This only applies to some slot machines, and it only happens in some casinos, but unfortunately it has started to spread from the small obscure casinos to some of the largest casinos in Denmark: That the casinos adjust the repayment percentage on well-known slot machines so that they can keep a larger share of the bet and pay out fewer winnings.
Most recently, we have seen reduced payback percentages on such popular slots as Starburst and Fire Joker, and at such a large casino as LeoVegas.
What is the repayment rate?
All slot machines have a theoretical return percentage (in English: RTP – Return To Player), and according to the Gambling Act in Denmark, Danish casinos must write the return percentage for each and every game on their website. For slot machines, the payback percentage is usually 96-97%, but it can be as low as 88% and as high as 98%.
In roulette there are 37 numbers (1-36 and 0), and if you win, you get the bet 36 times again, so here the theoretical payback percentage is 36/37=97.3%.
Similarly, a slot machine is programmed to pay out a certain percentage of bets as winnings.
Since each and every spin is random and the jackpot can in theory be paid out on 2 spins in a row, the actual payback percentage is never quite the same as the slot machine is programmed for – hence the name the theoretical payback percentage – but if you could make a billion spins on a slot machine, you should get very close to this percentage. Read more about the theoretical repayment rate here.
Which games have had their payback percentage reduced
Only a few game developers allow the casinos to adjust the payback percentage, so for the vast majority of slot machines they have exactly the same chance of winning, regardless of which casino you play at.
However, if you play slots from PlayNGo, be careful. They are behind popular games such as Book of Dead, Reactoonz and Fire Joker, and here you may run the risk of having less chances of winning if you play at certain casinos. Typically, the repayment percentage is lowered from just over 96% to just over 94%. A difference of 2% may not sound like much, but it actually means that the casino keeps almost 6% instead of almost 4% – i.e. 50% more profit for the casino.
Recently, however, we have also seen individual games from the gaming giant NetEnt with a lower repayment percentage at individual casinos. So far, it concerns one of Denmark’s most popular slot machines, Starburst, as well as the slot machine Divine Fortune. However, there may also be more slot machines that we just haven’t discovered yet.
The payback rate for Starburst is normally 96.09%, but if you play Starburst at Videoslots, only 94.05% of the bet goes into winnings, while the payback rate is as low as 92.05% at casinos on “Skill On Net “-platform, which includes casinos such as PlayOJO and Clemens Spillehal.