Deep Lode: a free Bonanza Megaways alternative
Built like Big Time Gaming's Bonanza: six reels that change height on every spin, up to 117,649 ways, reactions, and free spins with a multiplier that only rises. Played with chips that are worth nothing, with the machine's real numbers and a session coach beside it.
Ways this spin
11,520
Play chips
2,000
Bet
20
Win
0
Pick a bet and spin. Each reel is dealt 2 to 7 symbols, for up to 117,649 ways.
Play chips only. No real money, no prizes, nothing to buy.
Session coach
Last round
Nothing played yet. After each of your spins the coach says what the round cost and what decided it.
Decide the cost before you start
Gambling is entertainment with a price, like a concert ticket. The useful question is not how much you might win but how much the evening is allowed to cost. Pick that number first, and treat reaching it as the end of the session. You can set one below and the coach will hold you to it.
Next bet
20 chips at a 3.64% house edge: an expected cost of 0.7 chips.
- Spins played
- 0
- Chips bet in total
- 0
- Bets raised after a loss
- 0
Where the result came from
- House edge, on average
- 0
- Luck
- 0
- Result
- 0
The report fills in as you play. See how often a slot bankroll busts
Set a session limit
This table is for practice and entertainment only. How to keep gambling safe
What one way pays
| Symbol | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire opal | 15 | 40 | 90 | 200 | 400 |
| Aquamarine | No pay | 5 | 12 | 30 | 80 |
| Citrine | No pay | 4 | 8 | 15 | 25 |
| Peridot | No pay | 3 | 6 | 12 | 20 |
| Pick | No pay | 2 | 4 | 8 | 15 |
| Lamp | No pay | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| Wheel | No pay | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| Horseshoe | No pay | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Spade | No pay | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Bell | No pay | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Chips paid for one way at a bet of 20, by how many reels the run crosses from reel 1. A win pays that amount times its number of ways. The dimmer figures are smaller than the bet: a win made of those only gains chips when it has enough ways, or in the free spins a high enough multiplier, behind it.
- Dynamite wild. Arrives only in a cart, over reels 2 to 5, and stands in for every paying symbol.
- Ore tags L, O, D and E. All four letters in view start 12 free spins, plus 5 for each tag past four.
- Flare. Rides in the carts during free spins only. Three add 5 spins and four add 10.
What this machine costs
- Return to player
- 96.36%
- The machine keeps 3.64%
- Expected cost of a spin
- −0.73
- At a bet of 20
- Spins that pay anything
- 43.0%
- 32.9% pay less than the bet
- Spins that gain chips
- 9.4%
- Free spins on 1 spin in 358
- Return from free spins
- 63%
- Share of everything paid back
- Ways on a typical spin
- 3,072
- Average 4,236
Simulated, not counted: 400,000,000 rounds of the same code this machine plays with, from a fixed seed. The ways figures are counted from the reel-height weights. See what a return like this does to a bankroll over a session
This session
- Spins
- 0
- Chips staked
- 0
- Net chips
- 0
- Expected at this return
- 0
- Spins that paid
- 0
- 0 with free spins
- Paid less than the bet
- 0
The machine lights up for every paying spin. The last figure is how many of those left you with fewer chips than before.
Built by Alexander Korsager · last updated October 3, 2026 · corrections
- Of the chips bet, paid back, simulated over 400 million rounds
- 96.36%
- Ways on a typical spin, of up to 117,649
- 3,072
- Of all spins, the share that pay nothing
- 57.0%
- Of everything paid back, the share that comes through free spins
- 63%
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What a ways number is worth
Deep Lode is a free alternative to Big Time Gaming's Bonanza: our own slot machine, built to play the way that game plays.
Six reels are each dealt 2 to 7 symbols on every spin, so the number of ways changes from spin to spin, up to 117,649. A row of four carts runs over reels 2 to 5 and adds one symbol to each. Winning symbols are blasted out and replaced, again and again until nothing new pays, and four lettered scatters start 12 free spins with a multiplier that rises after every reaction. If you came looking for a free game like that one, this is that mechanic. The name, the mine, the symbols, the sound, the weights behind the reels and the pay table are ours.
- 324ways
The shortest deal: 2 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 2
- 3,072ways
A typical spin: 2 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 6
- 117,649ways
The tallest deal: 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7
The gold block on reels 2 to 5 is the cart, which counts as part of its reel. The tallest deal comes up on about 1 spin in 48 million.
What is different from the original, and from any real machine, is everything a real machine leaves out.
This one returns 96.36% of the chips bet on it and keeps 3.64%, a figure simulated over 400 million rounds of the code this page runs. 43.0% of spins pay something, and 77% of those pay less than the spin cost, so only 9.4% of spins leave you with more chips than before. The machine lights up for all of them. The status line under the reels and the coach beside them tell you which kind you just had.
- Pay nothing57.0%
- Pay less than the spin cost32.9%
A loss the machine lights up for.
- Pay more than the spin cost9.4%
43.0% of spins pay something, and 77% of those pay less than the spin cost. The other 0.7% pay the spin cost back exactly.
The ways number is the part of this machine most worth seeing clearly.
It is not a count of chances to win money: a typical spin plays 3,072 ways and 57.0% of spins pay nothing. And 63% of everything the machine pays back comes through free spins that start on about 1 spin in 358. There is no decision in a slot to get better at. This page is for entertainment, and for seeing what this kind of machine does to a session.
- ways on a typical spin
- 3,072
- of spins pay nothing
- 57.0%
- of everything paid back comes through the free spins
- 63%
- spins start those free spins
- 1 in 358
A way is a route a matching run could take across the reels. It is not a count of chances to win.
02 / 03
Rules at this table
| Symbol | Six reels | Three reels |
|---|---|---|
| Fire opal | 20x | 2x |
| Aquamarine | 4x | 0.25x |
| Citrine | 1.25x | 0.2x |
| Peridot | 1x | 0.15x |
| Pick | 0.75x | 0.1x |
| Lamp | 0.6x | 0.1x |
| Wheel | 0.5x | 0.1x |
| Horseshoe | 0.45x | 0.05x |
| Spade | 0.4x | 0.05x |
| Bell | 0.4x | 0.05x |
A run's pay is multiplied by its ways. One way of Bell across three reels pays 0.05 of the bet: a payout smaller than the spin cost unless many ways line up.
- Six reels. On every spin, reels 1 and 6 are dealt 2 to 7 symbols and reels 2 to 5 are dealt 2 to 6. A cart over each of reels 2 to 5 carries one more symbol that counts as part of the reel under it. A spin costs 20, 40, 100 or 200 chips.
- The number of ways on a spin is the six reel counts multiplied together, carts included: 324 at the least and 117,649 at the most. The machine shows the number for the spin as the reels land.
- A symbol pays when it shows on adjacent reels starting from reel 1, in any position. A run has to cross at least three reels, except Fire opal, which pays on two. The pay for the run is multiplied by its number of ways: the count of that symbol on each reel of the run, multiplied together.
- There are ten paying symbols: four cut gems and six carved tools. Fire opal is the highest: one way across all six reels pays 20 times the bet. Bell is the lowest: one way across three reels pays 1 chip on a 20 chip spin.
- The dynamite wild arrives only in a cart, so only over reels 2 to 5, and stands in for every paying symbol. It does not stand in for a tag.
- Every winning symbol is blasted out, with any wild that took part. The symbols left on a reel drop and new ones fall in from above. The carts close up to the left and new carts roll in from the right. That is a reaction, and it repeats for as long as the new screen pays. Reel heights do not change during a spin.
- Four ore tags lettered L, O, D and E land on the reels of a paid spin. All four letters in view when the reactions have finished start 12 free spins, and every tag past those four adds 5. Tags are never blasted out.
- In the free spins a win multiplier starts at 1 and rises by 1 after every reaction. It does not reset between spins. Wins on the paid spin have no multiplier.
- During free spins, flares ride in the carts. 3 flares in view when a free spin comes to rest add 5 spins, and 4 add 10. No tags land during free spins.
- A round, free spins included, pays at most 10,000 times its bet. A round that reaches the cap ends there.
- The whole round is decided when Spin is pressed, free spins included. The animation plays it back and cannot change it.
- Autoplay plays 10, 25, 50 or 100 spins at the current bet. It needs a loss limit before it starts, and it stops at that limit, when the spins run out, or when you stop it. Reactions play through. Free spins are played out in full and then end the run, so a feature is never played past unseen. Autoplay never changes the bet.
Sound starts on, and the Sound button switches it off.
- Enter
- Spin
FAQ
- Is this slot played for real money?
- No. The table uses play chips that have no value, cannot be bought, and cannot be cashed out or exchanged for anything. If you run out, you are handed another stack for free. There is no account and nothing to download.
- What is the RTP of Deep Lode?
- 96.36%, simulated. That is the share of all chips bet that the machine paid back over 400 million simulated rounds, so it keeps 3.64%. The run's own standard error on the figure is 0.09 percentage points. At the smallest bet of 20 chips that works out at about 73 chips per 100 spins on average, with very wide swings around it in any one session.
- How often does it pay?
- 43.0% of spins pay something, about 1 in 2. But 32.9% of spins pay less than the bet, which is a net loss that looks like a win. Only 9.4% of spins, about 1 in 11, pay more than they cost. The free spins start on about 1 spin in 358.
- Is Deep Lode a free alternative to Bonanza Megaways?
- Yes. It is built on the same mechanic: six reels that are each dealt 2 to 7 symbols on every spin, up to 117,649 ways, an extra row of four symbols over reels 2 to 5, reactions, and 12 free spins for four scatters with a multiplier that rises without a ceiling. It is free, it needs no account, and it is played with chips that have no value. It is not Bonanza Megaways itself, which is Big Time Gaming's game, and it is not made, licensed or endorsed by Big Time Gaming.
- How is it different from Bonanza Megaways?
- The mechanic is the same family and everything else is our own: the name, the art, the sound, the weights that deal the reels and the pay table. So the numbers are different too. Deep Lode returns 96.36% with a 43.0% hit rate and a cap of 10,000 times the bet, and those are this machine's figures only. They say nothing about the original's. The other difference is what sits beside the reels: the published figures, a status line that calls a payout smaller than the bet a loss, and a session coach.
- Does 117,649 ways mean 117,649 chances to win?
- No. The ways number counts the paths across the symbols on screen, and every one of those paths still needs the same symbol on reels 1, 2 and 3 before it pays anything. Half of all spins play 3,072 ways or fewer, the average is 4,236, and the full 117,649 comes up about once in 48 million spins. Whatever the number says, 57.0% of spins pay nothing.
- How much do the free spins pay?
- On average 218 times the bet, and that average hides a wide spread: 5% of features pay less than 20 times the bet, and a few long ones pull the average up. A feature runs 16.2 spins on average and ends on a multiplier of about 19. The free spins carry 63% of the machine's whole return, which is why the 358 spins between features, on average, return only 35.4% of what they cost.
- Does autoplay change the odds?
- No. Every spin is drawn the same way and the return stays 96.36%. What autoplay changes is speed: more spins fit into an hour, and the cost of an hour is the number of spins times the 3.64% the machine keeps on each. That is why autoplay here will not start without a loss limit, and why it stops once a set of free spins has played.
- Can I tell when the free spins are coming?
- No. Every cell is drawn on its own and a spin starts from nothing. Three of the four letters in view happens on about 1 spin in 27, roughly 13 times as often as all four, and it is not a sign of anything: it pays exactly what any other spin without the feature pays.
- What is the most a spin can pay?
- 10,000 times the bet. That is a cap built into the machine: a round that reaches it ends there. In the 400 million simulated rounds, 1 round reached it. A round that pays 100 times the bet or more comes up about once in 581 spins.
How this game works
Nothing on this machine is a fixed reel strip. On a paid spin, reels 1 and 6 are each dealt a height with these chances: 2 at 28%, 3 at 28%, 4 at 22%, 5 at 12%, 6 at 6%, 7 at 4%. Reels 2 to 5 are each dealt 2 at 32%, 3 at 30%, 4 at 20%, 5 at 12%, 6 at 6%, and then one more symbol in the cart. Every cell is then drawn on its own from one list of chances: Fire opal 2.7%, Aquamarine 4.5%, Citrine 6.0%, Peridot 7.2%, Pick 10.3%, Lamp 11.2%, Wheel 12.2%, Horseshoe 13.0%, Spade 13.8%, Bell 14.5%, and 1.1% for each of the four tags. A cart is drawn from the same paying symbols, with a 4.1% chance of a wild. Symbols that fall in during a reaction are drawn the same way.
The free spins use their own lists. Reels 1 and 6 are dealt 2 at 10%, 3 at 17%, 4 at 23%, 5 at 22%, 6 at 17%, 7 at 12%, and reels 2 to 5 are dealt 2 at 11%, 3 at 21%, 4 at 26%, 5 at 24%, 6 at 18%, so the screen is taller underground. The cells carry the ten paying symbols in the same proportions and no tags, and each cart has a 13.5% chance of a flare and a 3.6% chance of a wild. Your browser's random number generator makes every draw.
The 96.36% return is simulated, not counted. Reels of unknown height, refilled an unknown number of times, followed by free spins that can grow, are not a number of combinations that can be walked one by one. So the figures come from 400,000,000 rounds played by the same code the machine plays with, in 8 runs with fixed seeds, and the tally is stored with the page. An automated test replays the first 1,000,000 rounds from the first seed and requires every count to match the stored one. The standard error of the return over the whole run is 0.09 percentage points. The house edge on the common casino bets puts the 3.64% this machine keeps in context.
From that run: 43.0% of spins pay anything, 32.9% pay something smaller than the bet, and 9.4% pay more than the bet. Paid spins return 35.4% of the chips bet and the free spins return 61.0%, which is 63% of the total. The free spins start on 0.28% of spins. The spread of one round's result has a standard deviation of 17.9 bets, which is very high volatility: the result of a single session can land far from the average in either direction.
The ways figures are counted, not simulated. The six reel heights are independent, so the chance of every possible number of ways follows from the height chances above: the average is 4,236 ways, the median is 3,072, and all six reels at full height is 1 spin in 48 million.
The expected figure in the session panel is the share the machine keeps multiplied by the chips you have bet on finished spins. The coach's count of spins in the last minute is taken from when you pressed Spin.
Limits
- The weights and pay table were designed for this page. They are not a copy of Bonanza Megaways or of any other real machine, and these figures describe this machine only.
- Bonanza Megaways is Big Time Gaming's game. Megaways is a trademark that belongs to its owner, and it is used here only to name the game this page is an alternative to. Deep Lode is an independent game built on the same kind of mechanic. It is not made, licensed or endorsed by Big Time Gaming, and it is not affiliated with it.
- The figures are simulated. Over 400 million rounds the return is known to within a few tenths of a percentage point, not exactly, and rare events such as the cap are seen too few times to put a precise chance on.
- The cap of 10,000 times the bet is this machine's own rule. It is not a statement about any other game's top prize.
- A real slot is usually shipped in several return settings and the casino chooses one. The same title can keep noticeably more than the figure quoted for it, and a real machine does not print the weights behind its reels.
- Every draw comes from an ordinary browser random number generator. It is not an audited or certified generator, and nothing here should be read as a test of one.
- Autoplay is here because the game this one is modeled on has it. It makes a machine cost more per hour, so it will not start without a loss limit, and the coach prices the pace while it runs. There is no turbo mode: the sources we checked do not show that the original has one. There is no bonus buy, no ante bet and no gamble feature either.
- Play chips do not feel like money. A wait of hundreds of spins for a feature is harder to sit through, and to stop during, with a real stake.
This is a practice game for adults. It has no real-money play and links to none. Bonanza, or any slot played with money, keeps its share of every spin, and no way of timing or sizing the spins changes that. On this machine 77% of the spins that pay anything still cost more than they return, and most of the return waits in a feature that takes about 358 spins to arrive.
Gambling can cause serious harm. The National Problem Gambling Helpline is free, confidential and open 24/7, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), or chat at ncpgambling.org/chat.
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Go deeper
- Slot RTP and volatility simulator What a return and a volatility level do to a bankroll over hundreds of spins.
- Variance simulator Why two sessions at the same expected cost can end in very different places.
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