Almost 30 years have passed since the emergence of online casinos. For the first time, Microgaming managed to implement the transfer of gambling entertainment to the Internet, which opened the site of the same name in 1994. Of course, that site was far from modern high-quality online casinos, but the start was made. And a few years later, when the Internet became faster and more accessible, many operators followed the example of Microgaming.

• What is it
• What is volatility and what does it affect
• What determines the RTP
• Slots with what returns are better

For a long time, the online gambling industry remained without strict control from the authorities. This was due to the complexity of regulating the digital space. Today, there is a risk of being deceived by a gambling site only if the user has registered on a fraudulent illegal site. Licensed casinos that have issued permits in the regulatory jurisdiction operate according to clear rules. One of them is the presence of a certified random number generator.

The results of each rotation in the slots are determined by the RNG. It randomly places symbols on the reels. And to make it easier for users to evaluate the profitability of a particular machine, providers have introduced the concept of Return to Player (RTP).

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Overview

What is it

RTP is a parameter expressed as a percentage and fixed at a certain value by the developers of the slot. It reflects the level of return of the machine and shows how much money from the total amount of invested funds the device will return to users, and what percentage will be the income of the casino and the provider. For example, with an RTP of 95%, this is exactly the share that will be given to players as payments, and 5% will be divided between the gambling site and the developer.

Thus, the casino always remains in the black. On the one hand, this is good, on the other hand, it is bad. The positive point is that the site is guaranteed to receive its income and it makes no sense to deceive users. The downside is in the mathematical model itself. If you regularly play a slot with a return of less than 100%, it will be difficult to stay in the black at a distance.

RTP is a general indicator. A setting of 95% does not mean that the player will receive 95 cents from every dollar wagered. Payouts are random, so one player can lose the entire deposit, and the other can hit the jackpot from the very first spins.

In practice, to make sure there is a fixed return percentage, you need to make tens of thousands in the same slot spins.

Thanks to RTP, every casino user has a chance to receive a payout at any time. In order to ensure the randomness of the issuance of prize money, the developers of slot machines have introduced an additional feature called volatility. Thanks to it, the results of two separate segments of spins in the same automaton can differ significantly. The user himself cannot influence the outcome of the spins in any way, which creates additional excitement.

What is volatility and what does it affect

In short, then volatility is the riskiness of the slot machine. It is closely related to variance - the deviation of the actual result from the mathematical expectation, which is the same RTP. Volatility directly affects the frequency of winnings and their average size. For convenience, providers use three levels of riskiness.

Volatility is not directly related to RTP, but there is a pattern between these two indicators. The higher the return percentage, the lower the average prize level. But sometimes slots combine riskiness and a good return. So this dependence works forever.

What RTP depends on

The percentage of payouts set by the provider for their slots directly depends on the requirements of the regulator and the legislation of the country in which the machines are distributed.

The RTP takes into account not only ordinary spins, but also all additional mechanics : bonus rounds, jackpots, free spins, etc.

If the machine has too low a return percentage that goes beyond the requirements of the regulator, it will not be able to get a license. RTP of modern slots averages from 85% to 97%. The minimum rate is set by the laws of the countries. For example, in Russia it cannot be less than 90%, in Australia it can be 85%.

In the given range, the provider can set RTP in any size. It all depends on the applied mathematical models and mechanics. Some developers (for example, Endorphina) put approximately the same level of return into all machines, while others (such as NetEnt and BetSoft) vary it from 90% to 98%.

The gambling site itself cannot affect the RTP in any way. Since the slots are located on the developers' servers, the online casino does not have access to their code, and it is impossible to change the operation parameters of the machines. A peculiar exception is slot machines with a dynamic return percentage, when the provider allows the site to independently choose one of the proposed RTP levels.

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Slots with better payouts

Obviously, at a distance they are more profitable high return machines. However, the choice is not as clear-cut as it seems at first glance. It can be influenced by various factors:

• Duration of the game in one slot. RTP begins to be noticeable only after thousands of spins in the machine. Within a one-time session, the user will not feel the difference between the conditional 90% and 95%.
• Bankroll. The smaller the player's budget, the more dangerous it is to choose devices with a low return percentage. Due to the increased volatility, there is a risk of losing the deposit quickly.

The user needs to compare the return percentage, bankroll and volatility. The optimal RTP for a regular game can be considered an indicator of 93% or more.