Return to player, or RTP for short, is a concept you need to understand if you’re gambling at an online casino. This is because RTP will be one of the factors that determine how much cash you can potentially get back from the games you play, it’s not the only factor, just one of them. On this page, we want to walk you through how RTP works and hopefully answer some of the questions you may have about RTP.
What is RTP in Online Casinos?
You can think of RTP as the house edge (although, technically, it is the opposite). The RTP determines how much money that is gambled on a game is eventually returned to players. For example, if you have an RTP of 97%, then for every £100 gambled on that game, £97 is eventually given back to players, and the online casino takes a £3 cut. This means that the house edge is 3%.
It isn’t quite as clear-cut as this; that is, you can’t expect that for every £100 you gamble, you’ll get £97 back. You could get nothing. You’ll see why shortly. But if you’re not familiar with the concept, this is a brief description of RTP.
How Does RTP Work?
As we said, there is no guarantee with RTP. RTP is sort of a guideline about the odds of a game you play (especially slot machines). You cannot expect to get a certain amount of cash back just because the RTP says that a certain amount of cash is going back into players’ pockets.
You must remember that some people win more from games than others. So, let’s say that a machine has an RTP of 97% and we have two players gambling £100 apiece. One player could win £194, and the other player could win nothing. However, the RTP would still be 97%, as 97% of the money is returned to players.
In truth, actual RTP is calculated over millions of games. When games are developed, the plays will be simulated so that the RTP rate conforms to what the game is set to. However, online casinos and game developers will always keep tabs on how their games are performing in a live environment to ensure that everything is working as it should.
So, while RTP is a useful metric, just know that it is one such metric that you can use to determine what a particular online casino game will pay out. We’ll discuss another one shortly.
Who Determines RTP?
For the vast majority of games, RTP is fixed by the casino game developer, or in theory, the nature of the game. For example, a roulette wheel should always have the same RTP, no matter where you play it. This is assuming that it has been programmed properly.
Some slot machine developers do allow an online casino to tinker with the RTP. Well, sort of. We are positive that the online casino won’t be directly changing the RTP. However, the game developer will change things for them, often within a set range, for example, the online casino can’t request an RTP of 1%. It will always be within a couple of percent of the ‘base’ RTP of the game.
In the United Kingdom, all casino games should display what the RTP is. It should be listed somewhere in the game instructions. If you are struggling to find the RTP (it can sometimes be hidden), then find a good review of the game online, and it should tell you all that you really need to know.
Games Have Different RTP Rates
Games, especially slot machines, can have different RTPs. They’re guaranteed to have different RTPs. As we said earlier, you might even find the same game with different RTPs depending on where you gamble.
If you look at the list of the best RTP slots, you will see how much variance there can be between games. We’ve even seen slot machines that have RTPs as low as 92%, although that is now incredibly rare. Nobody wants to gamble on something like that.
It is always important to choose games that have a high RTP. While once again, the odds of you winning cash back are not guaranteed, higher RTPs do mean that you have a better chance of getting something back.
Other Things That Determine Payout Rates
With slot machines, there is one other factor that will determine the payout rate of the game. Unfortunately, this is a stat that will be hidden. You either need to have a lot of experience with slot machines and consult the pay table, or read slot machine reviews for information. Let’s introduce you to the concept of ‘volatility’.
Volatility Shows Two Things: How often a slot machine pays out and how high the prizes are:
A game that has low volatility pays out often, but the prizes are low. A high volatility slot will pay out rarely, but when it does pay out, it will often pay out larger sums. This means that an RTP of 97% on a low volatility slot machine is far more likely to give you back 97% of the cash you gamble than a slot machine with higher volatility.
We would argue that the volatility of a slot machine is way more important than the RTP of a game, especially since most slot machines now have a very similar RTP (there is often only a couple of percent difference between them).
Final thoughts
We hope that this page has given you a bit more insight into what RTP is and how it works. When you’re playing online casino games, make sure that you pay attention to the RTP.
It will give you an idea of how much profit casinos are making from their games, as well as how likely you are to win some money. However, we must once again reiterate that there is no guarantee that you’ll win, even when playing a game with a high RTP.
