MGM Grand Gamble

MGM Grand Gamble: Slot Overview

Those with their fingers on the pulse of the gambling industry will no doubt be aware of MGM Resort's acquisition of casino game maker Push Gaming via LeoVegas in an eye-popping €150 million deal. If not, well, you learn something new every day, as they say. One of the fruits of that deal appears to be the LeoVegas exclusive release MGM Grand Gamble, a big green behemoth of a thing cloned from Push Gaming's panda hit Big Bamboo. As most will know, such parallels are not uncommon when it comes to exclusive releases, where cloning successful concepts is a frequent strategy. Unfortunately, it also diminishes the excitement of the game in question. Let's not pretend anything else.

In any case. For the base game, players are treated to a view of what appears to be the MGM Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, the one with a green angular design and a huge golden lion statue parked out the front - one of the Strip's landmarks. Trigger the free spins round, though, and players are invited inside to try their luck. We are a long way from the cartoon nature setting of Big Bamboo, and Push Gaming has laid on plenty of plush goodness to transport players to what is basically one of the spiritual heartlands of its new paymasters.

Aside from a massive face change, not much else has been altered from the original, if anything. Gamblers get a highly volatile math model, producing an RTP of 96.13% or 96.52% when using the gamble feature. Bets of 10 c to $/€20 per spin may be placed, and four options exist in the bonus buy section. Played on a 5-reel, 6-row gaming grid, there are 50 paylines for landing winning combinations on.

Out with nature and in with the casino means pears, lemons, plums, and cherries as the low pay symbols, then horseshoes, bells, sevens, and dollar signs as the highs. When hitting a 5 OAK low pay win, players collect a reward of 0.4 times the bet, no matter the symbol, or 12 to 150 times the bet for hitting 5 matching high pays. Wilds have the same value as the dollar sign, too, as they can land on all five reels. Wild symbols also substitute for any regular pay symbol.

MGM Grand Gamble: Slot Features

Big Bamboo boasted a pretty sweet set of features, which Push Gaming has returned for MGM Grand Gamble. These are the Mystery MGM symbols, the Grand Gamble symbol and feature, the gamble feature, free spins, and free spins buys.

Mystery MGM Symbols

Mystery MGM symbols may land anywhere on the grid in the base or bonus game. When they appear, they reveal matching pay symbols, wilds, or Grand Gamble symbols.

Grand Gamble Feature

When the Mystery MGM symbol reveals a Grand Gamble symbol, the Grand Gamble feature triggers. Each position showing a Grand Gamble symbol spins individually, landing the following:

• Instant Prize – a bet multiplier worth 1x to 5,000x the bet.
• Multiplier – multipliers of x2-x10, which increase instant prize symbols or collector symbol values. The multiplier is then removed to spin through the prizes again.
• Scatter symbols.
• Gamble Scatter symbols.
• Collector – collects the value of all other instant prize symbols or collector symbols in view. The collector remains in place throughout the Grand Gamble feature while empty positions spin.

Scatter symbols and gamble scatter symbols may land naturally or be revealed by the Grand Gamble symbol feature. In the base game or free spins, scatters appear only on reels 2, 3, and 4. During the Grand Gamble feature, scatters may land anywhere. In the base game, when there are scatters on reels 2 and 3, a gamble scatter may land on reel 4. Gamble scatters spin to reveal:

• A blank space.
• 4 to 9 free spins.
• 7 to 9 free spins with 2 dots – a minimum of 7 free spins is awarded with 2 low-pay symbols converted to Mystery MGM symbols.
• 8 to 10 free spins with 4 dots - a minimum of 8 free spins is awarded with all 4 low pay symbols converted to Mystery MGM symbols.

Gamble Feature

If the gamble scatter awards one of the lower free spins bonus games, players get the chance to gamble to move to a higher reward. A successful gamble wheel spin advances players, while an unsuccessful spin awards no prize.

Free Spins

During free spins, when scatter symbols land, they are collected next to the low symbol conversion meters beside the reels. Each symbol has 4 dots. Filling all 4 dots converts a low symbol into Mystery MGM symbols on the reels. In addition, converting the first symbol awards +4 extra free spins, the second and third conversions add +3 more free spins each, while the fourth conversion grants +2 free spins. Furthermore, each converted symbol awards a multiplier, which is applied to Instant Prizes and Collector symbols in the Grand Gamble feature during free spins. Free spins can also be won from the Grand Gamble scatter, available during the Grand Gamble feature, which displays +1, +2, or +3.

Buy Feature

Hit the star icon to buy one of the four bonuses. There are four choices on offer:

• 99x the bet for 7-9 free spins with no converted symbols.
• 179x the bet for 7-9 free spins with 2 converted symbols.
• 608x the bet to 8-10 free spins with 4 converted symbols.
• 300x the bet for a random allocation of free spins and converted symbols.

MGM Grand Gamble: Slot Verdict

You can kind of imagine a meeting between the MGM people and the Push people on how they wanted a game to be made - Nah, nah, not some 10k, 20k pipsqueak, we want something big. How about a Razor Shark clone? Hell no, we don't want 'infinite' winning potential on our hands. How about Big Bamboo? We can swap those pandas and warthogs with the mighty MGM lion and a 50,000x top prize? They must have liked that proposal since we've now got MGM Grand Gamble on our hands. And it's not a bad game either, though naturally, it helps when you're reskinning an already winning slot.

For what it's worth, the reskin procedure has passed over without a hitch. Players get a taste of the famous MGM Hotel on their device without having to fly to Vegas and put up with the heat or the crowds. However, the presentation might had benefited from a touch of uniqueness. Unlike Big Bamboo, which was enriched with engaging characters, this experience feels somewhat generic.

MGM Grand Gamble makes for a decent enough conversion, but it struggles to carve out a distinct identity or offer something substantially new to players who are already familiar with the innovation and charm of Big Bamboo.