RTP in slots, explained
Return to player (RTP) is the share of everything ever staked on a game that the game pays back, averaged over far more plays than anyone will ever make. On a slot, a 96% RTP means 96 of every 100 coins staked come back across the game’s lifetime, not in your session.
RTP is a property of a game’s design, calculated from its paytable and the probability of each outcome. It is not measured from what players experienced, and it is not a rate at which money comes back to you.
Its complement is the house edge: h = 1 − r. A 96% RTP is a 4% edge. That 4% applies to every coin staked, which is why the amount you wager — not the amount you deposit — determines the long-run cost. This is the single fact that makes wagering requirements expensive, and it is why contribution percentages matter so much.
Where a slot’s RTP comes from
A slot’s RTP is fixed by its mathematical model: every result the reels can land on, how likely each one is, and what the paytable pays for it. Multiply each payout by its probability and add the products. The total is the RTP. The model below is illustrative, not a real game.
| Result | Probability | Pays (times stake) | Adds to RTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large win | 2% | 10 | 0.20 |
| Small win | 30% | 2 | 0.60 |
| Stake returned | 15% | 1 | 0.15 |
| No win | 53% | 0 | 0.00 |
The products sum to 0.95, so this model has a 95% RTP and a 5% house edge: across a very large number of spins it pays back 95 of every 100 coins staked. It does not mean a 100-coin session ends with 95 coins. How far a single session lands from that average is what volatility describes.
The relationship, in one line
expected cost = amount staked × (1 − RTP)
Everything else on this site is an elaboration of that. See the expected balance calculator.
Explainers
What RTP actually means
Return to player is the share of everything ever staked on a game that the game pays back, averaged over a number of plays far larger than anyone will ever make.
Why RTP does not describe your session
The published figure is an average over an unimaginably large number of plays. A session is a very small sample, and small samples are dominated by variance.
The same game can ship at several different RTPs
Many slots are supplied to operators in multiple RTP configurations. Unless the operator says which one is running, a published figure for that title is not a figure for the game you are playing.
How a published RTP figure is actually derived
RTP is not measured by watching players. It is calculated in advance from a game's own rules and payouts — and where those rules are public, the calculation can be checked line by line.
Why RTP alone cannot say whether a wagering requirement is survivable
RTP sets the house edge. Whether a balance can survive a specific playthrough requirement in expectation also depends on how much of each stake counts toward it, and the two combine into one number worth knowing before either is judged alone.
Games with an established RTP
This list is short, deliberately. A figure appears here only when it can be established from a primary document or derived from the stated rules of the game — arithmetic that anyone can check, rather than a number copied from somewhere else.
| Game | RTP | House edge | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-zero roulette | 97.2973% | 2.7027% | derived |
| Double-zero roulette | 94.7368% | 5.2632% | derived |
Why there are no slot RTPs here
Most slots are supplied to operators in several RTP configurations — a 96% build and a 94% build of the same game, with the same name and artwork. Unless the operator states which one is running, a published figure for that title does not describe the game you are playing.
A long table of slot RTPs would be easy to assemble from other affiliate sites and would be worth nothing, because most entries would describe a build that may not be live. For a specific slot at a specific operator, the reliable answer is that operator’s own game information panel, read on the day you play. More on configurations.