Frequently Asked Questions

Le Fisherman is an online slot by Hacksaw Gaming, released on 5 February 2026. Its main character is Smokey, a raccoon who puts his heists on hold for a weekend by the lake, wearing orange floaties and yellow wellies, because there is talk of treasure lying on the bottom. The reels form a 6x5 grid that pays for clusters of matching symbols, and the total of one round can reach 15,000 times the bet. Hacksaw rates the volatility at 3 of 5, a medium setting, and the standard game returns 96.33% in theory.

There are no paylines at all. The grid has 6 reels and 5 rows, 30 positions in total, and a win forms when five or more identical symbols touch each other horizontally or vertically anywhere on it, while diagonal contact does not count. Bigger groups pay more: the paytable lists six size bands from 5 symbols up to 12 or more, so the number of symbols in a cluster matters far more than its shape. Each paying cluster also marks the squares behind it in gold, ready for a later Rainbow.

Open INFO from the game menu and scroll to the lines under the symbol payouts. They state the theoretical return of the build running at that casino, which is 96.33% for the standard game, worked out over ten billion simulated rounds. Where the buy menu is switched on, the same screen gives a separate figure for each option, from 96.14% to 96.33%, so you can compare them before paying for a feature. The figure describes a very long run of play, never the outcome of one evening.

Not in its standard form. Hacksaw places it at 3 on a five-step volatility meter, a medium setting, and the intro screen of the game shows the same three lit icons out of five. The buy menu is a different matter: where it is offered, BonusHunt, Rainbow Trout and Slippery When Wet carry a high label, Rainbow Epic Drop a very high one and On Thin Ice a medium one, so a bought feature changes how bumpy a session can get. In the UK no buy menu is shown, so the medium setting is the one British players meet.

The British version has 14 stake levels: £0.10, £0.20, £0.40, £0.60, £0.80, £1.00, £1.20, £1.40, £1.60, £1.80, £2.00, £3.00, £4.00 and £5.00, with £2.00 set as the default. Versions for other markets can offer a wider range, and the rules add that feature buys may cost more than the top stake. The bet bar at the casino you use shows which levels apply there, so check it before the first spin. At the default level, 100 spins add up to £200 of stakes.

No account, deposit or download is needed for the demo on this site. It loads the game from Hacksaw's own server with a play balance of £5,000, so cascades, reveals and bonus rounds work exactly as they would with real money, yet nothing won can be withdrawn. Because the UK settings are applied, the minimum round time and the missing autoplay match what a British player meets at a casino, which makes it a faithful rehearsal. The panel with the session timer and net position appears in the demo too.

Yes. Le Fisherman is a browser game with nothing to install, and Hacksaw's launcher has a mobile channel next to the desktop one, so the casino opens the version that suits your device. The rules, the paytable and the maths do not depend on the screen size, which means the RTP of 96.33% and the 15,000x ceiling are the same on a phone. Taps simply replace the space bar that starts a spin on a computer. A stable connection helps, although an interrupted round is stored and can be resumed later.

That is the Super Cascades rule. When a cluster pays, every regular paying symbol of the same type leaves the grid, including copies that were nowhere near the winning group. Win with a cluster of anchors and all anchors on the board vanish at once. New symbols then drop into the gaps, and the process repeats until no fresh win appears, which clears a lot of space and can chain several wins inside one spin. The squares behind the winning symbols turn golden at the same moment.

The Wild is a pink clam marked with a W, and it lands among the regular symbols on the 6x5 grid. It substitutes for every symbol listed in the paytable, so it can complete a group of fish, anchors, worms, floats, wellies or card values when enough matching symbols touch it. Its role stops at those paying symbols: the FS scatter, the Rainbow and the Epic Rainbow keep their own jobs and are not replaced by it. Because it can join any paying group, the Wild helps form the larger clusters that mark many Golden Squares.

The fish is the top symbol, paying 1x the bet for a cluster of five and 100x for twelve or more. The worm on a hook and the anchor come next at 0.5x to 50x, followed by the yellow wellie and the red float at 0.3x to 25x. The card values 10, J, Q, K and A share the lowest scale, from 0.1x up to 10x. At a £2.00 stake that spread runs from £0.20 to £200 per cluster. The paytable inside the game updates with the bet level, so it always shows cash amounts for the stake you have chosen.

Coins are cash prizes shown as multiples of your bet, and there are four kinds. Bronze coins carry 0.2x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x; Silver coins 5x, 10x, 15x or 20x; Gold coins 25x, 50x or 100x; Diamond coins 150x, 250x or 500x. They come out of Golden Squares activated by a Rainbow or of an Epic Rainbow reveal, and clovers can multiply them before the buckets collect. In Slippery When Wet the smallest coin is 1x. At the end, all coin and bucket values are added together and multiplied by the bet.

Both multiply, but over different areas. A Green Clover multiplies the coins, buckets and global buckets on the squares next to it, while a Gold Clover applies its value to every one of them across the whole grid. Each draws a multiplier of x2, x3, x4, x5, x10 or x20, and since the multipliers are multiplicative, two clovers acting on one coin compound. A clover with nothing to boost waits until special symbols turn up. Clovers always act before any bucket collects, so the multiplied coins feed into the bucket totals.

A Bucket collects the values of all coins and already activated buckets in the 3x3 block around it and stores the total, whereas a Global Bucket does the same for the entire grid. Ordinary Buckets act first, top to bottom and left to right, and Global Buckets follow in that same order. After each collection the emptied Golden Squares reveal new special symbols, so the chain continues, but a bucket that has collected once stays idle. Clovers can multiply both kinds of bucket before they act, which is how large totals build up.

The sequence is fixed. First every win on the grid is paid, then a Rainbow activates the Golden Squares, or an Epic Rainbow every position, and these reveal coins, clovers or buckets. Clovers apply their multipliers next, Buckets collect after that and Global Buckets close the sequence, each step followed by fresh reveals in the squares just collected. When nothing is left to trigger, the values are added up, multiplied by the bet and paid out. In the base game the grid is then cleared for the next spin.

An interrupted round is stored and resumes when you start the game again. If the result was already settled and only the animation was cut off, a winning round is shown once more, and every completed round can be looked up in the game History. A stake on an unfinished round stays on hold until it is completed; if the round is voided after account inactivity or maintenance, the bet goes back to your balance. Hardware, bandwidth or network faults do not alter any result.

Yes. The rules count only FS scatters that land at the same time during the base game, and three, four or five of them on one spin decide which round opens. Scatters spread over separate spins are not carried forward. A single spin also cannot hold scatters together with a Rainbow or an Epic Rainbow, because those symbols are never on the grid at once, so a bonus trigger and a reveal always arrive on different spins. During a bonus round, every FS symbol that lands moves the Big Catch Bar one step instead.

All three hand out 10 free spins and keep the base game rules, yet Golden Squares behave differently in each. On Thin Ice keeps them lit until a Rainbow activates them. Slippery When Wet leaves them on the grid for the whole round, even after activation, and raises the smallest coin to 1x. Smokey Under Water copies those rules, places the Big Catch Bar on Level 4 for the entire round and stops FS symbols from landing. Each of the three also adds the Big Catch Bar above the grid.

The bar sits above the grid during bonus rounds and moves one step for every FS symbol that lands. Every fifth symbol reaches a new level and adds 5 free spins. At Level 0 a Rainbow behaves as usual, from Level 1 an activated Rainbow turns into a Green Clover, at Level 2 into a Global Bucket and at Level 3 into a Gold Clover. Level 4 keeps the Gold Clover and puts a Rainbow or Epic Rainbow on every free spin. In Smokey Under Water the bar starts on Level 4 and stays there.

Every round opens with 10 free spins. In On Thin Ice and Slippery When Wet each level reached on the Big Catch Bar adds 5 more, and with four levels to climb that is up to 20 extra spins, or 30 in all, once 20 FS symbols have landed during the round. In Smokey Under Water no FS symbols can land, so the bar has nowhere to climb. The spins left appear next to the TOTAL WIN field, which adds up the round, while the WIN field shows the result of the current spin.

It is the label Hacksaw gives to Smokey Under Water, the round that needs five FS scatters on a single base-game spin. It plays 10 free spins with the rules of Slippery When Wet, so Golden Squares stay put all round and coins start at 1x, while the Big Catch Bar is fixed on Level 4 and brings a Rainbow or Epic Rainbow every spin. It has no card in the buy menu, so the five scatters are the only way in. The intro screen of the game shows a Hidden Epic Bonus badge next to the volatility meter.

Where the buy menu exists, a £2.00 stake prices BonusHunt FeatureSpins at £6.00 a spin and Rainbow Trout FeatureSpins at £100. Rainbow Epic Drop costs £1,000 a spin, a direct On Thin Ice buy £120 and Slippery When Wet £500. FeatureSpins charge that price on every spin until you press disable, whereas a direct buy is one payment. Buying is not available in every jurisdiction, the UK among them. None of the five options carries an RTP above the 96.33% of normal play.

They are lost. As soon as the total of a round reaches 15,000 times the bet, the game displays a message, ends the round and pays the full amount, and during a bonus it returns to the main screen and discards any free spins or features still waiting. The cap can be reached in the base game too, with a lower chance than when bonus rounds play a part, and at a £5.00 stake it equals £75,000. The cap applies to the round total, with cascades, reveals and free spins all counted.

The search box is the fastest route: type Le Fisherman and open the result. Many lobbies also sort titles by studio, so a filter for Hacksaw Gaming lists it among the provider's other releases. If nothing turns up, the casino may not carry Hacksaw games or the title may be restricted in your country, and its support team can tell you which applies. Once the game opens, read the INFO screen before staking anything. Some casinos also list it under new releases or cluster slots.

Everything that can vary is listed inside the game. The INFO screen states the RTP of the build in use, the allowed bet levels and the note that feature buys can exceed them, and at the bottom it shows the game version and the date the rules were generated. A BUY BONUS button next to the bet bar reveals whether the buy menu is enabled. Checking these points before a deposit takes a minute at most. If any figure differs from what you expected, ask the support team before you play.

It is the amount you must stake before bonus money, and anything won with it, can be withdrawn. The requirement is set as a multiple of the bonus, and UK-licensed offers cap it at 10 times the bonus. At that ceiling a £20 bonus means £200 of bets, or 100 spins at a £2.00 stake. With an RTP of 96.33%, that volume of play costs about £7.34 on average in theory, although real sessions swing widely in both directions. A lower multiple is always easier to clear, and most bonuses also set a time limit for completing it.

That depends on the terms of the offer. Some promotions exclude certain games or providers, some count slots at less than the full rate towards wagering, and most set a maximum stake while bonus money is in play. Free spins are often tied to one named title, so spins credited for a different slot cannot be used here. Read the list of excluded games and the maximum bet rule first, as breaking either can cost the bonus. Winnings from free spins are often credited as bonus money with their own wagering.

Players in the UK pay no income tax or capital gains tax on gambling winnings, slot wins included, since the duty is charged to the operators instead. Money earned later from those winnings, such as savings interest or investment income, is treated in the usual way. Rules differ abroad, so anyone living outside the UK, or in an unusual situation, should check with the local tax authority or a qualified adviser before relying on this. Keeping a record of deposits and withdrawals helps in any case.

Verification, often called KYC for know your customer, confirms that you are an adult and that the account really belongs to you. It also lets the casino complete its money-laundering checks before funds leave the account. Expect to upload a photo ID and sometimes proof of address or of the payment method. Doing it straight after registration usually saves days on the first withdrawal, since most casinos hold payouts until the checks are complete.

Speed depends on the casino's pending period, its verification checks and the payment method. E-wallets and instant bank transfers are usually the quickest once a request is approved, often within a day, while card and standard bank withdrawals can take several working days. Wagering attached to a bonus must be finished first, and many casinos return money to the method used for the deposit. The cashier page lists the limits and processing times.

Casino accounts offer a time-out, which locks the account for a short period you choose, and self-exclusion, which closes it for months or years. Both sit in the account or responsible gambling menu, and once either is active the casino should stop sending you offers. GamStop extends self-exclusion to every online gambling site licensed in Great Britain through one free registration, and blocking software on your phone and computer adds a further barrier.

The National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. GambleAware, at gambleaware.org, explains the help available and how to reach it across Great Britain. A GP is another sensible first contact, especially when gambling affects sleep, mood or health. Reaching out early, before debts or stress build up, makes the next steps easier for you and for the people close to you.

A deposit limit caps how much you can pay into your account over a day, a week or a month, and most casinos let you set all three. You pick the figure yourself in the account settings, ideally before the first deposit. Lowering a limit normally takes effect at once, while raising it involves a waiting period, so a decision made in the heat of a session has time to cool. Loss and session-time limits follow the same logic. Writing the figure down before you log in makes it easier to keep.

Common signs include chasing losses with bigger or more frequent bets, spending more time or money than planned, borrowing or skipping bills to keep playing, and hiding gambling from family or friends. Feeling restless or irritable when you are not playing, or turning to slots to escape stress, points the same way. A single sign is reason enough to pause, set tighter limits and talk to someone you trust or to a free helpline.

The British build switches off autoplay, turbo play and slam stop, and each round lasts at least 2.5 seconds. A small panel in the corner shows how long the session has run and your net position, so time and spend stay in view while you play. Stakes stop at £5.00 per spin, and the buy menu is absent. These settings belong to the game itself, so they apply in the free demo as well as at a casino. Keyboard shortcuts are switched off here too, apart from the space bar for a spin.

No. Real-money gambling is for adults only, the minimum age in the UK is 18, and casinos confirm it through identity checks before anyone can play. This site and its free demo are meant for adults as well. Parents who share a computer or tablet can use parental controls or blocking software to keep gambling sites out of reach, and keeping casino accounts behind a password nobody else knows closes another gap.