Newcomers to online fruit machines are often confused or find it overwhelming, as I did when I first started playing them, when learning that they all have different payout rates and varying win volatility rates.
However, once you have grasped the basics of volatility and RTP and how useful this information can be, it should make it much easier for you to decide which ones to play.
With that in mind, let’s dive straight in and discover more about the inner workings of the iGaming industry’s most popular games, with a few examples of the different volatility online fruitys have and how RTP% (Return to Player) payout rates are calculated.
What’s the difference between volatility and RTP, and why does it matter?
We can start by looking at volatility, or how volatile an online fruit machine is, before looking at RTP payout rates. The easiest way for me to describe how volatile any fruitys you decide to play is is how often it pays out and how big or small those average wins are when they are awarded.
For example, the three main types of volatility in online fruit machines today from market-leading providers are the following:
- Low volatility – if you find an online fruit machine that’s not volatile, it means it’s less risky. In other words, the wins typically occur more often in these ones, but the average size/value of those wins won’t be massive. You can look forward to more frequent but smaller wins
- Medium volatility – online fruitys with a medium volatility win rate will pay out slightly less often than low volatility fruitys, but the average wins will be slightly bigger
- High volatility – Highly volatile online fruitys are ones that pay out far less often, but when they do award a win, that payout will be much greater in value
Another way of looking at it is that low volatile fruitys are ideal for people like me who don’t spend hours at a time playing online. They are also ideal for beginners who are new to playing online fruit machines.
If you are in it for the long haul and consider yourself more of a risky player with a huge bankroll who doesn’t have to worry so much about budgeting, then you might be more interested in playing highly volatile fruitys.
Alternatively, you might prefer something in between with a medium volatility win rate. Most of the sites I have joined with thousands of computer-generated online fruit machines from award-winning providers have all three formats.
For example, if you join any of the top suggestions that are currently featured on the JohnSlots UK review site, you can find low, medium, and high-volatility fruit machines with high and low RTP rates.
In fact, when you go to the fruit machine section that houses these games, you can often find filter settings or information about how volatile each online fruity is. This kind of information is also usually available inside the paytable of each online fruity.
How is RTP calculated?
Each online fruity also has an average RTP payout rate, which tells us how much money a fruity is expected to pay back in winnings after a certain amount of money has been wagered on it.
The outcomes/results are produced by highly sophisticated mathematical algorithm programs, meaning that each time we hit the spin button, the result is predetermined.
The RNGs (Random Number Generators) that are used in fruitys and all other computer-generated content available on these sites (e.g., blackjack, roulette, video poker, craps, scratchcards, video bingo, poker, baccarat, and so on) are designed to produce fair and realistic results with no detectable pattern. They mimic the true randomness of real life.
This is why you will find that each online fruit machine you play will typically have anywhere from a 92.00% (considered low) to 98.00% (considered high) RTP payout rate.
If people have spent a combined total of $/€/£1,000,000 on the same online fruity over a four-week period, and during that time, those same people received $/€/£9,550,000 back in winnings, it tells us that this particular fruity had a 95.50% RTP payout rate.
This is why some players, myself included, will tend to avoid low RTP fruitys and stick to playing online fruitys with a 96.00% to 98.00% or higher RTP payout rate. However, the important thing to remember is that although, mathematically speaking, high RTP fruitys should pay more than low RTP fruitys, it doesn’t guarantee you will win more. Winning and losing still boils down to lady luck.
Final thoughts
Now that you understand more about how online fruit machine RTP and volatility win rates work, it might help you decide which ones might be worth your time when you next play them on your iPhone 16 or Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone or from your Linux, macOS or Windows desktop computer or laptop.
The other thing I mustn’t forget to mention is to gamble responsibly at all times when playing your favourite online fruitys. Never play them while tired or intoxicated because you are more likely to make simple mistakes you wouldn’t usually make or take risks that you wouldn’t normally take.
One of the easiest ways to ensure you don’t go over budget is to set things like deposit limits, session time reminders, or win/loss limits.
