If you have ever played online slots or tried your hand at a virtual casino game, you have probably come across the term RTP. Even if you are unsure what it means, the return to player (RTP) percentage is vital for casino gaming – discover more.
You are in the right place if you are new to this concept. This article will dig deeper into what return to player is all about.
The Meaning of Return to Player
The return to player (RTP) is a percentage that indicates how much of the wagered money will be paid back to the gamer over time. It is worth noting that RTP is a long-term average and is not guaranteed. For instance, in a slot with an RTP of 97%, you can expect an average of £97 back in winnings for every £100 wagered. The other £3 goes to the casino. Also, you should note that the RTP of a casino doesn’t indicate how often a player will win or how much they will win in a single session. It is rather a measure of the overall payouts of a game over time.
How to Calculate Return to Player (RTP) Percentage
Although the term and algorithms that decide RTP might sound complex and sophisticated, calculating it is quite easy. The formula for calculating is the total amount returned divided by the total amount you get.
Note that RTP cannot be calculated based on a few dozen or a few hundred results. The reason is that such a small sample cannot provide reliable data. RTP measures long-term payouts.
Since the RTP is calculated over long periods, the game will naturally move closer to its average after millions of rounds. But this will happen slowly for anyone to notice.
Below is an example of how to calculate RTP.
Let’s take that a game’s total amount in a year is £1 million, and its potential payout is £960,000. You will get the game’s RTP by dividing the amount it returns by the amount it takes in.
In this case: £960,000/£1,000,000 = 0.96. therefore, the RTP of the game in this example is 96%.
Remember that the RTP numbers can only be measured through large samples. Thus, they should only matter if you will be gaming for long. If you have a few hundred bucks to spend on a slot machine, the RTP doesn’t matter much, as you will not play long enough to be affected by it significantly.
The Link Between RTP and Variance
You cannot fully understand RTP without considering variance. This is because the two determine how much success you will achieve playing a certain game over time.
Variance is a measure of how a particular slot pays the gamer. It illustrates the frequency of payouts and the risk involved in playing the game. A slot can have a low, medium, or high variance. With all the information discussed in this article, you can now understand why it is important to know RTP works. You should pick slots with the highest RTPs but those within your budget.
