Understanding the RTP Related to Online Slots

Before you invest your hard-earned cash playing online games of chance, you might want to make sure you know exactly what you are up against. It’s pretty easy to find out the odds and house advantage that pertains to online table games like Roulette, Craps, Baccarat and Blackjack. If the wagering odds aren’t available directly on the casino website, the approximate odds can be found on the internet by Googling the game in question. The house’s advantage on each game and each game’s betting options are also available through Google.

The odds and/or house’s advantage for online slot games is a little more difficult to ascertain and understand. The terminology used to identify the odds of a player winning when playing online slots is called the “Return to Player” or RTP. A slot game’s RTP listing is stated as a percentage. The percentage relates to the percentage of every dollar the game will claim over an extended period of play. To make sure you understand that, an online slot with an RTP percentage of 96% means you will lose 4% of every dollar you wager over time. This is the house’s advantage. Is it any wonder that all casinos love slot players? Which are the best slot sites to play online? The ones with the best RTP percentages on a consistent basis.

Understanding How the RTP Percentage is Determined

When a software developer develops a new slot game, the software includes a random generator that will control the randomness of each spin of the reels. After the game has been completed, it is required to undergo randomness testing from a top auditing laboratory like eCOGRA, iTech Labs and TST. These companies have auditing programs that can run hundreds of thousands of spins in a short period of time. The resulting data is used to determine how much of each dollar wagered is going to be returned to the player based on the game’s pay chart. This determines the RFT percentage.

FYI: Many games include a mechanism that allows the online casino operator to slightly adjust the payout odds. This will have a small impact on the RTP percentage. IT DOES NOT AFFECT THE RANDOMNESS OF EACH RESULT. The operator’s ability to dictate the RTP percentage is exactly why regulators want online casinos of offer up that information on each game for the gambler’s benefit.

Choosing the Best Slot Games

From a purely gambling perspective, it should be clear that the best slot gambling options are the ones that offer the highest RTP percentage. With that said, that doesn’t necessarily mean the games with the highest percentages are going to offer the highest payouts or the most exciting slots-playing experience.

If a player wants to enjoy bonus games with a chance to hit huge jackpots, they might have to look beyond a game’s RTP percentage. Where the percentage really comes in handy is when comparing two very similar slots. If two games have the same format and similar bonus games and payouts, the best option becomes the one with the highest RTP percentage.