Fu Dao Le is a Bally (now Scientific Games) slot machine that has seen its share of sequels coming out in recent years due to its enduring popularity. The All Ways Pays game has the potential for substantial wins, and a bonus round that can keep adding spins if you’re lucky.
The game features funky bet credit amounts all ending in 8: 38, 88, 128, 208, and so on. That fits the Asian theme and it’s a sufficiently volatile machine with some reel hit potential.
Even in the base game, some big hits can come out thanks to the 243 ways to win. 50x and 100x wins aren’t unusual given the structure of the game, so expect some big swings back and forth.
The game features three features and bonuses – Free Games, Progressive Picking Bonus and the Red Envelope Bonus. If a big win or bonus is coming, the Fu babies may appear on the screen to let you know that “Good Fortune has Arrived,” acting as an intentional tell that something’s about to happen.
Free Games
Getting the gongs on reels 2, 3 and 4 will yield not only Free Games, but a line hit (as the gongs act as wild symbols). As such, you not only get a bonus trigger pay but the line hit to get you started.
During the Free Games, which start with 8, there are multiplier wilds on the middle reel, along with more wild symbols in general, which help with the all ways pays win potential. Gongs also appear on reel 5, and not only act as a wild symbol, but each gong landed adds a free game.
You can rack up well above the original game count; the Free Games, like the base game, is sufficiently volatile that such an outcome could yield a ton of big hits or not much at all. By the image above, you can see an example of what can happen – 75 cents per 5 of a kind at this bet level, but 162 ways, yields a roughly 100x hit on a single spin (as well as an extra spin).
Progressive Picking Bonus
When a special symbol appears in the center reel (it’s a full reel tall), it will nudge to fill the reel if it hasn’t already, and send coins shooting upward. If they explode, a progressive pick screen will appear with 15 coins. This is a predetermined bonus; the fact there’s 4 progressives and 15 coins means nothing as the other options aren’t revealed.
The progressives on this game can build up for awhile, and when it does they can get quite substantial. Here’s an example of a $189 Minor I won (it resets at about half that) at a casino a couple of years ago.
Like many games it can be worth checking to see what the progressives are like to determine if it has an additional benefit to sit down; the Minor happened to catch my eye, and while there’s no guarantee I was going to win it, The fact I put $100 in and won it only down $13 was a very nice outcome to accomplish indeed.
There are a very few casinos who freeze the progressives, but that tends to be on the rare side.
Red Envelope Bonus
There are particular symbols on reels 1 and 5 that have red envelopes on them. Land one on each reel to win the Red Envelope Bonus, which starts at $100 and builds over time (unless this bonus has itself been frozen by the casino). Sometimes these are linked across machines, and occasionally they’re standalone. The chances of winning this increases with bet.
This Red Envelope Bonus is seen on a number of Bally machines that have been introduced over time, many with an Asian theme.
The game is awfully fun, has good roller coaster moments, and can deliver some great excitement and massive wins! It’s worth a play when you find them around the casino.
Watch and Learn
Here is a video from TheBigPayback that features a tell during the bonus that leads to an amazing payout:
Here’s a session from Diana Evoni:
And here’s a session from NG Slot:
