All About the House Edge & RTP

If you’ve ever played at a gaming site, browsed the portfolios of online casinos or read a few reviews, you’ve definitely come across the magic abbreviation RTP more than once. The same goes for the phrase ‘house edge’. You’ve probably wondered what those two mean and what their relationship is. Yet, you don’t have to guess any longer. We’re about to give you a brief but thorough overview on the matter and even let you in on a few tricks, such as which the casino games with the best RTP are.

Defining the Terms

Before we get to sharing with you some tips on how to turn those two in your favour, we will begin with a simple yet exhaustive definition of the terms. We’ll explain what ‘RTP’ and ‘house edge’ mean and what they actually represent and in what context they are used. Additionally, we’ll give you an advanced way of putting those two in action by introducing the concept of volatility/variance. Keep your eyes peeled for the examples and the screenshots we’ll provide – they do make things clearer.

What RTP and House Edge Mean in Gambling

RTP stands for ‘Return To Player’ and is the theoretical winnings that players are expected to make long term. So, if a game’s RTP is 97%, it is expected that 97% of the money wagered on it will be returned to the players in the form of winnings. That’s not so bad, you might say. You wager £1, have lots of fun, become eligible for winning big, especially if there’s a jackpot, and as if that wasn’t good enough, you’ll get 97p back. But if it was so simple, it wouldn’t be called gambling – you’d simply be paying 97p for the fun you’re having. Actually, in the short run that a player would wager money on a game, they could win or lose – it all depends on the RNG and the player’s luck. The RTP refers more to what the casino gives back to all players in the long run. So, don’t take the theoretical RTP too literally.

Mega Moolah (88.12% RTP)

Gonzo’s Quest (96.00% RTP)

Blood Suckers (98.00% RTP)

House edge is closely tied to the RTP. In fact, if you take a game’s RTP out of 100%, what’s left is the house edge. The house edge, a.k.a. house advantage, is the guarantee that the casino will come out as the winner in the end. This doesn’t mean casino games are rigged or that you’ll lose every time. But it is true that games are built in such a way that it is more likely for the house to win. It’s namely the house edge that takes care of that. As you’ve probably figured out already, the house edge and the RTP have a pretty straightforward relationship – they are the two sides of the same coin. RTP represents the winning chance of the players, while the house edge does the same but for the casino, sometimes called the house.

What’s Volatility/Variance?

Once we’ve explained what those two terms mean, the conclusion is quite self-evident – it’s better to play a game that has a high RTP (and a low house edge) than the other way round. So, if you have a choice between a slot with an RTP of 93% and another with 98%, you should definitely pick the latter, right? In fact, it might seem counterintuitive but picking the game with the lower house edge is not always the better choice, especially when we’re talking about slots. There is this thing called variance or volatility. Blackjack, for example, is a low variance game – that means that there’s a big chance that you could win but you’re not going to win a huge amount compared to your stake. The lottery, on the other hand, is a high variance game – you stake a small wager and there’s a huge chance that you’re going to lose but if you win, it’s going to be a life-changing sum of money that is many times what you have wagered. So, now you see, how picking a high volatility slot with an RTP of 93% rather than a low variance slot with an RTP of 98% might be a better idea – you won’t get many small winnings but you might get one huge one instead.

The Casino Games with the Most Favourable RTPs

Leaving high variance games aside, because they are quite risky if you want to make your cash last longer and thus play more, we’ll now look at the casino games with the best RTPs – what that generally means is that those games have high RTP and, respectively, low house edge. That means, you won’t go away with an immense sum of money but you’re more likely to win most of the time. And some players believe that smaller, steady wins are better for the self-esteem and the player wallet.

As we have already mentioned, the RTP is not all that matters when picking a slot machine. Yet, if that’s what you’re interested in, you’ll have plenty of options as slots are the casino game with the greatest number of variations and the numbers grow constantly. Most slots have an RTP of over 95%. Do consider the option of playing high variance slots, however. You won’t get the regular small wins but you might hit a mega jackpot.

Blackjack is famous for its low house edge. That favourable characteristic of the game is due to the fact that the outcome can be influenced by skills as the game doesn’t depend on chance exclusively. That’s why there are many books teaching you how to beat the house. Though that’s impossible, you can still improve the odds by picking a variation with high RTP, using the adequate strategy chart and staying away from side bets.

Roulette is the other game that has inspired quite a number of books on how to decrease the house edge. But despite the many systems, such as Martingale, Fibonacci, and Labouchere, you can’t really lower the house advantage. That means you should rather pick the roulette variation with the highest RTP. That’s a single-zero roulette that follows the French rules. La Partage alone slashes the RTP of European Roulette in half to 1.35% for even money bets.

Video poker is probably the casino game with the lowest house edge. You can easily find a variation with an RTP that comes pretty close to 100%. That makes the game perfect for beginners and those who don’t like the idea of ‘risking’ their money. Video poker games are easy to find as they are available at all reputable online casinos. To further improve your odds, try increasing the bet level – that’ll give you even better payouts.

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