Red Baron at the local pub
You're not imagining it, Red Baron can go cold for a fair stretch before the free games land. Worth remembering each venue sets the RTP within the state minimum, so the same machine at the club down the road might pay differently. Doesn't make a drought impossible anywhere though, that's just how the feature is built.
Licence first, deposit after.
RngGodGod pretty much nailed it. The per-venue RTP point is worth dwelling on, because people treat these machines like they've got one fixed setting straight from Aristocrat. They don't, the venue picks a configuration within the state minimum, so your local club's Red Baron and the one at the pub two suburbs over can genuinely behave differently over a long run. Add to that the fact that Red Baron is a classic free games and multipliers setup, which by nature lives on longer droughts than a hit-frequency machine, and those arvo sessions where the feature never shows start making sense.
Worth thinking about the session sample size too. If you're putting through a couple hundred spins, you can easily sit through a stretch where the free games just refuse to land, even on a machine playing perfectly true to its setting.
Volatility > vibes.
RngGodGod summed it up nicely, that per-venue setting is the bit most newbies never twig. Back when I was having slaps on the old Aristocrat reels it was the same deal. Two pubs, same machine, chalk and cheese. Red Baron's free games with the multipliers are worth waiting for though, they can turn a session when they land. Ah well, we grind on 😉
Sorry if this is dumb, total noob here 😅 but when you say per-venue RTP… does the club actually choose the setting on Red Baron, or does Aristocrat just ship it differently? Still trying to wrap my head around it 🙏
Asking dumb bonus questions — that's the job.
No dumb question at all, mate, way back on Queen of the Nile I had the same confusion 😄. The venue buys the machine from Aristocrat but picks the payout setting from the allowed range when it's configured, within whatever the state minimum is. So your Red Baron at the pub might be running a tighter setting than the one at the RSL down the road. Same game, same free games feature with the multipliers, but that one can be a bit more generous when the feature finally lands.
I remember the old slots first-hand.
FreoDad's spot on, venue configures it at setup. I've watched Red Baron sit dead for a whole arvo at one club, then the free games with multipliers turn up two visits running at another.
Do the EV, then spin.
FreoDad's spot on, venue configures it at setup. I've watched Red Baron sit dead for a whole arvo at one club, then the free games with multipliers turn up two visits running at another.
@InRTPweTrustLoyal that matches what I've seen too, two pubs near me and Red Baron feels completely different at each 😅 maybe I'm being dumb but does the same machine even stay on one setting forever, or can the venue change it later on? Would be good to know before I keep feeding it my delivery money 🤣
Asking dumb bonus questions — that's the job.
Yeah I had the same arvo last week, sat there spinning Red Baron for ages and the free games just wouldn't show 😬 glad it's not just me being cursed. So if one pub sets it tighter than the club down the road, is there any way to tell which setting a machine's on before you put your cash in? 🤔
Yeah I had the same arvo last week, sat there spinning Red Baron for ages and the free games just wouldn't show 😬 glad it's not just me being cursed. So if one pub sets it tighter than the club down the road, is there an…
@FreoBlue yeah Royal_Chaser is right mate, no way to tell before you're in. Only thing I go off is how the dogfight free games have been behaving at each venue lately, keeps a mental note 😅 Red Baron at my club's been dead quiet for weeks, then one Friday it coughs up big and I'm back every arvo 🎰
Spinning reels dawn to dusk.
@FreoBlue yeah Royal_Chaser is right mate, no way to tell before you're in. Only thing I go off is how the dogfight free games have been behaving at each venue lately, keeps a mental note 😅 Red Baron at my club's been de…
@FreeSpinsKing nah I reckon the mental note works, tea leaves or not 😂 Red Baron at my club went ice cold for a month then spat me A$220 out of nowhere on the dogfight last Friday arvo, been back twice since. If it was pure bait I'd have lost both sessions, didn't 🎰🔥
One slot, one love 🎰
@FreoBlue yeah Royal_Chaser is right mate, no way to tell before you're in. Only thing I go off is how the dogfight free games have been behaving at each venue lately, keeps a mental note 😅 Red Baron at my club's been de…
@FreeSpinsKing same, I keep a loose note on the dogfights too. Bet per spin at $1, hard stop like ChrisRTP said, and if Red Baron pays I'm cashing out same arvo 🔥
Bonus taken, wagering cleared.
Short answer to FreoBlue: no, there's no way to tell the setting before you put cash in. The venue configures it behind the scenes and there's no sticker on the cabinet saying what it's on. Only real clue is long-run experience, if a particular club's Red Baron sits dead for whole sessions, that tells you something, but you pay to find out.
Which is exactly why I don't chase the free games with multipliers like they're owed to me. The feature turns up when it turns up, and whatever setting the club picked, the maths favours them over every arvo you sit there. If someone's had a decent hit on one, fine, show the screenshot, until then I treat every "this one's hot" talk at the pub as noise.
RTP doesn't lie, win screenshots do.
No dumb question at all, mate, way back on Queen of the Nile I had the same confusion 😄. The venue buys the machine from Aristocrat but picks the payout setting from the allowed range when it's configured, within whateve…
@FreoDad yeah that explains why my local has Red Baron feeling tighter than the one near work 😂 hit the dogfight free games there last Friday and pulled A$180, absolute ripper. Feels like the two machines are on totally different settings honestly 🔥🎰
Backing my slot to the last spin.
@FreoBlue yeah Royal_Chaser is right mate, no way to tell before you're in. Only thing I go off is how the dogfight free games have been behaving at each venue lately, keeps a mental note 😅 Red Baron at my club's been de…
@FreeSpinsKing a mental note on dogfight behaviour, that's cute 😂 that's basically reading tea leaves mate. Machine goes quiet for weeks then coughs up one Friday and suddenly you're there every arvo chasing it. The house always wins, and that one payout is the bait.
So did you actually walk out with more than you put in, or does the mental note conveniently forget the losing sessions? Every punter I know who "tracks" a pokie only remembers the hits 🤡💸
The house always wins.
@FreoBlue yeah Royal_Chaser is right mate, no way to tell before you're in. Only thing I go off is how the dogfight free games have been behaving at each venue lately, keeps a mental note 😅 Red Baron at my club's been de…
@Cronulla the bait line's fair, but chasing a cold machine every arvo on $1 a spin is cheap entertainment, that's the whole trick. I set a hard stop before I sit down at Red Baron and walk when it's gone, win or lose. Tea leaves or not, it's the only mental note that's ever saved me money 😅
Bankroll discipline wins 💸