The return to player (RTP) of a slot machine is its payout percentage. What does that mean? It’s a key piece of data used as a benchmark that indicates how often a slot machine pays.
The closer the RTP index is to 100%, the more there is a balance between the casino and the player. This balance informs players of the casino’s edge and at what level a slot machine is willing to lose (the money returned to players).
RTP – Return to player
The term RTP is used to describe the percentage of all money returned to players over time. This period is defined over one month. The return per player of a slot machine is programmed to the nearest hundredth, and the chances of winning are fair for each participant.
Winning odds
Roughly speaking, you can deduce that there are many losers and few winners with slot machines. The payout rate is always the same regardless of the amount of money wagered. That is, the slot equation always favors the casino and then the luckiest players.
Showcase
In theory, if you bet CA$100 on a 95% RTP machine, you get CA$95 back. The casino, therefore, makes a profit of CA$5 (its edge). In practice, it doesn’t work quite like that. Indeed, if it were not possible to win decent cash on a slot machine, there would be no point. During a game session anything can happen – you can lose everything as well as win. In the short term, a slot’s RTP doesn’t have much of an impact. This is due to volatility. The notion of slot volatility is what makes it so exciting. This randomly redistributes X% of the stored money to a few players. So it’s as if the winners are paid from the losses of other players.
Frequency
This term defines how often a slot machine lands on a winning combination. For example, if a machine has a success rate of 8%, that means the machine stops on a winning combination 8% of the time. It should also be noted that many slot machines allow betting on more than one line on each spin. This concept increases the winning combinations over a single spin. It may seem that betting on multiple lines simultaneously is more profitable – but in reality, it doesn’t change anything – it’s like playing multiple rounds in a row.
Variations
With slots, there can be significant variations in payout frequencies. Some slot machines have a low frequency (around 3%), while others, like video poker, have high payout frequencies (up to 50%). Video poker’s hit frequency may sound great, but when you know that half of the hits on this game fail to recover the original bet, the game becomes less attractive. A slot machine with a hit rate of 3% (low variation) may not seem like a lot of money, but it generally offers big winning options (progressive jackpot slots and video slots).
The middle ground
The lower the payout variation of a slot, the less money to be won. The higher the variation, the more cash to cash out. The golden mean, logically, is found with medium-high volatility slots.
Progressive games
The Mega Moolah
The progression system is what makes progressive slots exciting. Just with the Mega Moolah game, which starts at 1 million every time there is a winner, the progressive formula often pushes the jackpot up to over 5 million, or even 10 million when there are record crowds. The makers of the most reputable progressive games on the World Wide Web don’t hesitate to program their slots with big starting jackpots.
RTP summary
The return per player is an excellent clue to judging a slot machine. Once you know a slot’s RTP, you know what it’s worth. If the rate is less than 90% you’re facing a slot that pays big jackpots but at a low frequency. If the RTP rate is between 94% and 96% (average RTP), the machine pays out generous jackpots (CA$10,000 to CA$150,000) fairly regularly.
Conclusion
To sum up, RTP slots, those with an RTP of over 97.5% (or even up to 99%), there is really not much to gain. Typically the casino games that have very high payout rates are more for beginners or players who want to have fun without taking too much risk.
Fair slot machines
If you want to ensure that you’re choosing a slot machine that pays out at least CA$10,000 jackpots (or more), the best bet is to focus on RTP rates of under 97%. These well-paying games can be found at online casinos equipped with slot machines from well-known suppliers such as Microgaming, NetEnt, or Playtech.
A good site to try out for playing slots that often win big jackpots is Villento Casino.
Last updated on July 13, 2023 by Alex