Volatility In Slots – What Does It Mean?

There are so many different words to understand when you play slots online. If you see reviews or a slot’s paytable referring to volatility and have found yourself asking ‘what does volatility mean in slots?’, we’ve got you covered!

This blog post will outline everything you need to know about volatility in slots, the difference between online slots volatility and RTP, where to find information on a slot’s volatility, and the difference between high and low volatility slots.

It’s important to note that discussions surrounding volatility pertain to how the slot acts in theory; the results may be different in practice due to the random nature of online casino slots.

What Is Volatility In Slots?

A key factor for many when choosing an online slot to play is volatility. The slot’s volatility will give an idea as to the slot playing experience you can expect, so it’s worth at least knowing what it means and a few of the basics to help you choose which new online slot you like to play.

So, what exactly is volatility? Volatility refers to how often you can expect to land a win and receive a payout during a single session playing on a slot machine, as well as the size of the payout.

Slots are categorised as either high volatility or low volatility. High volatility in slots relates to higher risk. This is due to payouts being larger yet appearing less frequently. On the opposite end, low volatility in slots relates to lower risk. This is because low volatility slots have smaller payouts but pay out more often. Again, this is what should happen in theory.

What’s The Difference Between Volatility & RTP?

Some people get confused between a slot’s volatility and RTP. All online slots have an RTP (Return To Player) percentage. You can find this in the game’s paytable. The RTP is the theoretical percentage at which a slot pays out over a certain amount of time.

As the RTP is theoretical and calculated over numerous slot gaming sessions, it may take a while for gamblers to get close to the RTP. Over 96% is considered a high RTP, whereas a low RTP would be below 96%.

Volatility is the hit rate combined with the maximum win you can get on the slot. Slots with high volatility may offer larger cash prizes, like jackpot king slots, but wins are likely few and far between. Slots with low volatility may offer smaller payouts, but you may notice you win more often.

Typically, online slots with low volatility have a high RTP, and slots with a low RTP have high volatility. The RTP is seen as a percentage. However, the volatility will be stated as either low, medium or high. Both RTP and volatility are some of the most important factors to consider when playing slots online.

Is It Better To Play High Or Low Volatility Slots?

High volatility slots are more likely to offer larger payouts, but these payouts occur less frequently.

Low volatility slots are more likely to offer smaller payouts, and these are paid out more often.

Whether high or low volatility slots are better is down to personal preference. It all depends on what kind of slot gaming experience you would like to have.

If you want to spread out your funds and play for longer and you’re happy with possible smaller payouts, then low volatility slots could be perfect for you. The downside of low volatility slots is that the high cash prizes are much harder to reach.

If you can afford more risk and want to be in with a chance of a bigger payout, then high volatility slots could be an excellent option for you. However, with high volatility slots, it may take a while to trigger bonus features or trigger free spins, so this is definitely something to keep in mind. If you’re somewhere in between the two, then go for slot machines or Megaways slots with medium volatility.

How Do You Find Out A Slots Volatility?

Finding the volatility of a slot is generally relatively easy. You can usually find references to the volatility in the information section of the slot. The volatility will be referred to as low, medium or high. Finding out whether the volatility is low, medium or high can help you decide whether the slot is worth playing or not.

The volatility can usually be found on the slot developer’s website and in reviews; here at King Casino, we provide the game’s stats, including the volatility, in our slot reviews.

Low, Medium, and High Volatility Slots to Play

• Hot Hot Chilli Pot is a low volatility slot and has an RTP of 94.80%. This exciting Mexican-themed slot is played on 7 reels and features a Cluster Pays system. There are plenty of entertaining features, including a green chilli wild with increasing multipliers, a yellow chilli wild with added wilds, and a red chilli wild with symbol removals. Hot Hot Chilli Pot has a top prize of up to 1,000x your stake available.
• Eye of Horus has medium volatility and an RTP of 96.31%. This Blueprint Gaming slot has a mysterious ancient Egypt theme. There’s a bonus spins feature that awards up to 12 extra spins and the ability to earn more through landing Horus Wild symbols. Not to mention an expanding wild feature.
• Jack in a Pot is a high volatility slot. Jack in a Pot is a 7-reel Cluster Pays slot by Red Tiger Gaming. It has the much-loved, magical luck of the Irish theme! Jack in a Pot has quite a few exciting bonus features, including a magic pipe feature with mega tiles, a beer reels feature with full reel cascades, and free spins feature where you can win up to 10 free spins. There’s also the potential to win up to 1,743x your bet too.

Slot Volatility FAQs

If you still have some additional questions surrounding the volatility of online slots then let us answer them below.

What’s The Best Volatility For Slots?

It depends on what you want out of your slot gaming experience. If you prefer playing with a smaller bankroll, want to stretch it and don’t mind smaller payouts, then low volatility slots could be the best ones for you. If you don’t mind taking a higher risk for a chance to win a bigger payout, although they are less frequent, you may be more interested in playing real money slots with high volatility.

How Do You Know If A Slot Machine Is Volatile?

All online slots have volatility. The volatility is labelled as high, medium or low. You can find out the volatility by looking at the information section of the slot game, the developer’s site or reviews of the slot.

What Is A Medium Volatility Slot Game?

A medium volatility slot game is a balance between both high volatility and low volatility; in theory, it will pay out moderate amounts fairly regularly. If you want the best of both or you’re not sure what sort of slot to play, you may want to play a medium volatility slot game.

How Can You Choose A Low Volatility Slot?

Find out if a slot has low volatility by looking in the information section of the slot. There are plenty of entertaining low volatility slots to play at King Casino, so why not take a look? A few of our most popular low volatility mobile slots include Starburst, Burning Scatters, and Prosperity Palace.

 *All values (Bet Levels, Maximum Wins etc.) mentioned in relation to this slot game are subject to change at any time.