Slots, Jackpots, Volatility and RTP

Kinds of Online Slots

There are many different kinds of online slot, and the differences start with how they offer their payouts.

As a player, you'll stumble across an example of each of these every time you visit an online casino – every kind of game is popular, prevalent, and fun to play.

The most common are as follows:

• 3 reel slots
• 5 reel slots
• Ways to win slots
• Cluser pays
• Megaways
• Megaclusters
• Megaquads

What is RTP?

If you’ve ever played any kind of slot machine, or watched YouTube videos or streams, you’ll have heard the dreaded phrase – RTP.

However, despite how popular it is in conversations surrounding slots, a lot of people still aren’t completely sure of what RTP really means.

RTP stands for “Return to Player”, and is the amount of wagered money that will be returned to a player over time from a slot machine.

RTP is calculated over long periods of time, and therefore you should never apply the RTP to your short term gambling technique.

Slots can have an extremely volatile short-term life, but a predictable long-term life – if a slot has an RTP of 95%, you then know that the slot should keep the remaining 5%.

This means if you were to play a slot for an infinite amount of time, you could expect to be paid 95% of your money back, and the slot would retain 5% of your wagered money.

This is where the phrase “the house always has the edge” applies.

Any RTP above 95% is considered to be good on an online slot, and an RTP above 97/98% would be considered excellent.

It is important to remember what is mentioned above though; short term volatility is very different from the predictability of a slot over an extremely long period of time.

You could play a slot online with an RTP of 99%, and lose 100x your bet within one night, and likewise you could play an online slot with an RTP of 94%, and profit by 100x your bet within one night.

RTP should be approached with caution – it's good knowledge to have, but you should never make assumptions of how much you will win based upon RTP.

As with all gambling, regardless of RTP you should always bet money that you are prepared to lose.

High Volatility vs Low Volatility Slots

The volatility of a slot describes the risk applied to playing it, if you should expect to win often, and how much you could stand to win if you do.

Low volatility slots generally give players more regular, but smaller, wins.

High volatility slots award players less frequent wins, but they have the opportunity to win extraordinary amounts of money.

However, high volatility slots must make sacrifices in order to pay such large sums of money out, so usually players experience a lot of “disappointing” wins.

High volatility slots equal a higher risk, so they're some of the most popular online slots for long term players.

Low volatility slots are more popular among newer players, or players that prefer to see frequent wins.

High Volatility, High Wins

High volatility slots pay far less often, but do have the potential to pay life changing amounts of money.

Some of the biggest wins we have seen posted online have come from the most volatile slots available to players.

It can feel like a long, hard slog to even receive a bonus on a high volatility slot, and often when the bonus does land it can be extremely disappointing.

However, as you play these slots you can't help but think about how much you could win – which is why they're so popular with players.

Jackpot Slots

We've all dreamed of “hitting the jackpot”, but what does that really mean when playing online slots?

There are a few different types of jackpot that can be won playing online slots, however the most common, and most popular, are progressive jackpots.

Progressive Jackpots slowly increase as players continue to play and wager money, and there is no limit to the length of time between payouts.

There is also no limit to the value the pot can build to.

“Must go” jackpot slots will make it clear underneath each jackpot when it must be awarded by.

For example, a daily jackpot might be £3,967, and might say underneath “must go by £7,000”.

This means the jackpot must be paid out before it reaches £7,000.

Progressive jackpots do not have a time limit, and can build to hundreds of thousands of pounds, or millions.

Always be aware when playing progressive jackpot slots that although the mega jackpot looks appealing, you are effectively competing against many other people for that prize.

The likelihood of hitting that mega jackpot is slim – however, it can and does happen.

Don't be discouraged from playing a progressive jackpot slot, and instead approach with caution.

Most importantly – at all times, gamble within your means and do not chase your losses.