Mega Fire Blaze Roulette, and what the bonus round really costs

The base game

A standard single-zero wheel, 37 pockets, live dealer, betting layout with the usual inside and outside bets. Red, black, dozens, splits, corners: all pay the normal amounts at the normal 2.70% house edge. The game launched in 2021 and runs in Playtech's live studios around the clock.

The one change on the base table is the straight-up. A single-number bet that wins on a number that was not a Fire Number pays 29:1. On a plain table it would be 35:1. That cut funds the bonus round.

Fire Numbers

After betting closes, between one and five numbers are chosen at random and lit up as Fire Numbers. Occasionally a Fire Blast event lights up to ten. If the ball lands on a Fire Number and you have a straight-up on it, you do not take the 29:1; you go to the bonus round instead. Outside bets and other inside bets on that spin settle as normal, fire or no fire.

The bonus round

A 3-by-12 grid divided into six sections. Multiplier orbs land on the grid: x1 to x5, x10, x15, x50. Section multipliers of x2, x3 and x5 can boost whole sections. Four fixed jackpots can also land: Mini at 20x, Minor at 100x, Major at 500x and Grand at 2,000x, added to the total. The orbs are collected over a series of respins until no new ones appear, the totals are multiplied through, and the result is paid on the straight-up stake. Hard cap: 10,000x or £500,000, whichever comes first.

The round is genuinely separate from the base payout. You are not getting 29:1 plus a bonus; you are getting whatever the grid produces instead.

What it costs

Third-party figures put the overall return at 97.30% on all bets, including the straight-up, which would mean the bonus round gives back on average exactly what the 29:1 cut takes away. Playtech does not publish a per-bet figure. If the 97.30% holds, the game is unusual among multiplier tables in not charging number bettors a premium on average; what it does charge is variance. You lose six units more on every ordinary straight-up win and get it back, on average, from rare and sometimes very large bonus payouts. Most sessions will not see a large one.

Limits

Minimums are reported around 20p, maximums from £2,000 to £5,000 depending on the operator. Both are set per site. The limits panel in the game is the only reliable source at the moment you play; RouletteFinder keeps a dated record of the figures seen at individual operators if you want to compare before logging in.

Who it suits

Outside bettors lose nothing by playing here: red is red at 2.70%, and the fire is a free light show. Number bettors should understand that an ordinary win is 29:1 and that the 35:1 they are used to has been traded for a lottery ticket into the grid. If you like that trade, it is one of the better-built versions of it. If you bet numbers for steady 35:1 returns, a standard live table is the right room.