Basketball - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

Our Basketball slot review will give you all the information you need to decide whether to put it on your list of slot games to play. It has been around for a few years and has become very popular among online spins, giving video slots like Microgaming’s Basketball Star a run for their money.

Evoplay’s Basketball online slot has a traditional 5-reel, 3-column grid and is played on 20 fixed pay lines. The minimum bet is 0.10 and the maximum is 500.00. There are 11 regular symbols, modelled on team logos, but invented for this game: Red Bulls, Crazy Head, Purple R, Foxes, Bats and the 6 highest value playing cards. The scatter is a basketball and the wild is a basket.

Theme, Graphics and Soundtrack

Basketball has the look of a fairly traditional slot machine with a still background of a basketball court and a two-dimensional grid. So far so ordinary. When you hit a win the board comes to life with people in the crowd standing and cheering and flashbulbs exploding. There are no living characters on the grid which does make it seem a little impersonal - images of basketball players might have been more engaging, and given the designers more opportunities to add some smart animation. The music is middle of the road heavy rock, but that seems quite fitting. A respectable effort.

Basketball RTP and Variance

According to Evoplay the Return to Player is 95.81% which is just below the average for slot games. However, some sources put this figure as low as 94.8%. The game’s volatility is high.

How to Play Basketball

1. You’ll find the current bet indicator to the left of the play button. You can click on this to call up a slider to increase or decrease the bet or you can use the plus and minus controls.
2. Autoplay is a common feature in video slots and in this game you activate it by holding the play button until the auto play choices appear. Select the number you wish from the 8 which are given.
3. To call up advanced auto settings click in the settings cog on the right or access settings via the information symbol. You can set the game to stop auto spin if you reach a specified single win limit and also if your balance increases or decreases by an amount you set. The default setting is for the game to return to manual if you activate free spins. You may stop autoplay mode at any time by clicking the play button.
4. Select fast play from the settings menu or click on the fast forward symbol at the right side of the control panel.
5. Start the reels by clicking the play button or pressing the space bar. Stop the reels early if you wish by clicking the play button again.
6. Your credit balance is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen and the figure is updated after every spin. Your last win is shown on the right.
7. When a wild symbol appears it substitutes for all other symbols except for the scatter. 
8. If a wild lands but does not contribute to a win then it becomes sticky and activates a respin. During the respin any new wild symbols that appear and are not part of a winning combination will also become sticky and you will be given another respin.
9. If you land 3 or more scatters you will win 8 free spins. During a free spins round all wilds become sticky wilds and will stay in place on the reels until the end of the free round. Free spins are played at the same bet level as the spin which activates them.
10. Always gamble responsibly. Please remember that you can lose money just as you could in a physical slot machine. Video slots are no different. To help you play sensibly please use the time out and self-exclusion features. As soon as the game stops being fun you ought to quit. 

Bet Sizes and Paytable Wins

The bet size ranges from 0.01 to 500. 

The paytable values range from 3x to 5x. The highest multiplier values for each symbol are as follows:

Red Bulls, Crazy Head
5 = 45

Purple R
5 = 25

Foxes, Bats
5 = 12.5

Ace, King
5 = 6

Queen, Jack, 10, 9
5 = 5

Scatter
5 = 80

Wild
5 = 45

Max-win 40x

Volatility High

Top RTP 94.8%

Basketball Bonus Features

There are no bonus features.

Basketball Review: Our Verdict

With no nous game, this stands or falls on the traditional mechanics of video slots, with wilds and scatters introducing an extra level of uncertainty. It does seem a little under-developed and the pay-outs aren’t that generous. However, although it isn’t the most exciting sports-themed slot machine we’ve come across, it’s certainly not the worst.

Disclaimer: Basketball trademark / license is owned by Evoplay. This site is not endorsed by Evoplay.