Ascot is one of the highest profile meetings on the racing calendar and Playtech has done it justice as far as design goes. The reels are set against a backdrop of a giant grandstand and the parade ring.
On the reels are A to 10 royals plus a horse shoe, a pocket watch and a pair of rosettes. The top paying standard symbols are the man in morning dress and the woman in the fancy hat. These both pay 2, 10 or 30 times your stake for a 3, 4 or 5 symbol combination.
The trophy is the wild. There are 3 of these. Each one offers something different and is called the Ascot Cups feature. All 3 can combine to deliver awards of 4, 12 or 40 times your stake if you land 3, 4 or 5 in a row:
- Bronze trophy – This is a standard wild that replaces all the standard symbols.
- Silver trophy – This is an expanding wild that fills the whole reel when it hits.
- Gold trophy – The expanding wild comes with a multiplier value attached up to 8x.
The main bonus on Ascot: Sporting Legends is the High Society Free Games feature. To trigger it, you’ll need to land the scatter on reels 1, 3 and 5 on the same spin. You’ll then choose 1 of the 3 ladies which determines how many free spins you’ll receive. Pick well and you could end up with 20 free spins.
Extra wilds are in play during the feature. Expect to see upgraded wilds too. Bronze wilds can turn into silver and silver can turn into gold. Landing 3 scatters on the same free spin results in a re-trigger – there are no limits to how many extra free spins you can win.
Ascot: Sporting Legends is part of the Sporting Legends network so you’ll have a chance to land 1 of 3 jackpot prizes. This Sporting Legends Jackpot feature triggers at random. You’ll then have a shot at scooping the daily, weekly or the big Sporting Jackpots prize.
Playtech has kept things pretty simple in Ascot: Sporting Legends. It works rather well though. The visuals are good and the features offer some decent potential, especially the bonus round where the wild extras can quickly get working. The 8x multipliers can lead to payouts of 8,000 times your stake on each spin/free spin.
The racing-themed slot game has proven tricky for many developers. Playtech has had a pretty good crack in the straightforward but very playable Ascot: Sporting Legends. I suggest you try other games in the series with Frankie Dettori: Sporting Legends my favourite.