Regal Riches and Prosperity Pearl

Introduction

Regal Riches and Prosperity Pearl are identical slot machines except in name and and symbols. They are made by Unity, which is a division or subsidiary of IGT. In other words, they are skins of each other. What is special about these games is when the player gets a wild he not only get to use it that turn, but it is also banked for a future spin or bonus. If enough wilds get banked, then the odds swing the players favor. The sharp player will jump in on such a game left in a positive state and play until he burns off the banked wilds.

Rules

1. The player must bet 75 credits per spin. The player may choose how much money a credit equals. Most of the time a credit may equal 1 to 5 cents, for a total bet of $0.75, $1.50, $2.25, $3.00, or $3.75
2. Each different bet level is like a separate game, with separate banks of wild symbols (see below).
3. The game has five reels and four visible columns.
4. The player always plays 30 paylines.
5. All line pays wins must be left-aligned.
6. Not counting wilds, there are nine line pay symbols. In Regal Riches, these symbols are a shield, crown, ring, cup, horn, lyre, A, K, Q, or J.
7. The wild symbol comes in four colors — blue, green, purple, and yellow.
8. In initial spins, if the player gets a wild, not only is it used for that spin, but a counter is increased for each wild according to the color of the wild.
9. All four colors of wilds have a minimum reset value and a maximum value. Following are the ranges you will find these counters, from reset to the must-hit-by point.
   • Blue: 5 to 50
   • Purple: 30 to 75
   • Green: 40 to 100
   • Yellow: 50 to 125
10. With every initial spin, there is a random chance the Blue wild feature will be triggered. If it is triggered, then as many wilds are in the Blue bank will be randomly scattered on the screen before the reels stop.
11. Any given position on the screen may get up to five wilds. If any given position gets at least two wilds, then the player will get a multiplier equal to the number of wilds on that position for any wins position contributes to.
12. After the reels stop and the screen is scored, the Blue counter will reset to five.
13. The more Blue wilds are in the Blue meter, the greater the chance of the Blue wild feature being triggered on the next spin. The chance reaches 100% with 50 Blue wilds.
14. If any line pay win goes through at least one wild, then the win will be multiplied by the total wilds that compose that win.
15. "Free Games" symbols appear on reels 1 to 5. If the player gets two of them between reels 1 to 4 and another one on reel 5, then he will play the bonus game. The rule screens do not address what happens if the player gets three or four wilds among the first four reels. It is possible the game is gaffed to make this impossible.
16. The "Free Games" symbol on reel 5 can be either green, purple, or yellow.
17. The bonus always consists of ten free games. The bonus cannot be retriggered.
18. Different reel strips are used during free games.
19. If the player does trigger the bonus, the color of Free Games icon on reel 5 shall determine which bank of wild symbols the player will receive in the bonus. For example, if the player triggers bonus with a Green wild, then he will get all the wilds in the Green bank.
20. The game will randomly scatter the accumulated wilds among the ten free spins.
21. As with the Blue wild feature, the same position can receive up to five wilds.
22. After a bonus is completed, the counter for the associated color of that bonus will reset according to the values in rule 7.
23. The more wilds that are in the purple, green, or yellow bank, the greater the chance that bonus will be won.
24. If the bank reaches or exceeds the maximum value, then the bonus will begin immediately.

The pay table is below.

If these rules were not clear, feel free to read the following rule screens yourself. Click on any image for a larger version.

Strategy

The more wilds are in the meters, the greater the expected return. The big question is when are there enough wilds to offer a player advantage?

My short answer is "I don't know." However, I have listened and read the opinions of several machine advantage players. They don't necessarily agree with each, but they are fairly close in where the breakeven points are.

That said, here is my advice on the minimum number of wilds needed to play. In other words, play if any one of these meters as at the number shown below, or more.

• Blue Meter — 8. Seven is borderline.
• Purple Meter — 56.
• Green Meter — 81.
• Yellow Meter — 106.

If one or more meters are in the grey area of whether to play, also consider the other meters.

Remember that each bet level is like a different game with different wild banks. You should check all of them.

For luxury casinos that likely have stingy slots, you should have higher standards of when to play. This advice goes for ANY slot machine.

Please take this advice with a grain of salt. I advise you to get a feel for the game yourself and share information with other advantage players.

External Links

• Discussion about Regal Riches in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.
• Regal Riches: More Complex IGT Game With Bonus Meters article at Know Your Slots.

Written by: Michael Shackleford