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Aristocrat Leisure Limited released the Choy Sun Doa slot game to land based casinos in 2002. The name is a Cantonese expression invoking the name of one of the gods of Wealth, known as Caishenin Mandarin Chinese. “Caishen” itself was originally an expression meaning “wealth” (Cai) and “God” (Shen). It was an honorific title bestowed posthumously upon various historical or legendarypeople who were celebrated for bringing prosperity to their people. Two names you’ll often come across when researching the legends associated with Choy Sun or Caishen are Bi Gan and Li Gui Zu.
Bi Gan, although a legendary figure, is associated with the last Shang Dynasty king, Di Xin, who probably died around 1046 BCE after losing a dramatic war with the Zhou dynasty. His ruinous reignhas been the subject of fiction and legend for thousands of years. The Shang Dynasty is the oldest Chinese dynasty that has been confirmed through archaeology, and is also the source of theoldest known Chinese writings.
Li Gui Zu is said to have lived during the 7th century CE and was a country magistrate who was known for his honesty and for the care with which he administered his district. Hisrenown for good deeds led to many Chinese leaders conferring honorific titles upon him, including Cai Bo Xing Jun or Cai Shen.
Adding to the confusion around who was supposed to be Choy Sun or Caishen is the fact that there are several gods of Wealth who are worshipped during Chinese New Year celebrations. Theseinvocations most likely represent separate cultural legacies that have been combined in general Chinese tradition. Each family hands down its own stories about China’s past and traditionalmythologies, reflecting their ancient cultural roots.
Aristocrat released an online version of the game in 2011. The rest of this article reviews that version of the game.
Rules of Choy Sun Doa Slot Game
Choy Sun Doa is a 5 reel, 3 row video slot game that uses Aristocrat’s trademarked Reel Power system. Players pay to activate reels 2 through 5 by adjusting the amounts of theirwagers. As more reels are activated more ways to win become available. There are no pay lines in this system. Winning combinations are formed when a symbol appears on three or moreadjacent tiles starting with the first reel.
With only 1 reel active the game only pays for winning combinations that use the middle row, as all the tiles in the middle row are active along with reel 1. There are effectively only 3 ways towin with just 1 reel active. It costs only 1 coin to play 1 reel.
- When reels 1 and 2 are in play there are 9 ways to win. It costs 3 coins to play 2 reels.
- When reels 1, 2, and 3 are in play there are 27 ways to win. It costs 7 coins to play 3 reels.
- When reels 1, 2, 3, and 4 are in play there are 81 ways to win. It costs 15 coins to play 4 reels.
- When all 5 reels are in play there are 243 ways to win. It costs 25 coins to play all 5 reels.
Wild Symbol
Choy Sun is the game’s Wild symbol. He only appears on reels 2, 3, and 4. He substitutes for all other symbols except the Scatter symbol. The Wild has no prize value of its own.
Scatter Symbol
The Gold Ingot is the game’s Scatter symbol. To pay a prize or trigger a bonus game the Gold Ingots must form a winning combination starting in reel 1. For details of the bonus game see below.The Gold Ingot pays 80 times Total Bet for 5 of a kind, 10 times Total Bet for 4 of a kind, and 5 times Total Bet for 3 of a kind.
Other Symbols in Choy Sun Doa Slot Game
The Gold Dragon is the game’s highest value symbol. It pays 1000 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 100 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 50 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The Gold Coin
- Pays 800 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 100 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 35 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The green Jade Ring
- Pays 800 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 100 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 30 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The Koi Fish
- Pays 300 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 50 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 20 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The red Coin
- Envelopes pay 300 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 35 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 15 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
The remaining symbols in the game are drawn from traditional playing card symbols “A”, “K”, “Q”, “J”, “10”, and “9”.
- The Ace
- is decorated with a small green fan and it pays 200 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 30 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 10 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The King
- is decorated with a golden ornament and pays 200 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 20 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 10 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The Queen
- is decorated by a purple flower and pays 100 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 15 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 10 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The Jack
- is decorated by a green turtle and pays 100 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 15 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 10 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
- The 10 and 9 symbols
- both pay 100 times Bet Per Reel for 5 of a kind, 10 times Bet Per Reel for 4 of a kind, and 5 times Bet Per Reel for 3 of a kind.
How to Play Choy Sun Doa Slot Game
All of the controls for the game are located below the playing reels area. An marquee directly below the playing reels displays tips about how to play the game and recaps the results of winningspins.
An orange speaker icon to the far left toggles the sound on and off.
The purple Info button activates the help screen system with the pay tables.
The orange Autoplay button activates a dialog with a slider bar where you set how many spins you want the game to play for you. If you have used the Autoplay feature previously you can click onLast Settings to use your previous Autoplay choices. The Autoplay button becomes a red Stop Spin button for the duration of the autonomous spinning. The game continues spinning the reels untilyou end your session, click on the Stop Spin button, win a bonus game, or your balance drops below the Total Bet amount.
The Reels widget consists of a “Max” button, a counter window, and Plus and Minus buttons. When all 5 reels are active the Max and Plus buttons are disabled. When only 1 reel is active the Minusbutton is disabled.
The Bet widget sets the value of the coins you are betting on the reels you pay for. This widget contains a Plus button, Minus button, display window, and Max button. The minimum bet amount is0.01 and the Minus button is disabled when the minimum value is selected. Available values include 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00. When the maximum value is selected thePlus and Max buttons are disabled.
The Gamble button activates a special feature after any paid spin where you win a prize. See below for details.
The large green Spin button initiates 1 paid spin and has no other function.
There are three information windows below the controls: Balance, Total Bet, and Win.
How the Choy Sun Doa Bonus Gamble Feature Works
After any paid spin where you win a prize you can use the Gamble feature for a chance to increase your winnings. The feature brings up a special dialog with a playing card that is turned facedown. The purpose of the game is for you to guess whether the card is Red or Black or to which suit it belongs (Heart, Diamond, Club, or Spade).
If you guess the color correctly your money is doubled. If you guess the correct suit your money is quadrupled. You can play up to 5 times but you must win each round to move on to the next.
The game includes a “History” bar in the upper right hand corner that shows you the results of up to the last five cards (within your current gaming session). Past results do not influence futureresults in any way.
You can click on Take Win to collect your money at any point. The feature ends automatically if you guess wrong (losing all your money) or you win the 5th round.
How the Choy Sun Doa Bonus Game Works
When three Gold Ingots line up on the first three reels the bonus game is activated. You are first shown a pick screen where you choose the rules for the bonus game. Your choices are:
- Yellow:You win 20 free spins and all combinations where Choy Sun contributes to the prize are multiplied. The multiplier is randomly chosen from X2, X3, and X5.
- Red: You win 15 free spins and all combinations where Choy Sun contributes to the prize are multiplied by X3, X5, or X8.
- Blue: You win 10 free spins and all combinations where Choy Sun contributes to the prize are multiplied by X5, X8, or X10.
- Purple: You win 8 free spins and all combinations where Choy Sun contributes to the prize are multiplied by X8, X10, or X15.
- Green: You win 5 free spins and all winning combinations where Choy Sun contributes to the prize are multiplied by X10, X15, or X30.
If the red Money Envelope appears on reels 1 and 5 during a free spin it awards you a random prize from any of 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 50.
The game counts down the number of remaining free spins with a money bag counter.
Aristocrat estimates that the theoretical return to player is approximately the same for each of the five options.
Conclusion
The theoretical return to player for Choy Sun Doa ranges between 94.516% and 94.606%. These are about average for Aristocrat games. Some reviewers consider this to be a “high variance” game,although the degree of risk and variance is largely a matter of opinion. The maximum possible bet on this game is 50 Euros, whereas some games will go as high as 1000 Euros per spin. In thatcontext 50 Euros does not represent much risk. On the other hand, you can spin the reels again and again without winning a prize. And the prizes you’re most likely to win are 3 of a kindcombinations, which pay a fraction of the 5 of a kind combinations.
In slot gaming “variance” is best described as the ratio of the frequency of prizes to the size of average payout. Volatility is usually computed by taking the standard deviation of a record ofpayouts. Some writers use these terms interchangeably. Whether Choy Sun Doa is a high variance or high volatility game really doesn’t matter. It comes down to what kind of slot you enjoy playing.
Although this is an older game it does have some ambient features that make it appealing to players. Despite the fact the music is synthesized each symbol has its own prize riff, a little musicalcombination that plays while the pay line highlights the winning combination for you.
The variety of bonus game options also adds to the game’s appeal, but this is not a game that awards bonus rounds very often. You’ll see plenty of action with Wild symbols but those Scattersymbols appear in non-winning combinations more often than in winning combinations.
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