What is Return to Player (RTP) and Hit Frequency, and Return to Player (RTP), Mean?

Return to Player (RTP) and Hit Frequency: What Do These Define?

RETURN TO the PLAYER (RTP).

The phrase "Return to Player" (RTP), is employed by casinos to mean the amount of money wagered that machines like VLTs will pay out to players over the course of time. If, for instance, you place a $100 bet on a machine where the RTP is 90%, you can anticipate to win around 90 dollars in winnings. Both RTP as well as house edge are calculated over the longer term. Almost anything can happen in the near term (see the section on Short-Term Volatility and Long Predictability) This is why you should only ever bet with the money that you're willing to lose.

You may have noticed that RTP is really the other side of the house advantage. A machine that has 20 percent house advantage is likely to have an average RTP of 80 percent. This means that the machine can keep around 20% of the money , and will return the remaining to the players when it wins.

Hit Frequency

Hit frequency refers to the number of times that a machine will stop once it has a winning combination. For example, if a machine has a hit frequency of 8.8%, it indicates that the machine stops after a winning sequence about 8percent of the time. You must also be aware that VLTs, along with many slot machines, allow you to put multiple bets during each spin. This means that a player can win one or more winning combinations, as well as several losing combinations in one spin. Although RTP rate could appear as if the player is winning more frequently than usual, the number of losing combinations over time is far higher.

For VLTs and slot machines, there can be great variations in hit frequency. Some slots have a frequency of in the range of 3% as opposed to other games, like video poker which has a hit percentage that is close to 45 percent. Although the video poker hit frequency might sound attractive, remember that more than half of the "hits" are just the result of a wager. A machine with 3 percent hit frequency might not sound appealing, however, it could offer players the chance to win the largest jackpot. (Machines that have large progressive jackpots typically be less frequent in hitting and higher jackpots.)

Low hit frequency games are usually perceived as being tight by players because of the small amount of wins. High hit frequency games are sometimes perceived as loose due to only a few wins.

Remember that "hit frequency" is how frequently an winning combination appears in the average. "Return to player" refers to how much or the percentage of bets placed on a machine will return over the course of time.