RTP (Return to Player)
The theoretical percentage of total wagered money a game returns to players over millions of spins. A 96% RTP means the house edge is 4%.
What RTP measures
RTP (Return to Player) is the percentage of total wagered money a game returns to players over its statistical lifetime — typically millions of spins. A 96% RTP slot returns $96 for every $100 wagered, on average.
The remaining 4% is the house edge — the casino's mathematical profit margin per dollar wagered.
Why RTP is misleading short-term
RTP is a long-run average. In a single session of 100–1000 spins, your actual return can be 0% (you lose everything) or 1000%+ (you hit a max-win event). The published RTP tells you nothing about session-level outcomes.
What converges to RTP is the aggregate result across thousands of similar sessions worldwide. Your individual session is one sample from a wide distribution.
RTP across game types
| Game type | Typical RTP |
|---|---|
| Stake Originals | 99% |
| Live Blackjack (optimal play) | 99.29–99.59% |
| Video Poker (optimal) | 99.54% |
| Premium video slots | 96.0–96.8% |
| European Roulette | 97.30% |
| Live game shows | 95.4–96.5% |
Reading RTP correctly
Some slots ship with multiple RTP versions (94/95/96/96.5%) selectable by the operator. Stake.com typically uses the highest tier, but always verify on the in-game info screen.
For a deeper dive into RTP math, use our RTP calculator to project expected returns at any spin count.
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