What Is a Good RTP for Slots?

Return to player (RTP) is the average payback percentage of a casino game on average. For example, a 90% RTP pays back $90 for every $100 bet on it overall. So, what is a good RTP for slots? This is a question especially relevant to players looking for the best real money slots when exploring an online or retail casino, although those who prefer to play free slots may also find this insight useful.

Good RTP for Slots

A good RTP for a slot is 96% or better. Slot machines allow players to wager small amounts for the chance to win huge jackpots, so the odds are generally worse compared to table games. A good RTP for table games is 98% or better, with games like blackjack offering payback as high as 99.8%. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a slot with odds that good, but it’s not impossible to find slots RTP as high as 98%.

Top 7 Slots with Good RTP

If you’re in New Jersey or Michigan, click “Play Now” below to play any of these top slots at Golden Nugget Online Casino. If you’re in a different state, see the next section for the best places to play:

Slot Machine	RTP	Theme	Max Payout	Play at Golden Nugget
1. Basketball Star Slot	98.7%	Sports-themed 243 ways win slot	$120,000	Play Now
2. Blood Suckers	98%	Horror-themed 5-reel vampire slot	$250,000	Play Now
3. Big Spinner Slot	97.1%	Classic 3-reel slot	$500,000	Play Now
4. Ambassador Slot	97%	Classic 4-reel slot	$135,000	Play Now
5. Action Dragons	96.57%	Asian-themed 5-reel dragon slot	$30,000	Play Now
6. First Down Slot	96.5%	Sports-themed 5-reel football/NFL slot	$250,000	Play Now
7. 88 Fortunes	96%	Asian-themed 5-reel jackpot slot	$200,000	Play Now

You can play at legal real-money online casinos in Pennsylvania as well as:

Players in almost all US states can win cash prizes playing slots at social casinos.

Best Online Casinos for Slots Players

If you’re looking to win cash prizes on slots with good RTP, try these top choices:

BetMGM Casino Bonus Code: SPINSBONUS for a $25 FREEPLAY® no deposit bonus + a 100% deposit-match bonus up to $1,000. Claim at BetMGM Casino.

Chumba Casino Promo Code: The best social casino in the US is available in almost all states and offers some of the best slots around, including progressive jackpots. Use this link for 2 SC FREE on signup and 1 SC FREE every day you log in.

More: Check out our reviews of the best online slots.

Why Is Slots RTP Important?

Slots RTP is important because it sets expectations. If you’re looking to give yourself the best possible odds of keeping your money, a slot with a good RTP is the way to go. If you’re simply looking to win as much as possible, the slots with the biggest progressive jackpots will do.

Slots RTP represents the average amount a game pays back to the players. If a slot’s RTP is 95%, for example, it pays players 95% of the wagers it receives. However, slots RTP applies to all games happening at any time, so one player may receive 0% of their wagers while another can win 10,000%. RTP simply represents the average.

Unfortunately, some games, such as the Timber Wolf slot machine, don’t advertise their RTP. But those games are usually retail casinos only, yet another way an online casino is better than a land-based casino.

RTP Vs. Volatility

While RTP shows a game’s average payback percentage, slots volatility represents how often a game pays out. On average, a slot with low volatility pays out more often than a game with high volatility, but the payouts are lower than the payouts on a high volatility slot. Volatility does not affect RTP and vice versa.

For example, let’s say a high volatility slot and a low volatility slot both have an RTP of 96%. If a player played both at $1 per spin, they could expect the following:

Low Volatility: About half the spins to trigger wins between $0.10 and $5
High Volatility: Most of the spins to pay out nothing, but big wins of $25 to $50 here and there.

Like with RTP, volatility is just the general setup of the game. The random number generator (RNG) of the game ensures total randomness, meaning any slot can end up paying out big wins infrequently, low wins frequently, or any combination between.

RTP vs. House Edge: What’s The Difference?

RTP and house edge are two sides of the same coin. The house edge is the average amount that’s paid to the casino while the RTP is the average amount paid to the player. For example, if a game has a house edge of 2%, it has an RTP of 98%.

House edge is more commonly referred to for table games. This is because variations on the rules of games like online blackjack and online roulette can change the house edge from something like 0.55% to 0.455%. Those numbers are a lot easier to manage without the 99% getting in the way.

But a specific slot usually has a fixed RTP. In that case, it makes more sense to display it as a higher percentile, if for no other reason than a higher number looks better than a lower number.

Turn Bonus Money Into Cash Using RTP

Most online casino bonus codes offer the best playthrough requirements for slots players. But you still have to bet the bonus amount on those slots multiple times before you can withdraw the winnings. Your best chance of doing so? Playing slots with the highest RTP. Based on the percentage, you can better rely on at least having some money remaining at the end of the playthrough requirements. It’s no guarantee, but it’s a viable strategy.

Click your state for the best online casino bonuses available to you:

How To Find A Game’s RTP

The easiest way to find an online casino game’s RTP is to check the game’s info. At most online casinos, the RTP is presented in the game’s info. If it’s not there, you can also Google the name of the game, which usually brings up pretty reliable results. For example, if you wanted to know the RTP of the Cleopatra slot, you could search, “Cleopatra Slot RTP,” and see that it has an RTP of around 95.2%.

But the regulations governing the licensing of online casino sites mean that most online casinos have to publish the payout percentages for all their casino games. So, one of the best US online casinos should be your first stop if you want to find out how much each casino game will return to you.

Take for example Golden Nugget Casino. When you visit its website, a carousel of games is displayed. To find out more information about any game, all you need to do is click the “i” for “information” on the game’s display.

Clicking on a popular game like 88 Fortunes brings up all of the game information so you can see it at first glance. Among other things, the RTP is displayed and for this game, it is 96%. This information screen also displays the number of lines and reels, the maximum payout, and the minimum bet.

If you can’t seem to find where the casino lists its RTP percentages, another option is to check the help section. For example, the help section at Caesars Casino states: “You can see the RTP of games in the information section of that game on the Caesars Sportsbook app or desktop site.”

The best online casinos feature hundreds of slots. That gives players the option to choose games with great RTP or go for the big jackpots on games with lower RTP.

But here are some slots available at most legal US online casinos with high RTP rates:

Mega Joker by NetEnt: RTP 99%
Jackpot 6000 by NetEnt: RTP 98.9%
The Catfather by Pragmatic Play: RTP 98.1%
Rainbow Riches by Barcrest: RTP 98%
White Rabbit Megaways by Big Time Gaming: RTP 97.72%
Ugga Bugga by Playtech: RTP 99.07%
Starmania by NextGen: RTP 97.87%

If you’re finding it hard to find the particular game you’re looking for, just choose an online casino with a high RTP average. These include online casinos like Golden Nugget, BetRivers, Caesars, and BetMGM.

About the Author

Mike Epifani

Casino Content Manager

Mike Epifani is a gambling expert and professional writer. His current role is Brand Content Manager at Bonus.com, part of the Catena Media network. Mike spoke on the affiliate marketing panel at G2E 2022 in Las Vegas and won "Casino Affiliate of the Year" at the 2022 SBC Awards North America in NYC.