Pokie review · Australia
Gates of Olympus is a six-by-five scatter-pays pokie from Pragmatic Play, released in 2021, with a published return of 96.5% and high volatility. This page works through what those two figures mean together, and what a bonus round actually costs to reach.
Figures checked on 16 October 2026
A 96.5% published return and a 5,000x maximum sit behind high volatility, so the honest reading is that the game pays well on average and rarely in any given session, and the partner's A$5 bonus bet cap makes chasing the feature slow.
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 stakeThe provider publishes a return to player of 96.5% for Gates of Olympus. That is a long-run average across an enormous number of spins, not a target for a session. Some sources carry lower numbers for the same title, which is itself a reason to treat any single RTP figure as a published claim rather than a promise. A session of a few hundred spins can return far more or far less than 96.5%, and the high volatility setting is what makes that spread wide.
Read next to the shortlist, the figure sits at the top: Big Bamboo at 96.13%, Starburst at 96.08%, Wolf Gold at 96.01%, Queen of the Nile at 95.98% and Pompeii at 95.96% are all lower. Half a percentage point of return sounds small until it is applied to volume, which is exactly why the number matters more to a regular player than to a one-off spin.
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 inside 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 paid spin can produce a chain rather than a single result.
The maximum published win is 5,000x, and there is no jackpot. Everything the game can pay is therefore contained in the base game, the multiplier symbols and the free spins. There is no separate progressive pool waiting to be hit, and no published figure for how often the bonus round arrives. That last absence is the one that matters most to the cost of chasing it.
The first deposit offer is a 600% cash bonus, and daily cashback is 10% of losses, both on a minimum deposit of US$20. The term that does the most work here is the maximum bet on a bonus, set at A$5. High volatility and a capped bet size pull in opposite directions: the cap exists to stop bonus funds being cleared through a small number of large swings.
That combination suits a player who treats the bonus as extended play time rather than as a route to the 5,000x maximum. Chasing a volatile feature on a capped bet is slow, and the cashback rate applies to losses, not to turnover, so it does not offset the cost of the chase. Deposit only what you are willing to lose, because that is the realistic outcome of most sessions.
The five pokies below are the shortlist already on this page, ordered by published return, and each one sits at a different point on the volatility scale.
Big Bamboo pays 96.13% with high volatility and fifty lines, a comparable profile to Gates of Olympus at a slightly lower return.
Starburst returns 96.08% but caps at 800x on ten lines, a very different proposition from the 5,000x maximum here.
Wolf Gold returns 96.01% at medium volatility and matches the 5,000x maximum on twenty-five lines.
Queen of the Nile returns 95.98% at medium volatility with an 800x maximum on twenty lines.
Pompeii returns 95.96% at medium volatility with a 1,500x maximum across 243 ways.
| 1Big Bamboo | 96.13% | High | — | Push Gaming |
| 2Starburst | 96.08% | — | 800x | NetEnt |
| 3Wolf Gold | 96.01% | Medium | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
| 4Queen of the Nile | 95.98% | Medium | 800x | Aristocrat |
| 5Pompeii | 95.96% | Medium | 1,500x | Aristocrat |
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The provider publishes 96.5%, and the specification plate on this page uses that figure. Some third-party sources list lower numbers for the same title, so treat 96.5% as the published claim rather than a guarantee.
Yes, it is listed as high volatility, with a maximum published win of 5,000x. That means long runs without a meaningful return are normal, and a session result can sit a long way from the published average.
Four or more scatters trigger the bonus game with fifteen free spins. There is no published figure for how often that happens, so the cost of chasing the trigger cannot be calculated from the provider's information alone.
The partner lists a maximum bet on a bonus of A$5, with a minimum deposit of US$20. If you claim the 600% first deposit bonus or the daily 10% cashback, that cap applies to your bet size.