Last updated May 2026
5 min readWhat RTP means in plain English
RTP stands for Return to Player. The RTP of a particular slot game is represented as a percentage that displays how much of the total money wagered on a slot game will be paid back to players over a very large number of spins of the reels.
A slot game with a 96% RTP will pay out 96% of the total money that is wagered on it by players. It will return £96 for every £100 that is wagered on the slot by all of its players over the course of millions of spins. The remaining 4% of all money wagered is the mathematical advantage for the casino - the house edge.
RTP does not guarantee any outcome for any player during the playing of a slot game session. Whilst slots with a high RTP percentage are thought to be more likely to return winnings to players over the long term, there is no way of knowing the outcome of any given playing session.
RTP percentages say nothing about the frequency with which a slot game will pay out to players, or the size of the winnings that may be won. Each slot game has its own volatility which describes payout frequency and potential winnings, but this is completely separate from RTP.
How RTP is calculated
Slot game developers calculate the RTP of their games through mathematical modelling of the slot game's outcome possibilities. This calculation is performed by the developers and verified by independent testing labs before the slot game is licensed for release and availability to players.
RTP calculations are based on the assumption of an infinite number of spins of the reels of the slot game. In practice, any player will play a limited number of spins on a slot game during a playing session - typically hundreds or thousands of spins. The more spins that are played, the closer the actual money that is won will be to the RTP percentage of the slot game.
What is a good RTP for a slot?
There is no single RTP percentage threshold for whether a slot game is good or not. However, here is a guide to the RTP percentages of slot games across the market.
Most mainstream slot games feature an RTP percentage between 94% and 96%. Slot games with an RTP percentage above 96% are considered to be genuine good slots. The highest RTP percentages for slot games are around 97.03% RTP - check out our complete list of the best slots for the highest RTP percentages.
Legal minimum RTP in regulated markets
Each regulated gambling market will feature a minimum RTP percentage for all slot games that are made available to players within that jurisdiction. For the UK, for instance, the UK Gambling Commission requires all online slots to pay out at a minimum of 70%. In practice, though, all mainstream slots games will pay out at a percentage that is significantly higher than 70%.
The most relevant RTP percentage for any player to know about slot games is the actual RTP percentage of the slot game that they are playing at the casino where they are playing.
Why the same slot has different RTP at different casinos
This is the issue that this entire site is built around - and the majority of slot players have never heard of it.
Slot machine developers often publish slot games with a variety of different RTP percentages. A slot game might have RTP settings of 94%, 96% and 97% for instance. The RTP setting for each slot game that is owned by a casino is chosen by the casino - it is legal, it is disclosed in the slot game's terms and conditions, but it is almost never directly communicated to the slot game players.
This means that two players can be playing the exact same slot game at two different casinos, but placed on two different mathematical odds. On the slot game Le Bandit by Hacksaw Gaming, for instance, the best casino pays out at 96.34% compared to the worst at 92.17% - the same game.
We verify the RTP percentages of each slot game live at each casino by playing the game and reading the help screen for that slot game. All of the figures in our database reflect the actual RTP percentage paid out by the casino that is currently running that slot game. See how casinos change slot RTP.
RTP in bonus rounds and free spins
Some slot games feature different RTP percentages for bonus rounds compared to the base game of the slot machine. The slot game developer is required to publish this information for each game. If a slot game has only published a single RTP percentage for its base game, it is a blended average for the entire game.
A few slot games also separately publish RTP percentages for its base game and bonus game. If you are interested in the details of a slot game's RTP percentages, it is always worthwhile to check the help section of that game.
How to find a slot's RTP
The most accurate way of obtaining the RTP percentage of a slot game that is being played live is to read the screen with in-game information about the slot game - this will tell you the RTP percentage of the game that the casino is currently running.
Alternatively, the best way of knowing the RTP percentage of a slot game at each casino is to refer to the slot game comparisons that we publish on our website - these pages will show you the exact RTP percentage of each slot game at each casino in our database.