For online slots, 96% RTP is the reasonable baseline, 96.5% and above is very good, and anything below 94% is a poor deal. RTP is a long-run figure, over a short session, actual returns swing wildly around it.
RTP, return to player, is the percentage of everything wagered on a slot that the game is designed to pay back over billions of spins. Higher is better because the difference is the house edge.
The numbers to remember.
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Excellent: 97% and above. Rare outside high-volatility slots and video-poker games at the best RTP configuration.
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Very good: 96.5% to 96.99%. This includes many popular NetEnt, Play’n GO and Push Gaming titles.
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Good: 96% to 96.49%. The industry median.
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Below average: 94.5% to 95.99%. Common on some Pragmatic Play megaways titles and older classic slots.
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Poor: below 94.5%. Uncommon but exists, particularly on some crash and casual games.
Check the in-game RTP, not the publisher’s reference.
Most slots ship in multiple RTP configurations, and the operator chooses which one to deploy. A title with a 96.2% reference RTP might be deployed at 94% at a lower-tier operator. The RTP that matters is the one shown in the game info screen you can open in-play, that is the actual number your specific spin is being paid at.
Table games are a different arithmetic.
For table games, RTP is a function of the rules and your strategy. Blackjack with basic strategy sits at roughly 99.5% RTP on the right rules; European roulette is 97.3%; American roulette is 94.7%. If RTP is the deciding factor, blackjack (played with basic strategy) beats every slot on the market.