What Is Slot Volatility?
Every pokie is designed to pay back a certain share of money wagered over time, known as its return to player (RTP). Volatility describes how that money is paid back.
- In a low-volatility game, the return is spread across many small and medium wins.
- In a high-volatility game, a large part of the return is concentrated in rare, large wins, often during bonus features.
- Medium-volatility games sit somewhere in between.
The term comes from statistics, where volatility or variance measures how far individual results tend to spread out from the average. A high-variance game produces results that swing much further from its RTP in the short term.
Volatility vs RTP: A Simple Example
Imagine two very simple pokies, both with an RTP of 96% and a $1 bet.
Game A (low volatility): 48% of spins pay $2, and the rest pay nothing.
Game B (high volatility): 1% of spins pay $96, and the rest pay nothing.
Over a very large number of spins, both games return 96 cents for every dollar wagered:
- Game A: 0.48 × $2 = $0.96 per spin on average
- Game B: 0.01 × $96 = $0.96 per spin on average
But the experience is completely different. In Game A, you win on almost half of all spins, and your balance moves up and down gently. In Game B, you might go 100, 200 or even 300 spins without a win, and then receive a single large payout.
On average, Game B produces one win every 100 spins. Even so, around 37% of 100-spin sessions on Game B would produce no win at all, and around 13% of 200-spin sessions would still be waiting for the first one.
Real pokies are far more complex, with many symbols, features and prize sizes, but the principle is the same. Volatility decides how often you are likely to win and how big those wins tend to be.
Low, Medium and High Volatility Compared
Low Volatility
- Frequent wins, many of them small, sometimes less than the stake
- Balance tends to move up and down slowly
- Lower maximum wins
- Often simpler features
- Suits players who want longer sessions on a fixed budget, but still carries a house edge
Medium Volatility
- A mix of regular smaller wins and occasional larger ones
- Bonus features trigger reasonably often but are not usually huge
- A balance between session length and win potential
High Volatility
- Long runs of small or no wins are common
- Most of the game's return is concentrated in bonus rounds and big hits
- High maximum wins, often thousands of times the stake
- A budget can be used up quickly without a significant win
- Large wins are possible but rare, and many sessions will end without one
How to Recognise a Game's Volatility
Check the Developer's Rating
Many online slot developers publish a volatility rating in the game's information screen or on their website. Some use words such as low, medium and high, while others use a numbered scale or icons. Ratings are set by each developer, so a "high" game from one studio is not always directly comparable with a "high" game from another.
Look at the Maximum Win
A very large maximum win, such as several thousand times the stake or more, usually signals high volatility. To fund such large prizes within the same RTP, the game has to make them rare.
Study the Paytable
Our guide on how to read a slot paytable explains what to look for. If the top symbols pay far more than the lower ones, or if most of the potential value sits in the bonus round, the game is likely to be more volatile. A flatter paytable usually indicates lower volatility.
Look at the Features
Certain features are commonly linked with higher volatility, including large multipliers, Megaways reels, bonus buy features and expanding symbols in free spins. These are not rules, but they are useful clues.
Check the Hit Frequency
Some developers publish a hit frequency, which is how often a spin produces any win. A lower hit frequency often goes with higher volatility, although many small wins in low-volatility games are worth less than the stake.
Try the Demo
Playing a free demo version can give you a feel for how often a game pays. Keep in mind that a short demo session is too small a sample to measure volatility accurately.
Our slot game reviews list the volatility rating published by each developer.
What Volatility Means for Your Budget
Volatility does not change how much a game is designed to keep over time. That is set by the RTP. What volatility changes is the range of outcomes you might experience in a single session.
- With low volatility, results usually stay closer to the expected cost of play, but steady small losses still add up.
- With high volatility, results can range from losing your whole budget quickly to an occasional big win. The chance of a session ending well below where you started is higher.
If you choose to play high-volatility games, it is especially important to set a budget you are comfortable losing in full and to decide in advance when you will stop. Our guide on setting gambling limits explains how.
Common Misconceptions About Volatility
"High volatility games are better because they pay more."
No. High-volatility games pay larger amounts less often. Over time, the share of money they keep is set by the RTP, not the volatility.
"Low volatility means I cannot lose much."
No. Low volatility reduces the size of the swings, but the house edge still applies to every spin. Long sessions on a low-volatility game can still cost a lot.
"After a long dry spell, a high-volatility game is due a big win."
No. Every spin is decided by a random number generator and is independent of the last. A long run without a win does not make the next spin more likely to win. See Pokies Myths Explained.
"Volatility and RTP are the same thing."
No. RTP describes how much a game is designed to pay back over time. Volatility describes how those payments are spread out. Our guide on RTP vs actual slot results shows how the two work together.