Slot Payout Percentages Explained

Online slots pay back most of what you put into them, keeping a small percentage for profit. To study this difference, we need to examine slots’ Return to Player rates (RTP). This is the portion of money a slot takes in that gets paid back to players.

Slots award wins randomly and eventually reach that payout percentage over a long period. That means you must be lucky and enjoy good timing to be on the right side of any slot’s payout percentage. That also means that even if a slot has a 99% payout percentage, you won’t always get back 99% of what you put into it.

Keep reading for a complete look at slot payout percentages and how they work.

What Are Payout Percentages on Slots?

Online slots are programmed to pay out a percentage of every dollar they receive. It’s a fixed percentage of all the money bet on the slot by everyone who has played it, and it’s awarded randomly over time in the form of winnings. Casinos call this a slot’s theoretical payout percentage, or the aforementioned RTP.

Local gaming authorities set minimum theoretical payout percentages, but players are savvy these days, and most will only play slots with payout percentages well above the minimums. That’s why most slots at legal online casinos across the US have 95% RTP or better.

How Do Slot Payout Percentages Work?

It’s all random, except it follows the slot programmer’s grand plan to reach the exact payout percentage (to winners) over time.

That means a slot’s ledger may be out of balance at any given time. In other words, a slot may have paid less or more than it promises. You might win a six-figure jackpot on a slot that has yet to draw six figures in bets. A slot that has taken $1 million in bets may have paid out far less than that in winnings so far. However, it’ll reach its programmed payout percentage eventually.

So when exactly does the slot reach that RTP? It’s a good question that does not have a definite answer. In fact, the programmer’s grand plan doesn’t just randomly award wins spin by spin; it randomly decides how long it’ll take to reach the payout percentage. We say things like “over time,” “the long run,” and “the long haul,” but only the slot’s programming knows how long that is.

Are Payout Percentages Different Online Than at Retail Casinos?

Online slot payout percentages can be different from those at brick-and-mortar casinos. As stated earlier, local gaming authorities set minimum theoretical payout rates for slots. These authorities will often set lower minimum payout percentages for slots at retail casinos.

Even if the minimums are the same, retail casinos will set most slots closer to it because they have higher overhead costs to cover. Again, players are savvy, and most will only play online slots with payout percentages well above the minimum. However, most are also willing to trade a little payout percentage for the additional perks they can enjoy at retail casinos, like free drinks, enhanced loyalty programs, and access to entertainment, food and beverages, and other amenities.

Most online slots have a 95% RTP or better, while the slots at retail casinos average an 85% theoretical payout.

Do some slots have better payout percentages than others?

Here’s a list of real money online slots with notably high payout percentages available at legal online casinos in the US.

Payout Percentages on Progressive Slots

Progressive slots award jackpots that grow with every spin. They are, therefore, quite popular. Most people spin slots chasing the dream of a six or seven-figure jackpot. Progressive jackpot slots are where those dreams can become a reality.

You can’t talk about progressive slots without invoking the concept of volatility. This idea relates to the frequency and size of slot payouts; it’s different from RTP.

For example, most people toss aside allegiance to RTP when playing progressive jackpot slots. Progressives often have lower payout percentages, but much of the money put into the slot funds the massive progressive jackpot. There are fewer small wins, but the promise of big payouts looms. Thus, these are high-volatility slots.

Number of Spins in the Payout Percentage

Asking how many spins it’ll be until a slot reaches its payout percentage is another way of asking when it will match its RTP.

That’s another good question. Slots are programmed to award wins randomly. Therefore, a slot’s programming ultimately decides the number of spins between payouts.

That said, some progressive slots have must-win jackpots. These slots will award the jackpot before it reaches a specific number. However, they still award the jackpot to players randomly. There is no way to tell when it’ll happen or how long before it hits that number.

Paytables and Payout Percentages

A slot’s paytable gives you all its payout information, including the number of paylines, the value of each symbol on the reels, gameplay rules, information on how to reach bonuses or unlock and play bonus games, betting minimums and maximums, and more. You usually won’t find a slot’s payout percentage listed here. You’ll likely find that on the game tile in the online casino lobby.

Paytables tell you how you can win and don’t typically reveal the probability of any type of win or how exactly a slot will reach its payout percentage over the long haul. It could be through any combination of the wins listed on the paytable—several small wins or one big jackpot win. It’s all random. The only sure thing is that a slot will eventually hit its payout percentage, paying out that money via the wins described on its paytable.