Slots RTP and House Edge - What You Need To Know
RTP or ‘return to player’ is a fundamental component of slot machines. But what is RTP? And what impact does it have on your chances of winning? In this article we’ll go over everything you need to know about the importance of RTP to your chances of winning on slot machines.
RTP Explained
RTP is short for Return to Player and it determines how much a player is likely to win back playing on a particular slot machine over an infinite number of trials. For example, if a slot machine has an RTP of 96% it means that - on average - if you were to spend £100 on the slot machine you could expect £96 back.
Sounds simple, right? Following from the logic it would be clear that a slot with a higher RTP is more likely to be advantageous than a slot with a lower RTP
Yet while this is mostly true, it’s not guaranteed. Let's explore why.
To calculate the RTP of a slot game software providers use the following formula:
Total Returned to Players / Total Bet by Players = RTP
This is straightforward. However, what goes unnoticed is that the average return is taken over a sustained period of time (usually a month) and based on the returns of multiple players. Therefore it cannot be guaranteed that your winnings will consistently match the advertised RTP - you can still win more, or lose more.
What the RTP does guarantee is the likelihood that you will win more. We can illustrate the reason for this by comparing a slot with a high RTP to a slow with a low RTP. Let’s begin with a slot renowned for having a high RTP: NetEnt’s video slot, Blood Suckers.
Blood Suckers comes with an RTP of 98%! If you were to play on this game over a sustained period of time the slot will theoretically pay back 98% of the total bets made. This means that the house-edge is exactly 2%.
This is far more favourable than the Glam Life slot by Betsoft, which has an RTP of 91.90%. By taking the RTP away from 100%, we are left with a house-edge of exactly 8.1% - over 4 times as high as the house-edge on Blood Suckers!
Here at DogSlots we recommend to our players any slot game that has an RTP of 96% or more. We believe that this is fair. Yet we also encourage players to play on the slot games they find the most entertaining, regardless of the RTP.
How and Why Slots are Configured with RTP
Software providers use sophisticated algorithms to determine the RTP of their slots. In the online casino industry this has to be verified, certified and subject to routine testing to ensure that the advertised RTP is accurate. If a software provider cannot do this, they will not be granted licenses from gambling commissions.
Tips & Tricks to Find a High RTP Slot
- Read our Reviews - One way to find a high RTP slot is to check our slot reviews right here on DogSlots. Our in-depth reviews go over everything you need to know about the slot, including its bonus features, paylines, jackpot and RTP. Alternatively, you can scroll down this page to find a list of slots with the best RTP’s available for you to play right now!
- Avoid Branded Slots - If you want to find a high RTP slot you should probably stay away from branded slots. Not all branded slots have low RTP’s, but it is more likely. Branded slots are expensive to develop - software providers must pay fees to acquire the rights to develop a slot based on popular movie, tv show, music and other franchises.
- Avoid Progressive Jackpot Slots - A portion of all losses on progressive jackpot slots contributes towards the jackpot’s value. For this reason it’s important that progressives have a slightly lower RTP, for if all players were winning, the jackpot would not grow. So while progressive jackpot slots give you the opportunity to win sums in the tens of millions, their base games are not quite so lucrative.
- Play on Video Slots - As you’ll see from our list of the top 10 slots with the highest RTP (below), all of the slots that feature can be categorised as Video Slots. Video Slots tend to have higher RTP’s, and sometimes their RTP’s are even variable and can go to astronomical heights depending on the generosity of the operator.
Top 10 Slots with the Highest RTP:
USA
UK
AUS
It may not be worth your time to go with a high RTP slot just for the sake of it. Slots are meant to be entertaining in their own right. If you want to play a slot with a particular theme, or you’re curious about a certain feature or bonus, you should absolutely go ahead and find a slot that matches your preferences.
Additionally, the chance of winning huge sums on a progressive jackpot slot can be just as exciting as a slot with a high RTP. Just because you may not win as frequently doesn’t mean that you won’t ultimately win, nor does it mean that the game won’t be fun. We recommend that you consider what you want from your time spent playing and choose accordingly.
What’s the difference between RTP and Variance?
RTP and variance are quite similar but they are not the same thing. As we have gone over RTP already we only have to go over what is meant by variance. A slot’s variance determines how frequently a slot registers a winning combination.
What needs to be remembered that not all winning combinations actually return more than what you originally wagered. In other words, while a slot may have say, 243 paylines, not all of these paylines are particularly generous. The variance of slot machines therefore controls the pace and flow of a slots gameplay.
It may not be worth your time to go with a high RTP slot just for the sake of it. Slots are meant to be entertaining in their own right. If you want to play a slot with a particular theme, or you’re curious about a certain feature or bonus, you should absolutely go ahead and find a slot that matches your preferences.
In a nutshell: yes - but only when taken into consideration with your budget. If you have a large budget, low variance slots may be best for you because you have more time to land that one, big win associated with low variance slots. Whereas high variance slots are great if you want a fast-paced, fun-filled session.
Which has the Best RTP: Online Slots or Land-Based Slots?
For online casino players, the good news is that online slots typically have a higher RTP than land-based slots. This is the case even if the online slot is exactly the same as the land-based slot. One reason for this is that land-based casinos are space-restricted, which means that they have to earn so much per surface area to make a decent profit.
Online casinos do not have this problem. And so you’re likely to find that, while land-based slots have an RTP between 70-90%, online real money slots are more likely to average out at 96%. When you couple this with the fact that online casinos have a far, far wider variety of slot games to choose from, there can only be one winner.
The Core Myths Behind RTP Debunked
The internet is rife with falsehoods and half-truths. This is especially the case in the online casino industry.
We’re here to bring you the facts about common RTP myths:
Online casinos can change RTP
This is not true. The RTP of slot machines is determined by the software provider; the casino that uses the software provider cannot manipulate its RTP to generate more profits.
However, there are a few software providers that offer games with a variable RTP (for instance, Play N’ Go). Yet even in this case online casino cannot set the RTP to whatever they like: they will be given a selection of a few possible RTP’s that they have to choose from.
The RTP of Progressive Jackpot slot is inflated
This is very much true. The RTP of progressive jackpot slots does tend to factor in the winnings made by players that have won the jackpot. What this means is that if a progressive slot is advertised as having a 94% RTP, it might only be so because one player won tens of millions on the slot, while millions of players lost.
High RTP guarantees wins
One of the primary ways that players misunderstand RTP is that they think it guarantees certain results. Let’s say that there is a slot machine with an RTP of 100%. Many players would erroneously assume that such a machine will return 100% of your winnings, everytime you play.
But this is wrong. Hypothetically, a slot with a 100% RTP would mean that, over time, the online casino hosting the slot game will break even. What few players take into consideration is that the point at which the casino will break even factors in a large data set of multiple players.
So what does this mean?
If you were to play a slot machine with a 100% RTP you can still lose or win money. Say that five players were to play this slot. Two players may lose everything, two other players may double their winnings and another player might break even. The average is spread out between the number of players and does not play a determining role in the game of any single player.
Yo might want to do some further reading and visint our article on "How To Win Money Playing Slots -12 Expert Tips".
