The Bandit and the Baron

The Bandit and the Baron Slot Review

Slot Provider: Just For The Win

RTP: 96.09% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 25,000x

Our Score: 8.0

Play at Casumo Casino
QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Compare Slots | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About The Bandit and the Baron

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 16th November 2021

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

The Bandit and the Baron is a 5 reel, high variance Wild West slot from Just For The Win with 25 paylines. To win big you must help the bandit break into the baron’s bank vault and unlock and collect cash symbols. Before that, in the base game, regular Expanding Baron Wilds help complete paylines. Landing 2 Bandits triggers a re-spin where the Bandit reels lock. If a third lands, you enter the bonus round. In the vault, you collect cash symbols worth up to 25x, unlock locked spaces, or upgrade symbols with multipliers of up to 10x.

This game can pay out up to 25,000x and spins start from 20p.

The Bandit and the Baron Game Information

  • RTP: 96.09%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 25,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 5
  • Rows: 5
  • Paylines: 25
  • Minimum Stake: £0.20
  • Theme: Wild West
  • Features: Re-Spins, Wilds, Free Spins and Multipilers

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played The Bandit and the Baron

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

I played 200 spins on The Bandit and the Baron for free at Casumo Casino to test the game and this is what happened.

  • Stake Size: £1
  • Start balance: £100,000
  • End balance: £99,105.80
  • Biggest Win: 15x
  • Free Spins: 0
  • Session Time: 15 minutes 26 seconds

Just For The Win games can be tough due to their high volatility and so it proved in this case. The Baron Wilds came thick and fast, dropping regularly in ones and twos to trigger small wins, but the Bandit was a much more elusive character. I got Bandit Re-Spins twice, but on neither occasion did the re-spin bring up the third Bandit. The biggest win was a 15x. You might expect to unlock free spins at least once in 200 spins but it’s not always true, particularly with games like this one.

The Bandit and the Baron 15x win
A 15x win in the base game

What We Liked

  • Fun outlaw-bandit storyline
  • Set-up for epic wins in bonus round
  • Expander wilds were frequent in tests
  • Upgrader symbols are powerful in bonus
  • High maximum payout at 25,000x

What We Didn't like

  • Will be too volatile for some players
  • Base game is uneventful

The Bandit and the Baron Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 8
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 9
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 8

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"This felt like a super-volatile western adventure with lots held back for the free spins round where high value cash symbols and 10x multipliers can produce awesome results on their day …"

Overall Score: 8.0

Theme & Design

Our Score 8

Help The Bandit Unlock The Vault In This Classic Western

The Bandit and the Baron feels like a simple story – our female Bandit is a gunslinger who spins her pistol as she drops on the reels and is here to rob the imposing Baron whose bank vault you are looking to break into through the bonus round. It’s a really simple premise, playing out in a typical Wild West outback town, the kind you’ve seen many times over before in these Western slots.

The Bandit and the Baron by Just For The Win
The Bandit and the Baron – classic Western setting

The backdrop is a red rock mountains dusty streets and saloon bars. The reel set is framed in wood but the fun stuff happens when the action moves into the bank in the bonus round with torches either side of the grid, gold bars to the side of the screen and locked symbols that have to be unpicked.

There is nothing ground-breaking here but its not a bad looking game either and if Wild West slots are your thing, you’ll be at home.

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

The Bandit and the Baron has 3 RTP settings – 96.09%, 94.15% or 92.11%. Ideally you want to be playing the top setting to give yourself the best chance of winning but it is at your casinos discretion which level they choose to run the game at.

I verified the RTP at five popular slot sites for this review. 

  • MrQ (Independent) – 96.09% RTP
  • Pub Casino (L and L Europe) – 96.09% RTP
  • Casumo (independent) – 94.15% RTP
  • Barz Casino (White Hat Gaming) – 94.15% RTP
  • BacanaPlay (Skill on Net) – 92.11% RTP 

Just two of the casinos in this test group are running the game at the optimum RTP – MrQ and Pub Casino. The others, run at the lower settings. Whilst in reality you wouldn’t feel the difference between 96.09% and 94.15% I would still recommend playing at MrQ or Pub Casino if you want the best chance of a positive return on your bets.

This is also a highly volatile slot with a big win potential but an unpredictable win distribution. You could play for a long time with little or no return before a short blast of big wins drops.

Maximum Win

Our Score 9

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

The top payout in this game is 25,000x. This puts it up there with Just For The Win’s highest max win slots like Western Gold 2 Double Barrel. It’s good potential. If you want more games like this check out our list of the highest max win slots with prizes of 100,000x and more.

Explore Games With Similar RTP, Variance and Maximum Win

Like the numbers? Here are some more games you might want to try.

Slot SiteSupplierRTPVarianceTop Payout
Sticky Bandits 3 Most WantedQuickspin95.82%High22,468xPlay Here
Sticky Bandits Trail of BloodQuickspin96.23%High17,000xPlay Here
Western Gold 2 Double BarrelJust For The Win96.15%High25,000xPlay Here
True Grit RedemptionNolimit City96.11%High20,200xPlay Here
Wild Falls 2Play n Go96.2%High15,000xPlay Here
Dead Rider’s TrailRelax Gaming96.2%High50,000xPlay Here
The Last SundownPlay n Go96.2%High36,000xPlay Here
OutlawBig Time Gaming96.1%High64,400xPlay Here

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

25 Paylines And High Symbol Values For Premiums

The Bandit and the Baron is played on a 5 reel and 5 row reel set with 25 fixed paylines. You’ll need to land 3 or more identical symbols from left to right across a payline to trigger a win.

The paytable has good value in it with 20x for top value premiums and wilds to help you complete paylines.

The Bandit and the Baron Paytable
The paytable – 20x for 5 top premiums

There are 9 standard pay symbols in total. The low payers are the card suits: diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades. These are valued at from 0.2x for 3 diamonds up to 1.5x for 5 spades. The premiums are the money symbols – silver coins, dollar bills, money bags, gold bars and the open safe. These are valued at from 0.5x for 3 silver coins up to 20x for 5 open safes.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

Look Out For Those Bandit Bonus Symbols To Unlock The Big Money Free Spins

The Bandit and the Baron is not loaded with a mind-boggling array of features. The Baron is a regular in the base game but as we shall see, it’s the Bandit who are really looking for.

Expanding Wilds Land Regularly

Let’s start with the Wilds because they appeared frequently in testing, often on more than one reel. The standard wild drops and expands immediately to full reel height displaying the imposing Baron figure. This must have happened every 3 or 4 spins.  Often, more than one will appear and that can be very useful to complete paylines.

Don’t forget that Wilds have their own pay value at 1x, 3x and 20x for 3, 4 or 5 on a line.

Baron Expander Wild Symbols
Two Baron Wilds expand on the reels

Bandit Bonus and Bandit Re-Spins Unlock Bigger Wins

You’ll see the Baron regularly but the Bandit is a little more elusive.

Ultimately you want 3 fully or partially visible Bandit symbols to land on reels 1, 3 and 5. However, if just TWO land, then they lock in place for a Bandit Re-Spin which gives you a chance to land the third, or at least score a win from the same spin.

Once you have those 3 Bandits, then you are entered into the Bandit Bonus round with a different configuration, set inside a Bank Vault.

Bandit Re-Spin
2 Bandit symbols trigger a re-spin

You start with 3 spins.

Now, of the 25 positions on the reels, 12 are locked and 13 are blank and laid out in a 1,3,5,3,1 formation. And only 3 symbol types are now available.

Cash Symbols are worth 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x, 10x or 25x. When they land they are allocated their value and remain in place for the whole round. This also sets the counter back to 3.

If a Key Symbol lands in a blank space then one of the locked positions on the grid is opened and a different symbol inside is revealed. This also re-sets the counter to 3.

But best of all, if an Upgrade Symbol lands then it multiplies the values of any cash symbols in a horizontal or vertical line (or both) from the position of the upgrade symbol. The multiplier values are 2x, 3x, 5x or 10x.

The round continues until either you run out of spins, or all positions are filled with coins, or you hit the 25,000x max payout.

The Final Verdict

The Bandit and the Baron is another of the high variance Western slots that Just For The Win are good at producing. The production is of a good quality with a nice storyline that breaks from tradition with a female bandit character rather than your standard grizzly outlaws. The pay model feels very much like a classic high volatility set-up. You probably won’t get much out of the base game, though the odd decent win from a few Baron Wilds is possible. Instead, it will be all about hitting the Bandit Bonus. And the configuration of that round means there are potentially a lot of thrills when combinations of cash symbols and upgraders combine. The surprise element of landing keys to reveal locked positions adds excitement too.

So, to sum up, this another solid western game from Just For The Win, but one that should be approached with your eyes open to its tough maths as well as its big potential.

Compare The Bandit and the Baron With Similar Slots Picked By Us

Here are more games like The Bandit and the Baron compared on configuration and features. Click through to read a review of each one.

Slot GameProviderThemeMin. StakeMax. RTPVariancePaylinesTop PayoutJackpot
Just For The WinWild West£0.2096.15%High5025,000xNo
QuickspinWild West£0.0995.82%High922,468xNo
QuickspinWild West£0.1096.23%High1017,000xNo
Push GamingWild West£0.1096.39%Medium205,000xNo
Red TigerWild West£0.1096.05%High2015,000xNo
Nolimit CityAction and Adventure£0.2096.17%HighCluster Pays44,288xNo
Nolimit CityWild West£0.1096.08%High108+300,000xNo
Nolimit CityAction and Adventure£0.2096.03%High243150,000xNo

Useful Tips When Playing The Bandit and the Baron

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. It’s All About Cracking The Vault

Having played this slot a few times I can see for sure it is all about breaking into the vault with the Bandit Bonus symbols. You will rarely get a decent win in the base game so keep that in mind.

2. Upgrade Symbols Will Be Powerful

Whilst your aim in free spins will be to fill as many spaces with coins as possible, keep an eye out for the upgraders because a 10x can hugely enhance your win from the round.

3. Start At A Low Stake

You can play Bandit and the Baron from 20p and I recommend choosing a low stake like this due to the high volatility. It means your balance will stretch further and give you more spins to hit the bonus round.

4. Always Choose From Our Recommended Slot Sites

The sites on this page are all licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That means they are safe, fair and secure and all their games have been tested to produce totally random outcomes on every spin.

Who Made The Bandit and the Baron?

  • Name: Just For The Win
  • Established: 2016
  • UK License: Via Microgaming
  • Total Games: 45 +
  • Known For: Partnerships with Microgaming, high variance games
  • Popular Slots: Western Gold, Bandit and the Baron, Diamond Sands, Wolf Howl
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