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✓ RTP from the studios' own pages

5 reel pokies: what the extra reels change, and what they don't

Five reels are the standard layout for modern pokies, in venues and online. The extra reels change how wins are built and how features work — but not, as the studios’ own numbers show, how much a game pays back.

By Ainsley Duff · Published · Figures checked · Sources

REELS VS RETURN
3 reels vs 5 reels
96.96%a 3-reel game
PRAGMATIC 3×3 CLASSICS RETURN
96.47%–96.96%
level with its 5-reel games at 96.01%–96.71%
L&W 3-reel Xtra Puff
Up to 94%
L&W 5-reel Huff games
Up to 96%
What sets RTP
Studio and version
Put a game in the calculator

Top settings as published by each studio, read 29 September 2026. A casino can run a lower one.

What “5 reel” means

A 5 reel pokie shows five vertical strips of symbols, usually three rows high. Wins are counted along paylines or across “ways” from left to right. It’s the layout behind most video pokies of the last 25 years, from Australian pub floors to studio catalogues.

A 3 reel pokie is the older shape: three strips, often a single row or a 3×3 window, with few paylines and simple symbols. Online studios still make them as classics.

What the extra reels change

  • More ways to build a win. Five reels allow long combinations and, with 3 rows, 243 ways to line symbols up.
  • Room for features. Free spins, symbol collection and jackpot wheels need space. Light & Wonder’s 5-reel Huff games build houses across the reels; its 3-reel version is a slimmer 27-ways game.
  • A wider spread of outcomes. More combinations usually means more small wins and a few very large ones.

What they don’t change: RTP

Reel count doesn’t set the return. The studio and the version do. Here are the published top settings side by side.

GameStudioLayoutRTP
Diamonds Are Forever 3 LinesPragmatic Play3 reels, 3 lines96.96%
888 DragonsPragmatic Play3×3, 1 line96.84%
Triple TigersPragmatic Play3×3, 1 line96.52%
Triple JokersPragmatic Play3×3, 5 lines96.47%
Huff N Xtra PuffLight & Wonder3 reels, 27 ways94% (or 92%)
Wolf GoldPragmatic Play5×396.01%
Book of DeadPlay’n GO5 reels, 10 lines96.21%
StarburstNetEnt5×3, 10 lines96.08%
Huff N’ More PuffLight & Wonder5 reels, 243 ways96% (down to 87%)

Pragmatic’s 3-reel classics return as much as its 5-reel games, and a little more. Light & Wonder goes the other way: its 3-reel Huff tops out at 94%, two points under the 5-reel family. Sources for each row are listed under Sources.

In venues

The reel count doesn’t affect the state minimum either. A 5-reel machine in a Brisbane club and a 3-reel one beside it are both held to Queensland’s 85% floor. RTP by state lists every floor.

Many of those 5-reel machines are Aristocrat titles, and their online versions are a separate question: see what Aristocrat has officially released online before trusting a game that carries its name.

Picking between them

If you like quick, simple spins, a 3-reel classic keeps things plain and, at Pragmatic, costs no more over time. If you want features, 5 reels is where they live — check the volatility, because features are where the return is held back. The volatility guide shows how.

Questions people ask

Do 5 reel pokies pay better than 3 reel pokies?
Not by reel count. Pragmatic Play’s 3×3 classics publish 96.47% to 96.96%, while its 5-reel games sit at 96.01% to 96.71%. Light & Wonder’s 3-reel Huff N Xtra Puff tops out at 94%, below its 5-reel Huff games at 96%.
What are 243 ways pokies?
Instead of fixed paylines, a win counts for matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left, in any row. With 3 rows on 5 reels that’s 3×3×3×3×3 = 243 combinations. Huff N’ More Puff uses 243 ways.
Are most venue pokies 5 reels?
Most modern video pokies in Australian venues are 5-reel games, often with a jackpot link on top. Classic 3-reel machines are rarer on today’s floors.
Illustration of Ainsley Duff, author at Payback Notes

Editor, Payback Notes · Published · Checked

Ainsley Duff writes Payback Notes from Adelaide. She reads RTP where it is actually published — state technical standards, provider game sheets and help files, venue pages — and puts a date and a link beside every figure.

What I checked for this page (29 September 2026): compared the published RTP of four 3-reel and nine 5-reel games from Pragmatic Play, Light & Wonder, Play’n GO, NetEnt and BGaming on their own game pages. Not done yet: IGT’s classic 3-reel titles such as Double Diamond — IGT doesn’t publish online RTP.

How figures get in: how we verify RTP · sources for this page · how we earn. A commission never changes the RTP figures we publish or the order they appear in.

Sources

  1. Pragmatic Play — Triple Tigers (3×3, 1 line, 96.52%) — pragmaticplay.com/en/games/triple-tigers-slot, read 29 September 2026
  2. Pragmatic Play — Triple Jokers (3×3, 5 lines, 96.47%) — pragmaticplay.com/en/games/triple-jokers-slot, read 29 September 2026
  3. Pragmatic Play — 888 Dragons (3×3, 1 line, 96.84%) — pragmaticplay.com/en/games/888-dragons-slot, read 29 September 2026
  4. Pragmatic Play — Diamonds Are Forever 3 Lines (96.96%) — pragmaticplay.com/en/games/diamonds-are-forever-3-lines-slot, read 29 September 2026
  5. Pragmatic Play — Wolf Gold (5×3, 96.01%) — pragmaticplay.com/en/games/wolf-gold-slot, read 29 September 2026
  6. Light & Wonder iGaming — Huff N Xtra Puff (3 reels, 27 ways, 94% / 92%) — igaming.lnw.com/games/huff-n-xtra-puff-2, read 29 September 2026
  7. Light & Wonder iGaming — Huff N More Puff (5 reels, 243 ways, 96–87%) — igaming.lnw.com/games/huff-n-more-puff, read 29 September 2026
  8. Play'n GO — Book of Dead (5 reels, 10 lines) — playngo.com/games/rich-wilde-and-the-book-of-dead, read 29 September 2026
  9. NetEnt — Starburst (5×3, 10 lines) — netent.com/games/starburst, read 29 September 2026