River Dragons, Fire Wolf 2, Forest Dragons, Winter of the Dragons & Wolf Queen Advantage Play Strategy

• The playable numbers I gave above are the approximate breakeven points on an 86% RTP machine. You can use the linked calculators to adjust your entry points if you know the RTP of the machine you are playing.

• Once the progressives start to get high, the game will start to attract a lot of ploppy action. So if you are slowly watching and waiting for the numbers to become playable, you’ll need to begin to keep an eye on the play more closely as the numbers begin to get within range.

• Like all MHB progressives, it’s crucial to spin at the lowest bet level that fits within your time constraints in order to lower your variance. It’s possible to lose thousands of dollars max betting a MHB $500 if you have a horrible run. The higher the bet level you play, the more “gambling” you are doing. And as a machine pro, your aim is to do as little gambling as possible. Betting the minimum will smooth out the ups and downs. Also, at max bet you will have the potential to get handpays, which can require a lot of waiting around for slot attendants. It’s much better to get lots of smaller wins (and no W-2Gs) at min bet.

• Time requirements

  • These are extremely rough ballpark estimates of how long it will take to hit the progressive if it runs to the very top. Your results will differ based on how fast you spin, how many breaks you take, etc.

  • $500 starting at $486

    • $0.88: two hours

    • $1.76: one hour

    • $3.52: 30 minutes

    • $5.28: 20 minutes

    • $8.80: 12 minutes

  • $5,000 starting at $4,920

    • $0.88: 16 hours

    • $1.76: 8 hours

    • $3.52: 4 hours

    • $5.28: 3 hours

    • $8.80: 90 minutes

• I recommend having access to a bankroll that is 5x the jackpot. So $2,500 when chasing the $500 and $25,000 when chasing the $5,000. That might sound like overkill, but there is nothing worse than having a bad run and going bankrupt without ever getting the jackpot. If that sounds like a crazy amount of money to have on hand, then you should avoid large plays like these. You can probably safely get away with a lower bankroll if you aren’t taking the play early and have the time to min bet. But I always recommend having extra cash on hand, just in case.

• If you don’t use a player’s card, then you will be missing out on lots of points, especially when chasing the $5,000.

• The jackpots on these machines are weighted to hit at the very top. You start to have a realistic chance of hitting the jackpots once the $500 progressive reaches $490 and the $5,000 progressive reaches $4,990. They can hit much earlier, but that is exceedingly rare. So don’t ever play with the hopes that you will get lucky and hit one early. Always assume they will go to the very end.

• The $500 progressive resets to $200. The $5,000 progressive can either reset to $2,000 or $4,000 depending on the settings of that particular machine.

• River Dragons has an RTP that ranges from...

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