What is volatility in online slots?

Volatility (also known as variance) – together with RTP – are the mathematical calculations that determine how often you can expect an online slots machine to pay out, and how big you can expect that payout to be.

All gambling games have volatility. The higher the volatility, the bigger your win – but the less frequent your wins will be.

In roulette, for example, a low volatility bet would be a wager on red or black. The chances of you winning are high but the payout is low. Compare that to betting on a single number, 17 for example. The chances of the ball landing on 17 are low but, if it does, your payout is huge.

In online slots games it is not quite so simple to work out volatility so it is referred to as high volatility, medium volatility or low volatility.
A high volatility online slots game will pay out often but small amounts. A low volatility online slots game will pay out less frequently but with much higher winnings.
Determining the volatility rate of an online slots game is possible, but difficult. However, a quick way to check whether your game has high or low volatility is to look at the paytable.
High volatility online slots games have a low hit frequency. The higher the smallest reward on the paytable, the lower the hit frequency will be.

If you think about the really big jackpot online slots games, like the progressive slots, the jackpots are enormous but the actual times somebody wins that jackpot? Not so much.

The reviewers at Online South African Casinos find that mixing their playing up gives them the best and most fun experience, so splitting their bankroll between a high volatility online slots game and a low volatility online slots game. The high volatility game gives them more time on the game due to the frequent wins, while the low volatility game gets their hearts racing with the chance of winning a big payout.

The best of both worlds.