If you are going to play bingo or any other online casino game, it makes sense to play at the best payout bingo sites you can find. One term you need to know is return to player. We are going to explore this term here (known as RTP for short), so you understand what it means.
Where to play for the highest RTPs
mFortune
Play the best mobile-friendly games around at mFortune. You can claim up to £10 as a no deposit welcome bonus too.
Big Tease
With daily jackpots, superb bingo games, and slots to try too, Big Tease is a great place to explore all kinds of exciting games.
Pocketwin
This mobile casino gives you up to £10 as a bonus without requiring a deposit, plus another great deal when you do deposit. They provide you with slots, bingo games, and casino games too.
What are payout rates – return to player (RTP)?
Payout rates are also referred to as the return to player rates. This is shortened to RTP and you’ll always see it as a percentage. If you want to know the best bingo sites for payouts, looking for these RTP values is a good way to find out the answer.
What do the percentages mean and how are they calculated?
The percentage represents the amount an individual game should pay to players over its lifetime. You should always look for rates reaching into the nineties, as anything lower than this is very low.
So, let’s say a bingo game offers an RTP of 96%. This means players will receive 96% of the total funds taken from ticket sales over the life of the game. The provider of the game receives 4% of the total take, known as the house edge.
It means the house is guaranteed an income from the game. If the RTP was 100%, that would be great for players… but every bingo site would quickly close!
How do I find out what a site’s payout rates are?
There are several ways you can do this. Your first stop should always be the site itself. Some are more transparent over their rates than others, but they should provide info on their RTP values.
You can also search for a specific game online by looking for the game title and RTP. This should reveal what you are looking for. If you cannot find any info, you might consider trying another game.
Top tip: Each game will have a different value from the others
That means you likely won’t find an overall RTP for the site. It is much better to know individual values for each game anyway, otherwise the info would be skewed over the whole site, including games you may never play.
Why is there a difference between payouts on bingo games, slots, casino games, and instant games?
Consider this:
- A slot game works very differently to the potential outcome of a spin of the roulette wheel
- A deck of cards has only so many permutations when playing a hand of blackjack
- Bingo produces different outcomes depending on how many balls are present in a game – 35, 75, 80, or 90, for example
All these elements mean there are different payouts in force in different games. Slots tend to have lower RTPs than roulette or blackjack games. In roulette, you could wager on whether the ball will land on red or black, for instance – not a bet you could make in a slot game where only two outcomes could occur.
The house edge can be well under 1% for baccarat or blackjack. Conversely, it is quite normal to find house edge percentages of 3% or more for slots.
Are there caps, wagering requirements, or other Ts and Cs to look out for?
Most games have rules in force, usually within a paytable or the instructions for that game. Read those before you play.
Wagering requirements only come into play when you play with bonus funds or free spins given upon signup to that site. These may limit potential prize money that could be won. Caps are common, where there is a maximum on total winnings from free spins or bonuses, for example.
Make sure you understand return to player values before you play
This is vital, because a game offering 97% RTP does not mean you are going to get back 97% of all the wagers you place on it. You could be fortunate and scoop a jackpot prize that far outweighs the wagers you bet on the game. Conversely, you could lose all your bets and not make back anything at all.
The return to player percentage relates to all bets taken from all players over the life of a single game. That’s why we recommend finding a good RTP but also finding a game you enjoy before diving in.