Sometimes, when reading our mobile slot reviews, you might hear us talk about return to player (RTP) or payout rates.
More often than not, it’s with disappointment in the numbers. But what online gambler doesn’t want a higher chance of winning?
A payout rate, at its most basic, is the percentage of the money that a particular slot machine will pay out across its life.
So theoretically, if a slot machine has a 98% return to player rate, it means that for every €1 you put it, you (theoretically again) get 98 cents back. Now, anyone who has played slot games knows this isn’t strictly the case. If it were, you would stop playing very quickly.
Many a night you put in €100 and are up €250 that night, or nothing at all. You have to remember that the percentage is calculated over the machine’s lifespan. So it doesn’t care if it’s your €1 or someone else €1 that it’s playing with. On one bet, you might win nothing; on the next, you get the €1 from someone else bet.
Why should we care if it is random and you can’t predict you’ll win? The higher the percentage, the higher the chances of your €1 being the one that wins the big payout. By default, the house wins in the long run, but in the short term, your coin could be the one to win the odds.
Popular Slots & their Return To Player Rates
Here are a few popular slot games with their return-to-player rates:
- Book of 99 Slot – 99% RTP
- 1429 Uncharted Seas Slot – 98.6% RTP
- Starburst Slot – 96.1% RTP
- Big Bass Bonanza Slot – 95.67% RTP
- Book of Dead Slot – 96.21% RTP
As you can see from our list, the return-to-player rates can change dramatically between slots.
Top Tip: Some providers offer different RTP versions of their games, which the casinos hosting the games can pick from, so check the paytable to ensure it’s typically closer to 96%, considered around the industry standard.
Most mobile slots payout rates range from 92% (very poor) to 99% (high five!). That said, high payout rates can sometimes simply mean that the slot machine has a lot of small wins, whilst lower payout rates give out very little, but when it does, it pays out big. So it depends on the slot, the slot volatility and the type of game you like to play.
Most good online mobile slots publish their payout rate within the paytable or help section of the game. Wherever possible, we will try to find it and give you an idea of what this means as a player.
Obviously, we can’t help but give our own personal opinion (we like the thrill of winning, so by default, we like high payouts), so all we can say is, play the slots for yourself at any of our mobile casinos and let us know what you think. We like to get other people’s opinions in case we don’t get the full story when we test the slots for our reviews.
