Barb’s Best Bets: Head On Over To The Wild Wild West And Win Some Big Loot
Back in the days of the old Wild Wild West, people took the law into their own hands and didn’t think anything of it.
Obviously, that sort of behavior at Bally’s Wild Wild West Casino in Atlantic City is a strict no-no with serious consequences. However, in The Wild Wild Wild West slot game from NetEnt, stealing is not only tolerated but encouraged.
Four brazen characters are already up for the challenge, but they need one more to help them pull it off. Of course, that person is you.
Not only does your participation come with zero possibility of jail time, you will be amply rewarded. In fact, if you’re lucky, you could be laughing all the way to the bank with a bigger pile of loot than you ever imagined.
What makes The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist slot a Best Bet
Tie-in with Bally’s Wild Wild West Casino
As you probably know, one of the casinos where NJ sports betting is already up and running is Bally’s Wild Wild West. Its sportsbook was the third to open in Atlantic City on July 30. Like the rest of the casino, it should especially appeal to fun-loving younger players, although the comfortable chairs, large flat screen TVs, and many betting options make it a good place for serious sports bettors, too.
Bally’s Wild Wild West Casino also happens to be one of the few remaining Atlantic City casinos with a clear-cut theme as well as the only casino that attempts to recreate the atmosphere of the old frontier. With low limit games, cheap eats and drinks, and free live entertainment weekend evenings, it’s also the kind of place that goes above and beyond to cater to those who want the best bang for the buck.
So now, to coincide with the opening of its sportsbook, which should attract even more such players, I decided that an equally appealing gaming option should be available for casino players on NJ gambling websites with similar tastes.
I couldn’t think of a more appropriate online slot to recommend for my Best Bets column than one that likewise offers a ton of fun and excitement and great bang for the buck, and also captures the spirit of the Wild Wild West.
The slot game called The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist looks like a perfect match.
Other Great Features
Simplicity
Online slots have become a lot more high-tech than they used to be, and many of them while undoubtedly engrossing and exciting, can also be hard to follow and somewhat intimidating for a novice player.
One might think from the subtitle of this slot — The Great Train Heist — that this is one of those overly complex slot games. However, rest assured that the game is very straightforward. After reading this review and then reading the short Introduction, first-timers will be fully ready to take part in the action.
Appeal to a wide range of players
This is a slot game where you don’t necessarily need a lot of money to make a lot of money. You can bet as little as 10 cents per spin. Or, if you prefer and can afford it, you can bet a lot more — up to $100 per spin.
Exceptionally high return to player
Regardless of what stakes you are playing for, you will probably fare best on a game with a sufficiently high rate of return to justify playing and where you can withstand the negative swings without depleting your bankroll.
Every online slot game has what is called a theoretical return to player or RTP, and The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist has an RTP of 96.4 percent, one of the best. This doesn’t mean you will win at a 96.4 percent rate of what you invest every time you play, but it’s a reliable indicator of the kind of result you can expect on the average over many, many playing sessions.
This slot also has medium volatility — enough to ensure the kind of action and potential for big wins that most players want, but not so much that you have to worry about the likelihood of going broke before the big hit you’re hoping for ever comes.
Readily available
Last, but certainly not least, what good is an online game if none of the NJ online casinos you play at offer it?
As you will see in the next section, with The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist, no one will have that problem. A total of 11 different NJ gambling websites offer it. And by the way, the train where the robbery will take place is the 7 Train. Coincidence or not, how could a 7-11 combination like that not be super lucky?
Where to find The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist slot game
No need to take a trip out west or even go to Bally’s Wild Wild West or any other Atlantic City casino to take part in this thrilling adventure.
You can do so on your computer or mobile device from the comfort of your own home or anywhere else you happen to be in New Jersey. Choose from any of the following NJ online gambling sites, log into your account, show the four outlaws also taking part in the heist who’s really the boss, and watch the money spill into your lap effortlessly.
- 888 Casino NJ
- Betfair Casino
- Borgata online casino
- Caesars online casino
- Golden Nugget online
- Mohegan Sun online
- Party Casino
- SugarHouse online casino
- Resorts online casino
- Tropicana NJ
- Virgin Casino
Description of the slot game The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist
The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist is a video slot with five reels, three rows, and 10 fixed paylines.
Like the part of Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City that shares the same name, it was expressly designed to appeal to millennials and video game enthusiasts. Players familiar with the Red Dead Redemption games will recognize the similarity. Or if you enjoy playing the NetEnt game Jack Hammer or Jack Hammer II: Fishy Business, you will undoubtedly like this similarly styled game, too.
Creative cartoon-like graphics, captivating animations, a mesmerizing Western soundtrack, and exciting bonus features will keep you riveted to the screen and make you very reluctant to leave — at least until the job you set out to do is accomplished. You will also be hankering to come back for more. There is nothing written in the game rules that you can’t return for more train heists.
Winning combinations are formed when three or more matching symbols line up, either horizontally on the same payline or diagonally, on adjacent reels starting with the reel farthest to the left. In many instances, a wild symbol will help form these winning combinations.
The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist does not have a progressive jackpot. However, with the manufacturer reporting a potential top payout of 50,000 coins*, we’re not talking about small change either.
*According to the manufacturer, the top payout is 50,000 coins, However, the formula used to arrive at this figure is not clear to this reviewer and no further details are provided.
Minimum and maximum bet size
The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist is an excellent choice for players at virtually any betting level. With a very wide range of bets to choose from, picking a bet size you are comfortable with and that suits your bankroll and style of play should be no problem at all.
The paylines are fixed, so you must play all 10. However, you can select your coin size — from a penny to a dollar. You also need to pick a bet level from 1 to 10.
This makes your bet for each spin equal to your bet level times the coin size times 10. Therefore, the minimum bet per spin is 10 cents and the maximum bet per spin is $100.
The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist symbols
By today’s standards, this is a relatively simple slot game, with only 10 paylines, so it is no surprise that the game doesn’t have a lot of symbols either.
Regular symbols
The higher paying regular symbols are your four gun-toting partners in crime. The sole female in the bunch is the highest paying symbol, returning 500 coins for five on a payline, 80 coins for four, or 25 coins for three.
The man with the black hat and cigarette returns 300 coins for five of them, 70 coins for four, and 30 coins for three. Five, four, or three of the man with the tattoo or blond hair returns 200, 60, or 15 coins, respectively.
The lower paying regular symbols are the four playing card suits. Five, four, or three spades or hearts pay 100, 50, or 10 coins, respectively. Five, four, or three clubs or diamonds pay 80, 30, or 5 coins, respectively.
That does it for the regular symbols. But wait — how could you have a slot game all about the Wild Wild West without there also being a wild symbol?
Wild symbols
Most slots have just one wild symbol, but you’ll note that the heading for this section reads “Wild symbols.” In fact, this slot game should really be called “The Wild Wild Wild Wild West” since it features no less than four different wild symbols.
You can tell them apart by the four different color combinations, as indicated below.
- Regular wild symbol (green on purple) — 3, 4, or 5 regular wild symbols on a payline award you with the same payouts (25, 80, or 500 coins) as the lady with the gun. This symbol also substitutes for all other symbols except other bonus symbols and the scatter symbol to help form winning combinations.
- Expanding wild symbol (purple on green) — When this wild symbol appears, it expands to fill the whole reel.
- X2 Multiplier wild symbol (green on pink) — Any win containing this wild symbol is doubled.
- Spreading wild symbol (pink on green) — This symbol turns another symbol adjacent or directly diagonal to it into an additional wild symbol.
During the Free Spins bonus round, any one of these four types of wild symbols might be randomly chosen to be in play. However, in the base game only the regular wild symbol is in play.
The best of the four is the expanding wild since it makes the whole reel it appears on turn wild. You might even be lucky enough to have an expanding wild land on more than one reel, in which case each of those reels turns completely wild!
Bonus symbol
The bonus symbol for this game is the safe. It appears in the main game only and only on reels 1, 3, and 5. What you want to have happen is for the symbol to show up on all three of these reels because that activates the Pick and Click feature.
Scatter symbol
The scatter symbol for this slot game is the No. 7. Three or more of them anywhere on the reels activate the Free Spins feature. If the wheels are still spinning when two scatter symbols appear, the music builds to an anticipatory crescendo while you are kept in suspense waiting and hoping longer than you want to be for at least one more.
However, two 7s do nothing for you, and much more often than not, that’s all she wrote.
If you’re lucky, at least one more will appear, and then it’s off to the races. The number of free spins depends on whether you get three, four, or five scatter symbols.
- Three scatter symbols: 10 free spins
- Four scatter symbols: 20 free spins
- Five scatter symbols: 30 free spins
By the way, the free spins can be retriggered. All you need to have happen is for three or more scatter symbols to show up again during the free spins.
The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist Special features
Slot games like this one that have a high RTP offer good money-making potential even if you don’t get past the base game.
However, special features like bonus rounds and free spins are the exciting extras that many slot players especially look forward to, since besides making the game a lot more fun, they are where the biggest rewards are. Here are the special features you will find in The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist.
Pick and Click feature
This feature is activated when three safe bonus symbols land on the same spin in the main game. You then get to click on one of them to reveal your coin win. You can win anywhere from 5x your bet to 50x your bet.
Free Spins feature
As mentioned above, the Free Spins feature is activated whenever three or more No. 7 scatter symbols show up anywhere on the reels at the same time. You then receive 10, 20, or 30 free spins, which could be followed by even more free spins if the feature is retriggered.
In addition, during the Free Spins feature, one of the four different wild features is selected at random. That symbol can appear anywhere on the reels. Also, on every free spin an overlay wild symbol of the same type can randomly appear on reels 1-3. The overlay symbol works the same way as the active wild symbol.
The bottom line
It’s surprising that there aren’t more online slots with a Wild Wild West theme since the possibilities for action, suspense, and interactive entertainment seem endless. This slot by NetEnt offers all that and more.
It is highly immersive, so it’s the type of game that can become so enjoyable it’s difficult to leave. Fortunately, the high rate of return gives you the option to keep playing a while (but keep in mind that marathon sessions are never advisable) without your bankroll taking a huge hit.
You can even win big, although I was disappointed after a couple of half-hour sessions of free play not to have activated either of the special features. You might have a similar experience, or you could get lucky and get a Pick and Click bonus or Free Spins very early in the game.
In any case, there’s big money waiting to be won in this game, and all the while you are going after it, the fun and thrills are nonstop. Of course, you can also watch movies and TV shows galore where big heists are being plotted, but all you get to do is be a spectator from the sidelines with no say at all. Here you are an active participant!
If you enjoy playing at Bally’s Wild Wild West (or any other Atlantic City or online casino), I think you will love the experience of The Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist. Are you ready to take on Train No. 7?