The volatility in slots explained in detail

Just as there is a wide variety of different types of slot machines at non GamStop casinos, they also differ in terms of their payout percentage and chance of winning. Accordingly, in addition to the fun of the game, the graphics and the features for players, monetary criteria such as RTP and volatility are of course also important.

But what exactly is high volatility, how does it differ from the payout ratio and which volatility is ideal for me? We answer these and other questions for you in our guide. This makes it easier for you to find the ideal slot for you and avoid unpleasant surprises regarding your chances of winning on slot machines.

Of course, if you want to play and win games for real money, it only makes sense to think carefully about the chance of winning and the risk of the slot machine you are betting your money on. Experienced players are particularly interested in the performance of a slot within a gaming session; So the question is how high the risk of profit or loss actually is. A good betting strategy and budget planning can only be implemented by weighing up the risks.

Slot volatility (sometimes referred to as variance) provides information about how likely it is to hit a winning combination, how high winnings can be and how high the risk of playing is. Volatility is an indicator of the risk on slot machines and provides information about how often and how much money you can win. In contrast to the payout rate, the volatility is always only roughly stated. In order to be able to weigh and recognize them more precisely in a game, you should play it a few times and also include other features of the game in the risk assessment. For example, games with extensive bonus features often tend to have higher volatility.

You can easily understand this with an example:

A machine with a high win from a bonus round, which is paid out once every 1,000 spins on average, must have a significantly higher volatility with the same payout ratio than a machine that works without a bonus and instead regularly pays out winnings across many different paylines.

Volatility is therefore very important for slot fans. It gives you a better understanding of the frequency and size of wins you can make. This makes it easier for you to find the slot machines that suit you best based on volatility criteria combined with your personal budget and playing style. Knowledge about the volatility of a slot will help you better understand the winning mechanics of machines. It is considered the most important key figure when it comes to developing betting strategies on slot machines.

When a non GamStop casino advertises a high chance of winning, this does not always mean volatility, but often also the payout rate, which is also referred to as RTP (Return-to-Player). However, the two indicators are completely different things. It should also be mentioned at this point that neither volatility nor RTP affect the game mechanics themselves or the gaming experience. RTP and volatility differ as follows:

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• The volatility in slots explained in detail

The chance of winning, i.e. the RTP, is the percentage value that is statistically paid out to the players in the form of winnings from the players' total stake. The value is determined mathematically over thousands or even hundreds of thousands of spins and implemented by the slot machine's random generator.

Volatility, on the other hand, refers to both the risk of losing your money and the amount of profit that can potentially be made. The range extends from frequent smaller winnings to very large winnings, which occur very rarely. However, it is important to understand that the payout rate is a fixed percentage that is set by the game developer.

The RTP can therefore be understood as a kind of guarantee from the game developer that a certain percentage of all bets is guaranteed to be paid out to the players. This applies regardless of whether the machine often pays out small winnings or rarely pays out large winnings. Typically, the RTP of slots is between around 93 and 98%, although there are also outliers upwards or downwards.

When we play slots online, we would ideally like to be able to estimate in advance how likely it is that we will lose our stake and what the chance of winning something is. For this reason, game developers today also release volatility in various forms. Some manufacturers specify it as low, medium or high altitude or classify it in four to five levels. Basically, a distinction is made between three rough levels, which of course also overlap.

In general, it can be said that slots with high volatility are particularly suitable for risk-taking players. Winnings are relatively rare, but if you win a payline or a bonus round, they can be huge. Most high volatility slots have more bonus features than low volatility slots.

We recommend playing slots with high volatility only with good budget planning and the right basic attitude, where fun is the priority. High volatility slots are more likely to provoke an emotional reaction as they can leave you empty-handed more often due to less frequent wins.

In contrast to slot machines with high volatility, slots with low volatility have significantly more frequent payouts, but they are smaller. When you spin on a low volatility slot at non GamStop casinos, you are much more likely to hit a winning line. Such slots often work with a rather small number of symbols or they play on a small grid such as 4×3. Slots with significantly more paylines also tend to have lower volatility compared to slots with fewer paylines with the same number of symbols.

We recommend slots with low volatility or variance best for players who are primarily interested in being able to play for as long as possible with a given stake and enjoy the game to the fullest. Due to the lower risk of loss, such slot machines are usually more suitable, especially for newbies.

Medium volatility slots tend to be somewhere in the middle in terms of frequency and size of wins. They offer smaller but more frequent payouts than high volatility slots. At the same time, they also offer the chance of higher winnings than you would find on slots with low volatility. Even without budget planning, you can play slots with medium volatility for significantly longer than slots with high volatility. Accordingly, such slots are very popular and most game developers place their games somewhere between the upper and lower medium volatility range.

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