You have surely noticed the tables that are available in the reviews of slot machines, prepared by our experts. Information about the theoretical payout percentage is published in the bottom line. It shows a part of the total customers' bets that is returned in the long run.
Sometimes this index may be fixed: for example, 97.6%. It happens that the developer indicates it in some ranges: for example, 95.6% - 96.5%. In some cases, the theoretical payout percentage depends on additional conditions, including progressive jackpots that are drawn only in case of the highest bets, or the bonus option, which is activated after wagering a certain amount.
We find this information only in the official sources, such as the sites of the manufacturers, pay tables, sections with data, etc.
As you know, the casinos have been opened to allow the owners to earn, so the payout percentage that exceeds 100% is extremely rare and can be observed only for games that require a certain level of skills, for example, blackjack or video poker. The theoretical payout percentage above 95% can be considered normal for modern gambling machines without progressive jackpots, even taking into account the fact that many companies offer models with 97%-98%.
Of course, every reasonable player should pay attention to these indices. But do not forget that they are theoretical and the outcome of a single session will most likely be significantly different from the declared level.
And this is great, since this provides chances to win. Is it possible to find out how much the video slot pays out for any particular period of time? Recently, such an opportunity has appeared for customers of some casinos. We'll tell you about these useful innovations.
Reports of Audit Firms
There are several international independent organizations in modern gambling that are engaged in various inspections of gambling portals. For example, eCOGRA, which cooperates with many reputable online casinos. Its experts test the operations of random number generators and determine the real payout percentage. Usually, the results of their inspections are available to the audience. You can become familiar with them by clicking on the logo of eCOGRA.
The basic disadvantage of these reports is the provision of information about the payout percentage only for categories of games: slots, poker, table games, etc. The data about the total indices for all models of a casino are available.
The certificate of the organization is a great advantage for each portal, because it proves its fairness and reliability. However the provided information is not sufficient to give preference to one or another game.
CasinoGamesPayouts.com
Several years ago, the website CasinoGamesPayouts.com started its operations. Several online casinos provided information for it. It includes a list of popular games with the indication of profits (in the form of the percentage), the frequency of wins (also in percentage) and the maximum payout (in US dollars) for the previous day, last week or last month.
We do not presume to judge about the reliability of the data provided by this resource, but, of course, the portal will be interesting to all fans of online gambling.
Data from the Section with Information
The manufacturers of software for online gambling have started to provide information about the theoretical payout percentage and the really fixed payout levels for some period in the section Help.
For example, the video slots that have been released by World Match, which manufactures spectacular models with high-resolution images. If you open a page with the rules (not the pay table, but the separate section), you will see the following lines at the bottom: RTP (return to player) and Previous Month Payout.
The first point is the embedded payout percentage and the second one is the ratio between the total amount of bets and payouts for the month. Fans of statistics will be interested in viewing these indicators.
Thematic Resources
Various thematic portals, whose authors have personally tested games using simulations and published the results of such tests, serve as additional sources of this information. In particular, the popular website wizardofodss.com belongs to such group of portals. Its owner is a recognized expert in the world of online gambling.
Conclusion
To sum up, we want to warn our readers against the wrong conclusions concerning the fairness of casinos and manufacturers of software. If the data about the theoretical payout percentage and the real level of payouts for the month are different, it does not mean that they want to cheat. This difference can occur as the result of various reasons.
For example, if the game in some establishments is not so popular, customers will rarely make bets. Therefore, the discrepancy in one or the other direction can be very huge. So it is not necessary to count only on this information while selecting games.
We will be happy to know your opinion about this article. If you know additional methods of obtaining information about the current payout percentage of slot machines, share them in the comments.