Where's the Gold cheats and tips: what changes your session and what never will

Cheats that change a spin

None

Lines

1 to 25; wins pay only on lines you play

Dynamite

Pays anywhere, on any line count, × total bet

Feature bet

Same bet and lines as the spin that triggered it

Return set by

The machine's approved configuration; Aristocrat listed 94% to 97% for the online game

Malfunction

Voids all pays and plays

The short answer on cheats

There is no Where’s the Gold cheat. The result of a spin is fixed by the machine’s random number generator at the moment you press the button, and nothing you do between spins, from waiting to tapping the screen, feeds back into it. Anything sold as a pokie hack, code or device takes your money and leaves the machine exactly as it was.

That leaves the part you do control: how much each spin costs and how the game spends it. That’s where the real tips are.

Tips that hold up

1. Know what a spin costs before you press

Your bet is lines times bet per line. The game plays “1 to 25 lines” and “Payline wins are multiplied by the amount staked per payline” [1]. Twenty-five lines at 2 cents a line is $0.50 a spin; five lines at 10 cents is also $0.50, spread differently. Decide the total first, then split it.

2. Fewer lines means fewer ways to win, not better ones

“All wins occur on selected lines except scattered DYNAMITE” [1]. Five prospectors on line 17 pay nothing if you’re playing 10 lines. Cutting lines doesn’t improve the game; it only leaves some winning lines switched off.

3. Dynamite doesn’t care about lines

Scattered Dynamite pay “any” position, and “Scatter wins are multiplied by the total bet” [1]. Three Dynamite start the feature whether you’re playing 1 line or 25.

4. The feature plays at the bet that triggered it

“Bet and lines played are the same as the game that triggered the feature” [1]. If you drop to one line and trigger the feature, the free games and gold wilds all play on that one line. If you want the feature to count, play the lines you’d want it to pay on.

5. The pick is a reveal, not a skill

Aristocrat describes the pick as selecting a character “to find Free Games and WILD symbols” [2], up to 10 free games and up to 3 gold wilds. Its rules name no character as better. Enjoy the choice; don’t build a system on it. More on the characters page.

6. Learn the game for free first

Two free apps name Where’s the Gold in their App Store listings, and the online version’s demo still runs. Ten minutes there teaches you the symbols and the feature without costing anything. See free play.

7. Set the stop before the start

Pick the amount and the time before you sit down, and walk away when either runs out. In Tasmania a game can’t be played faster than one every three seconds, and Victoria applies the same rule to machine types approved from 1 December 2025 [3] [4]. That slows the pace; it doesn’t set your limit for you. If stopping gets hard, call Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858.

Myths that don’t hold up

• “This machine is due.” A long run without the feature changes nothing about the next spin.
• “It just paid, so it’s cold now.” Same answer, the other way round.
• “Stop the reels early and you’ll land it.” The result exists before the reels finish; stopping them only ends the animation sooner.
• “Play at quiet times.” The time of day isn’t an input to the random number generator.
• “Always pick the same character.” Nothing in Aristocrat’s rules links a character to bigger prizes.
• “Some venues set their machines tighter on the night.” A machine’s return comes from its approved configuration, not from a switch behind the bar. In Victoria, pubs and clubs must return at least 85% across the venue over a year [3]; every state’s figure is on the RTP page.

What “return” really means for you

Aristocrat’s online showroom listed Where’s the Gold with a return of “94% - 97%” [2], a range because the game came in several configurations. Either way, that’s an average over a huge number of spins. Over one evening, the machine can return far more or far less than that, and no tip in this guide changes the average.

Glitches and malfunctions

The rules are blunt: “Malfunction voids all pays and plays” [1]. If a machine freezes or shows something odd, stop and call an attendant before you play on.