Intro:
I am sorry I missed the June and Juli slot-reviews, but I was busy in real life. And skipping the reviews saved you from reading the curses and crying that would have been in the reviews anyway. So maybe you should in fact thank me instead, and this is also a reason I dropped the reviews. I will briefly comment the two slots from June and Juli in my review.
Since I have not had the opportunity to unload my slot news/experiences/ramblings for three months because I missed the earlier reviews, I have quite a lot to talk about. So this post is both a BLOG and a slot review. So scroll down to the reviews now if that is what you are here for.
Managing to get bonus-banned from almost every single one of my slot-bonus casinos (only using slot bonuses!) , I have not played that much slots actually and my money did not last long anyway. But still within what I know to expect from slots. As long as slots payout are in the 92-96% range I will not play them without getting a bonus. It is a monstrous house egde that will eat your money in huge chunks every time you press the 'spin' button. On the other hand the casinos have been very generous to me when playing video-poker or BJ. I managed to hit a PAT RF again which can be seen here: here
News/Ramblings/Discoveries:
I have a few words about other platforms, since there is also interesting slot stuff happening here. And I have also found some discoveries worth mentioning.Wagerworks:
Bug when having different line-bets?
Wagerworks in the only casino with slots where you can play different bet on different lines at the same spin. For payout% is adds up to the same. But just since it was possible I wanted to try it. So I played 0.01 on each of the 20 lines on Cleopatra and then an additional 0.01 on line 1 for a total bet of 0.21.
During the feature game I got a hit on line 1, but the win was only half of what it should be, so it seems like I did not understand the additional
line bet only on this line.The scatter wins was calculated correct. I am nearly certain I was correct and the slot payout wrong. But now you are warned! I did not bother to write to CS about this since they failed to understand a previous bug/design-flaw I mailed them.
Enchanted Unicorn - predetermined bonus game
Sadly I must report that the I have hard evidence that bonus game in "Enchanted Unicorn" is 100% pre-determined. This means that the
price/unicorn/ghost you find on on all levels has been determined in advance. When you pick a symbol this predetermined outcome is just showed and it does not matter which gate you choose. You can see this by closing your browser or cutting the network connection
during the bonus game. Trying again and picking another gate will reveal the same price or unicorn/ghost as the first time. Unfortunately this is far from the first time this is seen at online casino. Last year it was proved without doubt that MG video-poker 'double' also was predetermined. And I am disgusted by this. Not because it matters in payout% since it does not, if the pre-determined outcome is uniformly random. But because it is deceptive for the player what is really happening and that the player believes he actually has a choice! So stop blaming yourself for all your wrong picks (or your wife if you made her pick one for you... - admit you have done that!)
Cleopatra - now on the Old / Expired Link
I was surprised to read the rules for this game states that the freespin feature can only be retriggered up to 180 spins. From my knowledge this is not the case on the B&M version of this slot. I was told, but it is not confirmed, that 800 spins in the limit on the B&M version. And this is not
stated in the rules on the B&M version I believe. (Can anyone correct me?) In terms of payout% it almost totally negligible as happens so extremely rare and the extra win from this is also very small. But why deprive players from the ultra slim chance of hitting the ultimate freespin experience since it costs the casino nothing? I have the reels for the different version of Cleopatra (84% and up to 98% payout version) and the 95% and 96% version are on the slot analyser. The online WagerWorks version of Cleopatra uses the same reel as and the B&M version and the managers are able to configure what payout-table to use.. Virgin Casino and PaddyPower started out with the 96.26% version but it is now downgraded the the 95.02% version. You can see payout% for each game at WagerWorks software at the help/payout page - very honest software.
Crypto(Intercasino):
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- slot strategyOne of the new slots deserves a few words even though it is a standard free-spin-feature slot. It is "Hulk - Ultimative Revenge" because this slot has something in common with "Happy Valley" (3Dice) and "Mystique"(Crypto). Before you read on, maybe you can guess what it is - it is not an easy one.
In short it is a slot with a little element of skill/strategy that does affect payout and this characteristic is very rare for slots. However on the other two slot strategy is trivial since the same optimal choice is always the same. You pick the maximum number of freespins for these (with a fixed multiplier). The reason this is the best choice is because retriggers are allowed and the more freespins the higher chance of retriggered! If retriggers was not allowed it would not matter.
In "Hulk - Ultimative Revenge" you pick a multiplier and number of re-spins at random. And THEN you can decide if you like it, or you want to pick again and be stuck with the last result. Multipliers goes from *1 to *6 and number of freespins from 7 to 50. And here come the interesting mechanic:
If the feature is retriggered it will be retriggered with same multiplier (m) and number of freespins (n) as started it. So instead of just multiplying n and m
('EV'=n * m) and compare results the correct equation is now
'EV'=(n*(1/(1-nf)) * m)
m=multiplier
n=number of freespins
f= is the probability for hitting the feature each spin. (~1/130 I estimate)
So normally 10spins*6 would be better than 50spins*1, but not for this slot, here 50spins*1 is the better choice. ('65' compared to '81'). The equation basically says that number of free spins is more important than multiplier. I accept 30spins*2 but I do not accept 10spins*5 if this is my first pick.
Playtech:
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- 50 line slot It is interesting to try it and see the effect of playing 50-lines, but I would not say it is success. Quite contrary. There was not enough modifications made to the slot compared the normal 5-25 liness slot and the result is as expected. It is an extremely low variance slot where over 50% of the returns from the spins within 30%-150% of the original bet. Hitting 5 symbols of the lowest pay symbol only pays the same as you bet. Getting the feature is a joke. It returns from 50%-200% of your bet. Why waste the time with all this graphics crap for a such a sucky win - just return my bet at keep spinning. There is no excitement in the bonus it is just a nuisance. This is probably the lowest variance slot I have ever played. It is impossible win on this slot (like triple your deposit etc.) unless you bet the whole deposit in a very few spins, but your money will last a long time almost guaranteed! If purpose is to sometimes win big at slots(and still loose overall) then play few lines and instead have higher bets these lines. But innovation is rare for online slots unfortunately. So Thrill Seekers was a good attempt and I appreciate it.
MicroGaming(MG):
Weighted 5-reel slots - shocking news.
Some forum members have been working hard 'cracking' the slot reels, which means finding the total strip of symbols on the reel and also how the slots uses the reels. A lot of work has been done by Kimms that found a way to sniff the XML-traffic when playing slots in flash casinos. This gives us the complete reels very fast and Kimms can also gather statistical data when autospinning in freemode. Very useful and good work. I have been typing all the new slots into the slot-analyzer which reveals the payout%. Still they are all in the 95-96% range with some a little above 96%. Gerilege has also been working on a slot analyzer and we get identical results from both programs which ensures we are not making mistakes. Gerilege did the analysis of the weighted slots while I was busy with the non-weighted slots.
The shocking discovery we made was that some of the oldest MG 5-reel slots are using weighted reels. It is the old 5 or 9 lines with no freespin mode. Each reel only have one of each symbol and the reels are then weighted like 3-reel slots. But this defies the whole purpose of 5-reel slots! Also because the slots are weighted this means payout% depend on the numbers of lines you play. If you play all 9 or 5 lines it has the expected 95% payout. But if you play 4 or 5 lines you are really getting screwed with only around 90% payout. (For all the new 5-reel non-weighted slots this does not matter, so play any number of lines you like!) You can read the whole thread HERE if this interests you. So do give them a THANK for the hard work they did, which revealed this information about the weighted 5-reel slots.
Boss Media:
It must have been years since I last played Boss Media slots which at that time was extremely dull and outdated, but I can see a lot have changed with the software updates since then. The fact still is that their slots are outdated though. Besides their 5-reel slots are massivly cloned even though they have so few slots. The reason I mention Boss Media is because of the weighted slots we found at MG. I have a vague suspecion the Boss Media 5-reel slots to also be weigthed or even worse. How can it be worse than weigthed reels you may ask? It can - if the win is determined by 'lottery' methods and then the whole slot is just a way to visualize the win in a deceptive way. I much more strongly suspect this is the case for their 3-reel slots. For the 3-reel slots I came to this conclusion by playing a low-limit slot with a relative huge jackpot. It kept getting 2 of the 3-symbols you need on payline 1 for the jackpot, but it was on different combination of reels all the time! I do not believe that if they are weighted (which would be with a very low probability) that I would then get so many 'close calls'. This is deceptive/cheating and give players the illusion that the almost hit the jackpot which will make them keep playing.
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some 3-reel B&M slots used this trick and when it was revealed it was ruled that it was illegal. Please comment my finding with Boss Media here if you disagree. The 5-reel slots all had a feature that triggers when you have accumulated enough points which are done by hitting a special symbol on reel 5. But this symbol was really rare to hit. Harder than 1/30 I would say indicating that reel 5 has at least 90 symbols, which I do not really believe. I could be wrong though.
Reviews
Jelly Fish Jaunt:
20 line
Medium variance
This is a not a clone, but yet just another standard freespin-slot with nothing interesting going on.
The symbol graphics is very boring and the theme is very weak. I have nothing interested to add that I have not said already 10 times earlier.
Lucky Stars:
20 line
Medium variance
I like the graphics but they are not as good as
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or
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. The feature is a small variation of freespins and a 'pick' feature. When you hit the feature you first win 5 free spins. Then you have to pick one of the 12 star-signs and if the spinning wheel lands on your symbol you win additional 15 freespins OR a picking feature game where you get to pick 5 star-signs and you have to decide which one of these you want. I have gotten the feature maybe 10 times and 7 times the wheel landed on my symbol. So it is very deceptive (though you can argue you are more lucky than you should be) but you should not feel that lucky if you hit it. The picking feature is very boring because all wins are very close to 5*bet size with no surprises, so I suggest taking the spins. I am sure the EV for eigther choose are very close. I like that recent slot (also RTG slots) now give you the choice (or both) between a picking feature or freespins, because I would never play a slot with only a boring picking feature."Lucky Stars" has a few new sounds effects and during the feature it plays a midi-like piano tune that I happen to like. Very pleasant and relaxing. It is one of the better 'standard' slot seen from a technical view. However the "Theme" does not appeal very strong to and can not compete with the nostalgic slots like "Thunderstruck". "Lucky Stars" just reaches the minimum standards for what a new MG slot should be like here in 2007.
Doctor Doctor:
9 line
Medium/High variance
This is the flagship MG have been working on the last 3 months which also explains why there was no monthly release last month. I almost feel like MG has been reading my previous reviews because this slot has several of the characteristics I have been wishing for in my reviews.
The theme about sexy doctors/nurses is not original, but it is still a good and an intelligent way to present a more adult-minded slot which I have been screaming for ever since I started doing reviews.
The intro movie is a good presentation for the slot and precisely reveals the theme. The luring smiles of the nurses and camera-zoom on the boobs gives some expectation for the slot which are fulfilled. You actually want to see this intro movie the first many times you play the slot. I feel much more macho when I am throwing money on slots with this theme compared to loosing them on
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. And when the inevitable happens, that you have lost your money, you got some better entertainment for your money.The graphics are state of the art as was
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and also some of the older slots like
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,
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and
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. The symbols are big and fills up most of the symbol-squares that contains each symbols. I always prefer big symbols because it makes you feel close to the slot somehow and with no empty background that fills up. The 5 doctors are all very sexy and you get to see more of them (with less clothes on) in one of the feature games."Doctor Doctor" is an advanced slot with several features I will describe here.
Wild: The slot has normal wild on all 5-reel with no wild-multiplier. Wilds on all reels is the way wilds should be. The slots where there only are wilds on the middle reels feels like they are missing something. Maybe the chance of hitting 5 wilds? 5 wilds pay only 4000, which is a little low. But it can be multiplied at the main feature at least, but do not expect this to happen for you.
Scatter: The scatters are not doing much here. They just gives usual the bet-multiplier wins. They pay very little compared to other scatters,but they are also much easier to get. This is probably one of the easiest slots to hit 5-scatters on but they also only pay 100*bet-size.
Feature 1: Undress the Doctors - picking feature
The trigger for this feature is very peculiar. There is a rare bonus symbol that is only on reel 1. Whenever you hit this symbol you have to get a doctor on reel 5 on the same line to trigger the feature. The chance for catching a doctor on reel 5 is about 1-5 or 1-6. You get lots of attempts but since you also have to catch a doctor it is a little hard. When you catch a doctor you can start undressing her. You are presented with 15 tiles and you get pick 12 of them. 3 of the tiles are "Boobs" (only in text, no picture) and the other 12 are divided into 4 groups with 3 in each group. Each group is represented with a clothing symbol that you can make the nurse take of. Whenever you find 3 identical clothing symbols the nurse will take of that part and you will win additional *15 bet size. The "Boobs" pay nothing, so do not want to find them. (Do not touch the boobs" - just as when you are getting a lapdance...)The outcome of this feature is 15,30,45 or 65 * bet size but in the huge majority of the games you will end on *30 or *45 bet-size. So the win-amount is no surprise, but at least there are 5 different doctors you can catch and undress. So it will take a long time before you have done them all.
Feature 2: Freespins with multiplier
This is triggered by hitting 3 'Kiss' symbols that must be on a payline left to right. When you get it have to pick one of the kisses and it will reveal a multiplier of (1,2 or 3) and (6 or 7) freespins. However if does matter that much if you get the worst 6*1 compared to the best 7*3. It is more important what happens during the freespins which can keep the feature alive and increase multiplier. During the freespins 2 different special symbols(pills) appear on reel 4 and reel 5 (only 1 on each reel). The symbol on reel 4 adds up to 5 addition freespins to the feature while the reel 5 symbol adds up to *3 multiplier. So if you can keep getting the symbols on keep 4 you can keep the feature alive and boost it up to *10 multiplier. There is no limit to the number of addition freespins you can win, but the multiplier is capped at *10. Since the paytable is rather high for all of the 5-of-a-kind symbols, the win here could be very huge. However it is harder than it sound like. Getting this feature is hard, at least as hard as getting the feature on
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.And if you hit no additional freespins it will be over very fast. I estimate that half the times you will not win more addition freespins. But sometimes you will get a nice streak and keep them comming while boosting the multiplier. Just do not count on this to happen every time. Most of the times this feature will pay less than you are used to from free-spins feature - barely a few times bet-size, and sometimes you will win a lot more. This is a higher variance feature that you are used to.(Kind of like
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). The mechanic to boost the multiplier during the freespins is a 'first-timer' on online-slots. But I saw a bandit/sheriff themed 5-reel slot in Australia with a similar feature. And I have been waiting for an online one with this mechanic. So it is not a new invention.Just as with "Hitman" I am convinced this slot will be a huge success. The main complaint about this slot will be that people are disappointed never winning anything in the freespin feature, but this is because it is a medium/high variance slot. There will be more really crappy feature wins and a few more really big ones. Just like the execution feature in "Hitman".
Hunky Heroes: This slot is a clone of "Doctor Doctor", but it is a clone that is justified. It is the ladies version of "Doctor Doctor". I remember several female forum members stating that they also wanted slots appealing to their sex, because most adult-themed slots was for the men. So they are not getting cheated this release. So ladies - go undress the "Hunky Heroes"! The freespins booster symbol on this slot is fruit flavored condoms, so these two slots are more adult-themed that I had believed MG had the guts to release.
The Grand Circus:
20 lines
Medium Variance
There is no intro movie for this slot. It is new slot and not a standard slot, but it is yet another Circus theme! Like MG did not have plenty of these already... (try count them) The graphics are decent, but way too childish for my taste.
The paytable is a little weird. There are no wild symbols. There is a bonus symbol you need at least 3 of on a payline to start a picking feature game. In this game you can win a little cash (*15 bet-size normally) or if you are lucky also up to 20 free spins. Then there are two kind of semi-scatter objects. They are left to right scatters, but if they also are on a payline they will pay more. And they can be mixed, but then pays are a little less.
This is an odd slot like "High Life" which also did not become a success. It is not a bad slot and I prefer the diversity of the slots. I would rather have this slot than a clone. I just did not like at I never play it again. The feature does not appeal to me and this is important for a slot.
My favorite MG slots
#1 Isis
#2 Mad Hatters
#3 Doctor Doctor
#4 Hitman
#5 Avalon
#6 Moonshine
#7 Mega Moolah
#8 Harvey's
#9 Loaded
#10 Thunderstruck
Earlier reviews:
March 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-hitman-march-2007.17215/
February 2007: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-february-2007.16857/
January 2007: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-january-2007.16370/
December 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-december.15581/
November 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-november-mega-moolah.15319/
October 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-slots-october.14887/
September 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forum...-new-just-one-mg-5-reel-slot-september.14271/
August 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-august.13925/
Juli 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-slot-games-july.13554/
June 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-june.13084/