RTP: The Same Number as House Edge, Facing the Other Way
Updated
RTP (return to player) and house edge are the same number stated from opposite ends: RTP + house edge = 100%. Our six-deck game has a house edge of 0.46%, so its RTP is 99.54%. The catch is what that figure quietly assumes.
- RTP = 100% − house edge. Same number, other direction.
- Our standard six-deck game: 99.54% RTP.
- That figure assumes perfect basic strategy. Ordinary play is nearer 98%.
- A published RTP is a ceiling, not a promise.
Where the number comes from
An RTP of 99.54% means that across an enormous number of hands, 99.54 cents of every dollar staked comes back. The missing 0.46% is the house edge.
Note that this is per dollar staked, not per dollar you walk in with. Stake the same $100 twenty times over an evening and you have staked $2,000, so the expected cost is twenty times larger than the headline suggests.
The assumption nobody states
A blackjack RTP is computed for a player making the best available decision every time. It is a ceiling, not an average, and it is the one number in the casino that depends on the customer.
A slot machine’s RTP is what it is — there are no decisions to get wrong. Blackjack’s advertised figure describes a player who has memorized a chart. Ordinary play lands nearer 98%, and a player who refuses to bust is around 96.5% — worse than roulette.
RTP on live and online tables
Online live-dealer tables usually publish an RTP, and the figure is honest as far as it goes. Read what it assumes: it is almost always “with optimal strategy”, and often for a specific rule set that may not match the table you are on.
Side bets have their own RTP, and it is dramatically worse — Lucky Ladies returns about 82% against the main game’s 100%. A table advertised at “99.5% RTP” is describing the main bet only.
Keep reading
By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.
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