Pokie review · Australia
Gates of Olympus 1000 runs on a 6x5 grid with scatter pays rather than paylines, a published return of 96.5% and high volatility. This page covers what the demo shows, what the bonus round costs to chase, and where the game sits against five alternatives.
Figures checked on 16 October 2026
A 96.5% published return and a 5,000x maximum win do not offset high volatility: most of the return sits in a bonus round you cannot force, so budget for the spins that pay nothing.
Paid placement. Paid placement. The operator pays for this position; it does not affect anything measured on this page.
96.5%
Long-run average across all spins, online versionHigh
How unevenly the return arrives5,000x
Multiple of the stakePragmatic Play released the game in 2021 and publishes a return to player of 96.5%. That figure is a long-run average across millions of spins, not a rate you will experience in a session. A session can pay nothing, can pay less than the average, and can pay more; the number describes the game's design, not your evening.
The grid is 6x5 and winning combinations are scatter pays, landing anywhere from eight to thirty symbols. There are no paylines to count. The maximum win is published as 5,000x, and there is no jackpot. Volatility is listed as high, which is the key detail: high volatility means frequent dead spins and a payout pattern concentrated in rare large results.
Four or more scatters trigger the bonus game with fifteen free spins. Multiplier symbols carrying values up to 500x can land in the base game and in the free spins, and during the feature the winning multiplier values are added into one total applied to that win. Tumbling reels remove winning symbols and let new ones drop, so a single spin can chain.
That structure is why the game is expensive to play. A 5,000x maximum win sounds generous in isolation, but with high volatility the bulk of the return sits in the bonus round and in multiplier combinations inside it. Chasing a trigger means paying for spins that frequently return nothing, and the published return does not improve because you have waited longer between features.
The demo version runs the same published mathematics without money attached. Treat it as a way to see how often tumbling chains occur, how the multiplier symbols present, and how long a bonus trigger can take. It will not show you a 96.5% return in an hour, because the figure is measured over a far longer run than any session you will play.
Where the demo is genuinely useful is in setting expectations about volatility. If the dead spins feel intolerable in demo play, they will feel the same with real money. The partner's published terms include a maximum bet on a bonus of A$5 and a minimum deposit of US$20, which are worth knowing before you decide what stake to set.
The shortlist below compares five pokies on published return, volatility, maximum win and line structure, so you can see what the alternative to a high-volatility scatter-pays game looks like.
Big Red Gold publishes the highest return on the list at 97.02% with medium volatility, though its 1,000x maximum win is a fifth of Gates of Olympus 1000's.
50 Lions sits at 96.79% with low-to-medium volatility and fifty lines, a flatter payout pattern for players who dislike long dead runs.
Big Bass Bonanza Megaways matches high volatility at 96.72% with a 2,100x maximum win, less than half the headline figure of Gates of Olympus 1000.
Big Bass Bonanza publishes 96.71% with high volatility and only ten lines, a simpler structure with the same 2,100x ceiling.
Madame Destiny Megaways comes closest on paper at 96.51% and high volatility with a 5,000x maximum win, the only shortlisted game matching that ceiling.
| 1Big Red Gold | 97.02% | Medium | 1,000x | Aristocrat |
| 250 Lions | 96.79% | Medium-Low | 600x | Aristocrat |
| 3Big Bass Bonanza Megaways | 96.72% | High | 2,100x | Pragmatic Play |
| 4Big Bass Bonanza | 96.71% | High | 2,100x | Pragmatic Play |
| 5Madame Destiny Megaways | 96.51% | High | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
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The published figure is 96.5%. It is a long-run average, so it tells you nothing about what a single session will return.
It is published as high volatility, with a maximum win of 5,000x and no jackpot. Expect long stretches without a meaningful return.
Four or more scatters start the bonus game with fifteen free spins. Multiplier symbols up to 500x can land in the base game and the feature.
Yes, a demo version runs the same published mathematics with no money at stake. The demo cannot show you the long-run return, but it does show the volatility.