Folded boats jostle down the sunlit Creasewater between creased houses, a gold-edged steamer nosing ahead under the arched footbridge. Anyone can race it with no account, and its free round climbs from x2 to x4.
Bowfold Regatta is the race Ottoline folds afresh each morning, and it is the one world on the wharf that needs no account. It keeps a middling pace: Ripple Lilies and Hopping Greenfold frogs keep small returns bobbing along, while the Pennant Sloop and the Twin-Funnel Steamer carry the bigger pays. The Oar Roundel wild can row in for any picture apart from the Candle Skiff. Three Candle Skiffs anywhere launch Pennant Climb with ten free spins, the multiplier lifting from x2, x2 through x3, x3 to a steady x4 by the finishing post; four skiffs stretch the race over fifteen spins, five over twenty-two, and skiffs that sail in mid-race add extra spins.
Pennant Climb. Bridge by bridge the multiplier rises through the free round: the opening pair of free spins is paid at x2, the following pair at x3, and from the fifth free spin until the race ends each win pays x4.
Everything on this page is played with free virtual coins. The wharf has no real-money gambling, no win of real-world value and no in-app purchases. Results are drawn by a random number generator, and no past spin influences the next.
Measured by running this page's own engine for 10,000,000 spins: coin RTP 93.8%, hit frequency 34.6%, free spins about once in 130 spins, a win of 10x your stake or more about once in 130 spins. Coin figures only — no money is staked or returned.
Arrive on the page and the regatta is already on the water, its purse filled from Ottoline's satchel. There is no form to fill in, no download and no password.
Pick a stake and press spin. The Oar Roundel wild becomes any picture on a line except the Candle Skiff.
Three Candle Skiffs start Pennant Climb, ten free races in which the multiplier steps x2, x2, x3, x3 before settling on x4; a fourth skiff lengthens the race to fifteen, a fifth to twenty-two.
Newcomers testing the water before they fold an account, and racers who like an even pace and a free round whose multiplier only goes up.
Paid races bring a steady trickle of small sums. The later free spins, once the multiplier has reached x4, are where the twin-funnel steamer tends to pull clear.
| Folded symbol | Five matched along one payline | Equivalent share of the stake |
|---|---|---|
 Oar Roundel (wild) | 5,000× line bet | 200× your stake |
 Twin-Funnel Steamer | 2,600× line bet | 104× your stake |
 Pennant Sloop | 1,400× line bet | 56× your stake |
 Koi Skiff | 800× line bet | 32× your stake |
 Hopping Greenfold | 550× line bet | 22× your stake |
 Ripple Lily | 320× line bet | 12.8× your stake |
The five card ranks (10 to A) pay the least. Three Candle Skiffs anywhere open the free round. Full values for three and four of a kind are in the paytable.
No. It races for anyone at once; only Tintcard Alcove and Firemouth Kiln ask for a free account.
Every one comes ashore; Ottoline tips them into the new account beside the 100,000 she starts it with.
Never. It rises from x2 to x3 to x4 and keeps x4 right through to the final free race, and extra Candle Skiffs only add spins.
Missions are renewed each day and count in every workshop. Taking them on is entirely optional.
Behind the warehouses a striped awning shades a fan of colour cards pinned to the bricks, brush jars on an upturned crate and a spattered smock on its hook. The calmest world on the wharf, and a blank paid spin with a wild showing keeps it for a free second go.
Where the towpath runs out, an arched brick kiln stands open, firelight spilling over stacked saggar boxes while a glazed urn comes out on long tongs. The fiercest world here: winning pictures melt away and each extra win in the same spin pays a bigger multiple.
Play for enjoyment, and stop when the enjoyment does. Fix a time limit before you begin and take regular breaks. Should gambling of any sort be causing you difficulty, the National Gambling Helpline is free and confidential on 0808 8020 133 at every hour, and GamCare and BeGambleAware can help too. The wharf’s responsible play policy gives the detail.
On Creasewater Wharf the towpath is for those aged 18 or over. Each regatta, alcove and kiln runs on virtual coins with no monetary value, which nobody can buy, sell, withdraw or exchange. You will not find a cashier’s hatch, a payment page or a prize of real-world value anywhere along the canal, and a fine afternoon at the regatta does not imply future success at real-money gambling.
For a confidential word about gambling, at no cost: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133, answered every hour of every day · BeGambleAware · GamCare · How Ottoline keeps play sensible
One purse serves all three workshops. A free mooring tag unlocks each of them and keeps your coins, favourites, level and daily missions safely stowed from one visit to the next.
Not ready? Spin the open world, Bowfold Regatta — no email needed.