Land-based casinos in Canada offer RTPs (Return to Player Percentages) in line with the best casinos in the US. Researchers have found that the typical return to player on a slot machine game at a bricks and mortar casino ranges between 88% on the low end and 97% on the high end. RTPs are based on long-term projections; they are theoretical returns based on millions of spins on slots games, millions of hands dealt in blackjack, baccarat, or poker variants, or millions of spins on a roulette wheel. A 95% RTP indicates that a casino will pay out CA$0.95 for every CA$1.00 wagered. This cannot be extrapolated to the short-term. Casual players typically experience a high variance of outcomes with land-based casinos and Canadian online casinos over the short-term. It is entirely possible to land a progressive jackpot payout within a few spins, despite the house edge.
Canada’s Top Land-Based Casinos
Canada is home to an impressive array of casinos, including several top-tier Ontario-based casinos like Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Casino Niagara, and Caesars Windsor Hotel & Casino. Montréal features the illustrious Casino De Montréal, regarded by many as a cut above the rest. Yet, despite the pomp and ceremony offered by these casinos, the return to player percentages are markedly lower than they are at the best online casino Canada, for various reasons. A solid understanding of RTPs, the house edge, and RNGs are necessary to get the most out of your gaming sessions.
Examples of RTPs with Casino Games
Craps, blackjack and banker bets in baccarat are known to have the highest RTPs, and the lowest house edge. Penny slots games are notoriously low payers with respect to RTPs. Reports conducted by NBC Connecticut in 2015 found that the slot machine games at the Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods Casino – both tribal casinos under the jurisdiction of the CGC (Connecticut Gaming Commission) had an average RTP of 91.71% and 91.85% respectively. Just south of Canada, the top 5 US states in terms of RTPs on slots games are listed as follows:
- New York – 93.75% RTP
- Nevada – 93.54% RTP
- Colorado – 92.85% RTP
- Mississippi – 92.77% RTP
- Florida – 92.46% RTP
These percentages are substantially higher than the 5 states with the lowest RTPs on slots:
- Maine – 90.68% RTP
- Missouri – 90.64% RTP
- Ohio – 90.34% RTP
- Pennsylvania – 90.16% RTP
- West Virginia – 89.72% RTP
How do RTPs at Canadian online casinos compare?
The Canadian online gaming scene is a thriving industry. Many world-class slot machine games at the best online casinos in Canada have high RTPs (97% – 99%). These games are provided by leading software providers such as Dragonfish, Thunderkick, NetEnt, and Yggdrasil Gaming, et al. Among ranking slot machine games with the highest RTPs are the following:
- Mega Joker slot – 99% RTP by NetEnt
- Kings of Chicago slot – 99% RTP by NetEnt
- Monopoly Big Event slot – 99% RTP by Barcrest
- 1429 Uncharted Seas – 98.6% RTP by Thunderkick
- Bloodsuckers slot – 98% RTP by NetEnt
Canadian online casino players can access high RTP slot machine games at leading online casinos across Maple country, thanks to a liberal iGaming industry. With easy access to online casino games for legal-age players, it’s a simple matter of picking games with higher returns. Since online casinos keep costs low (low fixed costs and overheads) compared to land-based operators, it’s a no-brainer. Physical casinos are saddled with machinery, equipment, premises, mortgages, rentals, employees, and a myriad of operational expenses.
The higher the fixed and variable costs of operations, the lower the RTPs, and vice versa. Land-based casinos certainly have a place in the Canadian entertainment landscape – they serve as venues for fun-filled entertainment, with fine dining, casino games, shows, and hotel stays. On the flip side, profitability would be impacted with high RTPs on slot machine games, card games, table games, and the like.
Different types of progressive jackpot networks
The progressive jackpot slot games available at Canadian online casinos come in multiple variants. There are wide-era progressive jackpot slots, and network-style progressive slot machine games. The wide area progressive machine games are offered at various online casinos – though not specific to a single online casino. The slot machine game manufacturers own these games and they offer them to all the online casinos which host the games. The software provider, or the game manufacturer, pays the jackpots – not the online casinos. A small percentage of every bet feeds the progressive jackpot pool.
The network-style progressive jackpot games are found at multiple land-based casinos across the country, with each game contributing towards the jackpot prize pool. Every time an additional bet is placed on the game, the jackpot grows. By far the biggest wide-era progressive jackpot slot machine game is the IGT-powered Wheel of Fortune slot game. For players, the process of finding the RTPs at Canadian online casinos can be done in several ways, notably:
- On the game itself, specifically under the ‘Info’ or ‘How to Play’ category where the RTP is listed by the software provider.
- The broad RTPs of games at Canadian online casinos can be found on eCOGRA Safe & Fair certification, or TST (Technical Systems Testing) accreditation.
Wrapping it ip: Audited RNGs for the highest RTPs
In the event that an online casino does not post details of game RTPs with eCOGRA, TST or the games themselves, they may be available at the casino in the form of a scrolling list of individual games with each attendant RTP. Typically, the casino games with the highest RTPs are those with a slight skill-based element such as blackjack, and video poker variants.
The games with the lowest RTPs are Keno, penny slots, progressive jackpot slots, and a variety of instant games. Licensed and accredited online casinos offer transparency, fairness, credibility in terms of games and payout percentages. Canadian players are strongly advised to stick with the premium-grade operators with a player-centric focus, and independently audited RNGs (Random Number Generators).
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