Pokie review · Australia
Starburst is a five-reel, ten-line pokie from NetEnt with a published return of 96.08% and a hit frequency of 23%. This page sets out what those figures mean for short free-play sessions, and how the game sits against five other titles.
Figures checked on 16 October 2026
Starburst is a 96.08% return game with a 23% hit frequency and an 800x ceiling: frequent small wins, no bonus round, and no way to change the maths.
Paid placement. Paid placement. The operator pays for this position; it does not affect anything measured on this page.
96.08%
Long-run average across all spins, online version800x
Multiple of the stakeStarburst was released in 2012 and runs on a five-by-three grid with ten paylines that pay both ways. NetEnt publishes a return to player of 96.08% and a maximum win of 800 times the stake. The same source gives a hit frequency of 23%, which means roughly one spin in four returns something. Treat that as a long-run average, not a promise for the session in front of you.
There is no jackpot. The expanding star wild covers a whole reel, substitutes for every paying symbol, and triggers a respin, with up to three respins able to follow. No free spins round and no bonus buy-in are published. That absence matters: a game without a bonus round has fewer long gaps, but it also has no single feature that can turn a small stake into a large one.
The provider puts a volatility label on the game but does not publish a value for it, so no volatility figure appears in the specification plate above. What can be said from the published return and hit frequency is that wins arrive often and are usually small, with the 800x maximum sitting well below what high-volatility titles advertise. A free-play session is therefore better suited to seeing how often the reels connect than to chasing a big result.
Free play does not change the maths. A return figure is a long-run average across a very large number of spins, and any single session can land well above or well below it. Nothing about the wild respins or the both-ways paylines changes the house edge, and no strategy makes a pokie return more than it is designed to.
Free play on Starburst is usually a demo version of the same game, with the same return, the same hit frequency and the same reel set. Nothing is deposited, so nothing can be withdrawn from it. If you move to real money, the published terms of the partner apply: a minimum deposit of US$20, a first deposit bonus of 600% cash, daily cashback of 10% of losses, and a maximum bet of A$5 while a bonus is active.
The A$5 cap is worth reading twice, because it is low relative to the stake sizes many players use. Bonus funds and cashback come with conditions, and cashback is a percentage of losses, not a payment for playing. Check the full terms on the partner's site before depositing, and never treat a bonus as a reason to spend more than you planned.
The table below sets Starburst against five other pokies on published return, volatility and maximum win.
| 1Sweet Bonanza | 96.48% | Medium-High | 21,100x | Pragmatic Play |
| 2Floating Dragon | 96.35% | High | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
| 3Big Bamboo | 96.13% | High | — | Push Gaming |
| 4Wolf Gold | 96.01% | Medium | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
| 5Queen of the Nile | 95.98% | Medium | 800x | Aristocrat |
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Sweet Bonanza publishes the highest return in the list at 96.48%, but its Medium-High volatility and 21,100x maximum win sit at the opposite end of the spectrum from Starburst.
Floating Dragon offers a 96.35% return and a 5,000x maximum win on ten lines, with High volatility that will produce longer quiet spells than Starburst.
Big Bamboo returns 96.13% across 50 lines, and its High volatility means wins are less frequent but potentially larger than Starburst's.
NetEnt publishes a return to player of 96.08% for the online version. It is a long-run average, so a single session can finish above or below it.
The provider puts a volatility label on the game but does not publish a value for it, so no figure can be quoted. A hit frequency of 23% means wins land often and are usually small.
No free spins round is published. The main feature is the expanding star wild, which covers a whole reel, substitutes for all paying symbols, and triggers a respin, with up to three respins able to follow.
The published maximum win is 800 times the stake, and there is no jackpot. For comparison, several of the pokies in the shortlist below advertise maximum wins in the thousands of times the stake.