When browsing online casinos for real money games, most players get distracted by factors like theme, graphics, bonuses, and jackpots. However, one subtle yet crucial characteristic often gets ignored – the game’s return to player (RTP) percentage. Also known as the theoretical payout rate, RTP indicates how much-wagered money a game pays back over an extended period.
Slots and tables with an RTP of 96% or higher give you vastly better odds and reduce the house edge compared to games with lower payout rates. By exclusively playing high-RTP titles, your Casino Monopoly bankroll will last significantly longer, allowing more spins and hands per session.
This guide explains why selecting games with a 96% RTP or better is vital for boosting your profitability and entertainment value in the long term.
How Return to Player Impacts Your Overall Results
Every real money casino game has an engineered house advantage built into its rules and payout structure. This edge guarantees the casino profits over an infinite number of bets. Return to player percentage indicates how much of your wagered cash is paid back over time.
For example, if you play a slot with a 95% RTP and over 100,000 spins, the game will pay back 95,000 credits from the 100,000 credits wagered. The other 5,000 credits are kept by the casino – that’s their mathematical house edge.
When you choose games with a higher RTP, more of your money gets returned over time, boosting your profitability and reducing your casino edge. Consider how much more profitable 96% of RTP games are compared to 94% of RTP titles over 500,000 spins:
- 94% RTP Slot – Returns 470,000 of 500,000 credits wagered
- 96% RTP Slot – Returns 480,000 of 500,000 credits wagered
That’s an extra 10,000 credits paid back to you instead of the casino – a substantial long-term increase just from selecting games with a 2% higher RTP.
Now expand this advantage over years of real money play. Always picking Aristocrat slots and tables with a 96% or better RTP provides a lucrative edge that heavily impacts your lifetime results.
Common Online Casino Game RTP Ranges
Every reputable internet gambling site lists the RTP for all real money games in their rules or help section. However, this critical detail rarely gets mentioned elsewhere on the site. You need to hunt for the info or know specifically which titles typically have a high return to the player.
Here are the typical RTP ranges for popular online casino game genres:
Table Games
- Blackjack – 99% to 99.5%
- Roulette – 94% to 98%
- Baccarat – 98% to 99%
- Craps – 94% to 98%
- Poker – 97% to 99%
As you see, blackjack and poker almost always have a 99% or higher RTP when played with optimal strategy. Baccarat and craps also hover around 98% RTP depending on the variation. Roulette sits around 97%, but a few low-paying bets, like the 5-number wager, drop the average down.
Slots RTP
- Classic Slots – 93% to 97%
- Video Slots – 92% to 98%
- Megaways – 96% to 97%
- High Limit – 95% to 98%
- Progressives – 92% to 96%
Classic and video slots have the widest RTP range depending on the specific game rules and payout structure. Megaways, high limit and progressive jackpots tend to stick around 96% to 98% RTP.
So, for slots, carefully read the rules first and only play titles with a 96% return or better. For tables, stick with optimal blackjack and poker strategies.
Benefits of Playing Slots
With a 96% or Higher RTP Playing slot machines with a 96% RTP or better provides some major advantages compared to lower paying titles between 90% and 95%.
When wagering real cash on 96%+ slots, you’ll benefit from:
- Lower house edge – A 1% difference in RTP drastically reduces the casino’s built-in advantage against you over time. Going from 95% to 96% cuts their edge in half.
- Bigger wins – Due to higher payout rates coded into the game, your chance to hit bonus features and larger payouts increases substantially.
- Longer playtime – With more money paid back into your bankroll, your starting balance goes further, allowing more spins per session.
- Reduced risk – Although short term results vary wildly, selecting high RTP slots provides much better odds for overall profitability over thousands of spins.
- Bigger jackpots – Games with 96%+ RTP have a higher hit frequency on large fixed and progressive jackpot payouts.
For live dealer and RNG tables like blackjack and poker, sticking with optimal strategy is key to boosting your RTP to 99% or more. However, with slots, the return to the player varies wildly from 88% up to 98%, so checking the stats first is essential.
How Game Volatility Impacts Your Experience
Besides RTP, slot volatility also greatly impacts your sessions. Volatility or variance refers to how often a slot pays out and the size of the wins. High volatility slots pay less frequently but offer bigger payouts when they hit. Low-volatility games land winners more often, but the amounts are smaller.
Here’s an example to demonstrate the dramatic difference:
Low Volatility Slot
- Pays average wins of 50x your bet every 6 spins
- Max payout caps around 500x your wager
- Less risk but smaller wins
High Volatility Slot
- Pays average wins of 100x your bet every 20 spins
- Max payout caps around 5,000x your stake
- Bigger risk with higher wins
While high volatility slots pose bigger risks, their much larger payout potential combined with an RTP of around 96% or higher provides the best overall player value. You give up some short-term security for a better chance at those four and five-figure mega wins.
Tips for Finding the RTP Slots
All reputable internet casinos publish the RTP for slots and table games somewhere in the rules or help section. However, this info rarely gets shown elsewhere on the site, so locating the best options takes some searching.
Here are some tips for finding and playing high RTP real money games:
- Use Google – Searching for terms like “best RTP slots,” “highest paying slots,” or “96% RTP games” brings up updated lists and recommendations.
- Check provider filters – Some casinos let you search games by provider. Filter to studios like NetEnt and Play’n GO known for high RTP slots.
- Study stats sections – Reviews and game info sections sometimes show RTP and volatility without needing to open rules.
- Analyze top jackpot games – Titles offering four and five-figure pooled prizes almost always have a 96% or higher return.
- Refer to return percentages – Some casinos actually tag certain games with their RTP right on the thumbnail icon.
By using these methods to dig deeper, you can discover dozens of lucrative slots with 96% RTP or better at every gambling site. Just a 2% difference in return to player makes a monumental long-term impact on your results.
Final Takeaways on Prioritizing High RTP Games
As you can see, selecting online casino games with a 96% RTP or better provides you vastly better odds while significantly cutting the house edge against you over time. Just a 1 to 2 percent higher payback makes a dramatic difference in overall profitability.
With slots, volatility also plays a big role. High-variance games with less frequent but bigger payouts combined with an RTP of around 96% offer the most entertainment value per spin. For tables, learn optimal blackjack and poker strategy guides to boost your RTP. Baccarat and craps also have decent 98% returns when placing favorable wagers.
By exclusively playing real money games with a 96% or better payback rate, you’ll maximize hours of play per deposit, hit more bonuses, land bigger wins, and hugely improve your lifetime profit outlook.