How RTP works on pokies, in dollars rather than jargon

RTP is a lifetime average

Return to player is a ratio: everything a game pays out, divided by everything staked on it. It’s measured over the game’s whole life, across every player. A pokie certified at 96% is built so that, over millions of spins, 96 cents of each dollar comes back as wins.

The other four cents is the house edge. It’s simply 100% minus the RTP, and it’s how the venue, casino or studio gets paid for running the game.

What that looks like with $100

At 96%, $100 of total bets is expected to return $96 over the long run. At the 85% floor used in NSW and Queensland clubs, the same $100 is expected to return $85. The difference between those two settings is $11 on every $100 you turn over.

Turnover is the trap. If you put $100 through a machine at $2 a spin, that’s 50 spins. Recycle your wins and keep playing, and you can easily turn over $500 from the same $100. At 90%, $500 of turnover is expected to cost $50.

Why your session can land anywhere

RTP describes the centre of a very wide spread. Most of a pokie’s return is concentrated in features and bigger hits that don’t arrive every session. In a short run you’ll usually be below the average, and occasionally far above it.

That spread is volatility, and it matters more to your night than the RTP does. Two games at 96% can feel completely different. The volatility guide explains how to tell them apart.

Hit frequency isn’t RTP

A game that pays something on one spin in three can still have a lower RTP than one that pays on one spin in six. Many small returns, often less than your bet, make a game feel generous while the percentage stays where it was set.

Where the percentage is printed

In venues, the setting sits in the game’s information screens or on a player information terminal. Crown Perth, for instance, points players to its Gaming Information Terminals for odds and chances. The state only guarantees the floor, which is listed on the RTP by state page.

Online, the studio publishes a figure on its game page or in the help file. Some studios ship the same game in several RTP settings, and a casino picks one. The help screen inside the game you open is the version that counts.

Three habits that use RTP well

• Compare games by their published percentage before you choose, not after a bad session.
• Set a spend in dollars, not in spins, because turnover grows faster than it feels.
• Treat a higher RTP as a slightly cheaper night on average, never as a way to win.

If the spending stops feeling like a choice, Gambling Help Online is free and confidential on 1800 858 858, any hour.

Ainsley Duff

Editor, Payback Notes · Published 29 September 2026 · Checked 29 September 2026

Ainsley Duff writes Payback Notes from Adelaide. She reads RTP where it is actually published — state technical standards, provider game sheets and help files, venue pages — and puts a date and a link beside every figure.

What I checked for this page (29 September 2026): worked every dollar example on this page by hand from the RTP definition in the national standard, and matched the state floors to the clauses on the RTP-by-state page. Not done yet: screenshots of a venue’s player information terminal showing a live RTP setting — we have none to publish yet.

How figures get in: how we verify RTP · sources for this page · how we earn. A commission never changes the RTP figures we publish or the order they appear in.