What Does RTP Mean? Return to Player in Slots, Explained with Real Numbers

RTP stands for return to player: the share of all the money staked on a casino game that the game pays back to players over the long run. A slot with an RTP of 96% is built to return $96 for every $100 wagered on it, across millions of spins. The other $4 is the casino’s margin, known as the house edge. This guide explains what that number does and does not tell you, using the RTPs that slot studios publish for their own games.

What RTP means, in one sentence

RTP is a long-run average of the whole game, not a promise about your session. It is calculated from the game’s maths, across every possible outcome, so the figure only shows up in practice over a very large number of spins. Over 50 or 500 spins your result can land far above or far below it.

RTP and house edge always add up to 100%:

Note that “$1,000 wagered” is total stakes, not your deposit. Every win you play again is staked again, so $100 deposited can easily turn into $1,000 wagered within an hour of play.

Published RTPs of well-known slots

Slot studios publish the RTP of each game on its page. These figures were read from the studios’ own sites:

Most modern slots sit between about 94% and 97%. Table games run higher on their best bets: blackjack with basic strategy returns around 99.5%, baccarat’s Banker bet 98.94% and single-zero roulette 97.30%. The full list is in our house edge guide.

One slot, several RTPs

Many slots are released in more than one RTP version, and the casino chooses which one to run. Hacksaw Gaming lists four for Wanted Dead or a Wild: 96.38%, 94.55%, 92.33% and 88.42%. Same game, same graphics, same features, but a different share of stakes paid back.

The difference is easy to underestimate as a percentage, so here it is as money. At $1 a spin and 600 spins an hour (one every six seconds), you wager $600 an hour. The expected cost of that hour on each version is:

The lowest version costs more than three times as much to play as the highest. This is why the figure on a studio’s website is only the starting point: what matters is the version the casino you play at is running.

How to find the RTP of the slot you are playing

• Open the game’s rules or paytable. Most slots state their RTP in the information screen (usually the “i” or menu button), and this normally shows the version running at that casino.
• Check the studio’s game page for the published figure and, for studios such as Hacksaw Gaming, the full list of versions. If the in-game figure is lower than the studio’s top figure, you are playing a lower version.
• Read bonus features separately. Some slots list a different RTP for a bonus buy or an ante bet than for the base game.

RTP, volatility and hit frequency are three different things

Two slots with the same RTP can play completely differently. RTP says how much comes back in total; volatility says how that money is spread out, and hit frequency says how often a spin pays anything at all. NetEnt publishes all three:

Starburst and Gonzo’s Quest return almost exactly the same share of stakes, but Gonzo’s Quest pays out on 41% of spins and Starburst on 23%. A “hit” is any win, and many hits pay back less than the stake, so a high hit frequency does not mean a session is going well. At the other end, Wanted Dead or a Wild is rated 4 out of 5 for volatility by Hacksaw and pays up to 12,500x the bet: a large part of its RTP sits in rare, big wins, so most sessions return less than 96% and a few return far more.

RTP and bonus wagering

RTP decides what a casino bonus costs to clear. Take a $100 bonus with a 35x wagering requirement: you must stake $3,500 before it can be withdrawn. The expected cost of that wagering depends on the game:

• On a 98.00% slot (Blood Suckers): about $70.
• On a 96.50% slot (Gates of Olympus): about $122.50.
• On an 88.42% version of a slot: about $405, which is more than the bonus is worth.

Bonus terms often exclude some games or count them at less than 100% towards wagering, so read the bonus’s game list as well as its multiplier. Our casino bonus guide covers the other terms to check.

Is there an RTP in sports betting?

Not by that name, but the idea is the same. A bookmaker’s payout is built into the odds: a two-way market priced at 1.91 on both sides pays back 95.5% of the money staked on it if both sides are backed evenly, and the remaining 4.5% is the bookmaker’s margin. The house edge guide shows how to work it out for any market.

Where to play slots with published RTPs

Pragmatic Play, NetEnt and Hacksaw Gaming, the three studios quoted above, are all in the casino lobbies of 22bet and 20Bet. Whichever casino you choose, open the game’s rules before you play and check the RTP of the version on offer.

Play responsibly

No RTP makes a slot profitable to play: every figure below 100% means the game is built to keep part of what is staked. Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over. Set a budget before you start and only play with money you can afford to lose.