Last updated: May 2026. Walkthrough written for first-time players landing on Buffalo Blitz without any prior Playtech experience.
If this is your first time loading Buffalo Blitz, the screen looks busier than the game actually plays. Six reels (not five), grass swaying in the wind, painted American buttes in the background, a herd of bison thundering across the title screen, and the audio sitting on a low drone of hooves and wind. Underneath all of that is a clean ways-to-win engine plus one of the more thoughtful free-spin designs in the Playtech catalogue. This walkthrough takes you from "what's a way" to "running auto-spin on a A$1 bet" in about five minutes.
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Step 1 — Pick a casino
You need an account at a licensed casino that stocks Playtech titles and supports AUD. We use four:
- Vegasnova — fastest PayID withdrawals and the deepest Playtech library.
- Joe Fortune — biggest welcome-offer percentage of the four.
- GreatSlots — lowest minimum deposit, friendliest for first-time pokie players.
- CasinoRocket — highest stake caps and a generous A$5000 cashout cap on the welcome bonus.
Any of the four works. If you're brand new, GreatSlots's A$10 minimum deposit gets you spinning with the least commitment.
Step 2 — Open the game
After depositing and claiming the welcome offer, search the casino lobby for "Buffalo Blitz" or filter by Playtech in the providers list. The game tile shows a white buffalo head silhouette against the prairie backdrop.
Click it. The game loads in your browser (no download required — it's HTML5 and runs on any modern device).
Before you spin a real cent, click the info icon (i) in the corner of the game. Scroll to the RTP field. It should read 95.96% — see our RTP and volatility explainer for what that number actually means in a session. Playtech occasionally ships reduced RTP variants of its catalogue, so verify on every casino — and walk away if the value shown is meaningfully lower than this figure.
Step 3 — Set your bet
The bet panel sits below the reels. You'll see a number — that's your current bet per spin.
- Tap the + or – buttons to step the bet up or down.
- Min bet: A$0.40 per spin.
- Max bet: A$200 per spin.
For a first session we recommend starting at A$0.40 – A$2.00. That keeps you in the game long enough to actually see a bonus trigger (roughly 1 in 110-130 spins) without burning through your deposit before the math has a chance to work.
Bankroll rule of thumb: at least 200× your bet in funds before you sit down. So a A$1 bet wants A$200 in the account. A A$0.40 bet wants A$80. This is a high-volatility pokie — runs of 40-60 dry spins are normal. Don't enter a session under-funded.
Step 4 — Press spin
The big circular button bottom-centre is spin. Tap it once for a single spin. Long-press (or use the dedicated icon, depending on the casino's wrapper) to open the auto-spin menu.
What you're watching for:
- Standard ways-to-win combinations — three or more matching symbols on adjacent reels from reel 1, any row each. The card-rank symbols (9, 10, J, Q, K, A) are low-pays. The wildlife symbols (eagle, puma, wolf, elk, buffalo) are high-pays.
- Stacked symbols on individual reels — the high-pay wildlife symbols often appear stacked, which is how four-, five- and six-of-a-kind wins build.
- Six-of-a-kind hits — the extra sixth reel makes these possible, and a six-Buffalo alignment is a memorable base-game moment.
- Buffalo Blitz diamond scatters — three or more anywhere trigger the free-spin selection screen.
Step 5 — Understanding 4,096 ways-to-win
Ways-to-win sounds vague until you internalise the rule. There are no fixed lines. Instead:
- The game checks every possible adjacent-reel-from-reel-1 combination.
- With 4 visible rows on 6 reels, that's 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 = 4,096 possible chains.
- Match a symbol on reels 1+2 → two-of-a-kind (low-pays only).
- Match on reels 1+2+3 → three-of-a-kind (most common paying hit).
- Match on all six reels → six-of-a-kind (the dream).
The practical effect: lots of small wins on every spin, occasional huge wins when a high-pay aligns across many reels. The base game stays alive between bonuses because three-of-a-kind hits land regularly.
Step 6 — The free-spin selection screen
When three or more Buffalo Blitz diamond scatters land anywhere on the reels, the screen flashes, the herd thunders into view, and the bonus selection menu opens.
You'll see something like this (exact values vary slightly by Playtech build):
| Option | Spins | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Steady | 25 | 2× |
| Balanced | 15 | 3× |
| Spike | 8 | 5× |
All three options have the same expected return. The difference is variance:
- Steady — more chances to retrigger, smaller per-hit boosts.
- Balanced — middle ground.
- Spike — bigger per-win boost, fewer overall spins.
Pick the variance shape that fits your mood. If you've already had a flat session, the spike option gives you a shot at a session-defining win in 8 spins. If you've been in a long dry stretch and want the round to last, take steady. (Our free-spins deep dive walks through each option in detail.)
Step 7 — Inside free spins
Once inside the bonus, two things differ from the base game:
- Stacked wilds appear on the middle reels (reels 2 through 5, depending on the spin). Wilds substitute for every paying symbol and dramatically increase the chance of high-pay alignments.
- All wins are multiplied by the multiplier you selected.
If 3+ diamonds land again during the round, you retrigger — additional spins are added at the same multiplier. Retriggers can stack (more than once per round is possible), and they're the path to the big-bonus outcomes.
Step 8 — Stop while you're ahead
This is the rule everyone hears and no one follows. Buffalo Blitz bonus rounds feel rewarding even when they're modest — the herd thunders, the multiplier shows up on every win, the stacked wilds animate. When you've just hit a 200× round, the temptation to keep spinning is enormous. The math doesn't care. Each spin is independent.
Practical advice for first-timers:
- Set a session loss limit in the casino's responsible-gambling tools before you start.
- Set a session win cap — when you double your starting balance, stop.
- Use auto-spin's stop-on-win feature for the same reason.
- Cash out winnings immediately — leaving them in the account is the #1 path to losing them next session.
Common beginner mistakes
- Picking the wrong free-spin option for the bankroll. If you're playing low-stakes for a long session, take more spins at a lower multiplier — retriggers compound. If you're playing for a fast spike, take fewer spins at the higher multiplier.
- Betting too high to start. A A$5 bet on a A$50 bankroll will end your session before you see a bonus.
- Auto-spinning without stop conditions. If you lose half your bankroll on auto, you can't say later "I would have stopped earlier."
- Treating ways-to-win as paylines. They're not the same — wins evaluate any-row-from-reel-1 on adjacent reels, not strict left-to-right specific positions.
- Confusing the original with Buffalo Blitz Live. Live is a separate progressive-jackpot variant — different format, different math, different game. See Buffalo Blitz vs Buffalo Blitz Live.
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Quick FAQ
How long does a session last? A A$50 bankroll at A$0.40 per spin lasts roughly 120-160 spins on average. With a bonus trigger, it can last much longer.
Do I have to pick the free-spin option immediately? Yes — the bonus pauses until you select. The menu sits open until you tap one of the options.
What's the difference between paylines and ways-to-win? Paylines are fixed positions on the grid (left-to-right). Ways-to-win evaluates every adjacent-reel-from-reel-1 combination across all rows — many more possible winning chains, but each three-of-a-kind hit is typically smaller per line.
Is the demo the same as real money? Yes — same math, same RTP, same RNG. Only difference is the balance is play money. See our Buffalo Blitz free-play guide for where to find it.
Can six-of-a-kind happen on the base game? Yes — it's not bonus-only. Stacked high-pays across all six reels in the base game produce six-of-a-kind hits.
Why are there 6 reels instead of 5? Playtech's design choice. The extra reel enables six-of-a-kind wins that aren't possible on Aristocrat's land-based 5-reel Buffalo.
Can I lose more than my deposit? No — slot games can't withdraw more than your balance.
About this walkthrough
Tested across all four featured casinos in April-May 2026. Spins played: 350+. Bonus rounds triggered: 14 across the test set. Demo and real-money behaviour verified identical.
Gambling responsibly. Pokies are entertainment. They're not income, not a way out of debt, not a system to beat. Set limits, stick to them. AU support: gamblinghelponline.org.au · BetStop · 18+ only.
Further Reading
Related reading in this guide: