| Casino Payout percentages are simply the ratio of the amount paid out as winnings in a given time period to the total amount wagered in that time period expressed as a percentage. For example if over a 24 hour period $500,000 are wagered at an online casino and the casino pays out $485,000 then the payout percentage for that casino during that 24 hour period is 97% [(485000/500000) x 100].
Casino games are games of chance. Therefore one may be tempted to believe that casino payout percentages would vary over time. This could be true if one considers a small time period like a day. On one day players may get lucky or someone may hit a huge progressive jackpot and the casino may payout a lot more than the amount wagered and therefore the payout percentage may be significantly over 100%. On other days the reverse may happen and the payout percentage may be significantly less than 100%. However in actual the variation is not all that much because one player’s large win is offset by another player’s large loss. And if the time period of a month is considered then the variation in the payout percent is negligible.
This can be verified by looking at the monthly casino payout percentages for Jackpot City Casino as certified by eCOGRA. The percentages from April 2008 to September 2008 are 96.41%, 96.04%, 96.36%, 96.17%, 96.60% and 95.90%.
Therefore the long run average payout percentage does not depend on chance but it does depend on the specifics of the game. Casino games like slots are designed to payout less than games like table games and video poker. Microgaming online casinos report monthly payout percentages for these three groups of games, again certified by eCOGRA. The payout percentage for online slots games is about 95%, that for table games is 97% and for video poker games is 98.5%. This clearly indicates that players win most at video poker, then at table games and the least at slots. The payout percent for individual table games are rarely reported but games like roulette would be somewhere on par with slots and games like blackjack would be even better than video poker.
This undoubtedly raises the question as to why online slots are immensely popular. The answer lies in the fact that though slots do not pay as often as blackjack, when they do pay they pay huge amounts, the kind one can never hope to win in blackjack. It is this hope of winning tens of thousands dollars and even millions of dollars that attracts players to online slots despite the lower payout percentage.
On the basis of online casino payout percentages players should opt for blackjack and video poker and here payout percentages tell only a part of the story. Both blackjack and video poker involve elements of skill and not all players are versed in optimum strategy. They make mistakes and win less (or lose more) and this lowers the payout percentage. Therefor good blackjack and video poker players can expect to win much more than the average payout ratios for those games.
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