How we test a slot
Every game page on TallySpins is built the same way, so you can compare one page with another. This is the method, step by step.
The 500-spin session
- Where. The provider's own free demo — the version the studio publishes, not a copy on a third-party site.
- How much. 500 paid spins in a row at a total bet of 1.00 demo credit. If a game's bet steps make 1.00 impossible, we use the nearest bet and the page says which.
- What we don't touch. No bonus buy, no ante bet, no change of stake, no stopping after a big win.
- What we write down. For every spin: the balance before, the balance after everything the spin triggered (cascades, free spins, a bonus game) was paid, and whether it started a bonus. A spin's win is the difference plus the stake. The raw log is kept on file.
- What we publish. The grid of all 500 spins, the bonus rounds with the spin they landed on, the best win and the total returned.
One session is one sample. Slot results are random, so a session shows how a game behaves over an evening, not what it will pay you. The long-run figure is the RTP, and that comes from the provider.
Games without a public demo — most IGT, Aristocrat and Bally machines, and live game shows — get no session log. Their pages carry the provider's facts and the versions instead, and say so.
Six checks for every game
| Check | What we look at | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| RTP and its versions | The theoretical return the provider states, and the lower settings it allows casinos to run | Provider's game page and the rules screen inside the demo |
| Volatility | How the provider rates the swing of wins | Provider |
| Bonus frequency | How many bonus rounds landed in our 500 spins, and on which spins | Our session log |
| Maximum win | The cap in multiples of the bet | Provider |
| Bet range | Smallest and largest bet in the demo; casinos can narrow it | The demo itself |
| Free demo | Whether the provider publishes one and where | Provider |
We don't turn this into a star score. A slot's maths is set by the studio, and one session cannot rank one game above another. What you get instead is the facts side by side and the log, with a source and a date on every number.
When a casino gets a button
A game page shows a button to a casino only when all of this is true on the day we check:
- the game is in the casino's public lobby;
- the casino's partner program accepts players from Canada;
- we found no systemic problem with that program: a Predatory or Rogue status on affiliate forums, an unresolved non-payment, two or more independent complaints of the same kind within 24 months, or terms changed retroactively.
When several casinos qualify, the first one is the casino whose lobby had the most games from our log on the day of the check. The line under each button shows the casino's own published terms: minimum deposit, withdrawal time and the provinces it excludes. Commissions don't change the order.
Casinos that serve Ontario only through a separately registered site, or exclude a province in their terms, are not linked from that province: the button opens our page about provincial limits instead.
Dates and corrections
Each page shows two dates: when it was first published and when the facts were last checked. The date changes only when the content does. Found a number that no longer matches the provider? Write to us and the page gets rechecked.