Freebie MG Tournaments

[everyday]

What does it take to win one of these? Just finished playing a $50 Tomb Raider 5 minute tournie...2nd. spin got the free spins which were then retriggered..Wow I'm in 2nd. place on scoreboard ..by the end of the freebies I'm in 109th. place ...not another win of any kind till 1 min. to go...get another set of free spins..yahoo..but wait..no wins on this one either. Time's up and I'm in 209th position...Sounds like what I'd get playing with real money. Have been playing these tournies for about a month and completely enjoy them but if 3 sets of free spins in 5 mins. doesn't do it then I don't know what will. Anyone else here playing these and having any luck?

[oldtrvlagt]

I've been playing these for (several) months since they started and on the very first tourney at Royal Vegas I came in second. Ever since then I've placed in the money or gotten a free entry into the 20K maybe a half dozen times. It isn't easy!! I always have better luck with Tomb Raider even though I love chasing those "rams"..I think they don't like me!!

[vinylweatherman]

What does it take to win one of these? Just finished playing a $50 Tomb Raider 5 minute tournie...2nd. spin got the free spins which were then retriggered..Wow I'm in 2nd. place on scoreboard ..by the end of the freebies I'm in 109th. place ...not another win of any kind till 1 min. to go...get another set of free spins..yahoo..but wait..no wins on this one either. Time's up and I'm in 209th position...Sounds like what I'd get playing with real money. Have been playing these tournies for about a month and completely enjoy them but if 3 sets of free spins in 5 mins. doesn't do it then I don't know what will. Anyone else here playing these and having any luck?

With Tomb Raider you need a consistent winning streak, which is rare. I have done well not through free spins alone, but by hitting 4 wilds or 5 scatters. The second highest payout is only 500x line bet, and is not doubled by wilds. On Thunderstruck, it is 750x, and doubled to 1500x with the wild.
Getting wild hammers during free spins is normally enough to take first or second, whereas getting the second highest payout on Tomb Raider during free spins is not normally enough.
Often, lining up the idols frequently is better than getting free spins, as you only get 10, and the chances of hitting nothing are higher than on Thunderstruck.
One thing to note is that "free" is not as "free" as you might think, as there are often continues that cost between $1 and $5, and those that win have normally used some or all of these.

I have noticed that there are a few genuinely free tournaments, but these are by invitation, and normally require taking part in another promotion, which usually involves making a deposit.

It is possible to play these for free, and just hope for the big hit in the first round, and ignore the continues. I have won ONE Tomb Raider tournament this way, and this was due to getting 5 scatters for 30000 points in the opening round - it was only a lousy $60 though, would have been better to have saved this for the weekender

[Nifty29]

I think these tournaments have not been setup very well at all. If there are going to be re-buys, a % should be added to the prize pool just like poker. The house edge on most of these tourneys is huge, and you are better off playing regular real slots IMO.

The $500 daily tourney has a $5 entry fee, and 5 continues of $4 each if you want them - and the top 10 almost always do all the rebuys it seems - so you invest $25 for the possibility of the top prize of $135. Its almost misleading to call them $5 tourneys, as its very unlikely you will win for a $5 investment.

I dont know why they dont just call it a $20 tourney and be done with it and forget the continues. Until it becomes a better deal for the players then Im not entering them, which is a shame as I really like the basic concept.

[ergopro]

I got 1K$ from the 20K weekender a few weeks ago...
Won a free entry from a qualifier and used all rebuys.
Those smaller trnies would be fun if they paid out to larger group of players than TOP10...

[silkprint]

I won a free one for $60 a few weeks ago . I have also placed twice for smaller amounts . I like knowing they are there for when you don't want to deposit but still want to play a little .

[SlotsWizard]

The one thing that irritates me about these things is how the spins are intentionally slowed down to make each spin last a proportional amount of time relative to how much time you are alloted and how many coins you bet on each spin. For example, the Tomb Raider tournament gives you 5000 coins and 5 minutes, at 75 coins a spin. So 5000 / 75 = 67 spins to play out in 300 seconds, and 300 seconds divided by 67 spins = approximately 4.5 seconds per spin. If you play the regular slot, a spin normally lasts no more than a second or in the case of Thunderstruck, more like 1/3rd of a second. Plus the tournaments don't recalculate the spin time if you happen to get the free spins - each remaining "paid" spin should in theory be faster, but instead you just run out of time with coins remaining (probably in the hopes that you'll rebuy).

I was convinced that they were "rigged" when they first came out, because 3 different tournaments in a row I happened to get the free spins with less than 10 seconds to go or on the very last spin. My thought was that they wanted you to rebuy in order to continue. I have changed my position on this now, but because they were new at the time I'm sure you could understand my suspicion.

That being said, one night I won the top prize in a $200 Thunderstruck tournament (a $60 bonus) because I happened to get 5 hammers (4 + kicker) during the free spins = 22,500 coins plus a bunch of other little wins along the way. I also won a $25 bonus from one of the larger invitation-only tournaments that happened a couple months ago (one of the ones where you get 10,000 coins and either 10 minutes or unlimited time, I don't remember).

So... I think they're a welcome addition to the MG suite but I would like to see a few more [of my] favorites added too, like Spring Break (despite the fact that it's the same as Thunderstruck), Harveys, Loaded, or What on Earth.

[everyday]

Yes the spinning is very slow in comparison to real play and I have also had free spins just when the time is nearly up. That happens fairly regularly and I know it is baiting me but I won't deposit as I like the idea of "free". So if I win then great, if not that's OK too as it hasn't cost me anything.

[SlotsWizard]

Yes the spinning is very slow in comparison to real play and I have also had free spins just when the time is nearly up. That happens fairly regularly and I know it is baiting me but I won't deposit as I like the idea of "free". So if I win then great, if not that's OK too as it hasn't cost me anything.

Exactly.

The slow spinning really irks me at times though. I have started waiting until 3 - 5 minutes after the tournament has started before I begin playing, because everyone else seems to start right away, and the server appears to have trouble keeping up. If you start as soon as it lets you, the first spin takes 20 - 40 seconds to complete, which is just plain ridiculous. By waiting a bit, you can end up finishing your alloted coins with 30+ seconds remaining because the server load has lightened. Plus, this extra 30 seconds can be helpful if you happen to hit the free spins along the way.

This of course is only useful if you aren't planning on rebuying.

But now that I've shared this information, if everyone else starts waiting too, then it won't work.

Which means that you'd have to start playing at the very beginning again.

And then that will be slow again, so you'll have to start waiting again.

It's a vicious cycle waiting to happen!

[silkprint]

I do the same thing Slots and wait out the first 5 minutes .