Released around a decade ago and based on a film that came out in the year 2000, the Gladiator casino slot from Playtech game remains popular thanks to its progressive jackpot, having paid out millions of dollars to lucky film fans.
With a bit more risk than a standard video slot, but less than progressive slots with jackpots in the tens of millions, Gladiator slots online strike a balance between medium and high volatility which many players seem to enjoy.
The Best Casinos to Play Gladiator Slot
- Reputation
- A site’s reputation reflects the relationship it has with its players. That’s why we speak with gamblers and industry experts to uncover every detail in our reviews.
- Safety and Security
- It takes trust to deposit your real money online and we want you to know, if we trust a partner, so can you. This is why all sites must be legitimately licensed and regulated, as well as keeping your data safe with the best encryption technology.
- Banking and Payments
- A necessity of all online gambling sites is a range of secure banking options. From there, it’s imperative all sites provide high payout percentages with fast withdrawals and a fair RTP.
- Bonuses & Promotions
- All our sites are expected to provide new players with a welcome bonus, as well as rewarding loyal players with bankroll boosting promotions. We also check for any unfair T&Cs, meaning you can bet with confidence.
- Customer Support
- Top sites will offer extensive customer support, which is why we review this rigorously. While we always encourage our users to get in touch, we understand the importance of having your questions answered efficiently and by a real person.
- Compatibility
- Whether you're playing online from your computer or mobile device or tablet, our top recommendations can match your lifestyle. A top online casino needs to be compatible with multiple devices, so you have the freedom to play wherever and however you want.
- Online Experience
- Whether through the range of games or sports to bet on, the option to play for free or even choosing between software providers, players must be provided with options when gambling online. Aside from this, we require all partners to meet a high standard with the graphics of their games and localization to accommodate for players from around the world.
- High payout percentage
- Live dealers
- Large range of games
- Multiple country restrictions
- High payouts
- Large variety of slots and table games
- Multiple currency options
- Welcome bonus largely caters to slots players
How to Play Gladiator Slot Machine Online
With 3 rows, 5 reels, 25 paylines and a duo of enjoyable bonus rounds, Gladiator slots play is about as simple as it gets. It's the addition of a strong progressive jackpot however, along with a couple of quirks that we'll get to below, that's really keeping the game alive in 2020.
Names like Commodus and Lucilla – by far the most lucrative symbols – along with Gracchus, Juba and Proximo will have been long forgotten by fans of the Russell Crowe film. Animations of these characters sit alongside A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9 on the reels, making for quite a large number of symbols when you add in the helmet Wild and Coliseum Scatter.
Basic Info
Layout
Settings
Getting started with a Gladiator slot game is really simple – just choose the number of paylines you want to cover and adjust your total line bet, then check your total bet before you hit Spin to set the reels moving.
With bets ranging from $0.25 to $25, we'd classify this as being suitable for «medium rollers» as it has enough variety to suit all players besides those who want to bet hundreds per spin or can only afford penny slots.
How to Win on Gladiator Slot Machine
It goes without saying that the best way to win big when using a Gladiator slot machine is to collect 9 golden helmets to trigger a progressive jackpot payout. Unfortunately, whether or not you're able to do that depends entirely on luck; there's no way to guarantee a win, progressive or otherwise, when using a slot machine.
In terms of maximizing wins during standard play, we'd advise covering as many paylines as you can reasonably afford. Fail to do so and you risk missing out on big payouts purely because you haven't covered the payline that it sits on. The low minimum bets of the machine mean that it's possible to do this fairly cheaply.
Bonus rounds are always helpful for landing wins, and Gladiator slots have a couple that you might encounter. It's impossible to predict when they will appear but, if you're able to stick around until one does, it's sure to be a big help.
Gladiator Slot Pay Table & Paylines
| Basic Info | 2 Symbols | 3 Symbols | 4 Symbols | 5 Symbols |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Commodus
|
8 | 75 | 500 | 5 000 |
|
Lucilla
|
7 | 50 | 250 | 1 000 |
|
Gracchus
|
- | 25 | 75 | 350 |
|
Juba
|
- | 20 | 60 | 250 |
|
Proximo
|
- | 20 | 60 | 250 |
|
Ace
|
- | 15 | 50 | 200 |
|
King
|
- | 15 | 50 | 200 |
|
Queen
|
- | 10 | 40 | 120 |
|
Jack
|
- | 10 | 40 | 120 |
|
10
|
- | 8 | 20 | 75 |
|
9
|
- | 8 | 20 | 75 |
Appears on reels 2, 3 and 4 substitutes for all symbols except scatter
x3 or more anywhere on screen triggers the Coliseum Bonus
RTP & Volatility in Gladiator Slot
Standing at just over 91%, Gladiator's RTP (Return to Player) Percentage is on the low side; many modern video slots have an RTP of 96% or higher. The simple reason for this is that a progressive jackpot always drags this figure down, so the Gladiator slot game does pretty well to keep it above 90.
It's often the case that a game with an RTP on the lower side has higher volatility. If the concept of volatility is confusing, you can just substitute the word risk for it. It makes sense that Gladiator would be a riskier slot since, because of that progressive jackpot, the game can't «afford» to pay out as often during standard play.
However, as its jackpot is lower than other progressive titles, it's not as volatile as, say, Mega Moolah. This makes the game a much more palatable option to players who like to experience plenty of wins during standard play while they chase the big money, which is a key factor in our Gladiator slot review.
How Does Gladiator's Winnings Compare to Other Slot Games?
Starting at $100,000, Gladiator's progressive jackpot doesn't immediately sound all that impressive. In reality, the slot regularly pays out at close to $1 million and previously had a single payout of more than $2.5 million. The typical Gladiator real money jackpot may be lower than that of games like Mega Moolah, but this is reflected in the game's level of risk.
Gladiator Slot Bonuses
Gladiator has two different bonus features – the Coliseum Bonus and the Gladiator Bonus. The latter of these is likely to be of particular interest because it's linked to the game's progressive jackpot.
Triggered by Gladiator helmets on reels 2, 3 and 4, this bonus round sees players picking 9 random helmets to determine the value of their prize. Pick 9 gold helmets (but not if the feature is triggered during free games!) and you'll be taking home the game's progressive jackpot.
The Coliseum Bonus is a more straightforward round of free spins, but also has a «pick 'em» element – players choose from different stones to determine the number of free games they get, their multiplier and additional scatter symbols. If Commodus appears on reel 3 during the round then you'll win 3 extra free spins.
For a progressive title, Gladiator slots online actually have some very rewarding bonus features. Of course, as always, it is possible to pick poorly or land few wins due to bad luck. For the most part, however, these bonus features are a real boon.
Free Online Gladiator Slot Game
Despite having a progressive jackpot, it is possible to play free Gladiator slots. That's unusual because most progressive titles, which add a small percentage of every bet made on the machine to a jackpot that grows until it's randomly triggered, don't allow you to partake in practice play.
The free version of Gladiator works in exactly the same way as the paid version, except for the fact that «JACKPOT Not available» appears in the top right-hand corner of the screen. That makes perfect sense, since free players aren't contributing to the jackpot. Playing free slots is useful because it will give you an idea of what level you can realistically afford to bet at if you decide to move from free Gladiator slots to real money play.
Gladiator Mobile Slots
Mobile support for Gladiator was added back in 2012, and the slot is now available via both dedicated apps and responsive mobile casino sites. The game's animations and sounds are, because of its age, fairly simple and that translates well to the smaller screen size of iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
Using a Gladiator casino slot on mobile may take a little bit of getting used to but, with the exception of the «pick 'em» element of its bonus features, there's not much to worry about besides hitting Spin after you've set the level you want to bet at.
The game's big progressive jackpot is also available on smartphones or tablets– you can even keep track of the value of the game's jackpot on mobile devices just like you can on laptops and desktops.
Other Gladiator Slots to Play Online
Gladiator certainly isn't the only slot out there to adopt the theme of Ancient Rome, but it's undoubtedly one of the best and offers some of the biggest payouts of any Roman slot on the market in 2020.
Gladiator: Road to Rome: New Game, bigger bets, same progressive jackpot!
Movie and TV themed slots are always extremely popular, both on gambling floors in Las Vegas and on the web, so there's a good chance that you'll enjoy those too if you're a fan of this game.
Microgaming, 88.12%
Konami, 96.1%
Aristocrat, 95%
PartyGaming, 94.5%
IGT, 92.5-96.05%
Gladiator Online Review
Slots titles with basic graphics and themes based on movies that are almost two decades old don't remain popular without some good reasons.
Sure enough, as we've seen in this Gladiator slow review, the pairing of two slick bonus features with a progressive jackpot, one that's just high enough to be life-changing without feeling like you're putting your bankroll at huge risk, is very effective.
The graphics and sounds may be showing their age, with even Gladiator: Road To Rome offering only a slight upgrade, but they do the job well enough. In fact, that could even be taken as an advantage if you're playing on mobile.
There are flashier games out there, with fancy new mechanics, and there are titles with much larger jackpots on the market in 2020. Even so, because it does so many things so effectively, there's not a doubt in our minds that if the Gladiator slot machine was competing in the arena we'd give it a big thumbs up.
For Gladiator slot, we give this game a rating of 9/10. To learn more about our assessment and grading of casinos and games, check out our How We Rate page. We work closely with the independent regulatory bodies below to ensure every player on our site has a secure and reliable experience.
-
User Experience
-
-
Features and Jackpots
-
-
Game Theme and Symbols
-
-
Settings
-
-
Payouts
-
-
Overall Rating
-
Gladiator Slot Reviews by Players
We want your thoughts! Share your experience on Gladiator slots with other casino players online. Use the box below to discuss your likes, dislikes and other thoughts on the Gladiator game:
- Large variety of games
- High payout percentage
FAQs
-
How to win Gladiator slot machine?
Like all other slot machines, Gladiator slots is a game of chance. With that said, it's always advisable to play as many paylines as you can reasonably afford so you don't miss out on any wins that should have been yours. Plus, it's always helpful if you can play for long enough to encounter a bonus round before you cash out.
-
Where can I play Gladiator slots online?
If you're looking to play Gladiator slots online, we'd highly recommend that you stick with one of the sites we recommend on this page; they all offer a great playing experience, lucrative bonuses and straightforward payouts.
-
How many Gladiator slots are there?
At the time of writing, there are just two Gladiator slots available online. Unless a sequel to the movie appears, which we think is unlikely given the age of the first film, these are probably the only Gladiator online slots we'll ever see. If you're a big fan of this game, there are other Roman themed slots (listed further up this page) available that you might enjoy. Of course, it's worth pointing out that it's very unlikely any of them will have grand prizes that can match Gladiator's progressive jackpot.
-
Can I use cheats on Gladiator slots?
The simple answer to this question is no. Online slots producers design their games to be «unhackable» and iron out any bugs that appear very quickly because, with real money on the line, the stakes here are just so high.
-
Is Gladiator safe to play online?
The only time it's unsafe to play slots like Gladiator is if you're using a casino site that's fraudulent or doesn't take the proper precautions to keep its players' information safe. Be sure to only visit our recommended casino sites which have been tested for your safety and security.