Games
Return to player, read properly, and what the figure is an average of
Every slot and table game has a "return to player", the share of stakes it pays back over a very long run, and the house keeps the rest. The figure is real and useful to you, as long as it is read for what it is, which is an average over millions of bets that tells a player almost nothing about the next hundred.
The definition, and its other half
A return to player of 96 per cent means that, over a very long run of bets (millions of spins, not an evening), a game pays back 96 of every 100 units staked as winnings, while the remaining 4 (the "house edge") is what the operator keeps. The two numbers are the same fact seen from either side of the table, so a player who knows one always knows the other, and a page that quotes only the flattering half is telling half of the truth.
As we read it, the figure is a property of the game's design rather than a promise about any session. It is calculated from the "paytable" and the probabilities, or measured by "simulation" over millions of spins (usually both), and the "testing laboratories" that examine games for regulators check that the game actually delivers what its maker declares (which is why the figure on the "rules screen" is worth reading).
The figures we read, game by game
The seven games we played printed their figures in very different ways. Gates of Olympus gave 96.50 per cent and Wolf Gold 96 per cent, while Buffalo King Megaways printed three figures for three ways of playing (96.52, 96.49 and 96.50 per cent) and Book of Dead printed none at all in the demo we opened.
Wanted Dead or a Wild was the most instructive, since its maker publishes four settings for the same game, 96.38, 94.55, 92.33 and 88.42 per cent, and leaves the operator to choose without telling the player which one is running. Roulette on a single-zero wheel returns 97.30 per cent on every standard bet, which is arithmetic rather than a setting; blackjack depends on the rules on the felt and on the player's decisions, so no single number describes it.
| Game | Return printed | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gates of Olympus | 96.50% | same with the ante and the buy |
| Wolf Gold | 96% | no volatility label |
| Buffalo King Megaways | 96.52% / 96.49% / 96.50% | ordinary, ante, buy |
| Book of Dead | not printed | several versions likely |
| Wanted Dead or a Wild | 96.38% / 94.55% / 92.33% / 88.42% | four settings offered to operators |
| European Roulette Pro | 97.30% (arithmetic) | single zero, every standard bet |
| BlackJack MH | not a single figure | depends on rules and decisions |
Why one game can carry four figures
Providers commonly supply operators with several "versions" of the same title (we have seen four for one game), identical on the screen and different in what they keep. The operator chooses which one its players meet, and the player learns which one it is only by opening the rules screen in that lobby, where the figure is printed (when it is printed at all).
The difference is not small. Take a hypothetical player who stakes 1,000 over an evening: at 96.38 per cent the "average cost" is 36.20, while at 88.42 per cent it is 115.80, more than three times as much for the same reels and the same name, which is why we would always check the figure before the first spin!
The edge applies to turnover, not to deposits
The most common misunderstanding about the return is the amount it applies to. The edge is taken from every bet, so it applies to the "turnover" (the total of all stakes) rather than to the "deposit", and winnings that are staked again are taxed by the edge again, round after round.
A player who deposits 100 and plays slots at 2.00 a spin, betting winnings as they come, can easily stake 1,000 or more (five hundred spins, an hour or so) before the balance runs out for good. At a 4 per cent edge that is an expected cost of 40 or more on a deposit of 100; the deposit is the most a player can lose, while the turnover decides how quickly the average catches up.
What the figure cannot tell you
The return says nothing about how a session will feel, because that depends on "volatility" (how the return is spread between frequent small wins and rare large ones). Two games at 96 per cent can produce completely different evenings, and the page on how a slot decides explains why in more detail than this page can.
It also says nothing about the "short run". A session of a few hundred spins can end far above or far below the average, which is precisely what makes a game entertaining and what makes a lucky evening such a poor guide to the next one; the average only asserts itself over volumes of play that no single player reaches in a lifetime of evenings at the tables.
How to use it
Read the rules screen in the lobby where you play, note the return and compare it with the figures other sites publish for the same game, remembering that a different number may simply be a different "version" rather than a mistake. We would prefer, all else being equal, the higher figure, and treat the difference as the price of the entertainment rather than as a path to profit.
Then set a loss limit in the account (every registered site in Alberta must offer one), so that the average cost of an evening is decided in advance. The seven games behind these figures are on the games page, and the arithmetic of betting patterns is on betting systems.
By the Alberta Casinos Online editorial team · Last updated: November 13, 2026 · Online since 2026
