Slot Variance & Volatility - What is it?
There are two “V” words in slot games that get thrown around a lot - “variance” and “volatility”. They often get mixed up and used interchangeably, but whilst they are similar, they are different measurements of a slot game, so it’s important to understand what each one means so you can compare titles more accurately.
Variance is a measurement of the difference in sizes of wins offered by slot games. Titles with a high variance will have a bigger gap between the smallest payout and the biggest one on offer.
Volatility, on the other hand, measures the variance over time. Games with low volatility offer smaller payouts more frequently whilst slots with higher volatility will generally deliver bigger wins but with a longer gap between them.
You will often see variance used more often because it’s easier to calculate, compared to slot volatility which requires strict mathematical calculations. For most players, either metric is enough to get a rough understanding of how a slot will behave.
Slots are typically graded as having “high”, “medium”, or “low” volatility but the exact definitions of these can vary (more on that below). Therefore, it’s a good idea to look a little closer if volatility is important to you.
Are Low Variance Games Worth Playing?
Yes! Low variance does not mean a game is not worth playing, nor does it denote a slot with poor payouts or a weak gameplay experience.
Low variance literally means just that, that a game has a low variance between its maximum and minimum wins. Therefore, whether you choose to play such slots depends entirely on whether you prefer the consistency and lower stakes of low variance games or you enjoy the bigger winning potential offered by slots with a high degree of variance.
Many players prefer low variance and volatility as they enjoy getting frequent wins and are happy to trade this off against smaller payouts. Choosing this type of slot also tends to help bankroll management as you won’t usually need to wait as long between wins.
Can You Win Big on High Volatility Slots?
In short, yes, you can win big on high volatility slots, but you shouldn’t expect this to happen.
Slots with high volatility will generally be designed to offer bigger maximum wins but they will offset this by making wins less likely.
Due to the provably fair design of slot games, there is no way to calculate exactly how much you will win in any one spin. The only things we know are the RTP (more on that below) and the maximum win.
Therefore, in a game with an RTP of 95% and a maximum win of 100x, each spin of £1 can theoretically return up to £100 and will provide a statistical long-run average return of 95p. These are not guarantees, so you should not treat them as such.
Players with a greater appetite for risk are drawn to games with a higher volatility because they enjoy the prospect of a big win but the reduced likelihood of getting a payout.
What is the Relationship Between Variance and RTP?
There is no correlation between RTP and variance. A game can have a high RTP and either a high or low variance, and the same for low RTP slots.
RTP stands for “return to player” and is a measurement of the long-run average return a game offers to players.
If you’ve played table games before, you may be more familiar with the phrase “house edge”. It is a very similar calculation as they are the two sides to a casino transaction. Both are expressed as a percentage and when you add them together, they add up to 100%.
For example, a slot with an RTP of 95% will have a house edge of 5% meaning, over millions of spins, players can expect to see 95% of their bankroll returned with the online casino keeping the remaining 5%.
The Gambling Commission has strict rules on calculating the RTP to ensure games are fair and transparent for players. In its guidelines the RTP is the amount paid out by a game divided by the total amount wagered.
Who Decides a Slot’s Volatility?
Whilst the Gambling Commission has created very clear rules for calculating the RTP rate of slots, there isn’t quite the same rigorous vetting of volatility and variance.
Generally, the developers of each game decide the slot’s volatility as they write it into the game’s code. For this reason, these developers are usually the ones left to determine the volatility of their titles.
Since the developers have the strongest understanding of how the game has been developed, they are well positioned to categorise their slots. However, it’s important to remember that different developers likely have their own ideas for what constitutes a high, medium, or low-volatility so you may get a different experience when playing two games marked as having the same degree of volatility.
How to Identify a Game’s Volatility Level
Finding a slot’s volatility is easy. Here at BetMGM, we make it clear by displaying it, alongside other key information, on each individual game page. So all you need to do is simply search our extensive selection of slots for a game you want to play, click on it and cast your eyes to the key information boxes below the play button.
Even more information is always available inside the game itself, so you can review this to ensure it meets your preferences before placing any wagers.