Sheba Slot
The Sheba slot is a high volatility slot machine from Inspired Gaming on the William Hill fixed odds betting terminals. Personally I found the game reasonably enjoyable, although it is highly rated amongst a lot of FOBT players, and features on the main ‘most popular’ gaming menu.
My starting balance was £300, which should be plenty enough to get a good feel of the game. The Sheba slot pays the usual right to left on stakes of £1 and less, with £2 stakes paying in either direction. There is an expanding wild which which can fill any of the five reels. A couple of these combined on the maximum stake could potentially result in a very large win, therefore I would recommend playing the Sheba slot on £2 spins.
The reel symbols are very well drawn, and stand out on the clear background. For those of you who want to see a poorly designed slot, check out Ice Cave, whos symbols merge into the background.
Sheba Slot Volatility
As the volatility on the Sheba slot is very high, the reel wins pay very well but the hit rate is considerably lower than many other slots, so be prepared to play through £50 – £100 without seeing too much action.
Like many other slots, Sheba has a free spins bonus. This is triggered via landing three, four or five bonus symbols anywhere in view.
- For three symbols 10 free spins are awarded
- Four symbols awards 15 free spins
- Five symbols awards 20 free spins
The chances of hitting the bonus is very low and I’m currently yet to trigger it (although I will keep trying). You could assume the value of the free spins is high, possibly like Book of Ra, a notoriously difficult slot to bonus, but often very rewarding when you do.
Like many slots, the Sheba slot has a gamble that makes use of a deck of playing cards. This is a true odds gamble which you can change the settings to activate it after every wins, every +£2 win, +£5 wins or +£10 wins. Double odds are paid for a correct guess of any red or black card, x4 is paid with the correct guess of the suit (heart, diamond, spade or clubs), and x13 is awarded for the correct guess of any number from 2 to ace. When I gamble on these type of games I generally go for a red or black, otherwise I end up chasing the suit, which can get costly. If you don’t like gambling the wins, there is also the option to turn it off, that way all wins are automatically banked.
My luck on the Sheba slot was very low, hitting only a few wins during my playing session, so I moved over to what is basically a clone; Hercules. I don’t think there is anything different to this slot from Sheba, other than the different graphics. Both have expanding wilds, the same card gamble and the same value of free spins. I guess t he only reason to play Hercules over Sheba is the graphics you prefer.
Just like the Sheba slot, I was having very little luck. That’s the problem with high volatility slots, you either win big or generally win nothing, for that reason they are probably better in an online casino.
Although I started the gambling session with £300, I collect £100, leaving the bookies £200 down.