin button is pressed.

Explained in simple terms, as soon as you press the spin button, the RNG stops on number, and the reels will stop depending on the number that has been generated. This means that even if the reels are still spinning, the outcome has already been decided and is determined by the exact second you have pressed the spin button.

How much can you win on Online Slots?

Your winnings online slot wins depend on the paytable of each individual slot. Each same-symbol combination will have a certain payout depending on the symbol itself and the number of symbols in that combination. For example, landing on a combination of 3 cherry symbols may pay out 10 times your initial stake, whereas a combination of 3 diamond symbols in the same game will pay out 20 times. However, if you get a combination of 5 of those symbols, you’ll get a higher payout (with the diamond payout still being higher than the cherry).

The maximum you can win from a slot machine therefore depends on the payout for the highest paying symbol, and on the number of high paying symbols that you manage to land after a spin. The best online slots can pay out a thousand or more times more than your original stake (for instance, Dead or Alive II slot can pay out a whopping 100,000x your stake if you unlock the maximum win).

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Are Online Slots legal in the UK?

Online slots are perfectly legal in the UK if the provider has acquired a licensed to offer their games to British gamblers. All of the games you’ll find at licensed casinos in the UK will have been tested for fairness by independent authorities, which ensure that the slots are not rigged.

Why Play Online Slots?

Online slots can be incredibly fun, and we love the straightforward gameplay involved. If you’re not so much into strategy games and prefer to leave things up to lady luck, then slots are definitely the casino game to go for. One other reason why you should play online slots is that payouts can be incredibly high if you do get lucky, and some of them are even tied to huge progressive jackpots. 

What’s more, online slots tend to come with bigger payouts than land-based slot machines, as well as a higher Return to Player Rate.

How to play the Best UK Online Slots

Playing online slots is normally very straightforward. All you need to do is launch the game at a casino which offers the slot you’d like to play and decide whether you’d like to play the slot for free or for real money. Then, you choose the amount you’d like to bet on each spin and start spinning! Below, we’ll be going into each step in more detail.

Joining an online slot site

To play slots online, you need to have a stable internet connection as well as an account with an online casino or slot site in the UK. Once you’re logged in to your account, you will be able to play the slots for free or for real money. Since some casinos have hundreds of slots on offer, they allow you to filter them by provider or by category (for example video slots, 3-reel slots, slots with bonus spins, etc). You can also type the title of the slot game you’d like to play if you already know what to go for.

Paytable and instructions

Once you open the slot, click on the ‘info’ button (or similar) and have a look at the paytable. This will let you know which symbols offer the biggest payouts, and will also explain how certain features work (for example how many scatters you need to trigger the bonus game). If everything is clear and you like the looks of things, close the window to go back to the slot game and choose the size of your bet to start playing.

Betting on Online Slot games

All slots come with a betting range, often starting from as little as £0.10 per spin with all paylines activated. A lot of slots come with fixed paylines, whereas others will allow you to choose the number of paylines that you’d like to activate. Penny slots, for examples, allow you to activate just one line, spending as little as £0.01 on each spin! In the latter case, the more paylines you’d like to activate on each spin, the more it will cost you, but in return, you’d have a higher probability of forming a winning combination.

Once you choose your bet size, you are ready to click or tap the spin button. Make sure you keep an eye on your bankroll between spins to keep track of how much you’re losing or winning. 

RTP and Volatility of Online Slots

Two very important characteristics of any slot game, RTP and volatility can give you a good idea of how much you can expect to win at online slots. In this section, we’ll explain exactly how 

What is slot RTP?

Return to player percentage or RTP is one of the most important factors that determine your chances of winning on slots. RTP is the opposite of house edge, which is a small percentage on which casinos make sure that on average they make more money then they lose. Different slots can have dramatically varied payout rate – one slot can have an RTP of let’s say 94.5% and the other 97%. Believe us that 2,5% can make a massive difference for your overall casino gameplay and winning possibilities. 

That said, even if a slot has a payout rate of, say 96%, this does not mean that you’ll win £96 for every £100 you wager on it. The slot RTP is a theoretical rate, calculated over hundreds of thousands of spins. If you just play a few rounds, you definitely have a chance of winning more than you wager, although you may also lose more than 4% too - it all depends on your luck!

Here at CasinoHawks, we have a lot of game reviews, each one indicating the RTP, so you can always quickly check the payout percentage before you start spinning the reels. What’s more, you should definitely consult our article about slots with high RTP if you’d like to save yourself some time on research!

What is slot volatility?

Slot volatility, also known as variance, refers to the frequency at which an online slot is programmed to pay out, as well as its relation to the size of payouts. Slots with low volatility tend to offer very small payouts, especially during the base game, but payouts are usually more frequent too. On the other hand, in the case of high volatility slots, the hit frequency is not very high, but if you’re lucky to hit a good winning combination, the payout can be quite high. There are also slots of medium volatility that strive to strike a balance between the two.

Slots with a high volatility tend to involve a greater risk, and their bonuses tend to be harder to trigger. On the other hand, slots with low to medium volatility can provide more stable payouts. Your choice of volatility depends greatly on the level of risk you’re prepared to take, your own personal preferences, as well as on your budget.

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How to win at Online Slots 

Online slots are games of chance, and therefore there is no foolproof strategy that will always guarantee a win. However, there are a few things you can do to maximise your chances of winning more on slots, including choosing the best online slots to play and a couple of other suggestions which we’ll share with you below.

Take advantage of casino bonuses and free spins

If you’re going to play slots with real money, it’s not a bad idea to think ahead and choose a casino operator that will give you a welcome bonus that you can use on slot games, so you have more money to play with. Many casinos also offer tens and even hundreds of Free Spins for online slots, so you can try them for free but win real money, subject to certain terms and conditions.

Besides the welcome bonus, the best casinos in the UK also run offers involving free spins for existing players on certain slots (sometimes on a different slot every week). It’s worth claiming these offers as part of your efforts to win more on slots). Most casino VIP programs also give away extra bonuses or spins as rewards, which you will be able to use on a selection of online slots at the same casino.

Choose the Best Online Slots to play based on real data

Some players tend to think that certain slots are luckier for them than the others and when they play a particular game they win a lot, while the others make them lose. But all slots online are certified and run based on Random Number Generator (RNG), and while there might be some coincidences that make you think that one slot is better for you than the other, in the long run here cannot be any real winning pattern to it.

That said, some online slots do indeed pay out more than others, and going for slots with a high payout percentage rate and a good hit frequency will improve your chances of winning more in the long term, even if all outcomes will still be random. Tools like SlotTracker will help you consult actual data on slots, telling you exactly how much gamblers have won from each slot overall, and how frequently the bonus round is triggered.

Quit the game after a big win

If you’ve been incredibly lucky to trigger the bonus round and land on a big win, we do suggest quitting the game instead of attempting to win more. Your luck won’t last forever, and you should have a good plan on how much of the winnings you should withdraw and how much you’d like to keep in your casino balance for your next round.

Play Online Slots for free first

Playing the games for free can be great at figuring out the best online slots to play. If you see that payouts with free money are always low, and that it’s too difficult to trigger the bonus game, then try a more promising slot. 

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Types of Slots Online

Variety is the spice of life at online casinos, and today we’re lucky to have hundreds of slots to play, all of them available to us at a few clicks. To cater to all tastes and preferences, developers have come up with different genres of slots; from themed video slots with immersive storylines to online slot machines that give you that nostalgic pub feel, to other slot games with innovative game mechanics, you’ll be literally spoilt for choice at the best slot sites these days!

Online slot machines

These online slots are designed to look like the traditional slot machines that some of us love so much, featuring the classic fruit symbols along with other symbols like 7s, Bars and Stars. Online slot machines tend to be quite straightforward and usually come with a small amount of paylines and a simple reel setup. They may also have various other features like free spins, a gamble feature (the possibility of gambling your winnings for a higher amount), as well as a jackpot.

 

Best Online slot machines

Dozens of classic online slot machines are released every year, but of course they’re not all worth playing. Below, we suggest some classic slots by different providers that can be truly rewarding if you get lucky, and which you’ll find at most UK only casinos.

• Deco Diamonds (Just for the Win)
• Jumbo Joker (Betsoft)
• Jokerizer (Yggdrasil)
• Mystery Joker 6000 (Play N Go)
• Twin Spin (NetEnt)

Video slots

Video Slots are online slots with a traditional reel setup but which typically come with a storyline or theme. They differ from online slot machines in the way that they do not try and replicate the physical slot. Symbols on the reels can be anything in videoslots, from your favourite cartoon character to fairies, dwarfs, ammunition or luxury items - it all depends on the theme or feel that the game is trying to evoke. 

Nowadays video slots tend to come with various features, including bonus spins, additional bonus games, and other features that enhance the win potential. Some of them involve a clear storyline, involving a protagonist, who can progress on his journey if players reach the bonus game, and also include screenshots that make the gameplay more immersive and entertaining. These slots can also be branded, produced in partnership with movie studios, singers, bands or TV series - a nice commercial tactics to attract fans of the movie or series to the game (one may mention Netent’s Jumanji, Vikings and Guns N Roses slots as examples, as well as Microgaming’s Playboy, Game of Thrones and Jurassic Park slots).

Video slots work just in the same way as the classic online slot machines - they are still programmed by a Random Number Generator, making all outcomes totally random.  

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Best video slots

There are so many videoslots to choose from these days that it can get pretty difficult to decide which are the best ones for you. However, some video slots seem to make a stronger impact than others, thanks to their rewarding features and exceptional graphics and sound effects. Here are a few we would highly recommend:

• NetEnt: Starburst, Mega Fortune, Gonzo's Quest, Vikings slot, Twin Spin, Bloodsuckers
• Microgaming: Thunderstruck & Thunderstruck II, Avalon, Book of Oz
• Yggdrasil: Vikings Go Berzerk, Vikings Go Wild, Legend of the Golden Monkey, Seasons, Super Heroes
• Play'N Go: Book of Dead, Hugo, Hugo 2, Viking Runecraft
• Quickspin: Phoenix Sun, The Wild Chase, Northern Sky, Divine Dreams.
• Elk Studios: Bloopers, Wild Toro, DJ Wild, Wild Seas

Progressive jackpot slots 

Progressive slots are online slot games with a jackpot that keeps on increasing until it is won by a player (as opposed to fixed jackpot slots that pay out the jackpot that’s equal to a fixed amount if a player hits on a particular winning combination).

The best paying progressive jackpot slots these days are fed by thousands of gamblers across different online casinos. This means that if you play the same slot at a casino and your friend is playing it at another casino both of you are still contributing to the pot. For these reasons, progressive jackpot slots can pay out staggering amounts. However, chances are quite small that you do win the jackpot, so we still recommend evaluating whether the other payouts in the game are rewarding enough to keep your balance relatively stable!

 

Best progressive slots

Some progressive jackpot slots are famous for paying out millions to lucky winners, with a couple of them breaking world records for the biggest slot payouts. Here is a handy list for you should you wish to decide to aim for a life-changing amount!

• Mega Moolah (Microgaming)
• Major Millions (Microgaming)
• Cash Splash (Microgaming)
• Divine Fortune (NetEnt)
• Joker Millions (Yggdrasil)
• Arabian Nights (NetEnt)
• Age of the Gods (Playtech)
• Gladiator slot (Playtech)

To play these jackpot slots, simply go to the Jackpots Category of an online casino that has partnered up with these developers. Most casinos indicate the current jackpot amount and keep updating it in real-time, so you’ll know exactly what you’re playing for!

Megaways slots

As online slots are getting increasingly diverse, so is the game mechanic behind them. In the last couple of years, certain providers have come up with slots that pay out differently to the traditional payline slots. 

Megaways slots are one example. In these games that were invented by the provider Big Time Gaming, the reels display a different number of symbols at each spin (this number is determined on a random basis). When all reels display the maximum number of symbols possible, the player benefits from increased ways to win. In order to win on such a slot, players need to get identical symbols adjacent to each other to create a win line, instead of landing symbols along a payline.

For example, on a 6 reel slot with a maximum of 7 symbols per reel, players can benefit from a total of 117,695 ways to win (7x7x7x7x7x7 = 117,695).

Best megaways slots

There are several slots of this kind that you can try out these days, with the best ones in our opinion being listed below:

• White Rabbit
• Bonanza
• Temple of Treasures Megaways
• Who Wants to be a Millionaire Megaways

Cluster pays slots

Cluster pays slots are games that pay out for forming clusters of 4 or more identical symbols. These slot games typically come with a large reel set to accommodate many more symbols than classic slots. Of course, the bigger the cluster, the bigger the payout will be. What we love best about cluster pays slots is that once you form a winning cluster, this will disappear from the reels and cause an ‘avalanche’ - the symbols above it will fall into the empty spaces, and other symbols will drop down from the top, giving you the potential to unlock consecutive wins on a single spin!

 

Best cluster slots

• Reactoonz (Play N Go)
• Gem Rocks (Yggdrasil)
• Aloha! Cluster Pays (NetEnt)
• ChilliPop (Betsoft)
• Sweet Alchemy (Play N Go)

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How to choose which Online Slots to play

Which slots you decide to play for real money ultimately depends on your personal preferences, as well as on your budget. Of course, we always recommend going for a slot with a high RTP and a good enough hit frequency, which increase your odds of winnings. Here are a few more tips to help you choose which slots to play:

Find slots with a good bonus round

If you trigger a good number of free spins that come with additional features like wilds, multipliers or bonus payouts, you can offset the losses made during previous non-winning spins, and hopefully make a profit. Some gamblers argue that it’s also a good time to quit a slot after winning from a bonus round, especially if you end up with a higher balance that you’ve originally started with. To discover a couple of great slots with exceptional bonus features, take a look at our article on the best slots with bonus games here.

Take a look at provider and slot reviews. 

Certain providers certainly have a better reputation than others for creating exceptional and rewarding slots, and by getting more familiar with them, you'll know what to expect of their games. What’s more, individual slot reviews can give you detailed information about a slot’s features and win potential, and most reviewers are quite honest in their opinions as to whether a slot is worth playing for real money or not.

Bet amounts you can afford to lose

It’s very important to keep your betting patterns in check and not to give into the emotions during your gameplay. When you’re having a winning streak you can afford to raise your bets, but when you’ve lost more than you had budgeted for the day, it’s advisable to stop instead of trying to win the money back. This might sound like an old wife’s tale, but in reality, it’s the soundest gambling advice ever that was tried and tested by players during centuries.

Don’t aim only for the maximum win

Some big win slots will be linked to a massive jackpot, but they tend to offset this great win potential by awarding very low payouts during the base game, or by having a  bonus game that’s simply too hard to trigger. Look for slots that have a good hit frequency and a good potential for paying out decent amounts, even during the base game, to ensure that you can sustain your balance.

Choose a slot volatility that’s suited to your budget

Another important factor to consider is the game’s volatility or variance which are different terms for the level of risk that a game entails. Low volatility slots are better for beginners with smaller budgets, while high volatility slots are riskier but can help you to win a lot. The maximum amount you can win in the game is also crucial, since the idea is to risk your money for decent returns.

Online Slot Providers

The online slots that we find at slot sites in the UK are not really owned by the casino, but are offered in partnership with a slot provider or developer, which is the creator of the slots. The provider is the company that programs and designs a slot, and which then makes it available across casinos (or sometimes exclusively at one casino), for players to enjoy it.

Best Online Slot providers

It’s important to remember that not all game developers and their online slots are of equal quality and deserve your time and money. Some of our most favourite providers who have proven to be trustworthy by launching high-quality entertaining games with decent payouts are NetEnt, Playtech, Microgaming, Yggdrasil, Play'N Go, Quickspin, and Elk Studios. 

However, this list is not exhaustive, since there are also new developers that are coming up with innovative slots that are worth a few spins. In order to discover about new developers and their creations, we recommend you have a look at our game reviews at CasinoHawks, because we only choose to review games which we can honestly recommend.

Best payout slots

With hundreds of online slots to choose from, it can really be hard to identify the best paying slots these days. Here’s a list of the best paying ones according to the maximum possible win. For more high paying slots and additional information about each individual slot, we recommend having a look at our article about best payout slots in the UK.

Dead or Alive 2 (NetEnt) - 100,000x

The sequel to NetEnt’s classic Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 2 comes with an even more impressive payout potential thanks to its High Noon Saloon Free Spins. The slot is inspired by the Wild West, and allows you to choose from 3 different free spins rounds once you trigger the spins, each of which comes with a different level of volatility and payout potential.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Megaways (Big Time Gaming) - 50,000x

A branded game in partnership with the popular British TV show that literally turns people into millionaires, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Megaways is a feature-packed slot featuring a free spins ladder that players can climb up by getting ‘correct’ answers. The more spins you manage to unlock, the higher your probability of unlocking the game’s maximum win of 50,000x the original stake!

Ivan and the Immortal King slot (Quickspin) - 40,000x

Featuring a 20x multiplier during free spins, Ivan and the Immortal King slot is inspired by Russian folklore, and features the distinctive fairy-tale like animations that we’ve come to expect of Quickspin. Once they trigger the bonus feature in this slot, players will start collecting points to move up 6 free spins levels, each of which comes with a higher multiplier. 

King Kong Fury slot (NextGen) - 12,500x

Based on the legendary gorilla, King Kong Fury slot comes with the exciting possibility of unlocking up to 100 free spins at a time! What’s more, landing stacks of wilds during this round will give you respins, which makes for a lengthy round coupled by the possibility of winning 12,500x your original stake!

Piggy Riches Megaways slot - 10,000x

Another classic game by Big Time Gaming, the highlight in this slot is the free spins round with its unlimited increasing multiplier. Piggy Riches Megaways comes with additional features that enhance the gameplay, such as cascading wins and Mega Wilds with a 7x multiplier. It’s a high variance game that may not be suited to every budget, but the payout potential is attractive to say the least!

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Free Online Slots UK

Play for fun free slots that are offered across a number of UK online casinos payout in exactly the same way as their real-money versions. The same RNG mechanism will be at play, which will generate the same random outcomes and features. The only difference is that instead of risking your own money, free casino slot games to play for fun make use of fake money. This means that the slot hit rate, volatility, RTP and payouts of a slot game will be the same as when you play the same game for real money, allowing you to experience all the features without risking any money. In our opinion, that's the best way to check out a new online slot or a game you've never played before.

Luckily for us, most online casinos in the UK allow us to try their online slots for free for as long as we like. When we choose to play slots for free, we will be playing with a fake balance,which increases or decreases depending on our wins and losses.

1. Here’s what you should do if you’d like to play any online slot for free:
2. Visit a Recommended Online Casino
3. Register for an account 
4. Go to its slots collection
5. Browse through the collection or type the title of the slot you’d like to play in the search field to locate it immediately.
6. Click on ‘Play for fun’ or ‘Demo mode’ to launch the game for free.

According to the latest UK Gambling regulations, you still need to be over 18 years old to access play for fun free slots. Online casinos will prompt you to enter your age when you decide to play a game for fun – this is meant to protect younger persons from developing a gambling addiction or depositing real money when they shouldn’t!

Where to play free Online Slots for fun

To make things even smoother for you, we’ve come up with a list of slot sites which will allow you to try out hundreds of online slots for free once you register for an account, with no obligation to deposit at any stage. Check out the list below, and click on the links to head directly to their registration page and get started!

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Online Slots - Glossary of most popular terms

• Base Game - a term used to differentiate the slot’s ‘standard’ mode from the bonus or free spins mode. 
• Bonus Game – an additional in-game within a slot game. It usually takes the player to a different screen, and if you win, you get awarded special prizes. Not all, but most slots do have some sort of a bonus game, with the most popular form being the free spins round.
• Credit or a coin - is a betting unit of the slot game. The money you spend on the game will be converted to coins.
• Free Spins - also known as in-game free spins to distinguish them from a free spins bonus, these involve a set of spins which are played out as a bonus, where players can continue to form winning combinations without staking anything extra. Free Spins in slot games can be re-triggerable if players land on certain symbols during the round.
• Hit rate or frequency - a term used to describe how often a slot machine will stop on a winning combination. Usually, the machines with higher hit rate allow you to win small amounts often, whereas the low hit rate slots can award massive prizes but it can take quite a number of spins to trigger these prizes.
• Jackpot – the biggest payout that is possible on a certain slot game. You cannot win more than a jackpot.
• Progressive Jackpot – a jackpot that increases in size as more and more people play the game. They can reach many millions and there are a lot of people who became millionaires thanks to progressive jackpot slots.
• Maximum and minimum bet – the maximum and minimum amount of coins/cash that you can bet per spin or per payline. Certain online slots have much wider min and max bet range than the others.
• Multi-line Game – a slot with more than one pay line. Most slots have 3 to 5 pay lines.
• Multiplier – a slot feature that increases the size of a payout by multiplying it with a number (anything from 2x to even 100x!)
• Payline – an imaginary line on which symbols need to appear for a winning combination to be formed.
• Paytable – the table in an online slot game that shows the payouts for different kinds of symbols.
• Reels – reels are the ‘columns’ of online slots, and can be understood as vertical barrels with symbols that you spin to land the winning combinations.
• Respin - an extra free spin given on a slot following a certain combination, which may lead to another win.
• Return to player rate (RTP) - a percentage measurement that tells you how much profit is set for the slot. An RTP of 95% means that the average amount that a player gets back is 95p per every invested £1, but that does not apply to one player, but to all players who bet on the slot. 
• Volatility or variance - a ratio of payout size to the frequency in an online slot. The higher the volatility, the more you can win if you hit a good combination, but this can happen much less frequently. Conversely, a slot with a low hit frequency will involve frequent but small-sized payouts.
• Scatter Symbol – also known as a bonus symbol, this is a desirable symbol that activates a slot’s bonus game if you manage to land a certain number of them (usually between 2 and 4).
• Wild Symbol – a symbol that replaces all other symbols in the game when it lands (usually apart from the scatter) to help you create more winning combinations.

Discover the Best Online Slots to play from the UK!

British players are very lucky these days to get access to so many online slot games by renowned developers, which they can enjoy on both desktop and mobile. Today’s slots also come with exceptional graphics and sound effects, and developers keep coming up with innovative ideas to make our gameplay exciting and entertaining.

Before we leave you to enjoy your favourite slots, we must stress the importance of choosing a good online casino where to play them, in order to maximise your returns by means of bonuses, free spins and rewards schemes. What’s more, joining a licensed casino will also give you added peace of mind, so you can enjoy these fantastic online games without having to worry about things like security and fair play.

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