Fortune Coin slot

How the Fortune Coin slot machine works

Fortune Coin is a video slot from IGT, one of the biggest names in casino-floor machines, with an Asian theme of dragons, guardian statues and lanterns. Its reels are a standard 5 × 3 window, but instead of paylines it uses 243 ways to win: every combination of one position on each reel counts as a possible way.

Three things can happen on a spin. Matching symbols across adjacent reels from the left pay a ways win. Dragon scatters anywhere can pay and start free spins. And a gold coin landing on the reels starts the coin feature, which reveals a prize. All three are decided by the random number generator the moment the spin starts; the animation just shows you the outcome.

1. Set your stake; the game spreads it across all 243 ways, so there are no lines to choose.
2. Spin. The RNG has fixed the result before the reels land.
3. Ways wins are counted from reel 1 rightwards, multiplying the number of matching symbols on each reel.
4. Dragon scatters are counted anywhere; three or more pay and start free spins.
5. If a coin lands, the coin feature reveals its award: cash, free spins, a boost or the jackpot bonus.

243 ways explained with Fortune Coin numbers

The 243 comes from three positions on each of five reels: 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 243. You need the same symbol on reels 1, 2 and 3 at minimum, in any row, to win. When more than one copy lands on a reel, the number of ways multiplies, which is why reference descriptions note that doubled-up symbols increase the payout.

Fortune Coin also uses stacked symbols. Reference descriptions say a stack can transform so that all its positions show the same symbol, which is how the “3 / 3 / 3” row in the table becomes possible. A full screen of stacks is rare, but it is where the larger base-game ways wins come from. Our explainer on what 243 ways means has more worked examples.

The Fortune Coin feature, boosts and jackpot bonus

The gold coin is the game’s signature. Unlike a classic scatter, a single coin is enough to start the feature, which flips the coin to show what it holds. Reference descriptions of the game agree on the main outcomes:

• A cash prize, paid as a multiple of your total stake.
• Free spins, which lead into the free games round.
• A boost (described as Boost, Super Boost and Mega Boost), which multiplies the value of the coin’s award.
• The jackpot bonus, a pick game for one of four fixed jackpot tiers.
• Award All, the rarest result, which pays all four jackpot tiers at once.

How the jackpot pick works

In the jackpot bonus a grid of coins appears and you choose them one by one. Each reveals a jackpot tier, and the first tier to appear three times is the one you win. It looks like a choice, but it is a classic pick-me bonus: the outcome is set by the game’s maths, and which coin you pick doesn’t change your expected return. The jackpots are fixed amounts linked to your stake, not progressive pools, so they don’t grow as other people play. The difference is explained on our fixed jackpot slots page.

Reference sites list the tiers as Mini, Minor, Major and Maxi and quote different top-prize figures. We haven’t confirmed the jackpot values or the overall maximum win from IGT, so we don’t state them. The paytable in the game shows each tier in pounds at your stake.

Fortune Coin free spins and dragon scatters

The animated dragon is the scatter. Two independent reference descriptions agree on its awards: three scatters give 10 free spins, four give 15 and five give 20, and the scatters also pay 2x, 10x or 50x the total stake respectively before the spins start. The coin feature can lead into free spins as well.

Free spins play at the stake that triggered them and are part of the game’s RTP, so they are not a bonus on top of the advertised return. Whether they can retrigger, and any extra modifiers during the round, are set out in the game’s help screen; check it in your casino’s version. See how free spins work on slot machines for the principle.

Fortune Coin RTP and what play costs

The Fortune Coin RTP is listed as “up to 96.20%”. The words “up to” matter: IGT, like most suppliers, offers casinos more than one setting, and the version you open could pay back less. At the top setting the house edge is 3.8%, so every £100 staked costs £3.80 on average across a very large number of spins. Our explainer on RTP variants shows how much difference a lower setting makes.

Reference listings put the minimum bet at 60p in some markets because the game is played in 60-coin units; the minimum and stake steps at your casino may differ, and in Britain the top stake can never exceed £5. Volatility is described inconsistently by reference sites, from low-to-medium to high, so we don’t rate it. Expect the jackpot bonus and free spins to account for much of the game’s return, which usually means a less even balance than the base game alone would suggest.

Fortune Coin max win: why we don’t quote a figure

Websites quote very different Fortune Coin max win figures, from a fixed currency amount to a multiple of stake tied to the Award All coin. None of them is from IGT’s own documentation, and they don’t agree with each other, so we leave the number out. The maximum is best read from the game itself: the help screen lists the jackpot tiers and any overall cap at your stake. What that figure includes, and what it doesn’t, is covered in max win caps explained.

Fixed jackpots also scale with stake. A tier worth a fixed multiple of your bet is worth more than three times as much in pounds at £2 as at 60p, and the UK cap of £5 per spin for over-25s (£2 for 18–24s) limits how high that can go online.

Fortune Coin: the name behind the first video slot machine

Long before this game, Fortune Coin was the name of a company. Fortune Coin Co., based in Las Vegas, developed the first video slot machine in 1976, building it in Kearny Mesa, California, around a modified 19-inch Sony Trinitron set. Early units were tested at the Las Vegas Hilton before approval in Nevada. In 1978 the company and its video slot technology were bought by Sircoma, the business that became IGT in 1981. Wikipedia’s slot machine history (opens in a new tab) summarises the story, and our page on the first video slot machines covers it in full.

We haven’t found IGT linking the modern game to the 1976 machine, so treat the shared name as a neat piece of corporate history rather than a remake. The modern game, with 243 ways and a jackpot bonus, is in any case a very different machine from a 1970s cabinet. Our history of slot machines tells the wider story.

Slots like Fortune Coin

Fortune Coin belongs to a large family of Asian-themed slot machines that pair ways-to-win reels with coin or jackpot features. These are the closest matches we hold verified details for.

88 Fortunes is the nearest relative, also a 243-ways game with a jackpot feature. Dancing Drums adds bigger reels in free spins. Sakura Fortune shares the theme but uses fixed lines.

Is the Fortune Coin slot worth playing?

It suits adults who like casino-floor style games with jackpot tiers and a steady drip of coin features, and who will check the RTP before playing. If you want a clear published maximum and volatility rating before you commit money, another game may serve you better.

Fortune Coin myths

• “Picking coins from one corner finds the jackpot.” The pick result is set by the game; your choices don’t alter it. See can you trick a slot machine.
• “Coins come in clusters, so keep spinning after one lands.” Each spin is independent; coins have no memory.
• “A jackpot just paid, so the game is cold.” These are fixed jackpots paid from the game’s maths, not a pool that needs to refill.
• “Stopping the reels early can catch a coin.” Online, the result is fixed before the reels move, and quick-stop is not allowed on UK slots.

Fortune Coin demo and UK rules

A Fortune Coin demo is available on many sites as free demo play, after age verification, a requirement for British-licensed operators since May 2019. Some reference sites list autoplay and quick spin among the game’s features; those don’t apply to UK versions. The Gambling Commission’s rules on responsible product design (opens in a new tab) have banned autoplay, turbo and slam-stop on online slots since 31 October 2021, set a minimum of 2.5 seconds per spin, and stop games celebrating returns that are no bigger than the stake. Our page on the autoplay ban explains why.

Stakes are capped at £5 per spin for players aged 25 and over and £2 for 18 to 24-year-olds; the Commission’s stake limit guidance (opens in a new tab) sets out how operators apply them. Slots supplied to Great Britain don’t offer bonus buys, so the coin feature and free spins can only come from normal play.

Where to play Fortune Coin online in the UK

Fortune Coin is an IGT title, so look for it at casinos that carry IGT’s online range. Game libraries change, and we can’t confirm whether a particular casino offers it at any moment; search the lobby by name and read the RTP before you stake.

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18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: plan a slot budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.