Best Online Slots Payout Percentage

Dec 18, 2018 On average, slot games are usually programmed to pay out as winnings as little as 82% to around 98% of the money that is wagered by players, depending on a certain game. Generally, the more cash you put into a slot machine, the higher its payout percentage is going to be. Games such as slots, blackjack and roulette will have a payout percentage attached to certain bets. For example, a payout percentage of 96% means you would expect a $96 return from betting $100.

• Best Online Slots Review
• Best Online Casino Slot Payouts
• Best Online Slots For Fun

How Online Slots Work

Even though slots have been around for more than 100 years, they still work the same way today. Technology has only made them better, easier, and more interesting. The machines usually have between three to five reels, which the players spin and wait till it stops to know if they win or not. While the old land-based machines may not have a lot of the modern features like cascading reels, expanding wilds, and bonuses, the basics are still the same. Here are some important features to understand about online slots:

Random Number Generator (RNG)

The RNG is one of the major features that differentiate slots at the Internet casinos from land-based machines. RNG is the software in these games that generates a sequence of symbols or numbers randomly. It generates thousands of numbers/ outcomes every second. The software is completely random, and this means it isn't affected by the previous results. There is no strategy or method with which you can predict the result of the next spin. It cannot be manipulated or influenced by the casino or the player. And this makes the game completely fair.

RTP/House Edge

All casino slot machines have different RTPs/House edges. You need to understand them before you start to play online slots for real money. RTP means return to player, and it is the variable that determines how much you should expect from a slot after a period of playing.

On the flip side, the house edge is the return to the casino. The house edge is the amount the casino expects from the slot over a period. Thus, the house edge of any slot is 100 minus the RTP. Expert players take time to know the RTP of slots, as it is a very important factor.

For instance, let's say a game has an RTP of 96%, the house edge will be 4%. If you wager $1,000,000 on that game over a period, you will get $960,000 as returns while the casino gets $40,000 as profit.

We made use of a large amount of money in our example because RTP is worked out over a long period. When you start playing, you may get returns of between 30% and 1000%, depending on how lucky you are. But if you play that game for long, your total returns will be close to the RTP.

For this reason, you must choose only slots with the highest RTP. You have better odds of winning or reducing your losses over a period. The industry's average RTP is 96%, but it is possible to find games with up to 98% or 99%.

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Volatility (Variance)

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The volatility of real cash casino games is another important factor. They could be either low, medium, or high. If it is low, it means the game pays out small wins regularly. Games with high volatility usually give big wins but not often. The medium volatility stands somewhere between high and low. Many players usually go for low volatility slots to stay safe.

If you have a huge bankroll, you can carefully choose a game with high RTP and high variance. These types of games may be rare to find, but you could get a life-changing prize if luck is on your side.

Top Us Casinos To Play Online Slots

Whether you want to play online slot games for real money or for free, there are many casinos available to you. Some casinos offer hundreds, while some have thousands of these online machines on their sites. In the table below, we have listed some sites where you can play online slots in the USA. All the casinos on our list are reputable; you may only need to find out if they are legal in the state where you reside.

How To Play Online Slots In The US

Slots are the easiest types of online casino games to play. They require no specific knowledge or tactics. And whether you're playing for free or real cash, the rules remain the same. Here are the two major steps to take:

• Place your stake: After loading the game, place your bets within the wagering limits. The machines usually have minimum and maximum stakes. You can always find out from the game info.
• Click on 'Spin' or 'Play': Once you do this, the reels begin to spin. You can also choose to use the autoplay feature. Most slots allow you to choose up to 100 automatic spins.

You win the game round when the spin ends, and symbols are matched on the reels. Most games pay for matching at least 3 symbols, while some may pay for matching 2 high paying symbols.

Game Features

Here are some important elements of slot games.

Rows/Reels

The reels in a slot machine are the vertical positions on the grid while the rows are horizontal. Reels are spun when the game begins, and symbols land on them to create winning combinations.

Symbols

These are icons in the game, which are usually based on the theme. They appear on the reels, and the pattern in which they combine determines whether the player wins or not. The most popular symbols are the generic card symbols (A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9). Some special symbols which occur frequently are the Scatters and Wilds.

Paylines

This is another important feature. They determine the number of ways you can win in the game. The games may have as little as 5 paylines or as much as hundreds of paylines. Some games have all their paylines fixed, which means you have to bet on all lines. Other games allow you to choose the number of paylines to bet on.

Paytable

This is a table that shows the prizes or payouts for combining each symbol on the reels. You can find the paytable when you go to the menu icon on the slot interface.

Bonus games/ Extra features

These are optional parts, but they help to make the game interesting. The special extra features depend on the theme of a particular game. The general ones are free spins and multipliers. These features are usually activated when special symbols are matched. Other popular features include cascading reels: expanding wilds, and gamble bonus.

Highest Payout Slot Machines

In the table below, we have selected some games based on the biggest slots jackpots ever paid out.

Online Slots Vs. Land-Based Machines

As we've stated before, online casino slot machines work similarly to the land-based machines. They are controlled by RNG, which generates random results exactly like the land-based versions. Many software providers even develop their online slots to look like physical ones in terms of gameplay, sound effects, and visuals.

However, the number of slots available online is far higher than what is available at physical venues. You can have access to thousands of slots on just one casino or different online gambling sites. The online versions are being developed with better graphics and extra features that cannot be found in physical ones. There are also benefits like no deposit bonuses, free spins, etc., which are given at online casinos.

Another significant difference is the environment where you play. Land-based venues provide an extra vibe, and you get to enjoy the feeling of people around you. On the other hand, online slots can be played from homes or any location with PCs and mobile devices. Online games do not give the real casino feel, but they offer more convenience and are easier to access at any time.

In addition, you can decide to play online for free or real cash. This allows you to try out the games and only wager with real money if you like it. But when you play for free, there are no chances of winning money. Land-based venues will not allow you to try out the game for free.

Conclusion

Playing at online casinos can be interesting, especially when you choose slot machines with the highest payout percentage. The first thing you need to do is choose a casino that offers you safety and security. Then, consider the RTP and variance to increase your chances of winning.

Overall, always remember that slots are games of chance. Thus, you should manage your budget efficiently and do not wager more than you are ready to lose.

Some people might want to know how to find the payout percentage on a slot machine. Sadly, it's not something that's printed on most games — at least not here in the United States.

This post is for them.

Understanding this topic involves some rudimentary understanding of probability as it relates to casino gambling. You'll need to understand three separate concepts thoroughly:

1. Payback percentage
2. House edge
3. Return to player

This post explains each of those in enough detail that even a beginner should understand what they mean.

Some Basic Facts Related to Probability, the House Edge, Payback Percentage, and Return to Player

Probability is the branch of mathematics that deals with how likely an event is to happen. If you want to measure how likely you are to win a jackpot on a slot machine, probability is the way to figure that out.

But the word also refers directly to that likelihood.

In other words, if I say the probability of getting heads when I flip a coin is 50%, I'm not talking about that branch of mathematics. I'm talking about the actual statistical likelihood of that event.

You should understand a few things about probability in general.

Probability is always a number between 0 and 1. An event with a probability of 0 will never happen, and an event with a probability of 1 will always happen. The closer to 1 the probability is, the more likely the event is to happen.

Probability can be expressed multiple ways. It can be expressed as a fraction, a decimal, a percentage, or as odds. The probability of getting heads on a coin flip can be expressed as 1/2, 0.5, 50%, or 1 to 1.

An event's probability is the number of ways it can happen divided by the total number of possible outcomes. When you're discussing a coin toss, you have two possible outcomes. Only one of those is heads. That makes the probability 1/2.

Free video slots no download or registration. The probability that an event will occur added to the probability that an event won't occur always equals 1. Therefore, if you know the probability that something will happen, you also automatically know the probability that it won't happen, and vice versa.

The house edge is a statistical measure of how much the house expects to win (on average, over the long run) from every bet you make on a game. The house edge is a theoretical number that accounts for the probability of winning versus the probability of losing AND the payout if you win.

All casino games carry a house edge. In the short run, it doesn't matter much, but in the long run, it's the most important thing.

If I say a game has a house edge of 4%, this means that over time, you should average a loss of $4 for every $100 you bet on the game. This is a long run statistical average, though. In the short run, you're unlikely to see results that mirror the house edge.

The return to player and the payback percentage are the same thing. Some writers use one to refer to the statistical expectation and the other to refer to the actual results, but most writers use these terms interchangeably.

The payback percentage added to the house edge always equals 100%. The payback percentage is the amount of each bet that you get back, and the house edge is the amount of each bet that the casino wins. Again, these numbers are on average over the long run.

A game with a 4% house edge has a 96% payback percentage.

In the United States, slot machine payback percentages are impossible to calculate and not posted on gambling machines. To calculate the house edge or the payback percentage for a casino game, you need two pieces of data:

1. The probability of winning
2. The amount of money you'll win (the payoff)

Slot machines include their payouts on their pay tables, but they don't include the probability of achieving any of the winning outcomes.

In some countries, the payback percentage is posted on the machines, but not in the United States.

To make things even worse for a slot machine player, the random number generator program can be set differently even if the slot machine is identical to the one next to it. You could be playing The Big Lebowski slots at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma, and your buddy could be playing the identical machine right next to you.

The payback percentage on his machine might be 94%, and the payback percentage on your machine might only be 88%.

The difference comes from how the probabilities are weighted for each symbol. On one game, the bars might show up 1/4 of the time, but on the next, they might only come up 1/8 of the time.

This has an obvious effect on the payback percentage.

The payback percentage would be easy to calculate if you knew the probabilities. The payback percentage is just the total expected value of all the possible outcomes on the machine.

Let's assume you have 1000 possible reel combinations. Let's also assume that if you got each of those in order, from 1 to 1000, you'd win 900 coins.

The payback percentage for that game would be 90%.

You'd put 1000 coins in, and you'd have 900 coins left after a statistically perfect sampling of 1000 spins.

If you knew the payback percentage and house edge for a slot machine game, you could predict your theoretical cost of playing that game per hour in the long run. You'd only need to multiply the numbers of bets you made per hour by the size of those bets. Then you'd multiply that by the house edge to get your predicted loss.

Most slots players make 600 spins per hour. Let's assume you're playing on a dollar machine and betting three coins on every spin, or $3 per spin. You're putting $1,800 per hour into action.

If the slot machine had a 90% payback percentage, you'd lose $180 per hour on that machine. You'd have $1,800 at the start of the hour and $1,620 at the end of the hour — assuming you saw statistically predicted results.

In the real world, though, where you'd be seeing short-term results, you'd see some hours where you won and some hours where you lost. If you played long enough, the Law of Large Numbers would ensure that you'd eventually see the statistically predicted results.

But in the long run, the math will ensure that the casino will win a net profit.

How You Could Calculate a Payback Percentage Based on Actual Results

Of course, you have some data that you can directly observe when you're playing slot machines.

But tracking this data and calculating the payback percentage on a specific session can add to your enjoyment of any slot machine game. It can make you more mindful because you'll be paying more attention to what's happening.

Here's how to do it.

Start by tracking how many spins you're making per hour. This is easy to do, but it takes more effort than you might think. It might help to get one of those clicky things people use to count stuff with. You will probably also need a stopwatch of some kind. I just use the timer function on my phone.

Make a note (mental is fine) of how much you're betting per spin. It helps to bet the same amount.

Also note how much money you started with so that you can calculate how much you've won or lost. The slot machine will convert your money into credits. The easiest thing to do is to keep up with how many credits you had at the beginning of the session and again at the end of the session.

Now, let's do the math using a hypothetical 45-minute session.

I made 300 spins in 45 minutes. I was betting $3 per spin, and I started with $600.

After my playing session, I had $500 left. At times I was up, and at times I was down.

But my net loss was $100. (My starting bankroll was $600, and I finished with $500.)

Over 300 spins, that means I lost an average per spin of 33 cents. $100 in losses divided by 300 spins is 33.33 cents per spin.

How much was I betting per spin?

Since I was playing a $1 machine, and my max bet was three coins, I was risking $3 per spin.

33 cents is 11% of $3, which means my actual loss was 11%. The machine paid back 89% for the session.

Does this mean that the payback percentage for the machine is 89%?

Probably not.

In the scheme of things, 450 spins is a small sample size. To have any confidence in your statistics, you really need to have at least 5,000 spins under your belt.

Even then, depending on how volatile the game is, your actual results might be wildly different from the mathematically expected payback percentage.

Here's another example that will prove that point.

My friend Leo went to the Winstar last weekend and played the $5 slots. He started with $3,000, and when he left, he had $4,800, which means he had an $1,800 profit for the day.

He played for seven hours.

I've watched Leo play. He's slow, but not much slower than average. He makes about 500 spins per hour.

This means that he made about 3,500 spins.

$1,800 in winnings divided by 3,500 spins is an average win of 51 cents per spin.

Since he was betting $5 per spin, his return was 10.3%.

His actual return for the trip on that slot machine was 110.3%. Lucky slot machine.

I have friends who design slot machines for a living — more than one, in fact. They'll be happy to tell anyone who asks that the algorithm is never set up to have a payback percentage of more than 100%.

What About the Casinos That Advertise a Specific Payback Percentage?

Some casinos advertise a specific payback percentage. This is almost always stated as an 'up to' number.

So you might see an ad for a casino that says, 'Payback percentages up to 98%!'

They're almost certainly telling the truth, too. They probably have one slot machine in their casino that has a payback percentage of 98%. Of course, it isn't labeled, so you don't know which one it is.

And in the short run, which is what you're going to be playing in as an individual gambler, there's not much difference between a 98% payback percentage and a 92% payback percentage. You could walk away a winner or a loser at either setting.

Also, keep in mind that the games aren't designed to tighten up after a win and loosen up after a lot of losing spins. That's not how it works at all.

The machines are designed to allow you to win a certain specific percentage of the time because of the probability. Then there's an average amount that you'll win based on the payout for the specific combination of symbols that you hit.

But every spin of the reels on a slot machine is an independent event. You can hit a jackpot on a spin, and your probability of hitting the jackpot on the next spin hasn't changed at all.

What About the Denominations and Location Reports I See Advertised on the Internet?

You'll find websites like Strictly Slots and American Casino Guide which post payback percentages for specific denominations and specific casinos. These are AVERAGES.

These averages have little bearing on the machine that you're sitting in front of.

For example,
you might be looking at a casino that reports an average payback percentage of 94% on its dollar slot machines. That casino might have half their machines paying off at 90% and the other half paying off at 98%.

And you won't be able to differentiate between the two because the hit ratio might be the same from one of those machines to another.

What Do Hit Ratio and Volatility Have to Do With It?

The hit ratio is the percentage of time that you can expect to hit a winning combination on a slot machine. Something like 30% isn't unusual, but it can vary 10% or more in either direction. The casinos want you to a hit a winning combination often enough that you won't lose interest in playing the game.

But hit ratio is only part of the equation. The average size of the prize amounts is also important. Volatility takes this into account. A game that hits less often but has higher average prize amounts might have the same payback percentage as a game that hits more often but with lower payouts.

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Either way, in the short run, it will be all but impossible to discover this number, too.

If you wanted to, you could track how many spins resulted in wins for you and calculate the percentage, but you're facing the same obstacle you are with the overall payback percentage of the machine.

You just don't know what it's programmed to accomplish in the long run.

Online Slot Machines

Some online casinos post the payback percentages for their slot machine games. I think this information is of limited use, but I also think it's fairer to the gambler than not providing them with that information.

After all, table games are transparent. You can calculate the house edge for any casino table game there is because they all use random number generators with known quantities — cards, dice, and wheels.

There's been a push to label food, both at the grocery store and at restaurants, with nutritional information that includes caloric amounts.

Requiring casinos to provide similar information about their gambling machines only makes sense.

We'll see if it ever happens, though.

Conclusion

You can't find the payout percentage on a slot machine — at least not in the United States.
I've heard that you can get this information on slot machines in Europe, but I've never seen an actual photograph of this kind of labeling.
You can, though, have some fun calculating actual payback percentages in the short run. This at least gives you something to keep track of while you're playing slots, which is honestly one of the more mindless activities in the casino.