Online slot games are fun but only if you can find the right one. The number of online slots keeps increasing by the day, which makes it hard to pick just one. Slots are designed differently, meaning you have to take time to find the ones that meet your requirements. If you have read some slot selection guides, then you know certain features differentiate one internet casino from the next. RTP is one of the terms that you may have encountered in your research. Before you start playing video slots online, you have to know the RTP of that specific casino. But what is RTP? Why should it matter to an online casino player?
RTP – the short of it
Return to player, or RTP refers to the percentage payout rate of a casino over its lifetime. Casinos design slot machines to pay a certain amount back to players over a given period. If a casino’s online slots payout is 95%, it means players get £95 for every £100.
Every online casino has its own RTP, which is why you have to find out what it is before signing up. The RTP value also varies from one slot machine to another. Return to player value is calculated in percentage terms and the higher it is, the more chances a player has of winning. If you have played in conventional casinos, you may notice that they have typically lower RTP than their online counterparts. It is because online casinos have to compete globally. Anyone who can get online can play, and that means every region gets fair game. By offering high RTP of video slots online, casinos boost winning chances to attract customers. Always look for casinos that have their RTPS clearly displayed on every slot machine because it speaks about their credibility.
Casino Payouts
For online slot games, the payout doesn’t include the original bet because that is forfeited. Instead, casinos pay based on the results of a specific round and the pay table for that particular game. However, online slots payouts depend on many other variables. Casinos use Random Number Generators to guarantee fair payouts for all players. RNGs ensure that the chances of winning remain the same for every game. It means that, whether you win or lose, when you start on a new slot, your chances are the same as your previous game.
Relation of Online Slots RTP to House Advantage
To make it easier, think of RTP as the opposite of the house edge. For a beginner, the term house edge is about to become very familiar to you. Every casino has a house advantage, which is the percentage of winning that players leave on the table. It means that if the house edge in a particular online casino is 10%, then it means that player have a 95% chance of winning AKA the return to player value.
However, note that these values are only theoretical, meaning there are exceptions. A player can win big now and then get on a long losing streak even with an RTP of 98%. Both the return to player and house advantage values are calculated over the long term.
What About the Hit Frequency
One question that players ask when learning about the return to player value is the influence of the win rate. A hit frequency is the number of times that a slot machine is expected to stop at a winning combination. For example, an online casino that generates a winning combo in every eight spins has a hit frequency of 12.5%. This rate tells how often you can expect to hit a winning combo. Take two casinos both with an RTP of 98%, but one has a hit frequency of 30% while the other one offers 20%. Of course, the casino with a higher hit frequency provides better opportunities.
You will find that casinos with low hit frequencies give large payouts because they are once in a long while high frequencies come with many small wins. Hit rates are not only different from casino to casino but also among games. It is up to an individual to decide which win frequencies suit his/her online gaming requirements.
Understanding online slots RTP can give you a glimpse into the long-term performance of a casino. Although the math may escape you, grasping some of the basics of return to player value makes it less challenging to find a suitable online casino. When playing video slots online, choose casinos that offer high RTP values. However, make sure you go through other guides to learn what else matters when choosing a casino for your online slot games.