Post about "slots house edge"

Anyone who plays USA legal casinos and real money slots sites should have an interest in the house edge of the game they are playing. Whether you play online slots or offline table games, knowing the basics about the house edge is crucial to deciding what games and which slots to play and so here we take a closer look at the house edge of slots.

The house edge of any casino game, including slots, is effectively the advantage the casino holds over the player. Almost all (theoretically some variants of video poker are exceptions under certain circumstances) casino games favor the casino. Obviously the casino has a huge range of expenses to cover, from paying out winners to purchasing the land the casino is on and from heating and lighting to staff and entertainment and on top of all that they have to make a profit as well.

As such, all casino games, from slots to blackjack and roulette to craps, have a “house edge” which is the term given to the in-built profit margin of the game. For example, in (single zero) roulette a single number pays 35/1, not 36/1, creating a house edge of 2.7%, meaning the player can expect to lose 2.7% of their stake in the long term.

With many casino games the house edge is fixed, so a single zero roulette will always have an edge of 2.7%, whilst blackjack with four decks and the same rule variants will always deliver the same house edge no matter what casino you play at.

Slots are a little different however, as there are no “rules” as such and the house edge, called the Return to Player (RTP) rate with slots, is essentially just something that can be altered by the way the slot is programmed.

The RTP is expressed as a percentage, like the house edge, but it is expressed as the percentage of stakes that are paid out, so whilst the house edge of games varies from around 0.4% to 15%, with slots the RTP tends to be around 3% to 10%. However, as said, this can vary from one casino to another, with some software companies allowing the individual casinos to decide on the RTP, whilst with other slots it is fixed by the game manufacturers themselves.

Sadly it is not always possible to know the RTP of a given slot, especially where it is controlled by the casino. Some slots have it clearly labelled but for others you may have to ask the casino outright via the customer support team, although there is no guarantee they will reveal it.