| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| RTP | 96.5% printed on rules page 5 in-game; a 95.5% build exists at some operators |
| Volatility | “Medium” in the rules text with 4 of 5 bolts on the meter; the tail says treat it as medium-high |
| Max win | “Over 22,000x bet” per the splash screen (21,749x computed); it lives in the free spins |
| Grid | 5×3, 243 ways; top of the paytable is five Caishens at 6x the bet |
| The trigger | 6+ money symbols bank their combined value and fire ONE of two features at random: Free Spins (every wild re-pays the whole bank, no retrigger) or Money Respin (6 sticky respins; green coins repeat the bank, red coins re-count the screen) |
| Jackpots | Mini 25x / Minor 50x / Major 100x / Grand 1,000x; any base-game wild can fire the pick-game at random |
| Buy / ante | Neither exists on this title; bet size is the only lever |
| Bet | A$0.25 to A$250 on the AUD build |
The winning line
Caishen’s Cash pays through one gate: six or more money symbols, whose combined value becomes the bank both features multiply. Free spins re-pay that bank on every wild, up to the advertised 22,000x. No buy, no ante, no feature choice; the play is the 96.5% build check, a rung that funds 400 spins, and a 100x exit.
Step 1 — Read the RTP line on rules page 5 before the first spin
Two builds of this pokie circulate: the 96.5% the game itself prints, and a 95.5% version operators can order in. Page 5 of the in-game rules carries the line “The theoretical RTP of this game is 96.5%”, one tap from the reels.
Action: Open the info screens at whatever venue holds your money, page through to the RTP statement, and confirm 96.5% before the first bet leaves the balance.
Watch for: 95.5%. The missing point is an extra A$1 kept by the house per A$100 cycled, and this title offers nothing to claw it back with: no buy price to compare, no ante to toggle.
Decision branches:
- If the page prints 96.5% → play on.
- If it prints 95.5% → take the kit to a venue running the full build; the ten-second read is worth more than every other decision on this page combined.
Step 2 — Size the rung for a 400-spin drought; the paytable will not carry you
Base pays here are shrapnel. Five Caishens, the best line in the game, return 6x the bet, and the release-era player thread reads the same way: line wins too small to matter, one punter logging 400-plus spins without a single free-spins trigger (per LCB community reviews).
Action: Divide the kit by 400 and snap down to the nearest rung on the ladder: A$100 funds the A$0.25 floor, while the A$2.00 default wants an A$800 stash. Lock that rung for the session.
Watch for: the urge to lift the rung mid-drought. Every number in the machine (coin values, all four jackpots, the 22,000x cap) is a multiple of total bet, so a bigger rung buys the same multiples at double the burn.
Decision branches:
- If the kit cannot fund 400 spins at A$0.25 → give this one a miss; the documented dry stretches eat short money.
- If a six-coin trigger lands inside the 400, move to Step 3, and the drought clock starts fresh at the payout screen.
- If the clock hits 400 without a trigger, the walk-away numbers have spoken, so it is done. No re-load.
Step 3 — Total the bank the moment six coins lock
Six-plus money symbols lock their combined printed value, then the game decides the feature itself. Well, the rules page 3 says it is random, whatever the marketing blurb suggests about choosing (per the game’s own rules pages). Both features multiply that bank, so the round is set before a single free spin or respin gets going.
Action: Read the coin values on screen and add them up in bets before the feature kicks off. The AUD demo showed A$2.24 and A$3.04 coins against a A$2.00 bet, so a floor trigger banks single figures. Double figures mean fat coins landed or the count pushed past six.
Watch for: wilds once free spins begin. Each one re-pays the full bank on reels stripped to the five premiums plus wilds, with no retrigger behind the eight-spin window (a review-desk figure; the rules never print it). In the Money Respin, greens repeat the bank, reds re-count every coin showing, and extra respins land at random until the respins finish or all 15 cells fill.
Decision branches:
- If the bank reads 10x the bet or better, arm the Step 4 exits now. Sure, whichever feature the game lands on has some proper bite.
- If the bank is a floor-value six, book it as base-game noise and do not spend anything extra chasing it.
- If free spins finish without a single wild, the premium line wins are all it delivered. Mark one cold feature against the walk-away pair.
Step 4 — Bank on the jackpot ladder: 25x sustains, 100x closes
The game prices its own outcomes. Any base-game wild can trigger the Jackpot Bonus at random, a match-three coin pick with no skill involved, and its four fixed rungs work as fair yardsticks for every round this pokie can throw up:
| Rung | Pays | The call |
|---|---|---|
| Mini | 25x | Round done; drought clock restarts, same rung |
| Minor | 50x | As Mini, plus the session may no longer close below buy-in |
| Major | 100x | Session over, result banked |
| Grand | 1,000x | A$2,000 at the A$2.00 rung: a motser, banked, session shut, no victory-lap spins |
Action: Write the four calls down before the first spin, then apply them to features, jackpot picks and freak line hits alike. The 22,000x on the splash screen is real and sits behind stacked free-spin wilds on a fat bank. Treat it as the ceiling, not the target.
Watch for: hanging around for the Grand. The pick-game triggers at random off wilds on reels 2, 3 and 4, and no rung, streak or spin count gets it any closer.
Decision branches:
- If any single round pays 100x or better → banked and closed, whatever the drought clock says.
- If a round pays 25x to 99x → restart the drought clock at the same rung; from 50x up, quit the moment the balance sags back to the starting kit.
- If the pick-game lands → take whichever rung it reveals at face value; the coin choices are cosmetic.
The maths behind the gates
The cut is fixed: 96.5% hands back A$96.50 per A$100 cycled; the 95.5% build keeps A$1 more. Structure does the rest of the arguing: a paytable that tops out at 6x cannot sustain a session on its own, so the game’s value delivery is feature-gated through the money bank and the jackpot pick.
Pragmatic publishes no hit rate, no trigger frequency and no deviation figure for this 2019 title, and no community tracker holds a sample. That is why every gate above hangs off a printed number instead of a probability: the 25/50/100/1,000x ladder, the A$0.25 to A$250 bet range, the one documented 400-spin free-spins drought. Where the data ends, the plan stops pretending.
Scaling is linear everywhere: coins, jackpots and the cap all track total bet, so rung selection is survival arithmetic, kit ÷ 400 and nothing else.
The traps: phantom controls and a shrapnel paytable
- Sizing off the base game. The 6x ceiling on line pays means featureless stretches bleed close to raw; budget for the drought, never for line-win recovery.
- Importing the Cash Pots kit. The 2026 sequel carries 100x and 400x buys, a +3x ante and a published 34.96% hit rate. This 2019 game has none of those levers, and betting bigger accelerates nothing except the burn.
- Hunting the “select between” choice. Rules page 3 assigns the feature at random. Every guide preaching “always take the Money Respin” is describing a button that does not exist on the machine.
- Waiting on a retrigger. No retrigger exists in the rules; the eight-spin window is all there is, and nothing in the maths makes a second feature “due”.
- Bumping the rung to force the Jackpot Bonus. It fires at random off any base-game wild and the odds ignore the stake; the Grand pays 1,000 bets whether the rung is A$0.25 or A$250.
The walk-away numbers
The dry 400. Four hundred spins without a six-coin trigger and the session is back at the opening rung. Free-spins droughts that long are seen, mind you; the number is a budget limit, not some promise that a rescue hit is coming.
The cold pair. Two features in a row landing under 10x and the session closes at the next payout screen. It is not a forecast, honestly, just a hard cap on what one sitting burns through chasing floor-value banks.
The break-even floor. Once the first 50x-plus round lands, the session cannot finish below the buy-in. The second the balance hits the starting kit, that is it, pack it in.
The Major bank. One round at 100x or better ends the run. With no buy and no retrigger on this title, well, the only place to push that win is back into more base spins at the same 96.5%.
Same shelf, different tools
- Caishen’s Cash Pots: the 2026 sequel for punters chasing more control, with 100x/400x buys, a +3x ante and a published 34.96% hit rate against a lower 10,000x ceiling.
- 5 Lions Gold: the same 243-ways Chinese family with the meter pushed to five bolts, for sessions where variance is the whole point, sure.
- 8 Dragons: 20 fixed lines, no jackpot game, the steadier grind when the kit starts running thin.
Strategy by Dave Holloway , Floor Veteran. Last updated: 17 Jul 2026. 18+. Gamble responsibly. Gambling Help Online , 1800 858 858 | Lifeline 13 11 14.
Specs
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Provider | Pragmatic Play |
| Released | 2019-05-14 |
| Mechanic | 243 ways; money-symbol features; fixed-jackpot pick game |
| Grid | 5×3 |
| Paylines | 243 ways |
| RTP | 96.5% default (a 95.5% operator build exists) |
| Max win | Over 22,000× total bet (21,749× computed) |
| Volatility | Medium (producer label) with a 4/5 in-game meter; plays medium-high |
| Hit frequency | Not published |
| Jackpots | Mini 25× / Minor 50× / Major 100× / Grand 1000× total bet, fixed |
| Bet range | A$0.25–A$250 (AUD demo config; ladder varies by operator) |
| Bonus buy | None |
| Ante bet | None |
| Theme | Chinese god of wealth (Caishen) |
Symbols & Paytable
| Symbol | 3-of-a-kind | 4-of-a-kind | 5-of-a-kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caishen (god of wealth) | 1.2× | 2× | 6× |
| Boy with fish | 1× | 1.2× | 4× |
| Girl with gold ingot | 0.8× | 1.2× | 3× |
| Maneki-neko cat | 0.6× | 1× | 2.4× |
| Bowl of coins | 0.6× | 0.8× | 2× |
| A, K | 0.48× | 0.6× | 1× |
| Q, J, 10, 9 | 0.32× | 0.48× | 0.8× |
- All values are multiples of total bet; symbols pay left to right on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel.
- Wild: appears on reels 2, 3 and 4 only; substitutes for every paying symbol; has no payout of its own.
- Money symbol (gold coin with red band): lands on all five reels; takes a random value from a predefined set each spin, printed on the coin face.
Game rules
Base game
Caishen’s Cash runs on 243 ways, not fixed paylines. Match symbols across adjacent reels from the left and they pay. The strongest line hit is only 6× total bet. That leaves the gold money symbols doing the heavy lifting, although they need six or more on one spin before either feature can fire.
- 5×3 grid; wins pay left to right on adjacent reels starting from reel 1.
- Only the highest win is paid per way; wins on different ways are added together.
- The wild lands on reels 2, 3 and 4 only and substitutes for every paying symbol.
- Money symbols land on all five reels, each carrying a random value shown on the coin.
- The strongest line hit in the game is 6× total bet, for five Caishens.
Money symbols and the feature trigger
Gold coins can land across the grid on any spin, each showing its own value. They pay nothing by themselves. Six or more on the same spin trigger one of the two money features, with the game making the call at random.
- Each money symbol takes a random value from a predefined set on every spin.
- 6 or more money symbols landing on one spin trigger a feature.
- The game picks at random between the Free Spins feature and the Money Respin feature. The punter gets no say in it, mind you.
- Pragmatic Play’s marketing copy talks about choosing between the two features; the game’s own rules pages, well, define the selection as random.
- The combined value of the triggering coins seeds whichever feature kicks off: banked for the free spins, held on screen for the respins.
Free Spins feature
Free Spins strips out the royals, keeps the premium symbols and turns every wild into another payout of the trigger bank. The value carried by the six-plus triggering coins is locked in from the start. Each wild then pays that full bank again, while still filling in on ordinary ways wins.
- Reels contain only the five premium symbols plus the wild; all royals are removed from the mix.
- The total value of the money symbols that triggered the feature gets banked and displayed throughout the round.
- Every wild that lands pays the full banked value again, simple as that.
- Wilds still substitute for all symbols, so line wins can stack on top of the bank payouts too.
- The feature cannot be retriggered, so once it is done, it is done.
- The in-game rules pages do not state a spin count; BigWinBoard and AskGamblers both report 8 starting spins.
- The advertised ceiling of over 22,000× total bet lands in this round.
Money Respin feature
The other possible result is a sticky respin round in the hold-and-win mould. Triggering coins stay put, the regular symbols vanish and the replacement reels carry only green and red coins. Both use the value already sitting on the grid.
- Line wins from the triggering spin are paid first; regular symbols then clear and the triggering money symbols hold on screen.
- The special reels contain only green and red coins.
- A green coin pays the total value of the money symbols that triggered the feature.
- A red coin pays the combined value of every coin on screen at that moment, gold, green and red included.
- The round starts with 6 respins; more can be awarded at random during the round. There is no fixed hit-and-reset rule.
- The round ends when the respins run out or all 15 positions are filled; the values of everything on screen are then summed and paid as one amount.
Jackpot Bonus game
Four fixed jackpots sit above the reels, separate from both money features. There is no meter to fill and no scatter target to chase. A base-game wild can trigger the pick round at random, so there is no timing trick for a punter to work with.
- Any wild appearing in the base game can randomly trigger the Jackpot Bonus game.
- Pick round: gold coins are revealed until 3 identical jackpot symbols match; that jackpot is awarded.
- Fixed awards: Mini 25×, Minor 50×, Major 100× and Grand 1000× total bet.
- No trigger rate is published, and nothing a punter does changes it; bet size scales the cash value of the award and nothing else.
Max-win cap
The game’s splash screen carries the advertised ceiling rather than a separate specification page.
- The splash screen reckons wins of over 22,000× total bet are on offer; the maths actually lands at a 21,749× maximum.
- The top end sits inside the Free Spins feature, where a big banked value can keep paying out again and again.
- No published probability shows how often it can happen.
Screenshots
Base game at the A$2 demo bet. The header shows the fixed jackpot ladder (Mini 25×, Minor 50×, Major 100×, Grand 1000× total bet), and a money symbol on reel 4 carries a 7.52× value.
A wild on reel 2 completes a three-symbol way of 9s paying 0.32× the bet, exactly the paytable figure, while four money symbols on reels 4-5 hold values from 0.32× to 2.72× of the bet.
Page 1 of the in-game rules: the symbol ladder with Caishen on top (1.2×, 2× and 6× the bet for 3, 4 and 5 of a kind), the royals below, the 243-ways diagram and the highest-win-per-way rule.
Mechanic breakdown
The producer calls Caishen’s Cash medium, while the in-game meter sits at 4 of 5. Well, in actual play it feels more like medium-high. Five Caishens only return 6× total bet, so the usual ways wins are not carrying the session on their own. The proper money is tucked behind the random features. No base-versus-feature split is published, mind you, but the rules pages make the setup pretty clear. Free Spins comes down to the opening bank. Six skinny coins can leave a wild-heavy round limping along, while a chunky trigger turns every wild into another decent chance. Once the round kicks off, the mechanic is locked in. The trigger value decides whether you get a quiet result or a proper motser.
Money Respin is a lot more back-loaded, honestly. Green coins keep the trigger bank rolling, while red coins scoop the combined value of every coin sitting on screen. A red coin early on a bare grid might not do much. Drop the same red late with the board loaded and that is where the serious money appears. The four fixed jackpots add another random payout route, ranging from 25× to 1000× total bet and triggering from base-game wilds without a meter or published rate. That setup explains the strange volatility split: medium on the producer label, 4 of 5 on the in-game meter and medium-high once the bankroll takes a hit. Player reports from the release period include a 400-spin stretch without a free-spins trigger. Those dry runs can sting.
Game series
Caishen turns up across several titles in the Pragmatic Play catalogue, including Caishen’s Gold and the 2026 sequel to this 2019 release. Review sites often mash their figures together, which can get a bit messy.
| Title | Released | Core mechanic | Max win | Buy / ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caishen’s Cash (this game) | 2019-05-14 | Banked-wild free spins, sticky money respins, four fixed jackpots | Over 22,000× | None |
| Caishen’s Cash Pots | 2026-06-04 | Cash Collect: money symbols paid by a reel-5 Collect symbol, four scatter pots | 10,000× | 100× / 400× buys; +3× ante |
The sequel gives the punter more control with a published 34.96% hit frequency, buyable bonuses and an ante toggle. The 2019 game keeps the random-or-nothing feature triggers but holds the higher ceiling. That 94.52% RTP tier and 10,000× cap? They belong to the sequel, not Caishen’s Cash. Outside the Caishen range, 5 Lions Gold is the closest 243-ways match in the same catalogue. It follows the same Chinese-premium reel style, just with tougher swings.
AU availability
Pragmatic Play does not hold an Australian licence. Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, no online pokie provider does, so AU players reach this catalogue through offshore-licensed casinos. No operator was individually checked as running Caishen’s Cash for this review. Released in 2019 and distributed to 76 countries, the game sits in the usual Pragmatic Play package often found at Stake, BC.Game, Joe Fortune, Ricky Casino and Casinonic. It is likely available, but check the lobby before you load funds.
Before dropping cash into whichever AU-facing casino has it, check the live RTP. A 95.5% build sits alongside the default 96.5%, and page 5 of the in-game rules shows the version currently active. A quick look at the info panel tells you which cut the operator is using.
Demo notes
Pragmatic Play’s own gateway runs a free demo with a synthetic A$100,000 balance and a default A$2 bet. The build uses the default 96.5% maths. Page 5 of the rules shows the RTP, while the same info button opens the full paytable, so the figures in this review can be checked in demo mode. The AUD ladder runs A$0.25-A$250, although operators can configure a different range. There is no bonus buy here. To see either feature, you have to spin for it, whether the bankroll is real or not.
FAQ
Q: Is Caishen’s Cash the same game as Caishen’s Cash Pots?
A: No. Caishen’s Cash is the 2019 original, with random features and four fixed jackpots. Caishen’s Cash Pots is the 2026 Cash Collect sequel, carrying bonus buys and a 10,000× cap. The name is shared; the maths is not.
Q: Can you choose between the free spins and the money respins?
A: Straight up, no. The game’s own rules say six or more money symbols trigger a random feature. The marketing makes it sound like the punter gets to choose the feature. They don’t. The game assigns it randomly.
Q: How many free spins does the feature award?
A: The in-game rules do not print a count. BigWinBoard and AskGamblers both report 8 starting spins. Retriggers are explicitly ruled out, so those opening spins are the full window.
Q: What RTP is my casino actually running?
A: The default is 96.5%, with a 95.5% operator build also in circulation. The live figure appears on page 5 of the in-game rules. Check it before a deposit goes in.
Q: Is there a bonus buy on Caishen’s Cash?
A: No. There is no buy and no ante bet, just the straight 2019 grind. Raising the stake does not speed up a trigger; it only scales the bleed. Punters wanting a buy lever should look at the sequel.
Last updated: 17 Jul 2026
Reviewed by Mark Henderson, Senior Slots Analyst
Demo embed · played in fun-money mode. No real-money play here.