Dual-Purpose Book Symbol
The golden Book serves as both Wild and Scatter simultaneously. As a Wild, it substitutes for all standard symbols to complete winning combinations. As a Scatter, landing three or more anywhere triggers the Free Games feature with expanding symbols.
10 Free Games with Expanding Symbols
Three or more Book Scatters award 10 free spins. Before the feature begins, one symbol is randomly selected to expand vertically across entire reels when enough appear to form a win. Expanded symbols pay in adjacent and non-adjacent positions on active paylines.
Bonus Pop Buy Feature
Skip the wait and purchase direct entry to Free Games. Choose which symbol becomes the expanding symbol before the feature starts. Cost varies by bet size and symbol selection. Bonus Pop wins cannot be gambled in the Risk Game.
Risk Game Double-Up
After any base game win, gamble your payout by beating the dealer's card. Choose from four face-down cards. Win doubles your stake, draw lets you try again, lose forfeits the lot. Up to 10 consecutive gambles possible with 84% average RTP when risking on every dealer card.
How Book of Santa Actually Plays
Book of Santa uses a straightforward 5-reel, 3-row layout with 10 fixed paylines running left to right. Wins require matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost position, except for the Book Scatter which pays anywhere.
The symbol hierarchy puts Santa Claus at the top, paying 50x your line bet for five-of-a-kind, followed by the Golden Bell and Gold Star at mid-tier values. Lower-paying symbols are the classic card ranks (A, K, Q, J, 10) rendered in festive colours with gold outlines.
What sets this pokie apart from generic Christmas slots is the expanding symbol mechanic during Free Games. Once a symbol is selected to expand, it doesn't need to land adjacently—if you get enough anywhere on the reels to form a winning combination count, they'll expand to fill their entire reels and pay across all enabled paylines. This creates potential for full-screen symbol coverage on lucky spins.
The dual Wild+Scatter Book is crucial. In the base game, it substitutes like any Wild to help form wins. But during Free Games, it can't substitute for the chosen expanding symbol, maintaining balance in the bonus round. Three Books anywhere trigger the feature and also award a scatter payout of 0.20x, 2x, or 20x your total bet for three, four, or five respectively.
Strategic Considerations for Australian Players
The 96.05% base RTP positions Book of Santa in the fair-to-good range for online pokies. However, if you activate Bonus Pop feature, RTP drops to between 94.73% and 95.98% depending on which symbol you select to expand. High-value symbols cost more but offer better winning potential when they expand.
The Risk Game gamble feature has an average 84% RTP if you gamble regardless of the dealer's card. Smart players check the dealer's upcard first: with a 2 showing, your RTP jumps to 162%, while facing an Ace drops it to just 42%. The sweet spot is gambling when the dealer shows 8 or lower, declining when they show 9 or higher.
Volatility isn't explicitly stated by Endorphina, but the game behaviour suggests medium variance. Base game hits occur regularly with modest payouts, while the expanding symbols feature can deliver significant multiples when high-value symbols are chosen and expand across multiple reels simultaneously.
Bet sizing ranges from $0.15 AUD equivalent (€0.10) up to around $68 AUD (€45), making this accessible for casual punters and suitable for mid-stakes players. The 10 fixed paylines mean your total bet is always bet-per-line multiplied by 10.
Symbol Payouts at Base Bet
- Santa Claus: €50.00 for 5-of-a-kind, €10.00 for 4, €1.00 for 3, €0.10 for 2
- Golden Bell: €20.00 for 5, €4.00 for 4, €0.40 for 3, €0.05 for 2
- Gold Star & Sleigh: €7.50 for 5, €1.00 for 4, €0.30 for 3, €0.05 for 2
- Letter A & K: €1.50 for 5, €0.40 for 4, €0.05 for 3
- Letter Q, J & Number 10: €1.00 for 5, €0.25 for 4, €0.05 for 3
- Book (Scatter+Wild): €20.00 scatter pay for 5, €2.00 for 4, €0.20 for 3 (also substitutes as Wild)
All values shown are for €0.10 total bet with 10 paylines active. Payouts scale proportionally with bet size.
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