Let’s face it. We like to gamble on slot machines and we know very well that we will lose money in the long run. But that’s ok because it’s a lot of fun. Nevertheless, we have nothing to give away (at least I don’t) and I want one thing above all: maximum fun for my given budget. So if I say I have 500€ available monthly then I don’t want to blow it in an hour. In the ideal case I get along with it the whole month and also make profit from which I buy myself something beautiful.

But the thing is: I have to look very closely at which machines I can really play for a long time. Decisive for this is the RTP, the Return to Player. This is nothing else than the expected value I normally have as a player. If the RTP is 99% then I get on average 99€ back for every 100€ I invest. Important is the word: “average”. It can be natural that I get a few thousand for my 100€ and sometimes I receive nothing at all.
Basically the rule is very simple: The higher the RTP the better. I would even go so far as to take a high RTP as a prerequisite. Because it is very difficult to stay in the game for a long time with an RTP of 95% or less.
So, let’s do it. Here are the best machines with extremely high RTPs:

• Mega Joker from Netent: 99%
• Tropic Reels by Playtech: 98.95%
• Cosmic Quest – Rival’s Mystery Planets: 98.95%
• Playtech Triple Profits: 98.72%
• Chessmate from Multislot: 98,7%
• Cinema Classic by Multislot: 98,5%
• Lucky Mermaid from Multislot: 98,5%
• Aladdin’s Lamp from Amaya: 98%
• Blood Suckers by Netent: 98%

The following is no longer a stubborn enumeration of RTP. There are some slots from Multislot among them. It is now more about introducing the better known machines with the highest payouts.

Popular slot machines 2019 with high RTPs

• Devils Delight by Netent: 97.6%
• Rival’s Gold Rush: 97.46%.
• Guns N Roses by Netent: 96.98%
• Chinese Kitchen by Playtech: 96.92%
• Fruit Shop by Netent: 96,7%
• Gonzo’s Quest, Starburst, Wild Witches by Netent: 96.1%

Famous slot machines with moderate to bad RTP

That’s also part of it. How often do we let ourselves be tempted to play a slots just because a friend recommended it or because we just received a newsletter with 10 free games? So I am very susceptible. The slotmachines with the worst RTPs are mostly from Amaya, Nextgen, Rival and Amatic. I’m not saying that all slots from these houses are weak, but it’s striking how many of them have bad payouts.

So let’s see which of the popular slot machines appear below:

• Mermaid’s Gold from Amatic: 96%
• Mega Moolah from Microgaming: 88% (without progressive jackpot)
• King Cashalot by Microgaming: 90.45%
• Book of Ra by Novomatic 94%
• Tomb Raider from Microgaming: 95%
• Game of Thrones from Microgaming: 95%
• The Dark Knight by Microgaming: 96%
• One Million Reels BC by Rival: 90.6%
• 2 million BC from Betsoft: 91.64%
• 20000 Leagues of Amaya: 94%

RTP is not everything

If you see such lists, you would prefer to play only on machines like Mega Joker and not look at machines like Mega Moolah at all. But the RTP doesn’t say everything and there are two decisive factors:

• Bonus
• Jackpots

Some slot machines can only show a positive expectation value with a bonus. Suppose you have a €100 bonus with 30 times in wagering requirements. That means you must have bet 3000€ in total. With a 99% machine this means that you get back €2970 at the end of the day after betting €3000 – on average. So you only lose 30€, but you get 100€ as bonus. But it’s not that easy, because 99% is an extreme example, which means such a machine is often simply excluded or such casinos do not offer bonuses. Nevertheless 97% and a bit more are sufficient for a positive expectation value with a bonus. But 30-fold requirements are already good, sometimes this is 40 and more and then it becomes really difficult. Basically, a 40-fold bonus provides an RTP boost of 2.5%. A machine with an RTP of 96% becomes one with 98.5%.
If you look at how bad the RTP of Mega Moolah is, you ask yourself why anyone plays this machine at all. The reason is clear, because of the immense progressive jackpot. And that can quickly make an 88% RTP irrelevant. With Mega Moolah, for example, the chance of winning the jackpot is 1:3200000. If you play with an RTP of 88% it means that you lose an average of 0.12€ on a 1€ bet. This is how it looks without a jackpot. But theoretically in one of 3200000 cases you can cash in decently and that has to be taken into account. Then it looks like you already have a positive expectation value from a jackpot of 380,000€. If the jackpot is as high as 9 million Euros at the moment, then your RTP is even 269% – just because of the minimal chance that you will not lose 1€ but win 9 million. But let’s be honest: probably none of us will ever have such luck…

RTP by Software

Some players do not want to leave their skin and have very clear favorites as far as the manufacturers are concerned. A loyal Microgaming player will be critical of even the best Netent slot. That’s why we took the trouble to pick out individual manufacturers and analyze their machines for RTP. There are clear recommendations for certain machines, but also clear warnings. These are slots with low RTP and no jackpot.
Then we list all slot machines with jackpots, starting with high RTP to low RTP.
So, let’s do it:

Netent

Top: Mega Jokers (99%), Blood Suckers (98%), Kings of Chicago (97.8%), Devils Delight (97.6%), Simsalabim (97.5%), Zombies (97.2%), Jack Hammer (2) (97%), King of Slots, Reel Rush and Dead or Alive (97%), Guns N’ Roses (96.98%), Dazzle Me (96.9%)
Flop: Relic Raiders (90%), Super Lucky Frog (93%), Tales of Krakow, Fortune Plate, Pandora’s Box, Excalibur (95.1%)
Jackpot machines: Mega Joker, Cosmic Fortune, Voodoo Vibes, Arabian Nights, Icy Wonders

Microgaming

Top: Arabian Rose (97,5%), Hot Ink (97,5%), Retro Reels Extreme Heat (97,5%), Couch Potato (97,43%), High 5 (97,43%), Bridesmaids (97%)
Flop: Fruit (92%), Funhouse (92,23%), Jester’s Jackpot (92,26%), Island Style (92,26%), Flo’s Diner (92,26%), Lucky Streak (93%), Golden Dragon (93%)
Jackpot: Treasure Nile (92,11%), Penguin Splash (94,96%), The Dark Knight (96%), LotsALoot (89,95%), Major Millions (89,37%), Mega Spin (89,37%), Mega Moolah (88%), Wow Pot (89,63%)

Betsoft

Top: Gypsy Rose (97,63%), Good Girl/Bad Girl (97,79%) (beide Spielautomaten leben von der hohen Auszahlung im Free Games Modus), WhoSpunit Plus (97,64%), Sugar Pop Plus (97,6%), Safari Sam, (97,5%)
Flop: Enchanted (89,4%), Gold Diggers (91,23%), 2 Million B.C. (91,94%), Ned and His Friends, Arrival, Gladiator
Jackpot: At The Copa, Greedy Goblins, Madder Scientist, The Glam Life, Mr. Vegas, Treasure Room

iSoftBet

Top: Shaolin Spin (97,15%), Wisps, Fruit Boxes und Beverly Hills 90210™ (97,1%), Rambo™ (97%), Platoon™, Musketeer, Dolphin’s Island.
Flop: Wild Power Boost (93,25%), The Warriors™, Spooky Family, Ambiance, Alice Adventure und Illusions 2 (95%),
Jackpot: Rambo™, The Olympic Slots, Lucky Leprechaun, Nacho Libre™, Mona Lisa Jewels, Kobushi™

Novoline

Top: Lucky Lady’s Charm Deluxe (97,1%), Columbus (Deluxe) 97,03%, Dolphin’s Pearl Deluxe (96,18%), Sizzling Hot Deluxe (95,66%), Xtra Hot (95,66%), Plenty on Twenty (95,61%)
Flop: Win Wizard, Reel King, Big Catch, 4 King Cash, Party Game Slotto, Katana, Beetle Mania Deluxe, Book of Ra Deluxe (94-94,24%)
Jackpot: not available

NextGen

Top: Starmania 97,87%, Medusa 2 (97,07%), The Spin Lab (95,94%), Andre The Giant (95,7%)
Flop: Big Foot (94%), Dolphin Reef, 300 Shields, Butterflies, Mad Mad Monkey, Potion Commotion, Easy Slider (alle 95%)
Jackpot: not available

Playtech

Top: Golden Tour (97,71%), Alien Hunter (97,69%), Stravaganza (97,46%), Jungle Boogie (97,4%), A Night Out, Captains Treasure, Halloween Fortune, Lotto Madness und Touchdown Slots (97,06%)
Flop: Ace Ventura Pet Detective (88%), Football Carnival (91,32%), Thor The Mighty Avenger, The Mummy, Plenty o Fortune, Farmers Market, The Love Boat, Wanted Dead or Alive (all between 91 und 92%)
Jackpot: Mega Jacks, Stravaganza, Captains Treasure, Highway Kings, Nian Nian You Yu, Dr Lovemore, Gold Rally, Gladiator Jackpot

Quickspin

Top: Big Bad Wolf (97,3%), Beowulf (97,21%), Treasure Island, Sinbad, Goldilocks and the Wild Bears (je 97,1%)
Flop: Spinions Beach Party, Gold Lab, Crystal Queen, Second Strike, Hidden Valley (between 96,05% und 96,5%)
Jackpot: not available

Play’N Go

Top: Beat Me (97,67%), Ring The Bells (97,03%), Piggy Bank, Spin & Win, Rage To Riches, Mr. Toad, Monster Smash (between 97,02% und 97%)
Flop: Wild Melon (93,71%), Dragon Ship, Riches Of Ra, Scandinavian Babes, Scandinavian Hunks, Gold Trophy (je 94%)
Jackpot: Ring the Bells, Piggy Bank und Spin&Win (siehe oben), Cowboy Treasure (96,37%), Speed Cash (94,12%), Fruit Bonanza (93,05%)

Thunderkick

Top: 1429 Uncharted Seas (98,6%), Magicious (97,6%), Bork The Berserker (97,3%), Toki Time (97,1%), Barber Shop und Fruit Warp (je 97%)
Flop: Babushkas (95,8%), Sunny Scoops, Esqueleto Explosivo, Birds On A Wire, Frog Grog (between 96 und 96,1%)
Jackpot: not available