Average Casino Payout
Some people might want to know how to find the payout percentage on a slot machine. Sadly, it’s not something that’s printed on most games — at least not here in the United States.
This post is for them.
This means you can work out how much you could win on average. For example, if a slot game payout percentage is 98.20%, the casino will on average pay out $98.2 for every $100 wagered. ♋ Zodiac Casino Offers 80 Chances to become an instant millionaire for just $1! Plus Lucky Numbers Free Weekly Horoscope Make your Casino Fortune.
Understanding this topic involves some rudimentary understanding of probability as it relates to casino gambling. You’ll need to understand three separate concepts thoroughly:
- Payback percentage
- House edge
- Return to player
This post explains each of those in enough detail that even a beginner should understand what they mean.
Some Basic Facts Related to Probability, the House Edge, Payback Percentage, and Return to Player
Probability is the branch of mathematics that deals with how likely an event is to happen. If you want to measure how likely you are to win a jackpot on a slot machine, probability is the way to figure that out.
But the word also refers directly to that likelihood.
In other words, if I say the probability of getting heads when I flip a coin is 50%, I’m not talking about that branch of mathematics. I’m talking about the actual statistical likelihood of that event.
You should understand a few things about probability in general.
Probability is always a number between 0 and 1. An event with a probability of 0 will never happen, and an event with a probability of 1 will always happen. The closer to 1 the probability is, the more likely the event is to happen.
Probability can be expressed multiple ways. It can be expressed as a fraction, a decimal, a percentage, or as odds. The probability of getting heads on a coin flip can be expressed as 1/2, 0.5, 50%, or 1 to 1.
An event’s probability is the number of ways it can happen divided by the total number of possible outcomes. When you’re discussing a coin toss, you have two possible outcomes. Only one of those is heads. That makes the probability 1/2.
The probability that an event will occur added to the probability that an event won’t occur always equals 1. Therefore, if you know the probability that something will happen, you also automatically know the probability that it won’t happen, and vice versa.
The house edge is a statistical measure of how much the house expects to win (on average, over the long run) from every bet you make on a game. The house edge is a theoretical number that accounts for the probability of winning versus the probability of losing AND the payout if you win.
All casino games carry a house edge. In the short run, it doesn’t matter much, but in the long run, it’s the most important thing.
If I say a game has a house edge of 4%, this means that over time, you should average a loss of $4 for every $100 you bet on the game. This is a long run statistical average, though. In the short run, you’re unlikely to see results that mirror the house edge.
The return to player and the payback percentage are the same thing. Some writers use one to refer to the statistical expectation and the other to refer to the actual results, but most writers use these terms interchangeably.
The payback percentage added to the house edge always equals 100%. The payback percentage is the amount of each bet that you get back, and the house edge is the amount of each bet that the casino wins. Again, these numbers are on average over the long run.
A game with a 4% house edge has a 96% payback percentage.
In the United States, slot machine payback percentages are impossible to calculate and not posted on gambling machines. To calculate the house edge or the payback percentage for a casino game, you need two pieces of data:
- The probability of winning
- The amount of money you’ll win (the payoff)
Slot machines include their payouts on their pay tables, but they don’t include the probability of achieving any of the winning outcomes.
In some countries, the payback percentage is posted on the machines, but not in the United States.
To make things even worse for a slot machine player, the random number generator program can be set differently even if the slot machine is identical to the one next to it. You could be playing The Big Lebowski slots at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma, and your buddy could be playing the identical machine right next to you.
The payback percentage on his machine might be 94%, and the payback percentage on your machine might only be 88%.
The difference comes from how the probabilities are weighted for each symbol. On one game, the bars might show up 1/4 of the time, but on the next, they might only come up 1/8 of the time.
This has an obvious effect on the payback percentage.
The payback percentage would be easy to calculate if you knew the probabilities. The payback percentage is just the total expected value of all the possible outcomes on the machine.
Let’s assume you have 1000 possible reel combinations. Let’s also assume that if you got each of those in order, from 1 to 1000, you’d win 900 coins.
The payback percentage for that game would be 90%.
You’d put 1000 coins in, and you’d have 900 coins left after a statistically perfect sampling of 1000 spins.
If you knew the payback percentage and house edge for a slot machine game, you could predict your theoretical cost of playing that game per hour in the long run. You’d only need to multiply the numbers of bets you made per hour by the size of those bets. Then you’d multiply that by the house edge to get your predicted loss.
Most slots players make 600 spins per hour. Let’s assume you’re playing on a dollar machine and betting three coins on every spin, or $3 per spin. You’re putting $1,800 per hour into action.
If the slot machine had a 90% payback percentage, you’d lose $180 per hour on that machine. You’d have $1,800 at the start of the hour and $1,620 at the end of the hour — assuming you saw statistically predicted results.
In the real world, though, where you’d be seeing short-term results, you’d see some hours where you won and some hours where you lost. If you played long enough, the Law of Large Numbers would ensure that you’d eventually see the statistically predicted results.
But in the long run, the math will ensure that the casino will win a net profit.
How You Could Calculate a Payback Percentage Based on Actual Results
Of course, you have some data that you can directly observe when you’re playing slot machines.
But tracking this data and calculating the payback percentage on a specific session can add to your enjoyment of any slot machine game. It can make you more mindful because you’ll be paying more attention to what’s happening.
Here’s how to do it.
Start by tracking how many spins you’re making per hour. This is easy to do, but it takes more effort than you might think. It might help to get one of those clicky things people use to count stuff with. You will probably also need a stopwatch of some kind. I just use the timer function on my phone.
Make a note (mental is fine) of how much you’re betting per spin. It helps to bet the same amount.
Also note how much money you started with so that you can calculate how much you’ve won or lost. The slot machine will convert your money into credits. The easiest thing to do is to keep up with how many credits you had at the beginning of the session and again at the end of the session.
Now, let’s do the math using a hypothetical 45-minute session.
I made 300 spins in 45 minutes. I was betting $3 per spin, and I started with $600.
After my playing session, I had $500 left. At times I was up, and at times I was down.
But my net loss was $100. (My starting bankroll was $600, and I finished with $500.)
Over 300 spins, that means I lost an average per spin of 33 cents. $100 in losses divided by 300 spins is 33.33 cents per spin.
How much was I betting per spin?
Since I was playing a $1 machine, and my max bet was three coins, I was risking $3 per spin.
33 cents is 11% of $3, which means my actual loss was 11%. The machine paid back 89% for the session.
Does this mean that the payback percentage for the machine is 89%?
Probably not.
In the scheme of things, 450 spins is a small sample size. To have any confidence in your statistics, you really need to have at least 5,000 spins under your belt.
Even then, depending on how volatile the game is, your actual results might be wildly different from the mathematically expected payback percentage.
Here’s another example that will prove that point.
My friend Leo went to the Winstar last weekend and played the $5 slots. He started with $3,000, and when he left, he had $4,800, which means he had an $1,800 profit for the day.
He played for seven hours.
I’ve watched Leo play. He’s slow, but not much slower than average. He makes about 500 spins per hour.
This means that he made about 3,500 spins.
$1,800 in winnings divided by 3,500 spins is an average win of 51 cents per spin.
Since he was betting $5 per spin, his return was 10.3%.
His actual return for the trip on that slot machine was 110.3%.
I have friends who design slot machines for a living — more than one, in fact. They’ll be happy to tell anyone who asks that the algorithm is never set up to have a payback percentage of more than 100%.
What About the Casinos That Advertise a Specific Payback Percentage?
Some casinos advertise a specific payback percentage. This is almost always stated as an “up to” number.
So you might see an ad for a casino that says, “Payback percentages up to 98%!”
They’re almost certainly telling the truth, too. They probably have one slot machine in their casino that has a payback percentage of 98%. Of course, it isn’t labeled, so you don’t know which one it is.
And in the short run, which is what you’re going to be playing in as an individual gambler, there’s not much difference between a 98% payback percentage and a 92% payback percentage. You could walk away a winner or a loser at either setting.
Also, keep in mind that the games aren’t designed to tighten up after a win and loosen up after a lot of losing spins. That’s not how it works at all.
The machines are designed to allow you to win a certain specific percentage of the time because of the probability. Then there’s an average amount that you’ll win based on the payout for the specific combination of symbols that you hit.
But every spin of the reels on a slot machine is an independent event. You can hit a jackpot on a spin, and your probability of hitting the jackpot on the next spin hasn’t changed at all.
What About the Denominations and Location Reports I See Advertised on the Internet?
You’ll find websites like Strictly Slots and American Casino Guide which post payback percentages for specific denominations and specific casinos. These are AVERAGES.
These averages have little bearing on the machine that you’re sitting in front of.
For example,
you might be looking at a casino that reports an average payback percentage of 94% on its dollar slot machines. That casino might have half their machines paying off at 90% and the other half paying off at 98%.
And you won’t be able to differentiate between the two because the hit ratio might be the same from one of those machines to another.
What Do Hit Ratio and Volatility Have to Do With It?
The hit ratio is the percentage of time that you can expect to hit a winning combination on a slot machine. Something like 30% isn’t unusual, but it can vary 10% or more in either direction. The casinos want you to a hit a winning combination often enough that you won’t lose interest in playing the game.
But hit ratio is only part of the equation. The average size of the prize amounts is also important. Volatility takes this into account. A game that hits less often but has higher average prize amounts might have the same payback percentage as a game that hits more often but with lower payouts.
Either way, in the short run, it will be all but impossible to discover this number, too.
If you wanted to, you could track how many spins resulted in wins for you and calculate the percentage, but you’re facing the same obstacle you are with the overall payback percentage of the machine.
You just don’t know what it’s programmed to accomplish in the long run.
Online Slot Machines
Some online casinos post the payback percentages for their slot machine games. I think this information is of limited use, but I also think it’s fairer to the gambler than not providing them with that information.
After all, table games are transparent. You can calculate the house edge for any casino table game there is because they all use random number generators with known quantities — cards, dice, and wheels.
There’s been a push to label food, both at the grocery store and at restaurants, with nutritional information that includes caloric amounts.
Requiring casinos to provide similar information about their gambling machines only makes sense.
We’ll see if it ever happens, though.
Conclusion
You can’t find the payout percentage on a slot machine — at least not in the United States.
I’ve heard that you can get this information on slot machines in Europe, but I’ve never seen an actual photograph of this kind of labeling.
You can, though, have some fun calculating actual payback percentages in the short run. This at least gives you something to keep track of while you’re playing slots, which is honestly one of the more mindless activities in the casino.
- This collection of games that pay real money gives you a complete overview of the best titles (and variants) available online.
- Free games that pay real cash prizes are fun - but you should never forget that gambling isn't a way to get rich quick. Also, always check the terms and conditions of a casino before you start to play and not only when you want to cash out your winnings.
- Pick a scratch-off to play quick games for real money or go to the blackjack table to challenge the dealers. The choice is yours!
Playing games online is not what it used to be — that's for sure.
I still remember the days I'd load a cassette (!) in the cassette player of my Philips MSX (yes, I am THAT old) and wait for minutes for a game to load. Eventually.
That frantic wait has now been replaced by the Fortnite, the Call of Duty and the Super Mario Kart that load in a snap and throw you in the middle of epic and fantastic adventure within seconds.
In 2020, games are everywhere.
We play on our mobile phones, on our desktops, on our gaming consoles, on our smart TVs…and sometimes even on our watches.
The gaming industry keeps growing one boom after the other, and the quality of the games we play is nothing like the games used to be.
And this isn't true only for the Pong or Tetris that rocked our childhood evenings on an Atari or a Nintendo Game Boy. The same also applies to online games for money.
The games where you can win real money in 2020 are nothing like those where you'd try to score some cash a decade ago.
The graphics are better and the gameplays are more sophisticated.
This list of games that pay money gives you direct access to some of the best titles to play online in 2020. All the sites we suggest offer a bonus on registration to all the players who want to play games for real money online.
Whether you're into games like online blackjack or you prefer to try your luck on slots, this list has something for you.
Best Online Games that Pay Real Money in 2020
Choosing the best casino games to play for real money is not easy.
With so many new Slots and new online casinos popping up all the time, it takes time and sweat to find the best games that pay real money online.
Unless you have a trustworthy source *cough* like CasinoSmash *cough* to help you.
| Rank | Game | Type | RTP | More info | Play Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackpot Slots | Slot Machine | N/A | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 2 | Blood Suckers | Slot Machine | 97.6% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 3 | Turn Your Fortune | Slot Machine | 96.24% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 4 | Live Blackjack | Card Game | 99.46% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 5 | European Roulette | Table Game | 97.3% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 6 | Casino Hold'em | Card Game | 99.18% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 7 | Mad Max: Fury Road | Scratch Off | 95.48% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 8 | Luxor Scratch | Scratch Off | 92.3% | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 9 | Monopoly Live | Game Show | up to 96.23 | More info | PLAY GAME |
| 10 | CS:GO | e-Sports | N/A | More info | PLAY GAME |
Casino Slots That Pay Real Money
Jackpot Slots
This is a slippery slope, I know. Of all the online casino games that pay real money, jackpot games aren't the one with the best odds — by a mile.
Playing jackpot slots is expensive and risky. The RTP of these games is below average, and since you always need to bet the maximum to hit the jackpot…these can become the most expensive online games that pay real cash. Easily.
Sites like 888casino and partycasino run daily jackpots where you can get decent winning odds. All the info are right on their sites, so don’t forget to look at volatility and RTP of each game before you play.
I am not a fan of progressive games because I cannot afford them. But if you are looking for online games that pay real money and you are OK with playing two spins instead of 100 — these might be up your alley.
Remember to play responsibly.
Blood Suckers
Table and card games tend to be everyone's first choice when looking for games that pay real cash to play online.
Why? Because they offer better RTP and so more chances to win. Or fewer to lose, you decide what's most appropriate here.
However, some online slots can also rival the best card games for real money available for online play.
The Blood Suckers video slot is one of those. Featuring an RTP of 98%, this game gives you a higher return than many of the table games offered by most online casinos.
Blood Suckers (a five-reel game by NetEnt) includes special features like free spins which are granted to you once you land three Vampire Brides as well as bonus round, where you get to slay vampires in a spooky tomb and are granted cash in the process.
Turn Your Fortune
Spin the reels and turn your fortune with this great NetEnt slot machine game!
The Turn Your Fortune slot launched in 2019. Since then, this real money game online has proven to be a massive hit for the Malta-based gaming company.
Turn Your Fortune features five reels, four rows, and 40 fixed paylines. And it wouldn't be a NetEnt slot if it didn't have top-quality graphics, beautiful animations, and bonus features that pay well — of course.
Take the Fortune Respins feature, for example.
Not only you get a free respin after a win, but the winning symbols also increase the multiplier meter on the left of the screen.
Each time it fills up, you move to another Fortune Wins level — getting the opportunity to trigger multipliers for up to x200.
* The Return to the Player (RTP) is the percentage of how much wagered money on the game theoretically goes back to the players.
If a slot has an RTP of 96 per cent and players spent €1,000 playing it, €960 will go back to the players in winnings while the House will keep the remaining €40.
Casino Table Games That Pay Real Money
Live Blackjack
Of all the games that pay real money, live casino blackjack is probably the most exciting and the one where your skills can help you with your winning chances.
Join players from anywhere in the world in an endless battle against a live blackjack dealer. Super HD cameras and incredible locations make live blackjack the king of all online games that pay real cash.
If you want to discover why everyone says live dealer games are great (and you should), this is the best site to play live blackjack games that payout real cash prizes.
European Roulette
It doesn't matter if you in it because you are a high-roller or you just want to play for fun. There's nothing like a game of roulette for real money.
You can learn how to play online roulette in minutes and you only need to use this roulette strategy to master the game like an expert.
The difference between American and European Roulette is all about your winning chances.
In short, you have more chances to play casino games and win money if you play European roulette.
Casino Hold'Em
Casino hold'em is easy to learn, fast to play, and it gives you better odds than most other casino games online.
No need to work on your bluffing skills, though. In this casino poker game, you always play against the dealer, not with other players.
In a game of casino hold 'em there three types of bets: the mandatory Ante bet, the Call bet and side a bet called AA.
- You make Ante bet if you want to play,
- Call bet if you think your hand is good enough to win,
- AA bet if you feel like a pair of Aces (or better) combo will appear among your cards and the flop (first three community cards).
Tip: Never waste your money on AA bets. These real money wagers decrease the return to the player percentage to 93.74 per cent.
Casino Scratch Cards That Pay Real Money
Mad Max Scratch Cards
There's something almost wrong in calling Mad Max: Fury Road a 'scratch card' — because this game offers a lot more.
Licensed by Warner Bros this online game that pays real money features a random progressive jackpot and a scatter symbol that triggers 10 free games with real money prizes.
Average Casino Payout Money
The player's percentage of theoretical expected return is 95.48%, which is one of the highest in its category of online casino games.
If you are up for the top prizes, keep in mind that the progressive jackpot needs to be north of $750 to trigger.
Luxor Scratch
With tickets starting at 0.10, Luxor Scratch is one of the cheapest free online games that pay cash that you can play online.
For it to be free, however, you need to use the welcome bonus at 888casino first.
Egypt-themed music and graphics make this a delightful game — too bad for the piss-poor 92.30% RTP!
Other Casino Games That Pay Real Money
Monopoly Live!
Did you know NetEnt found a way to turn everyone's favourite board game into one of the best games that pay real money in 2020?
Bringing together the best of game-shows like the DreamCatcher and all the elements that made Monopoly famous, Monopoly Live is an exciting adventure to discover.
This is for sure one of the most immersive casino games that pay out real money available online in 2020 and is also one of the most fun games to play. The gameplay brings together elements of the classic wheel of fortune games and Monopoly — and that's fun already.
But wait until you see what the talented presenters chosen by NetEnt can do to entertain you! If you want to give Monopoly Live a go, this is where you need to register to access the game.
CS:GO (or e-Sports Betting in General)
Ladies and gentlemen…e-Sports are finally included in the list of the best games that give you real money in prizes!
Average Casino Payout Jackpot
Pioneered by Betway the world of real money e-sports and e-sports betting is a thriving new dimension of real money gaming online — one that most of you have yet to discover, I am sure.
Watch people play (you need to register toped the live stream) and place your bets on popular games like CS:GO, DOTA 2, League of Legends, and more!
Average Casino Payouts
Disclaimer: Gambling is a game of chance and there's no sure-fire formula that guarantee winnings. You can improve your winning chances by using the right in-game strategies but there is no way to predict when a machine or a Casino game is going to pay. Also, this page contains affiliate links. If you click through and play, we might earn a commission. That’s what allow us to keep CasinoSmash free and bring you the best online Casino bonuses!