Understanding RTP at Australian Online Casinos
A term that you’ve likely heard when playing online pokies at Australian online casinos is RTP. RTP is an acronym for Return to Player and refers to the amount a person can expect a pokie machine to pay out.
While RTP sounds like an easy concept, it is a bit more complicated. Understanding Return to Player will help you make the best decisions when choosing which online pokies to play. Today, we will give you the lowdown about Return To Player and how you can find the highest RTP when playing online pokies.
What is RTP?
RTP is short for Return to Player. It can be used for any form of live or online gambling but is most often used with pokies and video poker. For example, you’ll hear that a pokie has an RTP of 96% or the RTP for Full Pay Jacks or Better video poker is 99.54%
You’ll also see separate RTPs for both pokies and the online casino. If you see an RTP for an online casino, that is the overall return to players over time. For online pokies, the Return To Player is a theoretical number based on the programming of the pokie.
Looking at this closer, if a video pokie has a 96% RTP, it would seem that you can expect to win $96 out of every $100 put into the machine. Sadly, that is not how RTP works. Instead, the figure is the long-term return that all players can expect from the game.
Individual sessions will vary. For example, you choose to play two pokies that both have a Return to Player of 96%. You may find that you’re winning regularly on one and can’t seem to win on the other. That’s because the actual gameplay is based on a random number generator (RNG) and luck.
Reasons Online Casinos Can Offer Higher RTP Than Live Casinos
If you play pokies in live casinos, you’ll only find RTPs from 75% to 85%. When playing at online casinos in Australia, that number jumps to 95% or higher. In some rare cases, you’ll find pokies with a Return To Player up to 99%. No casino offers pokies with a 100% RTP as the machine would not make them money.
Video poker players are about to chime in and claim that some games pay over a 100% Return To Player. While true for some video poker games, that figure is based on every player using perfect strategy every hand. That’s not happening. Even the best video poker players are going to make the occasional error. Video poker is the one exception where you can use skill to adjust the RTP in your favor. For online pokies and online casinos, you’re subject to random luck.
So why is the Return to Player for online casinos and online pokies higher than live casinos? Overhead. Online casinos have much lower overhead than live casinos. You only need a few people to maintain online casinos. It takes hundreds to operate live casinos. Also, you don’t have the same maintenance and upkeep costs of live casinos. As long as the servers are maintained, the casino can operate as usual.
Lastly, online casinos offer a larger selection of games than live casinos. Players can play any of the games at any point without having to worry about the game being spread or staffed. This gives casinos many more revenue streams at one point.
Simply, online casinos have fewer expenses than live casinos and more opportunities to gamble. They can give up some edge on RTP and still make plenty of profit.
Finding Return to Player of Online Pokies and Online Casinos
You can find the Return to Player of both your online casino and online pokies with a bit of research. Some online casinos list their overall RTP or you can get it from customer support. When a casino doesn’t display their RTP or refuses to give it to you, this should be taken as a red flag and the casino should be avoided. All of our recommended casinos proudly show their Return To Player.
For online pokies, you may have to do a bit of research to find the RTP. You can start by going to the manufacturer’s website. Real Time Gaming, Microgaming, and others provide stat sheets outlining various information on their games, including RTP. Next, you can check reviews for online pokies for RTP rates. Sites that do pokie reviews will often give you information about the RTP of the games.
Now that you have a firm grasp of Return To Player, you can look for games and online casinos that provide the best RTP rates. Generally, you’re looking for online casinos with an RTP at 97% or greater. For online pokies, you’re looking for games with a Return To Player of 95% or better. Keep in mind, your individual sessions may not reflect these rates. However, by picking casinos and games with the highest RTP, you are improving your odds of walking away a winner.