What is the RTP?
The RTP is a percentage between 1 and 100% which determines the percentage a player wins on a game over a long period. The closer to 100% means more chances to win your money back from your bet. So a RTP of 96% means that from every 100 euro bet you will get back 96 euro. But this is based on millions of spins over a long period of time so this doesn't mean that for every 100 euro bet you always win 96 euro.
The opposite of RTP is the house-edge or the casino revenue percentage. With a 96% RTP slot the casino revenue percentage is 4%. So from your 100 euro bet the casino will earn 4 euro. This looks very small but that's per spin and every day thousands of spins are played in an online casino.
How reliable are the RTP percentages
Nowadays you can trust 99% of the RTP percentages at online casinos. The RTP percentages from most providers are checked by 3rd party organisations such as Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) and eCOGRA.
Also for an online casino it looks very interesting to have a low RTP so they will make more profit but they also know that a low RTP means less winnings for players which will result in players leaving the online casino. That's why you will see mostly the same RTP of the games in each online casino. Although some casinos might be able to set higher or lower RTP percentages if this is supported by the game provider.
Where can you find the RTP percentages?
Some game providers like Play'n Go publish their RTP percentages in the game rules. When you click on the 'i' icon the game rules opens and there you can see the RTP of the game. If you can't find it in the game rules of a game then you can find it easily by searching in google for the RTP of that game.
RTP of different casino games
We will mainly look at the RTP from online games but we also want to tell a bit about the RTP at landbased casinos. It varies per country but for most landbased casinos the minimum RTP has to be 80%. So that's much lower than the RTP at an online casino because of the higher costs in a landbased casino and the limited space they have for the games. In an online casino you can find 2000+ slotmachines while at a landbased casino you need a very big room to put 2000+ slotmachines. So a landbased casino has to make more money to cover their higher cost with less games and of course less bets.
Now let's have a look at the RTP of online casino games in the table below:
|
Game |
Variation |
RTP |
House-edge |
|
Baccarat |
Bank Player Tie |
98,94% 98,76% |
1,06% 1,24% |
|
Blackjack |
Vegas |
99,72% |
0,28% |
|
Caribbean Stud Poker |
Standard | 94,78% | 5,22% |
| Keno | Standard | 75% | 25% |
| Video Poker | Jacks or Better | 99,54% | 0,46% |
| Roulette | European Roulette American Roulette |
97,3% 94,7 % |
2,7% 5,3% |
| Slots | Video Slots Online Jackpot Slots Land based Slots |
93% - 99% 92% - 96% 80% - 90% |
7% - 1% 8% - 4% 20% - 10% |
RTP at Roulette
Roulette tables have in general an RTP of 97.3%. This only counts for the French and European Roulette table. The American Roulette table has a lower RTP because of the extra 0. The win potentials are much lower because of this extra 0. It's important to know what version of roulette you play and to check the RTP in the game rules.
The best RTP at video slots
We already described that some casinos offer a lower or higher RTP of the same slot. It's the choice of the casino and the player decides if he/she likes the RTP or not. Some players don't understand what RTP is or they don't check it and they might play on a low RTP slot not knowing that they have less chances of winning.
Below we have a table of the standard RTP of an online slot and our recommendations.
|
RTP |
Advice |
|
Between 91% - 93,99% |
Too low for a video slots but a normal RTP for a jackpot slot |
|
Between 94% - 94,99% |
Too low but possible at some casinos |
|
Between 95% - 96,99% |
Most common RTP, recommended |
| 97% and higher | Very good RTP, strongly recommended |
.
The RTP at Jackpot Slots
The RTP at jackpot slots are lower than at video slots. This is because of the jackpot contribution between 1%-3% the casinos need to pay to the game provider. To cover these costs the RTP is lower, around 92%-94%. Always keep this in mind when you play on a jackpot slot in case you feel that you don't win enough. Just wait until you win the jackpot and then you don't mind the lower RTP of jackpot slots.
Difference between RTP and Volatility
The volatility of a slot is another aspect which is important to know when choosing a slot. Some people confuse RTP with Volatility so let's explain the meaning of Volatility.
The volatility of a slot tells you how many times you win and how high the prize is, or with other words the risk of playing on a slot. A high volatility means a low number of prizes but the prizes are much higher. These slots are mostly played by highrollers who have a higher bankroll and can afford too loose a bit more before hitting a high prize.
Low volatility slots gives you more prizes but they are much smaller. These are low risk slots and mostly played by beginning players.
You also have medium volatility slots which are between low and high volatility slots.
A big difference between RTP and Volatility is the range how they are published. RTP is expressed in percentage and volatility in range from 1 to 5 or low-medium-high.
Final word about RTP
To learn the RTP of a game always check the game rules in the game or search in google by typing ‘RTP of Slot A’. It’s important to know the RTP because if gives you the win potantials of the game. But keep in mind that the RTP is decided over millions of spins so don’t think that you always win 97 euro with a 97% RTP slot.
Also look out for the lower RTP percentages at Jackpot Slots and American Roulette game because of the extra 0!
