What Is RTP in Slots? A Plain-English Guide for South African Players (2026)
Posted on: 2 November 2026 at 05:27 UTC
Mike Chen
Gaming Analyst
18+ only. Gambling involves risk, so please play only with money you can afford to lose, and if you need someone to talk to, the National Responsible Gambling Programme offers free, confidential help on 0800 006 008 (responsiblegambling.org.za).
If you have read any of our slot reviews, you will have noticed an "RTP" figure sitting near the top of the page, like the 96.21% we show for Book of Dead. It gets quoted everywhere in online gambling, yet very few players are ever told what it really measures, so in this guide we walk through what RTP means, what it can't tell you, why the same game can pay back differently at two casinos, and how you can check the real figure on your phone before you spin.
What does RTP mean?
RTP is short for Return to Player, and it describes the share of all the money wagered on a game that the game is designed to pay back to players over a very large number of plays, usually worked out across millions of simulated spins rather than anything you would see in a single evening.
Take a slot with a 96% RTP as an example: its maths is set up so that, across every player and every spin over the long term, roughly R96 of each R100 staked comes back as winnings, while the remaining R4 is the edge the game keeps for itself.
That leftover slice is what people call the house edge, and you can work it out with one line of arithmetic:
House edge = 100% − RTP
97% – House edge: 3%; Theoretical cost per R100 wagered: R3
96% – House edge: 4%; Theoretical cost per R100 wagered: R4
94% – House edge: 6%; Theoretical cost per R100 wagered: R6
91% – House edge: 9%; Theoretical cost per R100 wagered: R9
(These rows are simple arithmetic from the definition above, not figures for any specific game.)
What RTP does not tell you
Most of the confusion around RTP comes from expecting it to do things it was never meant to do, and three misunderstandings come up again and again:
It won't predict your own session. A 96% RTP slot is not going to hand back R96 because you deposited R100 tonight, since over a short session you can just as easily lose the lot or land a big win, and RTP only describes the long-run average across an enormous number of spins.
It doesn't make a game "due" to pay. Every spin is independent and decided by a random number generator, so a slot that has gone quiet for a while is no closer to paying out than it was before.
It isn't a strategy you can use. No betting pattern, time of day or "hot" machine changes a game's RTP, which means anyone selling RTP "hacks", predictors or signal groups is really selling you nothing at all (we made the same point about Aviator in our Aviator tips for 2026).
RTP vs volatility: two different numbers
Where RTP tells you how much a game pays back over time, volatility (sometimes called variance) describes how it goes about paying, and the difference shows up quickly in the way your balance moves:
Low volatility games tend to pay smaller wins more often, so your balance usually drifts up and down quite gently.
Medium volatility sits somewhere in between, and it is the label NetEnt gives Starburst on its official game page, as well as the "Medium Volatility" label Pragmatic Play shows on the in-game screen for Gates of Olympus.
High volatility games can go through long dry spells while holding out the chance of much larger wins, and Play'n GO's own rules sheet rates Book of Dead at "Very High" volatility.
Because each provider uses its own scale for these labels, they are really only worth comparing between games from the same studio.
Two slots can share exactly the same RTP and still feel completely different to play, and if you are working with a small mobile bankroll, the volatility will often shape your experience far more than a fraction of a percent of RTP ever could.
Why the same slot can have a different RTP at different casinos
This is the part that surprises a lot of players: many game providers release the same slot in several RTP versions, and it is the casino that decides which one to run.
Book of Dead shows how this works in practice, because Play'n GO's own game-rules document lists five RTP configurations for it, namely 96.21% (the default), 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25% and 84.18% (source: Play'n GO "Book of Dead: Rules and Settings" PDF as hosted by operators; also summarised by rtptrack.com), and while the reels, symbols and bonus round look identical in every version, the maths running underneath is different each time.
What that means for you is that the RTP printed on a review site, ours included, is usually the provider's headline or default figure, and the version loaded at your particular casino may well be lower.
How to check a slot's RTP before you play
Start by opening the game's info, paytable or help screen, which on mobile usually sits behind the "i" or menu (☰) icon, because most providers state the RTP of the version running at that casino somewhere in the game rules.
Scroll down and look for the word "RTP" or "Return to Player", which tends to appear near the bottom of the rules, although the wording varies from one provider to the next (Pragmatic Play's Gates of Olympus rules, for instance, say "The theoretical RTP of this game is …%" (source: Pragmatic Play demo game rules)).
Compare what you find with the provider's headline figure, such as the 96.50% Pragmatic Play lists for Gates of Olympus on its official game page (source: pragmaticplay.com/en/games/gates-of-olympus) or the 97% Spribe lists for Aviator (source: spribe.co/games/aviator), and if the in-game number is noticeably lower, you can take it that the casino is running a lower-RTP version.
If you still can't find it, ask the casino's live chat, since a licensed operator should be able to tell you which version you are playing.
RTP figures for popular slots on Online Mobile Slots
Starburst – Provider: NetEnt; Headline RTP: 96.08%; Volatility: Medium; Source: netent.com/games/starburst
Book of Dead – Provider: Play'n GO; Headline RTP: 96.21% (default; lower versions exist); Volatility: Very High; Source: Play'n GO rules & settings PDF
Gates of Olympus – Provider: Pragmatic Play; Headline RTP: 96.50%; Volatility: Medium; Source: pragmaticplay.com (RTP); in-game screen of Pragmatic's official demo (volatility)
Aviator (crash game) – Provider: Spribe; Headline RTP: 97%; Volatility: n/a; Source: spribe.co
The headline figures above are the values each provider publishes, and the version at a specific casino may differ, so it is always worth checking in-game; the volatility labels also follow each provider's own scale. On Starburst, NetEnt's older (2020) game sheet lists 96.09% as the default version, while NetEnt's current game page lists 96.08%.
Does a higher RTP mean you'll win more?
Over a very long time and a very large number of spins, a higher RTP means you lose less on average for the same amount wagered, but that is a long way from saying you will win, because any RTP below 100% means the game is still expected to keep part of what is staked.
With that in mind, there are a few sensible ways to put RTP to work:
When you are choosing between similar games and two slots appeal to you equally, the higher-RTP version will, on average, stretch your budget a little further.
When you are clearing a bonus, the wagering requirement multiplies how much you have to stake, so the game's RTP (along with the bonus game-contribution rules) has a real effect on what that bonus is worth, and our bonus calculator on the Bonuses page lets you plug in the RTP, wagering and contribution figures to see it for yourself.
What RTP should never become is a reason to play longer or bet bigger, because it offers no protection at all in the short term.
Where to play slots on mobile in South Africa
Before you sign up anywhere, it pays to check which licence the casino holds and which authority issued it, which a licensed site normally shows in its footer, as well as confirming that it lets you set your own deposit limits, and that its slots show their RTP in the in-game rules. You can line operators up side by side on our casino reviews page, where you will also find our review of Play Live Casino.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good RTP for a slot? There is no official cut-off, but many popular modern slots publish headline RTPs of around 96% (Starburst at 96.08%, Book of Dead at 96.21% and Gates of Olympus at 96.50% in the table above), so players often treat that as a rough reference point for comparing games rather than any kind of promise about returns.
Is RTP the same as my chance of winning a spin? No, because RTP is a long-run payback percentage, whereas hit frequency (how often a spin wins anything at all) is a separate figure that some providers publish in their game rules.
Can a casino change a slot's RTP while I'm playing? RTP versions are configured by the operator from the options the provider supplies, and they are not adjusted from one spin to the next, while reputable game providers also have their games tested by independent testing labs before release.
Is Aviator's RTP the same as a slot's? The idea is the same, and Spribe publishes Aviator's RTP as 97%, but because Aviator is a crash game your result depends on when you choose to cash out, and no cash-out pattern will get you past the house edge.
Play responsibly
RTP is a genuinely useful way to understand the games you play, but it can never make gambling profitable, so before you start it is worth taking a moment to set yourself up properly:
Set both a deposit limit and a time limit in your casino account before your first spin, rather than after a session has got away from you.
Think of whatever you deposit as the cost of an evening's entertainment and not as an investment that ought to pay you back.
Resist the urge to chase losses, however tempting it feels to win back what you have just lost.
If gambling stops being fun, step away and call the National Responsible Gambling Programme on 0800 006 008 (a free call) or visit responsiblegambling.org.za, where you can talk to someone in confidence.
Online Mobile Slots is meant for players aged 18 and over, and gambling in South Africa is restricted to persons 18+.