Virtual slot machines are not as easy to categorize as table games with easily knowable house edges and low volatility. Slots can be all over the charts in terms of return-to-player percentages (RTP) and volatility. Add to that the fact that the RTP on a single title can be different from one jurisdiction to the next and it’s easy to see why they are such a wild beast to tame in terms of being “best”.

Dead or Alive is a case in point. This 5 reel, 3 position western-themed game was released by NetEnt way back in 2009 and it has a strong following to this day. That is most likely not due to the RTP which is only 96.82% (3.18% house edge), but more likely due to the game’s high volatility and top prize.

It’s possible to win 12,000x your bet on Dead or Alive and it happens more often than you might think thanks to the game’s massive fan base. However, many players leave the virtual casino with empty pockets after a grueling session of trying to crack the variance/volatility nut.

Below we list progressive jackpots with a known break-even value, allowing you to identify and play progressive jackpot games with a RTP of close to 100% of even more.

While players should probably look at their entire gambling “careers” as a single session and realize that any game played with a high house edge lowers their overall returns (mathematically) most slot players simply don’t see things that way. They seek thrills, and games like DoA provide just what they are looking for.

With that being said, it is possible in some online lobbies to use filtering tools to determine the most volatile slots and in others to sort for the games with the highest possible RTP. It would be a thrill for many players to find a lobby with both filters available along with a bonus system that didn’t restrict play on the games that have both attributes. Good luck with finding that site!