Guide to RTP

When playing online slots in the UK, there is one area of online gaming that is particularly important to take into consideration and that is Return to Player (also known as RTP). RTP is a phrase that is commonly used by operators in order to demonstrate how much players would receive on average if they wagered £100. This total is demonstrated as a percentage, so if you had an RTP of 96%, for every £100 paid into a slot machine, £96 would be returned with £4 acting as the ‘house edge’.

What does RTP mean?

Return to Player is the average return on investment with casino games. However, this doesn’t guarantee that you’ll receive a total of around £96 if you put £100 in. Theoretically, you could receive anything during this period as nothing is guaranteed in online casino games.

How is RTP calculated?

RTP is calculated in the coding of casino games and set by providers before a game is released. You’ll typically be able to find information regarding the RTP of a slot game in the information section of a slot game. However, as this is coded within a game using a random number generator, the possibilities are endless, meaning in regards to a player calculating RTP, it is near impossible. For games such as blackjack where the win rate is roughly 50/50, it is a lot easier to calculate RTP but in regards to slots, between losing streaks and massive jackpot payouts, slots are too unpredictable to calculate manually.

High RTP Slots - What are they are how do they benefit me?

Generally, slots with a high RTP are the best games to find but what you may find is that these online slots have lower volatility or a lower maximum win rate. Think of RTP, volatility and maximum win as values on a scale, if all three values were high, it’s very unlikely that the game would exist as theoretically, there would be a very small house edge. But what are the advantages of high RTP slots?

On average, you lose less per game

In theory, RTP is irrelevant to a single game session, due to the fact that casino games are created using random number generators, your actual return is impossible to predict. However, as a collective, games with higher RTP are more likely to provide small wins.

Games often have lower volatility

As mentioned above, RTP and volatility tend to go hand-in-hand, high RTP often implies lower volatility which means that wins will come more often but with less value, these games are good for new casino players but if you’re looking for larger wins, a lower RTP tends to mean that a high prize is available.

It is worth noting that RTP is entirely theoretical, there is no guarantee that you will receive higher or lower wins when playing these games but it does demonstrate that the average between all players should be higher.

Low RTP slots: What's the benefit?

Higher win values

Slots with lower RTP have a tenancy to have higher volatility and thus higher payout potential. This means that you could have a slot game with a Return to Player which is 2% lower than average but has the opportunity to land jackpot standard wins while games with average RTPs have significantly smaller max wins. The phrase ‘high risk, high reward’ is commonly used when talking about low RTP slots but the risk doesn’t represent your stake but the chances of you winning.

More Bonus Rounds

For the most part, games with lower RTP and higher volatility means higher wins and more bonus rounds to land those wins in. All casino players like to activate bonus rounds and if a game has more bonus features, your chances of landing a bonus significantly increase.

This also means that Low RTP slots are actually the best choice for slot streamers who are looking to land big wins and bonus rounds for their audience.

Summary of RTP

Return to Player is an element of casino games that is used as a handy stat rather than anything concrete. For example, if you played a slot game with an RTP of 96.25% and played 100 spins at £1 per spin, the chances of you receiving exactly £96 back are minimal.

Every gaming experience is different due to the Random Number Generator attached to every online casino game. We recommend always checking out the Return to Player and volatility, but don’t use it as a final judgement. Just because a game has a high or low RTP, doesn’t define a player's experience, just look at the Rainbow Riches slot series. That game typically has an average RTP of approximately 95% but is without a doubt the most popular slot series of all time.