What Does RTP Mean in Gambling and Casino Games

If you are frequently spending time on casino sites and/or researching about them, you probably came across the abbreviation RTP. In short, RTP stands for Return to Player, a percentage (%) you’ll get back after spinning the slot.

This parameter is often taken as a key indicator of fairness, so gambling sites that offer games with high RTP% are regarded as player-friendly. Since RTP is very important for the player and determines his chances to win at a particular game, it’s highly recommended to become more acquainted with this concept and explore RTP values for casino games that you most commonly play. This article will explain the basics and recommend some games that have high RTP.

Understanding RTP

RTP (Return to Player) represents the amount of money the casino is giving back through its win mechanisms. To put it simply, games with high RTP% have more favourable winning odds, and they consequently represent better gambling propositions.

To calculate RTP% for a specific game, we should divide total amount of money invested by the players with total winnings, with the result multiplied by 100 to express it as a percentage. Thus, a game with an RTP of 97% keeps only 3% of the proceeds and returns everything else through various in-game prizes.

However, since all outcomes of a game are randomly determined, in the short term there could be a notable difference between theoretical and actual RTP. Over the long term, this difference is evened out. After approximately one million repetitions, the gap between theoretical and real RTP drops to less than 1%.

RTP in Different Casino Games

As we established before, RTP determines how much of an edge the house has over the player. In online casinos, this parameter is set by the game manufacturer who devised the win mechanisms within the game. Thus, it’s common for games hosted on the same website to have different RTP values.
Slot games in particular have RTP percentages that fall in a wide range, typically between 93% and 98%, so it may be necessary to check the exact value for each title. Roulette has similar odds that vary from 94% to 97% depending on which rule set you play by. Card games like blackjack and poker give the best RTP, with chance to win sometimes exceeding 99%.

Awareness of these values for each type of casino game is the foundation of a smart strategy. Players should spend more time and money contesting games and slots with high RTP, especially if they are partially skill-based. That way, it’s possible to nudge the probabilities to your side and consistently win money at a casino site.

The Best Online Slot Games with Highest RTP

Since with slots, there is a lot of variation in terms of RTP rates, we compiled a list of online slot games that give you the highest winning odds. Below are listed top 10 online games with the highest RTP available at UK casinos.

The Importance of RTP for Players

While RTP may sound very technical to novice players, it is one of the most essential indicators of the game’s fairness and attractiveness. As such, it carries great importance and is more insightful than reports of big payouts that you can commonly see on a casino site’s homepage. This value is unrelated to luck and determines long-term trends, so it becomes even more vital to learn it when you are choosing a game you want to commit to for a longer period.

Common Myths and Misunderstandings about RTP

RTP percentage is given for the game as a whole and is accurate on a large enough sample, but it doesn’t guarantee that each player will get that exact rate of return. Individual outcomes are driven by luck, so each player could fare differently while playing the same game. A game with a 99% RTP won’t necessarily return 99 pounds for every 100 spent – some players might win 200 while others could lose everything. RTP value merely reveals the odds and games of chance remain risky no matter how high the average returns may be.

RTP in Online vs. Land-Based Casinos

Speaking in general terms, online gambling establishments tend to offer much better odds than their land-based counterparts. This trend becomes clear when you take a look at typical RTP values in both types of casinos, as it’s common to get as much as 95% on the web while the returns in a traditional casino are usually in the 50-70% range. There are a couple of factors that account for the difference – online casinos have much lower overhead expenses but have to compete with dozens of similar sites, both of which motivate them to raise RTP values.

Regulation and Transparency of RTP

From all the above, it’s clear that accurate reporting of RTP values is essential for the players who are looking to select the most suitable casino games. Since the odds are fixed when the game is manufactured, gambling website operators are unable to change them, but they can transparently display the RTP percentage for each of the hosted games. At the same time, independent testing organisations and government regulators have a role in confirming those values and ensuring that no one is misrepresenting the risks involved.