What is RTP in slots?

What RTP means

A slot with 96% RTP pays back 96 of every 100 wagered on it, on average, across millions of spins and all its players. The other 4 is the house edge: what the game keeps. RTP is set in the game's maths when the studio designs it, and regulated markets require it to be tested by an independent lab.

Across the 3,708 slots on WildmarkSlots the median headline RTP is 96.14%, and 82% have a headline RTP of 96% or more. Headline means the highest version the studio publishes; more on that below.

RTP in money

The easiest way to read RTP is as a cost. Multiply the amount you wager by the house edge:

The amount wagered is not your deposit. At 1 per spin and 10 spins a minute you wager 600 an hour, so even 100 can be wagered many times over in one session as wins are bet again. Two points of RTP look small, but on the same session they make the average cost 50% higher. Try your own numbers in the RTP calculator.

Why one session ignores RTP

RTP is an average over a very long run. In a session of a few hundred spins, results are dominated by chance, especially on high volatility games where a large part of the RTP is paid through rare big wins. You can lose your whole budget on a 97% game and finish ahead on a 94% one.

That is why RTP is best used to compare games, not to predict a result. Over many sessions, the lower RTP game will cost you more. In any single session, anything can happen. Volatility tells you how wild that session is likely to be.

Worked examples at different bets

RTP is a percentage, so the cost scales with the amount wagered. Here are three sessions at the same 96% RTP, using round numbers:

Notice that the cost is driven by how much you wager in total, not by the size of a single bet. A small bet played for a long time can cost more than a large bet played briefly. The same 250 wagered would cost 15 on a 94% version, which is 50% more for exactly the same play.

These are averages. The actual result of any one session can be anywhere from losing the whole budget to finishing ahead, and the average only becomes visible after a very large number of spins.

Where the RTP comes from inside a game

A slot's RTP is the sum of everything it can pay, each outcome weighted by how often it happens. Ordinary line wins, cascades, free spins and any other feature each contribute a slice. As an illustration, a game might return 60 points of its 96% from the base game and 36 from the bonus round. Such a game feels slow between bonuses, because a large part of what it returns is waiting inside a feature you have not triggered yet.

This is also why two games with identical RTP can feel so different. The share of the return held in rare features is what the volatility label tries to describe. The extreme wins add very little on their own: a prize of 50,000 times the bet that came up once in ten million spins would add only half a point to the RTP. See max win explained for more on that.

Four common misreadings

• "96% means I get back 96% of my deposit." No. It is a share of everything wagered across all players, and your deposit can be wagered several times in one session.
• "The slot owes me a win after a long losing run." No. Every spin is independent; see slot myths.
• "A higher RTP means more frequent wins." Not necessarily. Hit frequency and volatility describe how the return is spread; RTP only says how much returns in total.
• "RTP is a prediction for tonight." It is a long-run average of a game, not a forecast of your session.

The same slot can have a lower RTP

Many studios certify one game at several RTP settings and let the casino choose. For example, Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead by Play'n GO is published at 96.21%, 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25%, 84.18%. Among the 737 slots with several recorded versions, the lowest version is on average 8.4 points below the headline RTP.

The game looks and plays the same in every version, so the only way to know is to check. Most games show their RTP in the paytable or help screen. Read why the same slot has different RTPs for how to find it.

Who checks RTP

In regulated markets, a game must be certified before it goes live. Independent test labs such as GLI, BMM and eCOGRA check that the random number generator is fair and that the game's maths returns the declared RTP, and the regulator keeps the certified versions on record. That is why RTP is a published figure you can trust as an average, even though no single session follows it.

How to use RTP

• Prefer the higher RTP when you choose between two games you like.
• Check the RTP shown inside the game before you play; it may be a lower version.
• Turn RTP into money for your session, not into an expectation of winning.
• Set your limits by money and time, whatever the RTP.

To compare games, start from the high RTP slots list, or look at slots with several RTP versions to see which games can be installed at a lower figure. Try a game with play money first in the free demos, and work out your own session cost with the RTP calculator. WildmarkSlots's own value score is a formula built on RTP and max win; the how we rate page shows it in full.

RTP is only one input. If a session is starting to cost more than you planned, the answer is never a different game; it is stopping. Our responsible gambling page lists free help.

Frequently asked questions