What Does Volatility Mean in Slots?
Every player who has played at least a few times in an online slots casino must have noticed one interesting thing. Slots play differently during each gaming session. Even if you place bets on the same slot machine, one day it may consistently produce winnings, and the next all spins turn out to be ineffective. This happens due to volatility. This is one of the most important characteristics of any slot machine that every player should be familiar with. Today we will talk about what is volatility on slots, what it is like and what it affects.
What is Slot Machine Volatility?
Volatility in slots is one of the basic parameters of their work, which the slot machine provider implements into the software during its development. An online casino that hosts slots on its website cannot influence this characteristic. The player cannot do this either.
Slot volatility explained, as the level of risk. This parameter determines how often winnings in the slot will occur and what size they will be. There are three basic volatility values:
- High. Payments may occur rarely, but their maximum size is quite large;
- Average. Payments occur with average frequency. The maximum size is lower than in slots with high volatility;
- Low. Frequent but small wins. The maximum payout rarely exceeds x1000.
The slots volatility levels described don’t mean that in your case everything will happen exactly like this. But these are the general principles. Do not also forget that the results in any case depend on the random number generator.
Different Types of Slots Volatility
Now let’s talk about volatility slots meaning in details. As we said earlier, there are three basic levels of this parameter. However, besides them, there are also intermediate values. In general, it is more correct to distribute volatility into five groups:
- High;
- Medium-high;
- Average;
- Medium-low;
- Low.
Each of these levels gives the gameplay its own characteristics. Below you will find out “What does volatility mean in slots?” in all five cases.
High Volatility Slots
First, let’s figure out what does high volatility mean in slots. Such games are considered the most risky, but they also have the greatest payout potential. Here, protracted series of failures often occur, and the resulting winnings may be even less than the bet amount. But only here you will have a chance to get a truly big win, tens of thousands of times the size of the bet.
Here are some examples of such slots:
- Wild West Gold (Pragmatic Play) – maximum win x10,000;
- Sweet Bonanza Xmas (Pragmatic Play) – maximum win x21,175;
- Money Train 2 (Relax Gaming) – maximum win x50,000;
- Big Bamboo (Push Gaming) – maximum win x50,000;
- Money Train 3 (Relax Gaming) – maximum win x100,000.
Slots with high volatility have a very large variation in the frequency and size of payouts. Winnings may occur regularly, or they may occur rarely. And their size can be either less than the rate or tens of thousands of times more.
Medium-High Volatility in Slots
Medium-high volatility is almost the same as high volatility. In practice, you will feel almost no difference. Streaks of failure will occur less frequently, but the maximum win here is also slightly lower. Here are a few representatives of this group of slots:
- Sweet Bonanza (Pragmatic Play);
- Genie’s Riches (Dragon Gaming);
- Mighty Hot Wilds (Inspired Gaming);
- Book of Toro (Elk Studios);
- Twin Spin (Netent).
These slot machines remain risky, but they still have the potential for big wins.
Medium Volatility Slot Games
This is somewhere between high and low volatility. Payouts in such slots occur much more often, and series of failures do not last long. But the winnings are noticeably lower. As a rule, in slots with medium volatility, you can get a payout of no more than x10,000. If you are interested in such games, you can try one of the following slot machines:
- Mystic Fortune Deluxe (Habanero);
- Wild Dragon (Amatic);
- Chilli Heat (Pragmatic Play);
- Cleopatra (IGT);
- Wolf Gold (Pragmatic Play).
Medium volatility is an excellent choice for those who do not like to take a lot of risks, but still want to maintain the possibility of getting big wins. Here the frequency and size of payments are balanced.
Low-Medium Volatility Slots
Similar to slot machines with medium volatility. But the maximum winnings here are slightly lower. Unproductive rotations are also less likely to occur. Representatives of this group:
- Million 88 (Red Rake Gaming);
- Magic Owl (Amatic);
- Bells On Fire (Amatic);
- Lucky Lucky (Habanero);
- Treasures of Aztec (PG Soft).
Such slots are almost no different from games with an average level of risk. You won’t feel much difference.
Low Volatility Online Slots
The lowest volatility slots are suitable for cautious players and users whose budget is limited. They pay out frequently, but the average winnings are small. In such slot machines you can rarely win more than x2000. Here are some interesting representatives:
- Starburst (NetEnt);
- Mermaids Millions (Microgaming);
- Burning Bells 20 (Amatic);
- Disco Beats (Habanero);
- Dragons Pearl (Amatic).
What is a low volatility slot machine means in practice? You will be able to extend your gaming session. Such slot machines keep your balance well and do not allow you to lose it quickly.
How to Find Slot’s Volatility?
There are several ways to know what is volatility in slot games. The easiest way is to look at it on our website. Here you will not only find a slot volatility list, but you can also filter games by this parameter. This will help you quickly find a suitable slot machine and start placing bets.
Volatility can also be found in two more ways:
- On the provider’s website. It is indicated in the description of the slot machine;
- In the slot rules. After starting the game, you can open the help. Usually there is an “i” button for this. Volatility and other characteristics will be indicated here.
If this parameter is not listed anywhere, you can evaluate it yourself. Now that you know volatility in slots meaning, it will be easy for you to understand its level in practice. Launch the slot machine in demo mode and place several dozen bets for free.
Importance of Volatility in Slots
Understand what is slot machine volatility important for every player. The results of your bets will directly depend on this. This parameter must be taken into account based on your preferred playing style, as well as the amount of money in your account. If you have a lot of money, you can bet on any slot. If your budget is limited, it is better to choose games with low or medium volatility to reduce the risk of losing quickly.
Your budget should be enough for at least 100 spins in slots with high volatility and 50 in slots with low and medium volatility. At the same time, it cannot be said that in the confrontation high volatility vs low volatility slots some of them are better. It all depends solely on your situation and preferences. You can win in both those and other slot machines.
Difference Between Volatility and RTP
If you are interested what is volatility in slots, then you should know about another important parameter – RTP. It shows what percentage of money from the total investments of all players the slot returns back in the form of winnings. For example, if players spent 100,000 INR on bets and the RTP is 95%, then the total payout will be 95,000 INR. But since winnings are awarded randomly, each player has a chance to stay in the black.
There is no direct relationship between volatility and RTP, but both parameters are equally important when choosing a slot machine. And if volatility does not affect the profitability of the game, then RTP does the opposite. The higher its value, the better.
Conclusion
Volatility is one of the two key criteria when choosing a online slot machine. It can be low, medium and high. This affects how regularly you will receive winnings and what their potential size will be. The choice of volatility directly depends on your personal preferences, playing style and budget.
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