Data as of 5 November 2026.
RTP, or return to player, is the share of all the money staked on a casino game that the game is designed to pay back over a very large number of plays. A slot listed at 96% RTP is built to return £96 of every £100 wagered across millions of spins, which leaves the house 4%. It describes the game's maths, not your next session.1009
We read the UK Gambling Commission's technical standards, its testing rules and its list of approved test houses on 5 November 2026, along with pages from two testing labs and one game provider. On the same day we re-read what nine casinos we track say about how their games are tested. We didn't play or test any game. This guide sits with our other guides on how casinos work, next to provably fair and eCOGRA's seal and dispute service.010204050607
What RTP is, and what it isn't
RTP is a long-run average fixed by the game's design. A single session can return anything from nothing to the top prize, so RTP tells you how expensive a game is on average, not whether you'll win today. The gap between the two can stay wide for a long time on a volatile game.10
Two casinos we track explain it in their help pages. Pinnacle says RTP is measured "generally over a minimum of one million plays", and that a game with a stated RTP of 96% means "players can expect the game to return $0.96 of $1.00 (or currency equivalent) spent over a long period of plays". It adds that "the return to them individually may not equate to the advertised RTP". Cloudbet describes theoretical RTP as "the expected return of the total money bet over an extended number (millions) of plays".1009
The Gambling Commission's testing rules give the arithmetic behind the figure a casino can measure. Actual RTP is "win / turnover": what the game paid out, divided by what was staked on it. To check a game, testers set it "to play automatically for a high number of games (actual number will depend on volatility of the game as per the game maths)". The more volatile the game, the more plays it takes before results settle near the RTP.0302
RTP and house edge
House edge is the same number seen from the casino's side: 100% minus the RTP. A 96% slot has a 4% house edge.
Single-zero roulette shows the maths. The wheel has 37 pockets and a straight-up bet pays 35 to 1, so on average a £1 bet comes back as £36 once every 37 spins. That's 36 ÷ 37, a 97.30% RTP and a 2.70% house edge. Nine roulette tables from Evolution, Pragmatic Play Live and Yggdrasil showed an RTP of 97.3% on their tiles in Wolfbet's lobby on 5 November.08
In Great Britain the house edge is one of the ways a game can tell you your chances. Rule 3C of the Commission's remote technical standards says information on your chances of winning must be "easily available before the customer commits to gamble", including a description of how the game works. The guidance under it lists "acceptable types of information about the likelihood of winning": the average theoretical RTP, the house edge or margin, or the probability of each winning event. By that guidance, a British game may show a house edge or the odds of each outcome instead of an RTP.01
Where to find a game's RTP
Look in the game itself first. The Commission says the information can sit in "'help' or 'how to play' pages" or in the game's own text and artwork. Cloudbet and Pinnacle both say the RTP is in a game's "information" or "help" section. The terms of Bitcasino, Sportsbet.io and Whale.io say to "Visit the information section of the Game".010910131415
Providers publish figures too. Pragmatic Play's page for Gates of Olympus listed an RTP of 96.50% on 5 November. Some casinos print an RTP in the lobby: Wolfbet shows one on each game tile.0708
The figure that counts is the one in the game's own rules. Under the Commission's testing rules, test houses review "the game display and content of player facing rules to see they accord with the maths". As we read it, a casino's lobby tile isn't part of that check.02
The same kind of game can return very different amounts
On 5 November Wolfbet's lobby showed an RTP for 107 different games. They ran from 85.1% for Hacksaw's Express 200 Scratch to 99.47% for two Evolution poker games, Ultimate Texas Hold'em and Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker. Nineteen games showed an RTP below 95%, and 52 showed 97% or above.08
One game appeared on three tiles with three different figures: Playtech's Christmas: Buffalo Blitz III at 91.53%, 93.92% and 95.58%. The lobby doesn't say which version you get when you open it, so check the game's own help screen.08
Blackjack alone spread across seven points:
Blackjack tile in Wolfbet's lobby | Provider | RTP shown |
|---|---|---|
Prestige Blackjack 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 | Winfinity | 92.1% |
Multihand Blackjack Pro | BGaming | 99.23% |
Amber, Jade, Klasik 2 and Klasik 4 | Evolution | 99.29% |
On average, £100 staked at 92.1% costs £7.90; at 99.29% it costs 71p. The tiles don't say why the figures differ. The rules that decide it, such as payouts and side bets, are in each game's help screen.08
Who checks the RTP
In Great Britain, checking happens at three points.0203
Before release. Licensees "must ensure that all new products have been adequately tested by an approved test house prior to release". The test house verifies the theoretical RTP from the game's maths and the actual RTP through simulation, emulation and manual testing, and its report names the game's RTP, software number and digital signature. The report goes to the Commission before the game can go live.
While the game is live. The licensee must monitor "for both under and overpayments", comparing actual RTP against "the expected (advertised) RTP". The Commission gives daily measurements over the last 30 days of play as one acceptable method. On complaints, it says: "It is not sufficient to notify players that the games have met the required testing standards as this does not acknowledge that errors can evade testing."
Once a year. For licensees that develop or update games, or arrange their testing, an approved test house audits how they categorise game changes and run RTP monitoring.
Two rules sit underneath. Results must be "acceptably random", and "Adaptive behaviour (that is, a compensated game) is not permitted". The Commission defines a compensated game as one that adjusts "the likelihood of winning outcomes occurring based on previous payouts or intake". Updates that affect a game's fairness need some retesting.0102
The Commission's list of approved test houses, dated 2 March 2026, has 14 entries. Six are GLI companies and two are BMM labs; the rest are eCOGRA, Gaming Associates Europe, Global Lab, Nick Farley & Associates (Eclipse Compliance Testing), Quinel and RiskCherry. All 14 are approved for the remote technical standards. iTech Labs isn't on the list.04
Outside Great Britain, labs test to whatever the casino's regulator accepts. iTech Labs says that "Each jurisdiction sets the standards they are willing to accept", and that outside those jurisdictions it defines the standards while agreeing scope and price with the client. It describes what a pass looks like: a certification logo with "a linked certificate", and for an audit of a game's actual RTP from server logs, "a linked audit report". eCOGRA says sites it approves "have the option to receive independently prepared monthly return to player percentage reports".0605
What the casinos we track say about testing
Our records hold a sourced reading on how games are tested for 16 of the operators we track, taken between 25 July and 23 September 2026. On 5 November we tried to re-read the pages behind 13 of them. Nine opened; the rest returned a security check or a regional block, or weren't re-read, and are left out below.
Casino | Names a test lab? | What the page says | Where it says the RTP is |
|---|---|---|---|
Yes: iTech Labs | "Our random number generators are certified by iTech Labs." | On game tiles in the lobby | |
No | RNGs certified "by independent test houses"; actual against theoretical RTP checked quarterly | The game's "information" or "help" section | |
No | "All RNGs are certified externally and tested in house prior to going live" | The game's "Information" or "Help" section | |
No | RNGs certified "by a reputable license laboratory" | Not on this page | |
No | Same text as MyStake, word for word | Not on this page | |
No | Internal testing and "External Compliance Testing (ECT)" before launch | The game's information section | |
No | A near-identical testing paragraph to Bitcasino's | The game's information section | |
No | A near-identical testing paragraph to Bitcasino's | The game's information section | |
No | A random number generator "regularly tested and verified for fairness" | Not on this page |
One of the nine names a lab. Wolfbet's English home page names iTech Labs, but we found no link to an iTech Labs certificate on it. Seven of the nine share wording with another casino: MyStake and Goldenbet use the same text word for word, Bitcasino, Sportsbet.io and Whale.io near-identical paragraphs, and Cloudbet and Pinnacle overlapping sentences.0811121314150910
Cloudbet and Pinnacle both say that all games "are monitored for any discrepancies". Cloudbet is the only one of the nine that gives a frequency: it says the analysis to keep actual RTPs close to theoretical ones is "carried out quarterly".0910
These casinos aren't bound by the British rules above unless they hold a Gambling Commission licence. For a casino licensed elsewhere, its own pages are often the only public statement on testing, and that's what this table records.
How to check a game's RTP yourself
Open the game's help, information or paytable screen before you bet, and note the RTP or house edge it gives.
Compare it with the figure on the provider's own game page.
For table games, compare versions. Rules change the figure: on Wolfbet's lobby, blackjack tables ran from 92.1% to 99.29%.
If a casino names a test lab, look for a linked certificate, not just a logo.
Treat RTP as the average cost of play, not a forecast. Our wagering requirements guide explains why a game's contribution to a bonus target isn't its RTP.
If you think a game at a British-licensed casino is paying out wrongly, complain to the casino first. The Commission expects licensees to investigate fairness complaints and give "clear, detailed explanations". Our guide to what the Gambling Commission does for players covers the next steps.03
What we couldn't check
Whether the RTP on Wolfbet's tiles matches each game's own rules. We didn't open the games.
Whether a casino runs a provider's game at the RTP on the provider's page. We compared no game across casinos.
Certificates behind the claims. Eight of the nine pages name no lab, and Wolfbet's page links no certificate.
Seven of the 16 casinos with a sourced reading. Jack.com returned a security check, Wolf.io a regional block, and KatsuBet and Livecasino.io refused our script; BC.Game, Shuffle and Winz weren't re-read.
