When you’re choosing an online slot game to play, you may be looking for entertainment value, a great theme, top-quality graphics, or engaging gameplay, but one factor that should always be considered is a slot’s payout. So which slots offer the best payouts?

Randomness and RNG

The first thing to remember about all slots, whether you are playing on high-tech 3D movie-related titles or retro-style penny slot machines, is that they will lose you money in the long term. There is no system or bankroll management method that can change that. This is why playing slots should always be considered a leisure activity, not a way to make money.

The key to all slot games, and the factor that ensures that they cannot be predicted, is the Random Number Generator (RNG). This is a piece of software that ensures each spin of the virtual reels is truly random. So, does this mean that all slots games are the same? Not at all. In fact, the ingenuity of modern slot game developers means that you can find an incredible variety of slot game experiences at online casinos, a variety that includes major differences in the payout.

Biggest jackpots

One of the mistakes that newcomers to slots games make is not checking the maximum payout on the game they are interested in playing. If you’re hoping to land a life-changing sum, for instance, the best option is to look for progressive jackpot games.

Most modern slot machines, at least those that are available through reputable online casinos, will display their maximum payout. This may be described in terms of ‘coins or odds, but both will give you an idea of the biggest prize you can potentially earn when you’re playing the game.

While it is possible to find some big prizes in standard online slots, the truly enormous payouts are reserved for the progressive jackpot slots. These are slot machines that are connected to a network. Each time a slot is played, a percentage of the stake money goes towards the jackpot, and there is no upper limit on how high this jackpot can go, as you can see from this list of slots and top payouts:

- Mega Fortune - $17.8 million
- Mega Fortune Dreams - $5.5 million
- Arabian Nights - $3.3 million
- Hall Of Gods - $7.5 million
- Mega Moolah - $18.9 million

One thing to be aware of when you’re playing progressive jackpots is that the big prize is sometimes only available to those who play with the maximum stake.

RTP is key

Of course, there is another way to look at payout. Even if you are playing a progressive jackpot, the big money payouts are relatively rare. Players who view slots play as a diverting way to spend a few minutes of their spare time may be more focused on how quickly they lose their bankroll rather than the biggest possible prize they can win.

This is where the Return to Player (RTP) figure comes in. All slots’ games are losing propositions in the long term, but some will burn through your bankroll more quickly than others. The RTP figure will tell you how much of your stake will be paid out in the long term.

Since all slot machines feature a house edge, the RTP figure will always be less than 100%. The difference between the RTP and 100% is the casino profit margin. So, when you are comparing payouts from this angle, you want to focus on games that offer the highest RTP figure possible. The good news is that there has been a trend in the online slots world towards making games with ever-higher RTP percentages. Here are some of the top RTP payout performers:

- Book of 99 - 99%
- Marching Legions - 98.12%
- Blood Suckers - 98%
- Starmania - 97.87%
- White Rabbit Megaways - 97.77%

Slots to avoid

So, when you weigh up the payout of online slots, you can either opt for games with massive jackpots or focus on those that offer the best RTP. From the payout perspective, the online casino games to avoid are those that offer neither a big jackpot nor a high RTP figure. Fortunately, there are thousands of slots out there to choose from, so you will have no difficulty in finding one to fit your payout requirements.