The online casino payout percentage is a very important factor when you are deciding where and what you want to play. Like the range of games, quality of services and selection of bonuses, it should be carefully weighed up so that you can choose the best site for your situation.
To understand the impact that the payout percentage (PP) has, you need to know what it is, how the House Edge and Jackpots affect it and how it interacts with the Payout Frequency (PF).
A PP is defined as the total percentage of money, relative to what has been wagered, that is returned to players over time. If the online casino games Payout Percentage is 95%, for example, then for every 100 coins that are bet at the establishment, an average of 95 is returned.
The fact that this PP is an average is very important; you will not necessarily get 95 coins back if the return rate is 95%. This is the median of what is paid out to the total group of players, over time. You do not stand a 95% chance of winning! Many people have made this mistake and landed themselves in serious trouble as a consequence.
You might see a PP for the overall site, which is calculated according to all games, or for a specific title or category, like the online casino slots payout percentage. These percentages can vary quite widely, and are mostly dependent on the House Edge and the Jackpots that are offered by the games being measured.
Also known as the Vigorish, the House Edge is the advantage that the casino (the house) has over a player. These gains are built into the rules of each game, and ensure that over time the operators are able to clear profits. The House Edge is the percentage of wagers retained over time; if the online casino payout percentage is 95%, the Edge is 5%.
Jackpots also help determine the PP; as one rises, so too does the other. Slots, for example, have the highest House Edge of all games, but they also have the biggest jackpots. This means that the online casino slots payout percentage of a title can be massive, even though their Vigorish is also very steep.
The PF is the percentage of slot spins or table game rounds that is expected to yield a return to the player. The online casino games payout percentage is how much is paid out over time; the Frequency is how often this happens. These 2 figures are inversely proportional; higher Percentages mean lower Frequencies, and vice versa.
For every game you play, you need to decide whether you want a better chance of winning with a smaller amount in prize money, or are willing to accept a slimmer chance for a larger amount. Most people try to choose a happy medium for both the Frequencies and the Percentages.
Either way, it is essential that these measures are independently audited and endorsed as fair. You need to be sure that the game is paying what it should be according to its payout %, and that all results are determined using certified Random Number Generation software. This will ensure that you know exactly what your chances are of winning, and that everyone is playing with the same likelihood of success. A seal of approval from eCOGRA or a similar body, as you’ll see on the casinos that we recommend to you here, is the best performance indicator.