Blood Suckers

Provider

NetEnt

Default RTP

98.0%

Volatility

Low

Maximum win

1,014x

Core mechanic

Free spins

What Blood Suckers is

Blood Suckers is a 2009 NetEnt vampire slot, and it is on this list for one reason: a return of 98%. That is among the highest published figures of any slot from a major studio, and it is roughly two percentage points above the modern industry norm.

Everything else about the game is modest. Volatility is low — NetEnt rates it around 2.7 on its ten-point scale — the hit rate is roughly 45%, so nearly every second spin pays something, and the maximum win is about 1,014x your stake. There is a free spins round and a small pick-style bonus game, and the presentation is unmistakably from 2009.

This is not a game you play for excitement. It is a game you play because the maths is the best on the shelf, and understanding where the catch lies is what this page is for.

The 98% return, and the catch

A 98% return means that over an enormous number of spins, the game returns 98 cents of every dollar staked. The house edge is 2%, against 3.5% to 6% on most modern releases. In practical terms, a bankroll lasts noticeably longer here than on a 96% game at the same stake and pace.

That figure comes from NetEnt's high-return era, before the industry standardised around 96%. It has never been revised, which is why a fifteen-year-old game still has better maths than almost anything released since.

The catch is not in the game. It is in how casinos treat it, which is covered next — and it is significant enough that the 98% is frequently unavailable to you in practice.

Why casinos restrict this game

Because Blood Suckers is the obvious choice for turning over bonus funds cheaply, operators have responded, and you will encounter some or all of the following in the terms.

• Excluded from bonus play entirely. The game simply cannot be used while a bonus is active.
• Reduced wagering contribution. Play may count at 20%, 10% or 0% toward clearing a requirement, meaning $100 staked counts as $20 or nothing.
• Maximum bet caps while a bonus is active, with breaches sometimes voiding the entire balance.
• Excluded from free spins offers, which is why you are given Starburst instead.

With your own money and no bonus attached, none of this applies and the 98% is simply yours. That is the situation in which this game is genuinely the best-value pick in the NetEnt catalogue.

Grid, lines and base game

Five reels, three rows, 25 fixed paylines, wins left to right. Entirely conventional. The base game does most of the work here: with a 45% hit rate, small line wins arrive constantly, and the balance moves in small increments rather than long slides.

Wilds substitute conventionally. There is no multiplier ladder, no cascade, no collect mechanic. The design is from an era before feature stacking, and its virtue is that a hundred spins is a fair sample of what the game does rather than a hundred spins of waiting.

Free spins with tripled wins

Landing three or more scatter symbols triggers ten free spins during which all wins are tripled. Scatters landing during the round retrigger it.

Ten spins at 3x on a game that already hits nearly half the time makes for a round that reliably pays something. That is the opposite of the modern pattern, where most bonus rounds return less than the cost of reaching them. It is also why the ceiling is low: a round that pays consistently cannot also pay enormously.

The free spins trigger often enough that a normal session will see several. This is a game where the feature is part of the experience rather than a rare event you are grinding toward.

The coffin bonus game

Landing three or more bonus symbols on a payline opens a second-screen pick game: a row of coffins to open with a stake, each containing a cash prize, until you hit a coffin that ends the round.

This is a straightforward pick-until-you-lose structure. There is no skill in it — the outcomes are predetermined by the random number generator, and no coffin is more likely than another regardless of how the animation makes it feel. It typically pays a moderate amount and contributes to the game's high hit frequency.

Symbols and paytable

Symbol	Role	Notes
Vampire hunter	Top paying symbol	Highest line combinations
Vampires and mirrors	Premium and mid pays	Standard 25-line combinations
Card ranks	Low pays	Frequent, small — the source of the hit rate
Wild	Substitutes for all but scatter and bonus	Conventional behaviour
Scatter	Triggers 10 free spins	All wins tripled during the round
Bonus symbol	Opens the coffin pick game	3 or more on a payline

A 1,014x ceiling

The theoretical maximum is around 1,014x the total stake, most realistically approached inside the free spins round with its 3x multiplier. There is no jackpot.

At a $1 stake that is roughly $1,000 as an absolute best case. Set against a modern release advertising 20,000x, it looks trivial — and that comparison is exactly the trade this game represents. You are buying a 2% house edge and a 45% hit rate, and paying for it with the top end.

For most players, most of the time, that is the better deal. It just does not produce screenshots.

Low volatility and a 45% hit rate

NetEnt rates the volatility around 2.7 out of 10, the gentlest of any game we list. Nearly half of all spins pay something, though many of those pays are less than the stake — a low card combination on 25 lines returns a fraction of your bet.

The session experience is a slow, gentle drift with frequent small recoveries and regular feature rounds. Nothing dramatic happens in either direction. That predictability is the point.

The honest risk to name: a game that is comfortable and pays constantly is easy to play for hours, and 2% of a large amount of turnover is still a real loss. Low volatility protects your bankroll per spin, not per session — set a time limit alongside a loss limit.

Stake sizing in practice

• Stakes run from around $0.25 to $50 per spin, built from coin value and bet level across 25 lines. Read the total bet field.
• A hundred-spin budget is a legitimate session here — there is no rare feature you need to survive to reach.
• This is the NetEnt title where a small bankroll goes furthest. A $20 budget at $0.25 a spin is eighty spins with regular features.
• If you are using bonus funds, check the contribution table and maximum bet rules before your first spin.

Blood Suckers II and alternatives

• Blood Suckers II (2018) is a different game: around 96.94% return, medium-high volatility, and an exploration-style bonus. Still a high figure by modern standards, but a full percentage point below the original and considerably more volatile. It is not the game people mean when they talk about the 98% NetEnt slot.
• Starburst is the other low-variance NetEnt option, at 96.09% with no bonus round at all.
• Jack Hammer and Space Wars sit in the same catalogue with returns near 97%, offering a middle ground between this game and the modern releases.
• Mega Joker reaches 99% in its maximum-bet supermeter mode, though that figure is not representative of ordinary play and the game is a very different, older format.

Who this suits

This suits anyone who wants the best available maths on a slot and does not need drama to enjoy a session: the 2% house edge, the 45% hit rate and a reliably paying free spins round make it the most bankroll-efficient game in this catalogue. It is also a sensible choice for a small budget.

It suits less well anyone chasing a large win — 1,014x is the hard ceiling — and it is frequently the wrong choice for clearing a bonus, not because of the game but because of how operators restrict it. Check the terms first, and if it is excluded, that exclusion is a compliment to the maths.

FAQ

Using it to clear a bonus, properly

The reason most people look up Blood Suckers is to clear wagering cheaply, so here is the actual sequence to work through before you rely on it.

1. Find the game contribution table in the promotion terms — usually a separate page from the offer itself. Look for Blood Suckers specifically, not just "slots".
2. Check for an outright exclusion. If the game is excluded, no amount of play counts and continuing can breach the terms.
3. Check the contribution percentage. At 100% every dollar staked counts fully; at 20% you need five times the turnover; at 0% the game is useless for this purpose.
4. Check the maximum bet while a bonus is active. This is the rule that voids balances. It is often a fixed cash amount like $5, and exceeding it once can forfeit everything.
5. Then calculate. A $100 bonus at 35x wagering is $3,500 of turnover. At 98% return that costs you around $70 in expectation — which is why the 98% matters and why operators restrict it.

If the terms rule the game out, the honest answer is that no other title will make that bonus good value either. The maths of a heavily restricted offer is the problem, not your choice of game.

Common misconceptions

The first is that a 98% return means you should expect to win. It means the house edge is 2% instead of 4%. The expected outcome of a long session is still a loss — a smaller one.

The second is that Blood Suckers II is a newer, better version. It returns around 96.94% and is considerably more volatile. The 98% figure belongs to the 2009 original only.

The third is that the coffin bonus involves any judgement. The outcomes are set before you touch the screen; the sequence of picks changes nothing.