What is Return to player?

RTP is a long-run theoretical figure calculated from a game's maths model. A slot with an RTP of 96% is built to return £96 for every £100 wagered across millions of spins, keeping the remaining £4 as the operator's gross margin. The figure says nothing about what an individual will win or lose in a single session, where results can swing far above or below it.

RTP is the mirror image of the house edge: 100% minus the RTP gives the edge. Many online slots are released in several RTP versions, for example 96%, 94% and 92%, and the operator chooses which one to offer, so the same title can carry a different return on different sites. Regulators in markets such as Great Britain require operators to make the RTP available to players.

For players, RTP is a useful way to compare the built-in cost of games, but it should be read alongside volatility, which describes how unevenly that return is spread out.