If you’re a fan of playing casino games, either online or at a land-based casino, you’ve most likely come across the term, “RTP”. While it’s easy to find the odds and house advantage of casino table games such as blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, establishing the player odds when it comes to slot games requires an understanding of this term. While each casino game technically has an RTP, this term is most commonly used when referring to slots.
So, what is RTP, how does it work, and how does it affect your game choice and experience? Let’s find out!
RTP stands for “return to player”, and the term refers to the percentage of money bet on a game that will be paid back to players over an extended period of play. This percentage – often presented with two decimal places – is calculated over the long term, not per wager or per gaming session. As such, it can also be referred to as the theoretical return to player.
If, for example, you were to play a game with an RTP of 96%, and you played 100 spins at £1 per spin, you could expect around £96 back in wins, with the other £4, or 4%, going to the casino. This, of course, doesn’t factor in volatility or luck, which is much of the fun of gambling, but on average over time, this is a helpful calculation to indicate what your expected losses are likely to be.
In the above example, we can see that RTP is the mirror opposite of “house edge”, which refers to the amount of money the casino makes over time on each game. So where an online slot may have an RTP of 95%, the equivalent in a table game would be a 5% house edge.
RTP provides vital information to those looking to play online slot games, in that it is an indication of how often and how much a specific game will pay out. When choosing the slot title you want to play, this is an important factor to consider, alongside volatility, game features, and of course its theme. Knowing the RTP helps players choose the best online slots, and assists them in managing their bankroll. Players can find the RTP in game reviews and in the online slot’s paytable or rules section.
The RTP also provides an indication of how well the slot will perform. In theory, a higher RTP means there is a better chance of winning, and with more money available on a slot, there is also likely to be more frequent free spins and other bonus rounds. Generally, the higher the RTP, the less volatile the game is, which equates to more frequent wins; and the lower the RTP, the more volatile the game, meaning large but less frequent payouts, and thus more risk.
Once a game developer has completed a new game, it undergoes randomness testing in auditing laboratories. These labs have auditing programs that run hundreds of thousands of spins in a short period of time, gathering data that is used to determine how much money will be returned to players over time.
However, because the RTP is calculated over hundreds of thousands of hypothetical spins, it is, as previously mentioned, a percentage that indicates long-term results, meaning that in the short term, such as during a 30-minute slots session, the RTP may vary substantially, as will the outcome. Because of the random number generator (RNG) software that’s present in slots, some people may go through long periods of no wins, while others may score a big win early on in their game – which is where luck comes into the mix!
Many games contain a mechanism that allows the casino to adjust the payout odds slightly, but this does not affect the randomness of each spin. It is then the online casino, or game provider’s responsibility to provide players with the RTP of each game.
Now that you understand the importance of RTP, you may be wondering what a high and low RTP is so that you can make informed decisions when choosing which game to play at a casino online. As you now know, the higher the RTP, the better. A high RTP is anything from 98% up; a good, mid-range RTP is between 95% and 97.99%; while a low RTP would be anything less than 94.99%.
However, these numbers apply only to online casino sites, and while 93% may be considered “bad” on an online slot, it may very well be considered great at a brick-and-mortar casino! The RTP on slot machines at land-based casinos ranges from 70% to 90%, averaging around 85%. This is because physical casinos have limited space, so the machines on the floors need to be making the casino more money to keep up with costs and create profit, whereas those limitations don’t apply to the virtual casinos.
What’s worth noting is that just because a slot has a high RTP, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll win big; rather, it indicates that you are likely to lose less than on a game with a lower RTP.
At Mecca Games, we offer some incredible slots with some good RTPs for you to check out:
Now that you understand the ins and outs of RTP and know what to look for when choosing your next slots adventure, join Mecca Games, for a wide selection of online slots, Slingo games, and live dealer game shows.
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