Rakin’ Bacon Slot Review: The AGS Coin Feature Family

The reason Rakin’ Bacon caught on is the same reason most modern coin-collect games spread quickly through casinos: the feature is easy to understand and the tension builds one respin at a time. Players watch gold coins land, lock and refill the reset counter, and the format keeps a jackpot dangling in view the entire time. The pig mascot, the bright red and gold color scheme, and the coin-shower animations gave AGS a recognizable brand that it later extended with follow-up cabinets and sequels. If you want to browse the wider catalog of slot guides and reviews on this site, you can start from the BestSlotsUSA home page and work outward to individual games.

This review covers two members of the family, the original Rakin’ Bacon and the later Rakin’ Bacon Deluxe. It documents what is verifiable about each, flags every specification that the manufacturer has not published, and is direct about where these games can and cannot be played. Rakin’ Bacon built its reputation in physical casinos first, and its presence in regulated United States online lobbies is limited, so the sections below separate confirmed land-based play from any online availability rather than presenting the whole family as a click-to-play online slot.

Quick-view specifications: Rakin’ Bacon

The figures below describe the digital data record for the flagship Rakin’ Bacon title. Land-based cabinet math can be configured differently by the operator, so treat these as the published reference numbers rather than a guarantee of what a specific machine on a specific floor is set to.

The 95.89 percent figure is a moderate return for a jackpot-style slot and reflects that some of the theoretical payout is diverted into the progressive prizes rather than the base game. If the idea of return-to-player math is new to you, the RTP guide explains how that percentage works over the long run and why no single session should be expected to match it.

Who makes Rakin’ Bacon

Rakin’ Bacon is an AGS game. AGS is a Las Vegas-based supplier that designs slot machines, table-game products, and interactive content for casinos, and it trades under the corporate name PlayAGS. The company is known in the Asian-prosperity slot category for a run of coin-collect and fortune-themed titles, and Rakin’ Bacon is one of its most recognizable brands in that lineup. Naming the correct developer matters here because the fortune-pig concept and the coin-shower presentation are easy to attribute to the wrong studio, and this game is not an Ainsworth product despite occasionally being credited that way. Ainsworth Game Technology is a separate manufacturer, and readers should not treat the two as interchangeable when tracking down where a machine or an online version came from.

The studio’s identity is worth understanding because it explains the game’s feel. AGS designs specifically for the casino floor first, tuning its games for the tension and pacing that work in a physical cabinet, and Rakin’ Bacon reflects that lineage in its deliberate base game and its feature-forward payout structure. To read more about the developer’s wider catalog and approach, the AGS software page collects the studio’s profile in one place.

Version comparison table

Both games in the family are AGS coin-collect slots. The table lays out what is verifiable side by side. Where the manufacturer has not published a number, the cell reads “Not published” rather than carrying an estimate.

Game overview and how it plays

Rakin’ Bacon runs on a 5 reel, 3 row grid with 243 ways to win, which means wins are formed by matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left rather than along fixed paylines. Any combination of the same symbol landing on consecutive reels counts, so a single spin can pay several ways at once. The base game is deliberately clean, with a stack of Asian-fortune icons, high-value character symbols and lower-value card ranks dressed in gold and red.

The heart of the game is not the base spins but the coin feature. AGS built Rakin’ Bacon around a hold-and-spin mechanic, the same family of feature that powers many of the most popular coin-collect machines on the modern casino floor. You can read a broader explainer of that format on the hold-and-win slots overview, which describes why the lock-and-respin loop has become one of the dominant slot mechanics of the last decade. In Rakin’ Bacon the pig and the gold coins are the stars of that loop, and the base spins mostly exist to feed you into it.

Because it is a high-volatility game, sessions tend to swing. Long stretches of small base-game returns are punctuated by the bigger moments that come from the coin feature and the free spins. That profile suits players who are chasing a large single hit and are comfortable with a bankroll that can drift down between features. If you prefer steadier, smaller wins, the volatility guide walks through why a game like this behaves the way it does and how to match variance to your own budget and patience.

Symbols and what they pay

Rakin’ Bacon uses a layered symbol set typical of the Asian-prosperity genre. The premium symbols are the fortune pig and a group of themed high-value icons such as gold ingots, coins, and lucky ornaments, while the lower tier uses stylized playing-card ranks. Exact per-symbol payout values are configured in the paytable on each machine and are not published as a fixed public schedule, so this review does not assign specific coin values to individual symbols.

Three symbol roles matter most:

• The wild substitutes for standard paying symbols to help complete winning combinations across the 243 ways.
• The scatter is the free-spins trigger and pays regardless of position on the reels.
• The gold coin is the special feature symbol that drives the hold-and-spin round and carries the credit values and jackpot markers that the coin feature collects.

Bonus-symbol cross-check across the family

Both Rakin’ Bacon and Rakin’ Bacon Deluxe are built on the same feature architecture, so at a conceptual level they share the same two bonus-driving symbols: a scatter that awards free spins and a gold coin that powers the hold-and-spin round. The families are not identical, however. Deluxe is a newer cabinet that expands the coin and jackpot side of the game, so the coin symbol carries a wider range of values and the collection round is richer than in the original. AGS has not published a symbol-by-symbol art and value chart for either game, so this review states the shared roles that are verifiable and does not claim that every coin value or scatter payout is pixel-for-pixel the same between the two versions. Where a spec is not published, it is left as such rather than guessed.

How to trigger the bonus

There are two bonus paths in Rakin’ Bacon, and they are triggered separately. The free spins round is awarded by landing the scatter symbol, with the standard requirement being three or more scatters in view on a single spin. The coin hold-and-spin round is awarded by landing a qualifying number of gold coin symbols across the reels on a base spin, which starts the lock-and-respin sequence. Because the coin feature is the signature part of the game, it is the outcome most players are chasing when they sit down at the machine. AGS has not published the exact minimum coin count as a fixed public figure for every configuration, so the safe description is that a screen of gold coins reaching the game’s trigger threshold starts the round.

How the bonus works

Once the coin feature begins, Rakin’ Bacon plays the way most hold-and-win games do. The gold coins that triggered the round lock in place, and you are given a set number of respins, commonly three. Every time a new coin lands it locks and the respin counter resets to its starting value, so a steady drip of coins keeps the round alive. The round ends when you use up the respins without landing a new coin, and it pays out the total of all the coin values that were collected during the sequence. Individual coins carry credit values, and some carry jackpot markers, so filling the screen with coins is how the biggest results in this game are built.

The progressive jackpots are attached to this coin round. Rather than being won on a random base spin, the top prizes in Rakin’ Bacon are tied to collecting the right coins during the hold-and-spin sequence, which is why the feature is the focus of the game. AGS has not published a fixed public schedule naming and valuing each jackpot tier for every install, so this review describes the mechanism, that the jackpots are earned through the coin feature, without inventing specific tier names or dollar values.

The free spins round is the second feature and behaves as a more traditional bonus. Landing the scatters awards a batch of free spins, and in the original Rakin’ Bacon the free-spins entry can include a selection element where the player chooses between a spins-and-multiplier profile before the round begins. Wilds and the standard symbol set carry through the free spins, and additional scatters can extend the round. The two features together, the coin hold-and-spin for the jackpots and the scatter-driven free spins for the multiplied line pays, are what give the game its high-variance profile.

It helps to understand why the two features feel so different. The free spins round produces the more frequent, moderate wins, because it multiplies ordinary line pays across a set of extra spins and resolves quickly. The coin hold-and-spin round is where the outsized results live, because it is the only path to the progressive jackpots and its payout scales directly with how many coins you can lock before the respins run out. A round that collects two or three coins ends modestly, while a round that keeps refilling the respin counter can snowball into the game’s headline win. That gap between a typical feature and a great one is the practical meaning of a high volatility rating, and it is why bankroll discipline matters more on a game built this way.

How Rakin’ Bacon compares in the coin-collect genre

Rakin’ Bacon sits in one of the most crowded and competitive categories in modern slots, the coin-collect or hold-and-win format. The mechanic became a floor standard because it converts a familiar idea, locking symbols and respinning for more, into a jackpot chase that players can follow at a glance. Rakin’ Bacon’s contribution is its branding rather than a reinvention of the format: the fortune pig, the gold-and-red palette, and the coin-shower animation give AGS a recognizable identity in a field full of similar coin games. The 243-ways base game is standard for the category, and the pairing of a scatter free-spins round with the coin feature is a common two-track structure that lets the game offer both frequent smaller wins and rare large ones.

For a player deciding whether this game fits, the key questions are the same ones that apply across the genre. The return to player on the published version is 95.89 percent, which is on the moderate side and reflects the jackpot funding built into the math. The volatility is high, so the experience rewards patience and a bankroll that can absorb dry spells. And the top-end outcome depends almost entirely on the coin feature, so the game is best suited to players who enjoy the build of a hold-and-spin round rather than those who want steady base-game payouts. If you are still choosing between styles of slot, the how to play guide lays out the basics of reels, ways, and features that apply to Rakin’ Bacon and to the wider category it belongs to.

Version by version

Rakin’ Bacon

The original Rakin’ Bacon is the title that established the brand. Its published digital record dates to 2016, it runs on a 5 reel and 3 row layout with 243 ways to win, and it is listed with a return to player of 95.89 percent and a high volatility rating. The game pairs a scatter-triggered free spins round with the gold-coin hold-and-spin feature that carries the progressive jackpots, and the bet range on the published digital version runs from 0.88 up to 176 per spin. The maximum win is not published as a fixed number because so much of the game’s top-end payout is determined by how the coin feature and jackpots resolve, so this review leaves that figure blank rather than assign a multiplier the manufacturer has not stated.

In the regulated United States market, Rakin’ Bacon is best understood as a land-based game. Catalog checks of licensed online casinos did not confirm the title live in regulated US online lobbies at the time of writing, and it was not found among the games scanned at major New Jersey operators. Players who want to experience the original should expect to find it on a physical casino floor rather than as a real-money click-to-play title inside a regulated US app. Any free-play or social version that circulates online should not be confused with a regulated real-money release. Because availability can change as studios expand their online distribution, the honest position is that online play is not confirmed today, and this review labels it accordingly rather than presenting the game as broadly available online.

Rakin’ Bacon Deluxe

Rakin’ Bacon Deluxe is the follow-up that AGS built to extend the brand after the original became a floor staple. It keeps the fortune-pig theme and the coin-collect identity, and it is designed to deliver a richer version of the same hold-and-spin round, with an expanded coin and jackpot feature presented on a newer cabinet. The intent of a “Deluxe” release in this genre is to give returning players more of what made the first game work, typically more coins in play, a more elaborate collection sequence, and bigger feature moments, while keeping the core loop familiar.

AGS has not published a public technical sheet for Rakin’ Bacon Deluxe covering its return to player, its exact reel and ways configuration, or a stated maximum win, so those cells are marked “Not published” throughout this review rather than filled with numbers borrowed from the original. Like the flagship, Deluxe is a land-based product in the United States, and this review does not present it as a regulated US online title. If you encounter Deluxe, expect it on a physical casino floor, and treat any specification you see quoted elsewhere with caution unless it comes directly from the manufacturer, because the values for the original and the sequel are not interchangeable.

Mobile play

Because the family is primarily a land-based product, there is no verified regulated US mobile release of Rakin’ Bacon to review. Where AGS interactive content does appear inside a licensed operator’s app, it is built to run in a mobile browser or native app on modern phones and tablets, with the coin feature and free spins playing the same way they do on a larger screen. For general guidance on how regulated slots perform on phones, including screen orientation and data use, see the mobile slots hub, and always confirm that a specific title is present in your operator’s mobile lobby before expecting to play it on the go.

Where to play

Anyone looking to play AGS slots or any other studio for real money in a regulated US state should start from a licensed operator rather than an unregulated site. The legal US casino sites directory lists operators that hold state licenses and run under regulatory oversight, which is the baseline for fair play and for actually being paid on a win. If you are weighing real-money play in general, the real money slots guide covers deposits, withdrawals, and what to check before you fund an account. For the fortune-and-fortune-pig theme that Rakin’ Bacon belongs to, the Chinese-themed slots collection groups similar prosperity-styled games in one place.

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