Pelican Payday is another slot in the new Pop range from Pragmatic Play. This means I, along with Rod McReel, get to bring you the review in full cinematic glory through poorly arranged words. Join us as we get up close and personal with this fishing slot to fully understand how it plays, performs, and pays out. Included in this review are the free demo of the game and the top casinos where you can play this slot for real money.
With the Intro finishing quicker than expected, I leave you with a pelican joke.
I say, I say, I say,
What ride does the Pelican go on in the park?
The Seashore!
[♪ Ba Dum Tsss ♪]
…and on that award-winning bombshell, we now present the Pelican Payday slot review.


Well, hello there, fishin’ fans, it’s me, Rod McReel, back with another fishing slot. This one’s called Pelican Payday by Pragmatic Play. This is part of their Pop series, which means it only plays with three reels, kind of like those old slot machines you used to get way back when. To see what features and mechanics this game plays with, join me as I reel it in and play for real money.
The Pelican Payday slot RTP is 96.59% and performs with a low volatility setting, which should present a higher ratio of low wins to losses. It’s a setting many like because of frequent wins; however, making gains can be tricky, as win values are often less than the cost of the spins being played. Pelican Payday is part of the Pop range, so it plays on a three-reel grid with six rows, offering ten paylines to win from. The highest win is 5,000x the value of your wager. With this slot, you can bet between $0.10 and $250 per spin. Now, the max bet can be adjusted and lowered by the casinos, but if you can spin this amount, the jackpot becomes $1,250,000! It’s not exactly good value for money.
The game looks small, but don’t think that it doesn’t have much to offer, because when you look at the features and bonuses, it…, ah, well, it would appear it doesn’t have much to offer besides Money and Collect symbols, Free Spins, and our instant prize Jackpots. Oh, and no, there aren’t even any Buy Features or Ante Bets.
The game isn’t great, though its low volatility will likely have players clamoring to play it. Pragmatic Play has done versions of this Pop range before, through side projects like Fat Panda. Personally, I think they need to think more outside the box, because if you’re going to strip games down to three reels and still make them uneventful, then you’re not even getting the very basics right in the most basic of forms. What you get with Pelican Payday is a game that presents nothing new; it has no new ideas or innovative features. It’s definitely not the Catch of the Day.
Looks like we’ve got a spot of sea fishing to do, as Pelican Payday cast us out onto the ocean waters. Right, I best grab my pole with both hands, as it could get quite rough, despite the game having low volatility. I’ll start playing with bets set to $2 per spin. Success from the off, with a $3 win landing from the first spin. After a bit of a lull, the wins drop on spin five, $1, and spin seven, $1.20, followed by a larger $12, thanks to the Collect and two Money symbols. Having nearly broken even after playing ten spins, I raise my stake to $3 per spin.
From the next ten spins, not one win or feature lands; the hit rate was drastically worse. However, I see this as being the perfect opportunity to capitalize on chance; with no wins in ten, surely a win has to come within the next ten. So, I raise the stakes to $4 per spin.
There we have it, fishin’ fans, the Collect symbol scoops up $26 worth of Money symbols. Three spins later, a win of $10, followed by $8, which brings this round of spins to an end. For a low-volatility game, it sure doesn’t follow normal procedure, especially when playing ten spins and not landing a single catch. What I will say is that despite the basic gameplay, I did like the fact that payouts increased in value alongside my stake increase, rather than paying out small wins.
Karolis Matulis is a Senior Editor at Casinos.com with more than 6 years of experience in the online gambling industry. Karolis has written and edited dozens of slot and casino reviews and has played and tested thousands of online slot games. So if there's a new slot title coming out soon, you'd better know it – Karolis has already tried it.
Read Full BioPragmatic Play is the slot provider and developer behind the game release, and if the name sounds familiar, it’s because they are the same studio that released the big games like Big Bass Bonanza, The Dog House Megaways, and Release the Kraken 2.
Yes. The free demo of this game is available to play for all members of our site. Sign up and create an account for free to access all games via our reviews. You can also download the free mobile app to enjoy all five thousand games.
Pragmatic Play is in the top three when it comes to the most prolific software developer. As such, casinos love them, and hundreds of sites out there support their slots. If you want to play for real money, we can guide you to such platforms.
Yes. The game does come with a special free spins bonus round that activates upon landing three bonus scatter symbols. You will play the bonus with eight free spins, but you can win more when you land three scatters during play.
The RTP (Return to Player) rating for this game is 96.59%, which is the average score for an online slot machine. This score or rating is the payback probability based on funds deposited and spins played. However, this rating is based on millions of spins played.
Pragmatic Play released this slot on October 6, 2026. For more new slot releases, check out our reviews for Forever Split Megaways, Big Bass Vegas 1000, and Coven Rising. Enjoy the free demos and download the free app for more game choices.
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