Pokie review · Australia
Starburst is a five-reel, ten-line pokie from NetEnt with a published return of 96.08%, a maximum win of 800x and a hit frequency of 23%. This page sets out those figures plainly, so you can judge whether the game suits a short session.
Figures checked on 16 October 2026
Starburst is a 96.08% return pokie with a 23% hit frequency and an 800x ceiling: the figures describe a grind of small returns, not a game that will make anyone rich.
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 stakeNetEnt puts the return to player at 96.08%. That is a long-run average, not a promise for your session: over a few hundred spins the actual return can be well above or below it. The maximum win is published as 800 times the stake, and the hit frequency is 23%, meaning roughly one spin in four returns something.
The grid is five reels by three rows, with ten fixed paylines that pay both ways. The provider does not publish a volatility value for this game. Third-party databases often label it low, but that is not the provider's figure, so it does not belong on this page as fact.
The star symbol is wild and expands to cover the whole reel, substituting for all paying symbols. When an expanding wild lands, it triggers a respin, and up to three respins can follow. There is no free spins round and no bonus buy-in published for this game.
With ten lines paying both ways, wins are frequent but small. The 23% hit frequency supports that: most spins return a fraction of the stake rather than a large multiple. The 800x maximum is the ceiling, not a target, and it is far below the maximums on the high-volatility games in the shortlist.
A pokie with a 96.08% return and a 23% hit frequency tends to grind rather than swing. If you play for short sessions, the small, regular returns can stretch a budget, but the same maths means the house edge still applies over time. No session length changes that.
The partner's published terms include a first deposit bonus of 600% cash, daily cashback of 10% of losses, a minimum deposit of US$20 and a maximum bet on a bonus of A$5. Read those terms alongside the game's own figures: a bonus does not change the return of the pokie.
If the figures above suggest Starburst is too tame, the shortlist below covers higher-volatility alternatives with larger published maximums.
| 1Big Bass Bonanza | 96.71% | High | 2,100x | Pragmatic Play |
| 2Madame Destiny Megaways | 96.51% | High | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
| 3Gates of Olympus | 96.5% | High | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
| 4Sweet Bonanza | 96.48% | Medium-High | 21,100x | Pragmatic Play |
| 5Floating Dragon | 96.35% | High | 5,000x | Pragmatic Play |
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Big Bass Bonanza pairs a 96.71% return with high volatility and a 2,100x maximum, a different profile from Starburst's small, frequent returns.
Madame Destiny Megaways publishes a 96.51% return, high volatility and a 5,000x maximum, with megaways rather than fixed lines.
Gates of Olympus shows a 96.5% return, high volatility and a 5,000x maximum, aimed at players who want bigger swings.
The published return to player is 96.08%. That is a long-run average across millions of spins, not a guarantee for any single session.
No. The published features list does not include a free spins round or a bonus buy-in. The main feature is an expanding wild that triggers a respin, with up to three respins possible.
The provider publishes a maximum win of 800 times the stake. That is the ceiling on a single spin, and it is much lower than the maximums on high-volatility alternatives.
NetEnt does not publish a volatility figure for this game, so there is no official value to quote. The 23% hit frequency and the 800x maximum are the published numbers that give some sense of how it plays.