Interested in learning what is RTP in casino gambling? You’ve come to the right place. Here, I provide detailed information on what exactly RTP means and how it can affect your ability to win money.

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What is RTP in casino terms?

A casino game’s RTP rate, or return-to-player rate, represents the amount of money players can expect to win over time playing a certain game. It’s represented in percentages and can often be used to describe how much money players are likely to win by wagering $100.

As an example, someone playing an online slot game with an average RTP rate of 96% could expect to earn $96 by wagering $100.

A game’s RTP rate certainly does not guarantee players will win or lose any set amount of money. Casino games are notoriously unpredictable and a huge number of factors can impact how much money a player may earn.

How to calculate RTP at online casinos

The simplest way to calculate an online casino game’s RTP rate is to divide the total amount of money won by players by the total amount of money wagered and multiply that figure by 100.

For individual players, calculating RTP is a difficult task. This would require players to make a truly massive number of spins while tracking all the wagers and wins connected.

Finding the RTP rate for different online casino games is generally simple. A quick search of the game title and RTP rate will likely direct players to the game developer’s website, where the RTP rate is listed.

Online casino game developers are able to set the RTP rate for each individual game. Most developers advertise the RTP of their games as a way to be as transparent as possible.

What is a good RTP for slots?

As I pointed out earlier, a slot game’s RTP can be described as the amount of money that players can expect to earn by wagering $100. Most experts consider an RTP rate of 96% to be the average for online slot games.

A slot game with an average RTP rate of 96% means that players are expected to win $96 for every $100 wagered.

A huge number of slot games have higher and lower RTP rates than 96%.

Popular games such as Mega Joker and Blood Suckers have a RTP rate of 99% and 98%, respectively. These are among the top high RTP slots and provide better opportunities for players to earn a profit in the long run.

Generally speaking, however, slots with a high RTP will not provide many jackpot offers and come with somewhat low maximum payout opportunities.

It’s not difficult to find real money slots with low RTP rates, too. Many popular slots have an RTP rate of less than 93%. To make up for this, these slots often provide players with huge jackpots and multiple bonus rounds that can offer large payouts.

Components that determine slots RTP

The concept of a game’s return-to-player rate is very straightforward.

Several factors are involved in determining this number, and understanding these factors will help players better understand how RTP rate can affect their playing experience.

Learn about the various components that determine a slot game’s RTP:

Volatility in online slots

Longtime online casino players have likely seen the word “volatility” used to describe different games. To put it simply, volatility in online slots refers to how frequently the game will provide a payout to players.

There are three primary categories of volatility in online slots:

• Low volatility: An online slot game with low volatility is one that tends to provide a large number of payouts to players in smaller amounts. Minimum bets tend to be low and max jackpots are small. These are games with a high RTP.
• Medium volatility: Medium volatility slots are ones that offer a balance of small and somewhat large payouts to players. These are great options for those interested in making small and large wagers with the opportunity to earn some good jackpots. These slots tend to have an average RTP rate around 96%.
• High volatility: Slots with high volatility tend to pay out infrequently. To make up for this, these slots almost always offer great jackpot prizes to players that can offer huge payouts. These slots have a low RTP, sometimes around 92-93%.

Slot game structure

The RTP percentage of online slots is predetermined by the game developer. With that being said, the structure of these games will have an impact on the return-to-player rate.

Number of reels

Online slots can come in many different forms. Classic slots tend to have only three reels, while more advanced ones can have seven reels. The more reels and rows a slot game has, the more winning combinations players have access to. This does not always affect a game’s RTP rate, but it certainly can.

Paylines

A payline is the line on a slot grid that players can land matching symbols on to earn a winning combination. Slots with a large number of paylines offer players more ways to win, which often raises a game’s RTP.

Variety and distribution of symbols

Every symbol in a slot game has a specific value attached to it. The symbols with lower value will appear more often than higher-value symbols. The way that these symbols are distributed affects the amount of money players are expected to earn and a game’s RTP percentage.

Slot game features

Many years ago, the only slot games that were available to players were basic three-reel slots with a single payline. These games have evolved tremendously over the past few decades, and most modern online slots now come with a huge variety of bonus features.

These features can have a major impact on a slot’s RTP. Here are some of the most common ones you are likely to find:

Cascading reels

Many online slots with six or more reels include a cascading reels feature. This makes winning symbol combinations fall off the grid, making way for new symbols to appear in the empty spots. It’s a great feature that allows players to earn multiple wins with a single spin. Cascading reels help increase players’ win frequency, which generally increases a game’s RTP rate.

Wild and expanding wild symbols

Wild symbols can act as any other symbol to help players land a winning combination. Expanding wilds are even more exciting, as they expand to cover multiple reels or even an entire row. These significantly help to increase players’ winning potential.

Megaways

One of the newest and most popular online slot features is the Megaways mechanic. Megaways slots spin a random number of symbols for each reel with each spin. Some of the largest Megaways slots can offer players more than 100,000 ways to win for each spin.

These games tend to offer frequent low payouts. The maximum jackpot on Megaways slots can, however, offer lucky players some massive cash prizes. These games can be found as free sweeps slots and real money slots offered by casino sites.

Bonus rounds in slots

Bonus rounds add a whole new element to the online slot playing experience. Many being offered, but these three are the ones players are most likely to come across:

Free spins

Most of the most popular online slot games include a free spins bonus round. This is usually triggered by landing a certain number of scatter symbols.

During the free spins round, multipliers can usually be earned, offering much larger payout opportunities. This temporarily increases the game’s RTP rate. A free spins bonus round can account for up to 70% of a slot game’s RTP percentage.

Hold & Win

Many world-class online slots now offer a Hold & Win feature. These are triggered by landing a set number of unique coin or bonus symbols on the grid.

When triggered, players are given a number of free spins in an attempt to land additional bonus symbols. All winning symbols are locked on the screen and are added together for huge payouts. The Hold & Win feature generally accounts for about 30% of a slot’s RTP rate.

Bonus wheel spin

Several slots offer players the opportunity to spin a wheel that offers a variety of prizes. Triggering this wheel-spin bonus round varies from slot to slot, but the prizes almost always include either small cash prizes, free spins or even massive jackpots. Triggering these wheel spins can prove difficult, and this round usually adds about 10% to 20% to a game’s RTP percentage.

Regulation

The US has a unique online gambling industry, as each individual state can set its own regulations. In order for online gambling platforms to legally operate in states, they must ensure that their games follow RTP rate thresholds and guidelines.

Legal real money online casinos in regulated markets must also agree to independent testing by third parties. Doing so helps to ensure that the games and RTP rates being listed are honest and correct.

Some states have set specific minimum RTP percentage thresholds. In New Jersey, for example, no online slot with an average RTP rate lower than 83% can be offered.

Unregulated online casinos do not need to abide by state regulations. This gives them the ability to provide dishonest RTP rates and, in some cases, games that are completely rigged to favor the house. For this reason, it’s highly recommended you only play at licensed, legal online casinos.

If you are in a state without legal casino sites, it may be worth playing at a sweepstakes casino. These are unique gaming platforms that look and operate like standard casino sites, yet have some key features that allow them to legally operate throughout most of the country.

The best sweepstakes casinos provide a huge number of casino games, including slots, table games and live-dealer tables.

Using RTP rates to manage your bankroll

It’s important to reiterate that RTP rates represent the percentage of money a casino game will return to players over the life of the game.

If a game has an average RTP rate of 97%, players can expect to earn $97 for every $100 wagered. That is not a guarantee, but rather an average amount of money one could expect to earn.

Here are a few ways players can use RTP rate to their advantage:

• Calculating expected losses: One great way to use RTP to manage your bankroll is to calculate the amount of money you can expect to lose over time. If you are wagering $100 on a slot with an RTP rate of 96%, you can expect to lose $4. The possibility of earning a large profit is always there, but, statistically, you are more likely to lose $4.
• Creating a wagering plan: One of the best strategies that online casino players can follow is setting a strict budget. By calculating RTP rates, players can create a specific wagering plan based on that budget.
• Sticking with high RTP slots: The slot games with higher RTP rates are more likely to help players earn a profit than low RTP slots. Some players ignore this fact and play slots with low RTP rates in hopes of winning one of the major jackpots up for grabs. For consistent bettors, it’s a far better strategy to stick with high RTP games.

Best RTP casinos

RTP at online casinos FAQ

What are the most RTP-friendly casino games?

Video poker is the online casino game with the highest RTP rate. Most video poker variants offer a great RTP percentage, but Deuces Wild is the best. It has an RTP percentage that can surpass 100% with the correct playing strategy.

What’s the lowest RTP slot I should play?

Online slot games with low RTP rates offer less frequent wins but can often provide some great jackpot prizes to lucky winners. Mega Moolah has a very low RTP rate of 88.12%. It also offers a progressive jackpot that can earn players some massive winnings.

What does RNG mean?

RNG stands for random number generator. Random number generators are a crucial component in all online casino games, as they utilize a sophisticated computer algorithm to ensure games are random and completely fair to players.

How do I find the RTP percentage on casino sites?

In most cases, online casinos are required to show the RTP for each game being offered. This can usually be found by clicking the information button on each game. Most game developers will also list the RTP of the games they have created.