Star slot machine symbol

The star slot machine symbol's three possible jobs

A star can do one of three things on a slot, and the paytable will tell you which. As a scatter, it pays or triggers a feature wherever it lands, with no need for a line. As a wild, it stands in for other symbols to complete wins. As a plain pay symbol, it works like a fruit or a gem: match enough on a line and it pays.

Is the star an old slot machine symbol?

Not in the documented record. The Wikipedia history of slot machines (opens in a new tab) lists the classic symbols as fruits, bells and stylised lucky sevens. Fey's Liberty Bell paired a bell with a horseshoe and card suits, and the Mills machines that followed swapped in fruit and the BAR. A star doesn't appear in those lists.

Stars became common later, especially on video slots that needed a clear, eye-catching icon for a special symbol. See our history hub for the recorded sets, and the first video slot machines page for how screens changed symbol design.

The star as a scatter: Sizzling Hot Deluxe

Novomatic's Sizzling Hot Deluxe is the best-known example of a scatter star. The game has five reels, five fixed paylines, no wild and no free spins. Fruit and the red seven pay on lines, and the gold star is checked separately: three or more anywhere in view pay a multiple of the total stake, added to any line wins.

Here is an illustrative spin at £1, with invented prize values. Three stars land on reels one, three and five, none of them on the same line, and a line of three cherries also lands.

The point is the counting, not the numbers: the stars didn't need to sit on a line, and their prize was based on the whole stake. The real values are in the game's paytable at your stake.

Starburst's star wild and how it expands

On NetEnt's Starburst (96.09% RTP, low volatility, 10 lines that pay both ways, 500x max win), the star is the wild. It can land only on reels two, three and four. A landed star stretches over its whole reel and locks there while the rest of the reels spin once more; any new star in that respin grows and locks in the same way. It's the game's main feature, as our expanding wilds page explains.

Starburst XXXtreme keeps that star but adds multipliers to the expanded wilds and drops to 9 lines. Published figures give it a 96.26% RTP, high volatility and a 200,000x max win, so the same star symbol does a very different job. Starburst Galaxy goes further still, with a Galaxy Star feature that grows the grid to 7 × 7 and drops in a 3 × 3 Starburst wild.

Star features and UK spin rules

A star-wild respin on Starburst is part of the same paid game cycle, not a separate bet. Under the Gambling Commission's RTS 14 on responsible product design (opens in a new tab), British online slots lost autoplay, turbo and slam-stop on 31 October 2021, and each game cycle must now last 2.5 seconds or longer. Stopping the reels early never changed the result anyway: the star's position is fixed by the RNG before the animation starts.

For the detail, read about the 2.5-second spin rule and the autoplay ban.

What a star slot machine symbol is worth at UK stakes

As a wild, a star has no prize of its own on most games; it adds value by completing or multiplying lines. As a scatter, its prize is usually stated as a multiple of the total stake. To put that in pounds, the table converts the published max wins of three star games at the UK stake caps (£2 a spin under 25, £5 from 25).

Max wins are rare ceilings, not expected outcomes. The RTP is a better guide to cost: at Starburst's 96.09%, 100 spins at 10p (£10 staked) cost about 39p on average over the long run.

How to find out what the star does

1. Open the paytable from the game menu.
2. Look for a label next to the star: 'scatter', 'wild', or a normal prize table.
3. If it's a scatter, check how many are needed and whether the prize is on the total stake.
4. If it's a wild, check which reels it can land on and whether it expands, sticks or multiplies.
5. Read the RTP in the game rules before playing.

Star symbol myths

• "Two stars mean the third is coming." The result is fixed before the reels stop; see near misses.
• "Star respins mean the game is hot." Every spin is independent; there are no hot or loose slots.
• "Scatter wins are a bonus on top of the game's return." They're part of the RTP and are paid for by the same stakes as every other win.

Where to play slots with star symbols

Most UK casinos carry at least one of these star games, but titles come and go, so look before joining. You need to be 18+ and new to the casino for any offer below; terms apply. Coral: a £10 slots bet is followed by 100 free spins, 10p each on selected games, to be used within seven days, with no wagering on what they win. Ladbrokes: ten days of 50 daily free spins (500 maximum) after you spend £10 on slots, winnings free of wagering. PlayOJO: when your first deposit is £10 or more, 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza are added and their winnings are cash. The casinos page has full details.

NHS gambling clinics offer specialist help in England; the NHS gambling addiction page (opens in a new tab) explains how to refer yourself.

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.