Pinball Roulette: no wheel, standard odds, one optional gamble

European rules: 0 and 1 to 36, straight-up at 35:1, splits, streets, corners, six lines, dozens, columns and even-money bets at standard odds. Third-party listings put the base return at 97.30%, which is simply the single-zero figure. A couple of sources quote 30:1 on a straight-up; that is wrong for this game, and the paytable in the help screen shows 35:1.

So far it is a European roulette table with retro arcade graphics.

After any winning spin the game offers Collect or Gamble. Collect takes the win. Gamble drops the ball into a second pinball board. Multiplier bumpers raise the multiplier as the ball bounces; a lose slot at the bottom forfeits the win entirely. Sources disagree on the maximum: some say 5x, some 10x. The game's own help screen is the authority for the version you are on.

The gamble's return is not published by the provider. Treat it as a separate side bet with unknown odds, which is the sensible treatment of any optional feature that can take a win away.

Turbo bet skips the animation; repeat bet and favourite bets speed up re-placing; a last-15 history strip; autoplay on mobile only. Minimum stake is reported anywhere from 1p to £1 depending on the operator and is not disclosed by Playtech. Maximums reported around £50 on a straight-up and £1,000 on outside bets per operator configuration.

They share a lobby and a sense of fun and little else. Mini is a different game with a 13-pocket wheel at 3.85%. Pinball is standard roulette at 2.70% with a different animation. For value, Pinball is the plain European table in disguise; for a quick small-screen game, Mini is built for it.

100 spins at £1, always collecting: about £2.70 expected loss, the European figure. The gamble changes that by an unknown amount per use. A player who gambles every win is playing a game whose return nobody has published; a player who collects every win is playing European roulette with pegs.

Anyone who finds the wheel animation dull and wants the same odds with a different picture. Anyone who likes a collect-or-gamble decision after a win, with the understanding that the gamble is unpriced. Not for anyone who assumed the board changes the odds in either direction: it does not, until the gamble button is pressed.