Real Time Gaming Best Payout Slots

Introduction

Realtime Gaming, also referred to as RTG is an online casino game supplier originally launched in the US in 1998. The developer creates slot games with high return to player percentages (RTP). However, it’s not always easy to find the exact house edge of these games as they aren’t posted definitively in most markets. House edge is the inverse of RTP, if a slot has an RTP of 95%, it stands to reason that the house edge is 5%.

The great thing about most RTG slots is that they seem to have pioneered a math model that allows for both high RTP and high volatility. The higher the volatility, sometimes referred to as ‘variance’, the more likely you are to hit big wins - at the expense of win frequency. Fewer wins, but bigger ones. They accomplish this seemingly impossible feat simply by capping the amount you can win on any given spin (on most but not all titles) at 50,000x line bet. So the most you could win on a single paid spin at $0.20 (penny per line), not accounting for progressive jackpots, is 50,000 cents or $500. With that caveat, they can offer high-paying games with great RTP and only rarely clip players’ wings with a max payout for a spin. It’s a trade-off many thrill seekers are glad to make.

Those who tend to overthink such things could be forgiven for wondering if the operator is somehow able to magically reduce the actual RTP with that model, and the answer is no. The stated RTP of an RTG slot, such as 95%, already accounts for the win cap of 50,000x the line bet. Over millions of spins, the law of large numbers (LLN) makes sure the actual payout percentage aligns with the theoretical RTP, even with the limitation on big wins (50,000x line bet).

At least one other modern software provider uses a similar model - that is Relax Gaming. Of course, Relax operates in highly regulated markets from the UK, Malta, Greece, Ontario, and Sweden to Romania and beyond - so the model is certainly legitimate. RTG justseems to have pioneered it.

We should also mention that both suppliers provide a mix of mostly high volatility games along with a few medium and very few low. That knowledge can be valuable not only in helping to determine the potentially most profitable slots to play, but also in choosing games that fit your player profile so to speak when it comes to your appetite for risk, how long you want any given bankroll to last, and perhaps as importantly in how to increase your chances, however slightly, to win a Real Series Random Jackpot.

Realtime Gaming Slots RTP

We mentioned that it’s not always easy to determine the RTP of these particular games. One big reason is that they usually aren’t found in markets where regulators require the information to be available to the player, which is almost everywhere outside the UK and a few Nordic countries. What you can usually but not always find is the range of possible RTPs from the lowest to the highest. Whereas a developer like Relax has to offer various models to operators in certain jurisdictions that might tax them on game turnover (5.3% on every dollar spun, for example), RTG does it to give operators more options when it comes to bonuses. Of course, some operators will leverage that choice to increase profits with no regard to bonuses, but we can only hope market forces correct that when players gravitate to the better online casinos and leave the greedy operators in the dust.

In the past, there were three RTP settings and the software came “off the shelf” with the medium setting. These were reported as 91.5%, 95%, and 97.5%. Still, later the range was expanded to include 97.5%, 96.25%, 95%, and 91% along with a few jiggles to the left or right of any of those numbers by a few decimal points and recently, at least one game with a pitifully low minimum of 80% (Mermaid’s Pearls), according to an Asian-facing, IoM-based derivative of the company which is licensed in the UK (Endon Tech Ltd).

Even under the ‘old settings’ there’s a lot of swing from 91.5% to 97.5% (six points) and from a purely RTP standpoint. Imagining zero volatility, the cumulative effect of turning your money over until the bankroll was depleted, you would get more than twice as many spins from the higher setting. Of course, volatility matters so the difference wouldn’t be as stark in reality, but it does illustrate how just a few points can make a big difference in the long run.

The good news is that nearly all operators, especially those with a downloadable client, provide at least some information about their games, even if RTP figures aren't stated. Since most RTG slots are highly volatile, you might consider focusing on high-volatility games to experience the extremes of potential payouts. However, that volatility also means you could have shorter sessions with few wins. On the other hand, choosing lower-variance games could offer steadier returns and longer playtime. Either way, the more times you spin, the closer you'll come to the theoretical RTP over time, it just happens quicker when you play games with lower variance.

While the software supplier has remained closed-lipped on the various settings, at least one operator that can be trusted has stated that they do not alter the default setting of 95%. Some others in the past have denied those settings existed even though we can see them on the corporate website and the inquisitive player can even go back in time using internet archives to find the entire historic range - which of course, has changed over time..

Now that nearly all slot developers offer various RTP settings, the forum controversies of the past when only RTG was known to do this seem somewhat trivial. Back in the day when nobody had quite imagined a max cashout provision on deposit bonuses, it made sense that an operator wouldn’t want to give away the store by offering 97.5% RTP games associated with a high dollar, low playthrough slots bonus with no ceiling.

Briefly, the active mind with just a bit of knowledge could also be forgiven for thinking that the RTP can be changed on the fly. However, from all available reliable sources, simulations, and other information, that is simply not the case. Operators cannot fiddle with switches, they have to request the supplier apply the change on the next update. Hot runs and cold runs on the same game at the same casino are simply down to volatility and the nature of randomness. A bad operator on any platform has plenty of other ways to bilk consumers without risking their software license, so please know your terms and conditions whether you use bonuses or not. The games themselves are far more likely to be fair than not fair. If you think you have played on bad software, there are plenty of industry veterans who could help you get to the bottom of it.

With that being said, it is next to impossible to point out high RTP Realtime Gaming slots, and common sense from a business perspective might tell us that the 95% setting is the best we can hope for simply because there is no way to determine which if any online casino is offering a higher setting if they won’t tell us and perhaps even show us. A new slot did come out in late 2024 and one operator had a flag on it proclaiming 96% RTP, but that too could have been part of a campaign. That slot was Cash Chalet. The next game release was labeled as being 95% RTP, another rare disclosure.

RTP of Realtime Gaming Jackpot Slots

The majority of RTG slots also hold local progressive jackpots called Real Series Random Jackpots. If you look at the help file of a game such as Cleopatra’s Gold, you’ll find a line that states, “Random Jackpot contribution is no more than 1.5% of total Return to Player”. Does this mean that every spin except the one that wins the jackpot is played at 96% if the game is set to 97.5%? That assumption can make a lot of sense without a clearer statement from the provider. However, standards in highly regulated markets indicate that 1.5% is already accounted for and the law of large numbers makes that more understandable. RTG’s lack of clarity and overall transparency doesn’t help, so your conclusions are your own.

The case for playing low volatility, high RTP jackpot slots

We already explained in theory how just a few points of RTP can increase your chances of winning and dramatically increase or decrease your playtime over the long run. Keeping in mind that every spin on an RTG Real Series Jackpot slot has a shot at triggering the random jackpot, the sensible thing is to choose to play the highest RTP possible. Since RTP information isn’t available on the Help pages, but the volatility can be found, we can approach the jackpot slots from a volatility angle.

Playing a low-volatility game will give you more spins which directly affects the chance of winning. 1,000 random “lottery tickets” have a better chance to pay out than 500 of them. Now, if you could mix the best of all worlds, and it’s a game you like anyway, it might make sense to play a game with a big jackpot at a casino you suspect has high RTP, and choose a game with low volatility. You could even take a bonus as long as there was no max cashout provision and get four parts of the wind all blowing at your back.

• High RTP (more spins)
• Low Volatility (more spins)
• Big Jackpot
• No max cashout

RTG Network Progressive Jackpots

Unfortunately, the system-wide progressive jackpots don’t seem to have any publicly available information on them, but it might be fair to assume the progressive jackpot contribution offers lower actual RTP to most players. Each individual operator or group will have the same jackpot values for network progressives, with one exception - Bovada runs its own versions having purchased the source code to select games in the past. Check individually for local Real Series jackpot levels. Today we find the medium volatility Dragon’s Orb at over $10,000 in one trusted casino.

Snapshot in time of current RTG Network Progressives:

Aztec's Millions $1,604,148

Megasaur $900,537

Jackpot Pinatas $277,270

Jackpot Cleopatra's Gold $217,312

Spirit of the Inca Grand $262,235

Spirit of the Inca Major $184,020

Spirit of the Inca Maxi $216,071

Spirit of the Inca Mini $78,821

The Spirit of the Inca jackpots are “Boiling Point” jackpots which means that each one has to be won by a certain level, for example, the Maxi must be won before it hits $250,000.There’s no reason not to jump to this game (bonus terms notwithstanding) when all conditions are “right” as long as you choose to gamble responsibly and not chase the jackpot.

Why Play High RTP Realtime Gaming Slots?

It can be difficult or impossible to know the return to player percentage of any given RTG game, but a range can be found and the lowest RTP is probably higher than the minimum allowed in most land-based jurisdictions. It’s a statistical certainty that the higher the RTP is, the higher the payouts will be over time.

However, there is more to the picture than RTP, which alone can give you more bang for your buck in the long run. Volatility can be learned through the game info provided, and although it is stated as a range, it’s somewhat knowable, and low volatility will give you more spins too. More spins offer more chances for a random jackpot.

As long as you are willing to take a $500 win on a $0.20 bet, and maybe if you think the games without progressive jackpots give you a 1.5% increase in RTP, you can play with fire on almost every RTG slot because the 50,000x line bet max win per spin lets them offer games that can be not only high RTP but high volatility at the same time. Thrill seekers, especially those who can ride out ‘streaks’ of wins and losses, might find these games to be favorites.