About this app
How to play El Gato Magico
In an interview with the Financial Times over the weekend, Done cautioned that additional tax hikes could result in widespread betting shop closures, harm related sectors such as horse racing and accelerate the decline of the high street.
Betfred currently operates approximately 1,094 retail shops across the UK. Done highlighted the concrete risks of Machine Gaming Duty – taxes on gambling machines – doubling from 20% to 40%, a move reportedly under consideration by Chancellor John Healey ahead of the Autumn Budget.
Betfred’s retail business still heavily depends on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and in-shop gambling. Despite the maximum stake limit being cut to £2 in 2019, FOBTs account for roughly half of Betfred’s shop profits. Done emphasised that without these machines, retail betting wass “impossible”.
What is El Gato Magico?
The headline mechanical difference is a shift in risk profile. This variant runs on a 5×3 grid with 10 paylines at an RTP of 96.50%, and the volatility has been eased to medium against the high-variance base game. That softens the swings while keeping the same top-end potential.
That ceiling stays substantial at 20,000x the bet. It’s reserved for a fully developed free spins round where Fisherman Wilds collect Money symbol values and progressive retriggers push collection multipliers higher.
The one genuinely new seasonal wrinkle is a pumpkin symbol. It can land during free spins to award mid-bonus upgrades, layered on top of the ante bet and feature-buy options already familiar across the range. For an experienced Big Bass player, the proposition is deliberately recognizable rather than reinvented.
About El Gato Magico
Konstakis thanked OpenBet for its trust and lauded Jordan’s incredible contributions to the company. He said that he was looking forward to taking on the new role and helping OpenBet enter its next phase of growth.
We have an exceptional customer base, a great team and significant opportunities ahead of us. My focus will be on building on those strengths, bringing even greater pace and focus to the business and making sure we continue to set the standard in the markets we serve.
OpenBet’s leadership transition comes shortly after the company unveiled its planned acquisition of OmniLogic, a sports betting tech provider.
