Have you noticed that some slots tend to award you more frequently than others? Does that mean that they offer better rewards or not?
To understand how slots award players, you need to understand two basic concepts: RTP and volatility.
We’ve already discussed RTP several times, so let’s make a quick recap. RTP stands for Return to Player, and it’s one of the main ways to decide how much you’re likely to get when playing an online video slot.
For example, if you open one of your favorite mobile slots and its volatility is set to 95%, it means that players receive back 95% of all the money they invest on average. The rest is kept by the slot, and that’s how casinos actually make money.
Of course, this number doesn’t have to mean anything to you, as the element of luck will ultimately be the one to decide who wins and who doesn’t.
Still, what are your chances of actually winning something? That’s where volatility comes in to save the day.
How Volatility Works
Volatility tells you how often you’ll get a prize and how big the prizes are for a certain slot. It’s usually either high or low.
If the volatility is high, it means that the payouts for the slot are high. However, the bad news is that they are rare.
Therefore, you’ll have to be lucky to trigger a payout, but once you do, you’ll receive a hefty prize. High-volatility slots are also said to be high-risk slots, meaning you’ll risk not getting a reward for some time to get a high reward.
If the volatility is low, it means that you’ll receive the prizes often, but they won’t be as lucrative as the ones in high-volatility slots. In other words, it’s safe to say that low volatility means low risk.
If you’re on a budget, it’s always wise to start with low-volatility slots first.
Finally, some slots have medium volatility, meaning they leverage between prize frequency and size. It’s also a great place to start if you’re not sure which type of slot you prefer playing. Make sure to check the volatility for every slot before you start spinning their reels.
If you want to play great games, check out our list of online casinos offering mobile slots for real money. All of the casinos featured on that page include both low-volatility and high-volatility slots, and all of them have great RTP.