Aztec Chief

Aztec Chief seems to be another game that should be in the advantage player's bag of tricks. It has the same feature as Golden Egypt, in that if the player collects two coins above any reel, it becomes entirely wild for the next two spins.


In the image above, reels 1, 4, and 5 already have one coin each and need just one more to be entirely wild for the next two spins.

Also notice the pyramid of prizes above the reels in the image below.



Another possible +EV angle is the Jackpot Bonus. I don't completely understand this, but sometimes when the player gets a coin it reveals a prize in the pyramid of ten symbols above the reels. When all ten are revealed, the player gets one at random. I think even with nine revealed, it can take a while to get the tenth. About this feature, I could be wrong, and welcome correction if I am.

I'll stop here and throw it open to comments. When do you think the game is +EV?

The jackpot part is random, It can trigger from 9 or 1 doesn’t matter.

Quote: PokerGrinder

The jackpot part is random, It can trigger from 9 or 1 doesn’t matter.
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Ah, thank you. Do the prizes go up, like in Cashman Bingo, as the player plays?

No and they don’t go up as you bet more either.

Looks vulturable like Golden Egypt but not as easily.

I've seen APs walk by when a coin in 2 of the 1st 3 columns and a coin in the 4th column.
So you'd need at minimum 4 coins with at least 2 of them in the 1st 3 columns.

Quote: 100xOdds

Looks vulturable like Golden Egypt but not as easily.

I've seen APs walk by when a coin in 2 of the 1st 3 columns and a coin in the 4th column.
So you'd need at minimum 4 coins with at least 2 of them in the 1st 3 columns.
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Thanks! Any other opinions?

Tend to only take these if one of the first three columns has to coins (wild on next two spins) and at least one coin in one of the other first three columns.

Quote: PokerGrinder

No and they don’t go up as you bet more either.
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Was shocked when I learned this the other day. Got the jackpot playing the $7.50 bet only to realize the $107 Minor win was the same as if I'd been paying the $.75 bet. Felt robbed at max bet I didn't at least get the Major.


I'll admit to playing this w/ coins on 3 of the first 4 reels. Looking forward to the math. Wouldn't surprise me if it is negative w/ coins on all 5 reels considering how much the bonus pays and this is just another fake AP game w/ illusions.

I had mixed results with this game partly because I won a 700+$ major once but I feel that the game might need to be already wild in the first 3 reels to be clearly good

Quote: Wizard

Aztec Chief seems to be another game that should be in the advantage player's bag of tricks. It has the same feature as Golden Egypt, in that if the player collects two coins above any reel, it becomes entirely wild for the next two spins.


In the image above, reels 1, 4, and 5 already have one coin each and need just one more to be entirely wild for the next two spins.

Also notice the pyramid of prizes above the reels in the image below.



Another possible +EV angle is the Jackpot Bonus. I don't completely understand this, but sometimes when the player gets a coin it reveals a prize in the pyramid of ten symbols above the reels. When all ten are revealed, the player gets one at random. I think even with nine revealed, it can take a while to get the tenth. About this feature, I could be wrong, and welcome correction if I am.

I'll stop here and throw it open to comments. When do you think the game is +EV?
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FYI, Wiz, the game makers of Aztec Chief also have a game called Red Silk, which appears to be mathematically equivalent to Aztec Chief. Just thought you might wish to include that game here and if you wind up posting a write-up on WoO.

As others have found, I tend to have either medium losses or minuscule wins when playing these like GE. For a while I’d been playing tight when the pyramid wasn’t full and looser (like GE) when the pyramid was one away. Recently, I got the jackpot bonus on the third item (not full) and it appeared to behave the same as when I got it on the tenth item (full). This leads me to believe that state of the pyramid is not useful as a criteria of playability.

Now I play if one or more of the first three reels is already wild (whether for one or two spins) OR if each of the first three reels is one coin away from being wild. Haven’t tried the “three of the first four” idea, but would probably entertain it…