Guide
What is RTP? Complete Guide
RTP is the most quoted number in casino gaming. Most players misunderstand what it actually means.
What RTP is
Return to Player (RTP) is the percentage of all money wagered on a game that is paid back to players over a very large number of rounds - typically hundreds of millions of spins in a mathematical model. A 96% RTP game is modelled to pay back £96 of every £100 wagered, keeping £4 as the house edge.
What RTP is not
RTP is not a session guarantee. It is not a promise that you will receive 96% of your stakes back in any given hour, day, or month. In a short session, variance can take you far above or below the published figure in either direction.
RTP is also not set per player. The 96% is an average across all players and all sessions over a very long period. You might win three times your stake in a session. You might lose everything. Both are consistent with a 96% RTP game.
Verified RTP versus claimed RTP
Some studios publish their RTP figures and have them tested by a third-party auditor such as eCOGRA, GLI, or BMM. Others only self-report. Verified RTP figures carry more weight. The 3xBetting catalog flags games with verified figures when that information is available.
How to use RTP when choosing a game
A higher RTP means a smaller house edge. All else equal, a 97% RTP game is cheaper to play than a 95% RTP game over a long session. But volatility matters too: a 97% RTP game with very-high volatility can drain a bankroll faster than a 95% RTP low-volatility game, because the swings are much larger.
All 40 games ranked by RTP
| # | Game | Type | Studio | RTP | Volatility | Movement Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweet Bonanza 1000Partner | slots | Pragmatic Play | 96.53% | very-high | 82.7 |
| 2 | Zeus vs HadesPartner | slots | Pragmatic Play | 96.07% | very-high | 74.9 |
| 3 | AviatorPartner | crash | Spribe | 97% | high | 71.7 |
| 4 | Gates of OlympusPartner | slots | Pragmatic Play | 96.5% | very-high | 70.3 |
| 5 | Sweet BonanzaPartner | slots | Pragmatic Play | 96.48% | high | 69.7 |
| 6 | XXXtreme Lightning Roulette | live | Evolution | 97.1% | very-high | 64.5 |
| 7 | JetXPartner | crash | Smartsoft | 97% | high | 62.0 |
| 8 | Plinko | crash | Spribe | 97% | medium | 60.5 |
| 9 | Le Bandit | slots | Hacksaw Gaming | 96.34% | very-high | 59.7 |
| 10 | Divine Fortune | jackpot | NetEnt | 96.59% | medium | 53.1 |
| 11 | Casino Hold’em | table | Evolution | 97.84% | medium | 52.4 |
| 12 | Blackjack Classic | table | Evolution | 99.5% | low | 49.4 |
| 13 | Starburst | slots | NetEnt | 96.09% | low | 45.7 |
| 14 | Great Rhino Megaways | megaways | Pragmatic Play | 96.5% | high | 42.3 |
Questions
Can I find out the RTP of a specific game?
Yes. Most studios publish RTP figures on their website or within the game's information panel. 3xBetting lists the published figure for every game on the catalog.
Does the casino set the RTP?
In some cases, yes. Studios often offer operators a range of RTP settings - for example 94%, 96%, or 96.5%. The operator chooses which setting to deploy. This is why the same game can have a different RTP at different casinos.
Is a higher RTP always better?
For long-run cost, yes. But volatility and session length matter too. A high-RTP, very-high-volatility game can still produce a losing session from a moderate bankroll.