RTP (return to player) is the figure in a game's info panel that decides what a casino game costs you over time. In this guide, we turn casino RTP from a percentage into dollars and show how the house edge, slot volatility and the casino's choice of RTP version affect your bankroll.
- What it is: the share of all bets a game pays back on average, for example 96%
- House edge: 100% minus RTP, so 4% on a slot with 96% RTP
- Cost: 1,000 spins at $1 on 96% RTP cost $40 on average
- Volatility: decides how often a game pays and how big each win is, not how much it pays back in total
- Versions: the same slot can run at 96.38% at one casino and 88.42% at another
- Where to check: the game's info panel and the provider's own game page
What is RTP?
RTP, short for return to player, is the share of all bets that a casino game pays back as winnings, averaged over a very long run. If a slot lists 96% RTP, the game pays back $96 for every $100 wagered on average, and the remaining $4 goes to the casino.
The game provider builds RTP into the game's math through the paytable and the odds of each symbol combination. A random number generator (RNG) then decides the outcome of every single spin. RTP works the same way at a regular online casino as at the crypto casinos we compare. The figure comes down to the game and the version the casino picks, not to whether you pay by card or with cryptocurrency.
How RTP is calculated
To calculate RTP, you multiply the payout of every possible outcome by its probability and add up the results. The sum is the game's theoretical return. European roulette is easy to work out, because a bet on a single number wins exactly 1 time in 37. When it wins, you get your stake back plus 35 times your stake, so 36 times the stake in total. The return is 36 divided by 37, which is 97.30%, and the same RTP applies to red, black and the other standard bets.
For a slot, the provider runs the same calculation across millions of symbol combinations. Independent test labs such as iTech Labs check the game's math and payouts, and a lab can also audit the actual RTP using the casino's server logs.
What is the house edge?
The house edge is the share of every bet that the casino keeps on average, and it's always 100% minus RTP. If a slot has 96% RTP, the house edge is 4%, so the casino expects to keep $4 of every $100 wagered.
RTP and the house edge describe the same thing from two sides. For slots, providers almost always quote RTP, while the house edge is the usual measure for table games and crypto originals. In European roulette the house edge is 2.70%, and in American roulette, which has both a zero and a double zero, it is 5.26%.
Slots usually carry a house edge of 3-6%, and crypto originals sit around 1%. With optimal basic strategy, blackjack gets down to around 0.5% or lower, depending on the table rules. Our overview of different casino game types sums up what to check in each one.
With in-house games such as Crash, Plinko, Mines and Dice, the house edge can vary from one platform to the next. Our guide to crypto originals lists the figures game by game.
Expected loss: what RTP costs you in dollars
Your expected loss is your stake multiplied by the number of rounds and the house edge. After 1,000 spins at $1, you've wagered $1,000 in total, and the expected loss is $40 at 96% RTP and $10 at 99% RTP.
The table below shows the same session of 1,000 spins at $1 across different RTP levels.
| RTP | House edge | Expected loss | Typical for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99% | 1% | $10 | Crypto originals such as Dice |
| 97% | 3% | $30 | Close to European roulette (97.30%) |
| 96% | 4% | $40 | The standard version of many slots |
| 94% | 6% | $60 | Reduced versions of popular slots |
| 92% | 8% | $80 | Heavily reduced versions |
The grid below shows 96% RTP. Of every $100 you wager, $96 comes back on average and $4 stays with the casino.
- RTP
- 96%
- House edge
- 4%
For every $1,000 wagered, on average
- Paid back to players
- $960
- Kept by the casino
- $40.00
RTP (Return to Player) shows the average payout to the player over time. An RTP of 96% means the casino keeps 4% of all bets on average.
The loss is calculated on everything you wager, not on what you deposit. With $100 in your account and $1 per spin, you can play far more than 100 spins, because your winnings keep going back into play. After 1,000 spins you have wagered $1,000, and the expected $40 works out to 40% of your deposit.
The same math also shows how long a budget lasts. If you play until your balance runs out, your total wagering will on average equal your deposit divided by the house edge. With $100 and a 4% house edge, that comes to around $2,500 in bets, roughly 2,500 spins at $1. At 99% RTP, the same $100 lasts around 10,000 spins on average, four times as long.
Why does RTP only hold in the long run?
RTP only holds in the long run because the figure is an average over an almost endless number of rounds, so it tells you little about how your own session ends. Under the law of large numbers, a basic principle of probability theory, your results only get close to the theoretical return once you play a very large number of rounds. Over a single evening, you can end up far above or far below the game's RTP.
The table below shows what that means in European roulette when you bet $1 on red every round, using figures we calculated from the game's probabilities.
| Rounds | Total wagered | Expected loss | Chance of being up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $100 | $2.70 | 36% |
| 1,000 | $1,000 | $27 | 19% |
| 10,000 | $10,000 | $270 | 0.3% |
| 100,000 | $100,000 | $2,703 | practically 0% |
The expected loss grows in step with the number of rounds, while the swings around it only grow with the square root of the number of rounds. After 100 rounds, the typical deviation from the average is around $10, almost four times the expected loss. After 10,000 rounds, the deviation is around $100, but the loss has grown to $270 and the chance of being up has dropped to 0.3%.
High-volatility slots swing many times more than a bet on red in roulette, so it takes even more spins before your result starts to look like the RTP. The casino can rely on RTP because it takes in millions of rounds from thousands of players, and your own session is only a tiny slice of that total.
Slot volatility: how often and how much a game pays
Volatility, also called variance, describes whether a game pays back its RTP in many small wins or in a few big ones. Two slots with the same RTP cost you the same on average and can still feel completely different to play. One pays out often, while the other saves its payouts for rare big wins.
NetEnt's Starburst and Nolimit City's Tombstone R.I.P. both have 96.08% RTP, according to the studios' own game pages. Starburst lands a win on 23% of spins, roughly every fourth or fifth spin. Tombstone R.I.P. lands a win on 9.08% of spins, roughly every eleventh spin, but in return it can pay up to 300,000 times the stake. Nolimit City puts the chance of that max win at 1 in 130 million spins.
The measure used here is called hit frequency, and it shows the share of spins that produce any win at all. Hit frequency usually also counts wins smaller than your stake, so a high figure doesn't mean you often come out ahead. In Tombstone R.I.P., the free spins bonus round triggers once every 194 spins on average, so at $1 per spin you wager around $194 between bonus rounds.
Providers rate volatility in different ways. Hacksaw Gaming, for example, uses a scale that goes up to 5. Whatever the scale, the table below shows roughly what each level means in practice.
| Volatility | What it feels like to play | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Frequent wins, mostly small, and your balance moves slowly | Players who want to play for a long time on a small budget |
| Medium | Small wins mixed with the occasional bigger bonus round | Players who want a shot at bigger wins without long dry spells |
| High | Long runs without a win, then a few big wins, usually in the bonus round | Players whose budget can take many losing spins in a row |
The same slot with a different RTP at different casinos
The same slot can have a different RTP at different casinos, because several game providers sell their games in multiple versions and let the casino choose. Hacksaw Gaming, for example, lists four versions of its western slot Wanted Dead or a Wild: 96.38%, 94.55%, 92.33% and 88.42%. All four versions look the same, and the only difference is the math underneath.
The difference only becomes clear once you put it in dollars. At $1 per spin over 1,000 spins, the 96.38% version costs $36.20 on average. The 88.42% version costs $115.80, more than three times as much for a game that looks identical on screen.
On October 7, 2026, we checked the providers' own game pages for four popular slots: Starburst, Tombstone R.I.P., Wanted Dead or a Wild and Gates of Olympus from Pragmatic Play. For all four, the highest available RTP was between 96.08% and 96.50%, so around 96% is normal for a slot's highest version. If the casino's info panel shows a clearly lower value, the casino is probably running a reduced version.
Important: casinos rarely advertise that they run a reduced RTP version. The title, graphics and bonus features look the same, so the game's info panel is usually the only place where you can see the difference.
How do you find a game's RTP?
You find a game's RTP in its game rules, which you open with the i button or the menu inside the game. The value is listed as RTP, return to player or theoretical return, and it applies to the version that particular casino runs. Then compare it with the provider's own game page, which shows the standard value and sometimes every version.
- Open the game at the casino where you plan to play, ideally in demo mode if it's available.
- Click the i button, the menu icon or the link to the game rules and paytable.
- Look for RTP, return to player or theoretical return, often at the end of the rules.
- Look up the game on the provider's website and compare the values.
- Check whether the casino's value is lower than the provider's highest. If it is, the casino is running a reduced version.
Table games and live casino titles usually state their RTP in the game rules, sometimes broken down by bet type. In crypto originals, the house edge normally appears in the game's info box. If the figure is missing altogether, that's a good reason to pick another game.
RTP and wagering requirements on bonuses
The lower the RTP, the more it costs to clear a wagering requirement, because the house edge is taken from every dollar you wager. With a $10 bonus and a 35x wagering requirement, you have to wager $350. On average, that costs you $14 on a slot with 96% RTP and $21 on a version with 94% RTP.
Both amounts are larger than the $10 bonus itself. High-RTP games such as blackjack and crypto originals would make wagering cheaper, which is why casinos often let them count for only a small share of the requirement, or not at all. Our guide to wagering requirements covers wagering on bonus plus deposit, game contribution by game type and maximum bet limits.
Common misconceptions about RTP
Many players believe that a slot can be due for a win, that RTP applies to their deposit, that a high RTP means more wins or that provably fair guarantees a high RTP. All four are wrong, and believing them can make your play more expensive than you expect.
- A slot is never due: the random number generator decides every spin independently. In a regular slot, a spin that follows 200 spins without a bonus round has the same chance of a win as any other spin. The game doesn't pay out extra to catch up with its RTP either.
- RTP applies to your bets, not your deposit: an RTP of 96% doesn't mean you keep $96 of a $100 deposit. Because the same money gets wagered over and over, the house edge applies to the total amount you wager.
- A high RTP doesn't mean more wins: how often you win comes down to hit frequency and volatility. Starburst and Tombstone R.I.P. have the same RTP, yet one lands a win every fourth or fifth spin and the other every eleventh.
- Provably fair says nothing about RTP: the technology lets you verify that a round wasn't tampered with after the fact, but it doesn't tell you how large the house edge is. Our provably fair guide explains how verification works.
What to know about licenses and tax at crypto casinos
Gambling laws vary by jurisdiction, so check the rules where you live before you sign up. Most crypto casinos hold offshore licenses, which means your national gambling regulator usually has no oversight of them. National self-exclusion schemes generally do not cover them, and no regulator in your home country checks which RTP version they run. Player protection is often weaker than with locally licensed operators, so it is the casino's license that decides how well you are protected.
Tax rules for gambling winnings vary by country and by your tax residency. Some countries treat winnings as tax-free, while others tax them at flat rates or as ordinary income. Converting crypto winnings to fiat or to another coin can also be a separate taxable event. Consult a local tax advisor about your situation and read our guide to tax on crypto gambling winnings. Gambling involves risk. Play responsibly. 18+.
Is high or low RTP better?
A high RTP is always better for you as a player, because the game costs you less per dollar wagered. At 97% RTP the house edge is 3%, half of the 6% that a 94% version takes. RTP doesn't decide how a single session ends, though, so choose your volatility based on your budget.
Here's how to choose games with both measures in mind:
- Compare the version, not just the title: check the RTP in the casino's info panel against the provider's game page before you bet.
- Match volatility to your budget: on a small budget, your money lasts longer on a low-volatility game. If you choose high volatility, you need to be able to sit through long runs without a win.
- Work out the cost in advance: multiply your stake by the number of spins and the house edge to get the expected cost, then use that figure to pick a sensible stake.
- Set your budget before the first spin: decide how much you can afford to lose, treat the play as entertainment and stop when that amount is gone. Our guide to responsible gambling shows how to set limits on deposits, losses and playing time.
Tip: try a game in demo mode before you bet real money. After a couple of hundred spins, you'll see how often it pays and how long the dry spells last.
