Slots RTP and volatility explained
If you’ve played slots online, you may have come across terms like ‘RTP’ and ‘Volatility’. Slots are generally categorized as high volatility, medium volatility or low volatility. You don’t need to understand what any of this means if you just want to play a slot game. In fact, the lack of a learning curve is one of the biggest appeals of slot games. However, if you’re looking to maximize your odds of winning, then it is important to choose slots that are conducive to your gaming budget and strategy. Understanding what volatility is and how it can impact your win size/frequency is key to picking the perfect slot.
In this article, we shed light on RTP and Volatility, and discuss how it can affect your gaming experience and profitability.
Why RTP and Volatility Matters
RTP (Return to Player) percentage and volatility are two principal input values that determine the behaviour of a slot’s gaming algorithm. These two metrics have a direct and significanteffect on how much a slot machines pays and also how frequently it pays out.
The RTP % of a slot specifies how much of all bets put is returned to players as prizes, whereas volatility reflects how frequently a slot pays out and the average monetary value of the pay outs.
Once you understand how these two factors influence your gaming, you’ll be able to choose games that are appropriate for your gaming budget and stake range, thus subtly boosting your odds of making a profit from a gaming session.
RTP Explained
Some of the key characteristics of Return to Player % in slot games are:
- The RTP% represents what percentage of all bets placed on a slot game are returned to players in the form of wins over a period of time
- Generally, slot games at online casinos have an RTP% between 94% and 99%
- The RTP% does not tell you how much you can win in any one gaming session
- The RTP% of a slot game is measured over almost and infinite number of reel spins
Return to Player (RTP) percentages show how much of all bets a slot returns to players in the form of wins over time. The RTPS of online slots ranges from 94 percent to over 99 percent, with the majority of games sitting just around 96 percent.
If the RTP% of a slot machine is 97%, it implies that 97% of all bets made on the machine are paid back to players as wins and the remaining 3% is consumed by the house as revenue.
However, this does not mean that if you bet $100 on a slot game with an RTP of 97% then you will get back $97 and the casino will eat up $3. The RTP does not tell you what will happen in a gaming session.
There is no specified time period within which the RTP% is realized, it is a perpetually on-going process measured over nearly an infinite number of spins. Therefore, in one gaming session, you could bet $100 and win $150 while in another gaming session you could bet $100 and lose $10.
If you played an infinite number of times, you would bet $100 and get back $97, this is what the RTP entails. Since one player is not going to play forever, the winnings are spread out randomly across all punters to play the game over the lifetime of the game.
Volatility Explained
Some key attributes to know about the volatility of a slot are:
- The volatility of a slot game is indicative of how often the slot produces winning results
- The volatility of a slot game is also indicative of how big or small these wins are in value
Unlike with RTP, there is no standardized expression of the volatility of a slot machine. While some games are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, there are also games where the volatility is rated somewhere between 1 and 10. Many game studios simply label their slots as high or low volatility and sometimes even medium volatility.
To reiterate, the volatility of a slot game tells you two things about the game:
- How frequently you can win when playing this game
- How high or big the game’s win multipliers are (which tells you how much you can expect to win each time you do win).
If a slot game is described as being a low volatility slot, it tells you that you will win frequently as you spin the reels of the slot. However, the value or the amount of the wins is generally going to be somewhat conservative. On the other hand, if a slot is highly volatile, then it maybe comparably rare for a winning outcome to come by, but when one does win, the win is pretty significant in terms of its value.
However, there are certainly outliers in each category. This means that even when you are playing a slot with low volatility, you could suddenly come across a big win; it is just less likely to happen. Vice versa, you could also win frequently even though you are playing a high-volatility game; it is just less likely that you will.
In order to get a grasp on how RTP and Volatility are related to the max payout value of a slot machine, let’s consider three real world slot game examples below:
Immortal Romance
- RTP: 96.86%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 12,150x
Super Lion
- RTP: 96.1%
- Volatility: Medium
- Max Win: $297,900
Starburst
- RTP: 96.1%
- Volatility: Low
- Max Win: $50,000
The Relationship between a Slot’s RTP and Volatility
From the above examples, it is not possible to establish any obvious relationship between the RTP of games and its volatility. This is because these two metrics are not contingent upon each other, they are independent of each other. Therefore, a high volatility slot can have a low RTP and a low volatility slot can have a high RTP.
The RTP simply tells you what percentage of all stakes made on a game are paid back to the punters over time as opposed to volatility which tells you the rate at which wins are produced and the potential value of these wins. Provided all other factors equal, it’s always better to choose the slot with the higher RTP%.
How to Pick Slots Based on Their RTP and Volatility
If you’re wondering whether you should choose high volatility slots or low volatility slots, here’s a rule of thumb which is generally a good way to decide which slot to play:
- If you have a limited gaming budget, it would be good to play a low volatility slot
- On the other hand, if your budget is large enough, playing a high volatility slot maybe the better option
Choosing the right type of slot game is no guarantee that you will win or walk away with a profit at the end of your gaming session. The bottom line is that slots are a game of luck and there is no skill element involved. When you’re playing a slot game, all you can really do is adjust the bet value and hit the spin button, there is really no way for you to directly influence the outcome of the spin, it is purely coincidental. However, you may slightly shift the odds in your favour even before you start playing, simply by choosing the right slot game for your gaming style and budget.
So, why choose a low volatility slot when you have a limited budget? The reasoning for this is as follows – in a low volatility slot, by the nature of the game, you have high chances of winning quite frequently, even though the wins are small. This means that you can, even with your limited budget, play for longer without going bust and hopefully collect several smaller wins along the way to make for a good net profit if things go well.
If, however, you are starting with a healthy bankroll, then you can opt for high volatile games right from the get go. When playing a high volatility game, you will likely not come across a win for a while, even after having spun the reels many times. This means that your funds will reduce quite a bit before you finally crack a win. But, when you do win, the high-value win multipliers will compensate for all of your losses up to that point and then some more.
Now that you understand how to pick between high, medium and low volatility slots based on your bankroll, let’s turn our attention to the RTP%. With RTP%, it is a much more straightforward consideration. As much as possible, you want to play games that have a high RTP. There is simply no case to be made for slots with low RTPs, you can still win big time playing such low RTP games but it requires more luck, so to speak.
How RTP and Volatility Affect Bonus Wagering
If you’re playing slots in order to fulfill wagering requirements, these two pointers make for good guidelines:
- If you’re playing with a no deposit bonus, wager on slots with low volatility
- Rather than trying to win big, just stay focused on completing the bonus wagering. Once completed, you can then play for real money without having to worry about max win limits or playthrough requirements
When playing slots with a no deposit bonus, it is good to play low volatility slots for the same reasons you would choose low volatility slots when you have a limited budget. Almost always, a no deposit bonus is a nominal amount of free spins or free cash and is thus the same as wagering with a limited budget.
Recommended Slots with Different Volatility
Not all slot games are created equally. Some slots come from reputed providers and are fun to play while there maybe a few slots where the juice simply isn’t worth the squeeze. When playing slots, it’s not all about odds and numbers, you also want to have an entertaining gaming session. Below, we have some recommendations for slot games of different volatility levels.
Our Top Low Volatility Slots
These are some of our recommended low volatility slots:
Starburst
- RTP: 96.1%
- Volatility: Low
- Max Win: $50,000
Starburst, as the name suggests, is an outer spaced theme video slot which is bright and colourful. The only short coming of this game is that there aren’t any free spins rounds at all. Gemstones like diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies are utilized as symbols in Starburst. A gold bar on a burning sun emblem, which pays the most, is what players are always eager to land.
Thunderstruck II
- Provider: Microgaming
- RTP: 96.65%
- Max win: $1,21,500
Thunderstruck II is an excellent low volatility slot to play and it comes from one of the most celebrated online game developers of all time – Microgaming. This slot has a 5×3 reel set with a whopping 243 ways to win. With so many winning combinations, it is no wonder that you come across wins frequently. The most exciting aspect of this game is the Great Hall of Spins feature which comes in four flavours, each with its own set of rewards and modifiers. They begin with Valkyrie free spins and go through the bonus rounds in succession when players activate them.
Our Top Medium Volatility Slots
These are our recommended medium volatility slots:
Gonzo’s Gold
- Provider: NetEnt
- RTP: 96.11%
- Max win: 5000x
NetEnt’s Gonzo’s Gold is a five-reel, five-row online slot featuring cluster pay mechanics. Gonzo’s Gold is a medium variance game with a maximum prize of 5000x your stake. The stake can be adjusted from a minimum of $0.10 to a maximum of $200.
Gonzo’s is a character that most online casino players are already acquainted with. Gonzo’s Quest was when Gonzo first arrived on the scene. Gonzo’s Quest was released by NetEnt in 2013 and there have been several renditions of this game since. This time, NetEnt has created Gonzo’s Gold, which is a cluster-pays slot without a cascade feature.
Reef Raider
- Provider: NetEnt
- RTP: 96.1%
- Max win: 8500x
Too many slots are either 3-reeled or 5-reeled, Reef Raider from NetEnt breaks the stereotype by being a 7-reel, 7-row video slot with a cluster pays mechanism instead of traditional paylines. The stake range can be adjusted anywhere from $0.2 to $100 for each spin. The max you can win is 8500 times your bet amount. So, if you have the highest bet of $100 and hit the max win, you can cashout $850,000. Reef Raider is a cartoony take on life in the ocean. It pops with vibrant colours and sea-creature based symbols. The oceanic theme is mixed along with a little bit of pirate influence as well. The special features in this game include various reel modifiers, wild symbols, an avalanche feature and a free spins bonus round.
Our Top High Volatility Slots
Check out these recommended high volatility slots if you want some extra thrills in your gaming:
Book of Dead
- Provider: Play’n GO
- RTP: 96.21%
- Max win: 5000x
Book of dead is 5×3 slot with a fixed jackpot and include special features like free spins and multipliers. The game is themed around ancient Egypt and its hidden treasures that you can uncover with the help of a mystical book.
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Immortal Romance
- Provider: Microgaming
- RTP: RTP: 96.86%
- Max win: 12,150x
Immortal Romance is a vampire themed slot with 5-reels and 243 winning combinations. This 2011 game is highly popular even today and is known for producing huge wins out of the blue.
