Tidal Haul: a free Big Bass Bonanza alternative
Built like Big Bass Bonanza: five reels, ten lines, and free spins where a wild collects the cash value on every fish in view. Played with chips that are worth nothing, with the machine's real numbers and a session coach beside it.
- 3 beacons: 10 free spins
- 4 beacons: 15 free spins
- 5 beacons: 20 free spins
In free spins every fish shows a value and each heron that lands collects all of them. Every fourth heron adds 10 spins and raises the multiplier.
Play chips
1,000
Bet
10
Win
0
Pick a bet and spin. All ten lines play on every spin.
10 lines at 1 a line. 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
10 chips at a 3.94% house edge: an expected cost of 0.4 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 the lines pay
| Symbol | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tackle box | 10 | 100 | 500 | 2,500 |
| Reel | Does not pay | 60 | 250 | 1,250 |
| Lure | Does not pay | 40 | 150 | 750 |
| Float | Does not pay | 30 | 120 | 600 |
| Fish | Does not pay | 15 | 60 | 300 |
| Wheel | Does not pay | 5 | 40 | 200 |
| Anchor | Does not pay | 5 | 40 | 200 |
| Shell | Does not pay | 5 | 40 | 200 |
Chips paid at a bet of 10. A line pays from its left end only, for three or more of a kind, and the tackle box also pays for two. The dimmer figures are payouts smaller than the bet: a single line of those costs more than it returns. The beacon is the scatter: three, four or five anywhere in view award 10, 15 or 20 free spins. The heron lands in free spins only and stands in for every paying symbol.
Fish values in free spins
| Value | Chips | Share of fish |
|---|---|---|
| 2x | 20 | 42.0% |
| 3x | 30 | 25.6% |
| 5x | 50 | 17.5% |
| 8x | 80 | 8.0% |
| 12x | 120 | 4.0% |
| 20x | 200 | 1.8% |
| 40x | 400 | 1.1% |
| 1,000x | 10,000 | 0.02% |
A value is a multiple of the whole bet. It is paid only when a heron lands on the same spin, once for each heron, at the multiplier on the board (1x, 2x, 3x, 10x). A value with no heron pays nothing. A round pays at most 2,500 times the bet.
The ten lines
- 1Line 1: middle, middle, middle, middle, middle
- 2Line 2: top, top, top, top, top
- 3Line 3: bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom
- 4Line 4: top, middle, bottom, middle, top
- 5Line 5: bottom, middle, top, middle, bottom
- 6Line 6: top, top, middle, bottom, bottom
- 7Line 7: bottom, bottom, middle, top, top
- 8Line 8: middle, top, top, top, middle
- 9Line 9: middle, bottom, bottom, bottom, middle
- 10Line 10: top, middle, middle, middle, top
What this machine costs
- Return to player
- 96.06%
- The machine keeps 3.94%
- Expected cost of a spin
- −0.39
- At a bet of 10
- Spins that pay anything
- 19.7%
- 6.7% pay less than the bet
- Spins that gain chips
- 9.1%
- Free spins on 1 spin in 117
- Return through free spins
- 42%
- 33% of all return is collected fish
- Most a round can pay
- 2,500x
- A cap, enforced by the machine
The base game is counted from the reel strips: every one of the 24,300,000 ways the reels can stop. The free spins are simulated, 4,500,000 features from a fixed seed, which puts the return within about 0.07 points of the figure shown. 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
- Free spins ran 0 times
- 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 comes back: lines counted, free spins simulated
- 96.06%
- Of that return comes through the free spins
- 42%
- Spins start the free spins
- 1 in 117
- Of those features pay less than 10 times the bet
- 21%
01 / 03
A slot whose return sits in a rare feature
Tidal Haul is a free Big Bass Bonanza alternative: our own slot machine, built to play the way Pragmatic Play's Big Bass Bonanza plays.
Five reels, three rows and 10 fixed lines that pay from the left. 3, 4 or 5 scatters award 10, 15 or 20 free spins. In the free spins every fish carries a cash value, a wild collects all of them each time it lands, and every fourth wild adds 10 spins and raises the multiplier to 2x, 3x and then 10x. If you came looking for a free game like Big Bass Bonanza, this is that mechanic, with reels that spin and stop, values that fly to the collector and wins that are counted up in front of you. The name, the heron that does the collecting, the symbols, the sound, the reel strips, the fish values and the pay table are ours.
- free spins for 3 beacons
- 10
- free spins for 4 beacons
- 15
- free spins for 5 beacons
- 20
- The spins you start with collect at1x
- herons 1 to 4:add 10 spins, which collect at2x
- herons 5 to 8:add 10 spins, which collect at3x
- herons 9 to 12:add 10 spins, which collect at10x
Each heron that lands collects the value on every fish in view and is banked on the meter. After 12 the meter is full and no more spins are added.
What is different from Big Bass Bonanza, and from any real machine, is everything a real machine leaves out.
This one returns 96.06% of the chips bet on it and keeps 3.94%. 19.7% of spins pay something, and 34% of those pay less than the spin cost, so only 9.1% of spins leave you with more chips than before. 42% of everything the machine pays back comes through free spins that start on about 1 spin in 117, and most of that is collected fish. The machine lights up for every payout. The status line under the reels and the coach on the machine tell you which kind you just had.
- Pays nothing
- 80.3%
- Pays something, and less than the bet: a loss
- 6.7%
- Hands the bet back exactly
- 3.9%
- Pays more than the bet
- 9.1%
19.7% of spins pay something and the machine lights up for all of them. 34% of those are still a loss.
There is no decision in a slot to get better at.
What this page is for is entertainment, and seeing clearly what this kind of machine does: how much of its return sits in a feature that is rare, how often that feature pays very little, how quickly spins add up, and what a session of it costs on average.
- Of everything paid back comes through the free spins
- 42%
- Spins start them
- 1 in 117
- Of features pay less than 10 times the bet
- 21%
- Of features collect no fish value at all
- 15%
A feature pays 47 times the bet on average, and 79% of that is collected fish. The free spins are simulated: 4,500,000 features from a fixed seed.
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Rules at this table
| Symbol | 2 in a row | 3 in a row | 4 in a row | 5 in a row |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tackle box | 10 | 100 | 500 | 2,500 |
| Reel | 0 | 60 | 250 | 1,250 |
| Lure | 0 | 40 | 150 | 750 |
| Float | 0 | 30 | 120 | 600 |
| Fish | 0 | 15 | 60 | 300 |
| Wheel | 0 | 5 | 40 | 200 |
| Anchor | 0 | 5 | 40 | 200 |
| Shell | 0 | 5 | 40 | 200 |
A line bet is one part in 10 of the spin's bet, and runs are counted from the left end of the line only. In the base game the fish is a paying symbol and nothing more.
| Value | Share of fish | Of 5,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 bets | 42% | 2,099 |
| 3 bets | 26% | 1,280 |
| 5 bets | 18% | 875 |
| 8 bets | 8% | 400 |
| 12 bets | 4% | 200 |
| 20 bets | 2% | 90 |
| 40 bets | 1% | 55 |
| 1,000 bets | 1 in 5,000 | 1 |
A value is paid only when a heron lands on the same spin. Fish that land without one pay as line symbols and their values are not paid.
- Five reels, three rows and 10 fixed lines. Every spin plays all 10 lines at a bet of 10, 20, 50 or 100 chips, which is one tenth of that on each line.
- A line pays for three, four or five of the same symbol in a row, counted from the left end of the line only. The tackle box, the top symbol, also pays for two.
- There are eight paying symbols. Tackle box is the highest: five on a line pays 2,500 times the line bet. Shell is among the lowest: three on a line pays 5 times the line bet, which at a bet of 10 is 5 chips back on a 10 chip spin.
- The fish is one of the paying symbols. In the base game that is all it is: it carries no value there and there is nothing on the base reels that collects.
- The beacon is the scatter. 3, 4 or 5 beacons anywhere in view award 10, 15 or 20 free spins. Beacons do not appear during free spins.
- In free spins every fish that lands shows a cash value: 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 20, 40 and 1,000 times the whole bet. Small values are most of them. 42% of fish show 2 times the bet, and about 1 fish in 5,000 shows 1,000 times.
- The heron is wild and lands in free spins only. It stands in for every paying symbol, and each heron that lands collects the value of every fish in view on that spin. Two herons collect every fish twice. Fish that land with no heron pay only as line symbols, and their values are not paid.
- Every heron is banked on a meter. Every fourth heron adds 10 free spins, played after the spins in hand, and those added spins collect at the next multiplier: 2x, 3x and then 10x. That can happen 3 times in one feature. After 12 herons the meter is full and no more spins are added.
- A round, free spins included, pays at most 2,500 times the bet. The free spins end the moment that is reached.
- 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. Free spins are this machine's bonus feature: when a spin wins them they play out in full and the run then stops. Autoplay never changes the bet.
- Turbo shortens the animation. It does not change the odds, the return or any result, and it does not skip any part of a round.
- The whole round, free spins included, is decided when Spin is pressed. The animation plays it back and cannot change it.
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 Tidal Haul?
- 96.06%, give or take about 0.07 points. That is the share of all chips bet that the machine pays back in the long run, so it keeps about 3.94%. 55.6% of it comes from the base game's lines, which is counted exactly from the reel strips. The other 40.5% comes from the free spins, which is simulated over 4,500,000 features, and that is where the margin comes from. At the smallest bet of 10 chips the cost works out at about 39 chips per 100 spins on average, with very wide swings around it in any one session.
- How often does it pay?
- 19.7% of spins pay something, about 1 in 5. But 6.7% of spins pay less than the bet, which is a net loss that looks like a win. Only 9.1% of spins, about 1 in 11, pay more than they cost. The free spins start on about 1 spin in 117.
- Is Tidal Haul a free alternative to Big Bass Bonanza?
- Yes. It is built like Big Bass Bonanza: five reels, three rows, 10 fixed lines paying left to right, 10, 15 or 20 free spins for 3, 4 or 5 scatters, fish that carry cash values in free spins, a wild that collects every fish in view each time it lands, and a meter where every fourth wild adds 10 spins and lifts the multiplier to 2x, 3x and then 10x. It is free, it needs no account, and it is played with chips that have no value. It is not Big Bass Bonanza itself, which is Pragmatic Play's game, and it is not made, licensed or endorsed by Pragmatic Play.
- How is it different from Big Bass Bonanza?
- The mechanic is the same family and everything else is our own: the name, the heron in place of the original's collector, the art, the sound, the symbol set, the reel strips, the fish values, the pay table and the cap. So the numbers are different too. Tidal Haul returns 96.06% with a 19.7% hit rate, and those are this machine's figures only. They say nothing about Big Bass Bonanza's. The other difference is what sits beside the reels: the published figures and how they were reached, a status line that calls a payout smaller than the bet a loss, and a session coach.
- Do autoplay and turbo change the odds?
- No. Every spin is drawn the same way and the return stays 96.06%. What they change is speed: more spins fit into an hour, and the cost of an hour is the number of spins times the 3.94% the machine keeps on each. That is why autoplay here will not start without a loss limit, and why it stops once free spins have played.
- How much do the free spins pay?
- 47 times the bet on average, and that average hides a very wide range. About 21% of features pay less than 10 times the bet, and in about 15% no fish value is collected at all, because no heron landed on a spin that had fish. 79% of what the free spins pay is collected fish, so a feature's result depends mostly on herons landing with fish in view. About 17% of features fill the meter at least once, and those few carry much of the average.
- Can I tell when the free spins are coming?
- No. Each reel stops on its own, every stop on a strip is equally likely, and a spin starts from nothing. A run of blank spins does not make the feature due. Two beacons with no third is not a sign of anything: it pays exactly what any other losing spin pays, and the chance of three on the next spin is what it always was.
- What is the most a spin can pay?
- 2,500 times the bet. That is a cap the machine enforces: the free spins stop the moment a round reaches it. In the simulation a round reached it roughly once in 1,500,000 spins. A round that pays 100 times the bet or more comes up about once in 1,100 spins. There is no jackpot.
How this game works
Each reel is a fixed strip of symbols. The base game's strips are 30, 30, 30, 30, 30 symbols long from reel 1 to reel 5, and the free spins use their own strips, 72, 72, 72, 72, 72 symbols long, which carry the heron and more fish. A spin picks one stop on each strip with your browser's random number generator, every stop equally likely, and the three symbols from that stop down are what shows. In free spins each fish then draws its value from a weighted table, which is printed in the pay table panel. Nothing else decides a result.
The base game is counted, not simulated. There are 24,300,000 ways the five reels can stop on the paid spin, and every one is priced against the pay table. That gives the 55.6% the lines return and the exact chance of three, four and five beacons. An automated test repeats the count a slower way, one combination at a time through the same code the machine plays with, and requires the two to agree. The house edge on the common casino bets puts the 3.94% this machine keeps in context.
The free spins are simulated, not counted. A heron collects values that are themselves drawn, the meter carries from spin to spin, and a feature can run to 50 spins, so there are too many paths to walk. Instead the machine's own code played 4,500,000 features from a fixed seed (20261003), separately for a three, four and five beacon start, and each start's results are weighted by its counted chance. That puts the free spins at 40.5% of return and the total at 96.06%, with a standard error of 0.04 points, so the true figure is very likely within 0.07 points of it. The page does not run the simulation: the figures are stored, and a test reruns a tenth of it from the same seed and requires agreement.
From the two together: 19.7% of spins pay anything, 6.7% pay something smaller than the bet, and 9.1% pay more than the bet. 42% of the return comes through free spins and 33% of the return is collected fish values. The spread of one spin's result has a standard deviation of 9.9 bets, which makes this a high volatility machine: long stretches that lose slowly, and a small number of free spins features that carry the average.
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 reel strips, fish values and pay table were designed for this page. They are not a copy of Big Bass Bonanza or of any other real machine, and these figures describe this machine only.
- Big Bass Bonanza is Pragmatic Play's game and its name belongs to its owner. Tidal Haul is an independent alternative built on the same kind of mechanic. It is not made, licensed or endorsed by Pragmatic Play.
- The return is partly simulated, so it carries a margin of about 0.07 points. The base game's share of it, and the chance of the free spins, are exact.
- 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 its reel strips.
- The reels are stopped by 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 and turbo are here because Big Bass Bonanza has autoplay and a turbo or quick spin mode. Both make a machine cost more per hour, so autoplay will not start without a loss limit, and the coach prices the pace while it runs.
- There is no bonus buy, no ante bet and no gamble feature. Each raises what a session can lose, and leaving them out is deliberate.
- Play chips do not feel like money. A long blank run is harder to sit through, and to stop after, with a real stake.
This is a practice game for adults. It has no real-money play and links to none. Big Bass 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 42% of the return sits in a feature that starts on about 1 spin in 117, and about 21% of those features pay less than 10 times the bet.
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.
03 / 03
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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