88 Fortunes

88 Fortune Slot is an extremely popular slot machine that has stood the test of time. It has appealing colors and symbols, strong progressive jackpots, and is easy to learn. You can find it both online and at most land-based casinos. We will walk you through the basics of its gameplay, how to land the bonus round symbols, and much more in this comprehensive review of 88 Fortunes.

All About the 88 Fortunes Slots Game

88 Fortunes plays very much like a classic slot. You have five reels with three rows of symbols; you must land matching combinations from left to right. It has 243 pay lines available, with a fu bat wild symbol that only lands in reels two, three, or four. The jackpot is randomly triggered with a wild symbol winning combination, taking you to a jackpot coin game. One thing to be aware of is that you must reach certain betting levels before each individual jackpot is triggered.

So, when you first start playing a new slot game, you'll need a list like the one above to help you understand the game and how it plays and pays. The most important number on this list is the RTP. That stands for Return To Player, and it consists of how much money of each wager you can expect to get back over the long term of playing the machine. The reverse of that number is the House Advantage: how much money the house keeps. Those two numbers will always equal 100%

In this case, we have an RTP of 96.6%, which is actually pretty good. This means over time, we will lose 3.4% of every dollar we wager on this machine. Next, we need to look at the variance. In this case, it says high, meaning that much of the returned money will come back in infrequent larger jackpots. If it were low variance, we would expect the RTP to be in the form of many smaller wins but more frequently.

Last, we should look closely at the minimum and maximum bets and the number of pay lines available, as that will help us determine how much we will need to bet each spin to qualify for the bonus rounds and jackpots. Unfortunately, in 88 Fortunes, we will need to bet more to unlock the higher jackpots. 

At eight years old, 88 Fortunes is getting a little long in the tooth as far as slot machines go. But it was revolutionary back when it was first released. Its Asian-themed red and gold colors, high RTP, and fun but easy-to-play mechanics drew many players. The large jackpots were quite lucrative, though obviously not as big as some progressive jackpots today.

In time, it would be offered at online casinos where Chinese-themed games did very well, and this online slot would prove to be a real hook for those online casinos as they tried to woo new players into playing online. It is considered a classic amongst many early online players. Of course, the ability to play free games in demo mode probably didn't hurt either. It would eventually be offered in other versions, including a Megaways version with 117,649 pay lines possible.

Understanding 88 Fortunes Symbols

Other than the card symbols, you need to be aware of five other symbols in 88 Fortunes: The Fish, the Junk, the Tortoise, the Gold Coin, and the Vase. All of these, except the coin, which is always gold, can also appear on the reels as gold symbols instead of regular ones, which pays more.

Jackpot symbols include the Gong and the Fu Bat. The word Bianfu for bat sounds like the word for longevity and good fortune, so the bat symbol has long been a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture.

You must land three, four, or five matching symbols or the wild fu bat on adjacent reels from left to right.

Jackpots

To unlock the jackpots, you must bet at least 18x for the mini, 38x for the minor, and 68 for the major, minor, and mini. Finally, you'll need 88x for the Grand, Major, Minor, and Mini. If you land a fu bat symbol with the requisite amount bet and make a winning combination, the machine can randomly trigger the fu bat jackpot feature.

You will notice that the machine appears to fill baskets of coins when the fu bat jackpot feature appears, but whether or not the basket is full does not affect when the jackpot screen triggers. Once triggered, you will be presented with 12 coins. You will then need to match three jackpot symbols to win.

Bonus Rounds & Special Features

If you land three gongs, you enter the free spin bonus round. You will receive ten free spins, and the lower-value symbols (the 9 through Ace playing card symbols) will come off the reels, giving you an increased chance at hitting a winning combination. 

As one of the most popular slot machines in the country, you can find 88 Fortunes at almost any major casino in Las Vegas, and even most smaller regional ones. You can find it on cruise ships and at select race tracks as well. It is pretty much ubiquitous due to its popularity.

BetMGM

BetMGM is one of the largest US online operators and one of the largest casino companies in the world. Not only does it offer 88 Fortunes, but it also has many of the follow-up versions, such as 88 Fortunes Jackpot Festival and 88 Fortunes Megaways. It offers one-cent to one-dollar denominations.

They also have a welcome bonus deposit match of up to $1,000, as well as $25 just for signing up. If you aren't in one of the states where you can play for real money, you can still sign up to play free games.

Caesars Palace Online

Caesars also offers 88 Fortunes in denominations of one penny to one dollar. They have an elevated deposit match bonus of up to $2,500 in bonus funds and own iconic casino brands like Horseshoe and Harrah's, as well as Caesars. Players can also receive 2,500 Caesars Rewards Points when they gamble their first $25.

Borgata

MGM owns Borgata, the premier luxury casino in Atlantic City. Believing that the brand's luxury appeal was strong enough, BetMGM spun off a separate Borgata Online property in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. You can play 88 Fortunes and 88 Fortunes Megaway here and qualify for their $1,000 deposit match signup bonus.

They also send out lots of invites for comped meals or reduced room rates at the land-based Borgata, so consider signing up if you spend some time in Atlantic City. If you're not in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, you can still sign up to play free games.

Golden Nugget Online

The Golden Nugget also offers 88 Fortunes, with a betting range of .88 cents to $88. It operates in West Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. They have a deposit $5, get a $50 bonus offer currently ongoing, and often have lots of tournaments, promotions, and giveaways.

FanDuel Online

At Fanduel, you can bet from 8 cents to 88 dollars, and they feature not only the classic 88 Fortunes but also the 88 Fortune Megaway and the 88 Fortune Jackpot Festival versions. Their signup bonus works a bit differently: They will rebate you up to $1,000 of your losses in the first 24 hours after signup. They also kick in up to 200 free spins on chosen slot machines just for signing up. 

A popular eight-year-old slot machine without the fancy graphics or immersive storytelling of today's slot machines must have something going for it. Some of that is evident when we look through the reviews at a site like BetMGM, where the game has over a thousand reviews and a 4.2-star rating.

There are a lot of players who really like this game. So, let's take a closer look at what there is to like and what could be improved.

Pros:

• Easy to Play: The simple rule set and limited jackpot games make it easy to learn and fun to play.
• Four Jackpots: With four progressive jackpots up for grabs when you play more coins, you have many chances to hit something.
• Good RTP: 96.6% is a very high RTP for a progressive jackpot slot. It is certainly one of the reasons for the game's long-lived popularity.

Cons:

• Volatility: The game is quite volatile, with many losing spins before you see a winner.
• Pay-to-Play: It can be a bit aggravating to always have to bet at least 88x the minimum to be eligible for the grand jackpot.
• Age: Many people enjoy the classic slot machines they've been playing for years, but 88 Fortunes is increasingly showing its age with its lack of slick graphics, scatter symbols, and a dated jackpot game feature.