Why Lower RTP Slots Clear Wagering Requirements Faster

The Counter-Intuitive Thesis

The RTP shows you how much you can expect to get back, on average, after many spins. And when we say many, we mean millions. However, a wagering requirement comes with a time limit, generally between 7 and 30 days. What matters here isn’t what happens during the spins, but whether you actually manage to meet the wagering requirement. Do you understand? These are two completely different challenges!

If you don’t have a bonus to unlock, a higher RTP is an advantage. You have just as much fun, but the estimated long-term loss is much smaller. However, the situation changes when a wagering requirement comes into play. The goal now is to keep enough money to complete the entire wagering requirement before the time runs out. This is where your volatility strategy can make all the difference!

When you’re trying to meet a wagering requirement, a low RTP high variance slot can be much more effective than a high RTP, low-volatility slot. If your balance hits zero, you basically have no way to continue.

Illustrative Setup: Book of Dead vs Blood Suckers

To illustrate this, Isabell Dreghiciu, the editor of this article, chose to use two real slots that are currently available on the market. Here’s what she discovered!

Blood Suckers is the obvious choice every time. We can see that it has an RTP that’s 1.79 higher in the long run and offers wins on one out of every two spins. In other words, it has one of the highest win frequencies found in popular online slots. Look at the table above: Book of Dead has a lower RTP, and with its high volatility, it can go through long streaks without significant wins. If you were looking solely at the RTP, you’d probably choose Blood Suckers without hesitation.

See? That’s exactly what we’re trying to explain to you in this guide! The RTP isn’t the factor that determines whether or not you’ll meet the wagering requirement.

The Role of Big Wins

Wagering requirements are calculated based on the total amount wagered, not just the money you have in your account at any given time. The bonus must be wagered a certain number of times, this depends on the bonus terms. We’ve noticed that most casinos count slots toward the wagering requirement at a 100% contribution rate. However, keep in mind that there’s also a time limit, ranging from 7 to 30 days. If you don’t meet this requirement within that timeframe, you automatically lose both the bonus and any winnings.

Let’s work out a scenario together, what do you say? Let’s say you received a 200 C$ bonus with a 35x wagering requirement. You must wager a total of 7,000 C$ before you can withdraw the funds. If you bet 2C$ per spin, you’ll need 35.000 spins to complete the wagering requirement. On a highvolatility slot like Book of Dead, a big win can completel turn the situation around.

According to information published by Playn GO, the maximum win is 5000 times the bet. It replenishes your balance and gives you the funds you need to continue meeting the wagering requirement. So, it significanly increases your chances of completing the wagering requirement without running out of money.

However there’s another important aspect to consider. High volatility means that such a win is rare. Book of Dead can quickly deplete your balance, and that big win might never even come.

The Challenge of Low-Volatility Slots

Blood Suckers has a win frequency of 45%, which means you’ll win on nearly half of your spins. However, this makes the game more dynamic and gives you the feeling that you’re constantly enjoying small wins. Keep in mind, though, that low volatility automatically means these wins are small, roughly equal to the value of your bet. So, the game doesn’t offer the possibility that a single spin will make up for all the effort you’ve put in along the way. It pays out in small, consistent amounts not in rare but substantial wins like Book of Dead does.

But does this have a direct impact on meeting the wagering requirements? Absolutely! If you notice that the small wins aren’t enough to maintain your balance throughout the 3.500 spins, or if the available time runs out, 2 problems arise. Either you run out of money before meeting the wagering requirement, or you reach the deadline without having completed the wagering requirement. In both situations you lose both the bonus and the money you’ve won.

Illustrative Results and What They Show

To show you how the entire process works, we thought we’d simulate this scenario for you. We have a $200 bonus, a $7,000 wagering requirement, and a $2 bet per spin. We have 30 illustrative examples of how to meet the wagering requirements for each game. We want to make it clear from the start: this is simply an illustration, not an actual study conducted by us, the experts at CasinoAlpha CA.

There are two aspects that stand out. Book of Dead allows you to meet the wagering requirement more than twice as often as Blood Suckers. Right? However, that doesn’t mean success is guaranteed! We’ve noticed that in most of the 30 attempts, the big win doesn’t come in time… Unfortunately. A string of spins without a win can wipe out your entire balance. You have to expect this from a high-volatility game. Here’s another paradox: Book of Dead has the higher estimated average loss of the two games. Let’s multiply the C$7,000 wager by the house edge for each game. We get an average loss of about C$265 on Book of Dead and C$140 on Blood Suckers. So, if we look only at expected value, Blood Suckers is the better choice.

Expected value really only matters if you manage to meet the wagering requirement. It’s no use having a game with a better expected value if you can’t meet the wagering requirement. That’s the paradox.

When High RTP Is Actually Better

That doesn’t mean games with a high RTP and low volatility are a bad choice, it’s just that they aren’t the best option when you’re trying to meet the wagering requirements. When you don’t have a bonus to unlock or a deadline to meet, things are clearly different.

If you’re playing with your own money just for fun, choose a game with a higher RTP. On the other hand, if you have a limited budget and want your money to last for a longer session, low-volatility games are the best option. We’ve clearly explained this difference in our Slot Volatility Index guide. You can try Blood Suckers or Starburst if you have a budget of 20-50 C$. On the other hand, if you choose Book of Dead, you’ll need a budget of C$200 or even more.

And there’s one more thing to consider. If you don’t find long periods without wins entertaining, don’t choose a volatile game just in the hope of landing a big win. A better choice is a game with a higher RTP and consistent payouts.

Game Selection by Goal

We recommend that you choose a game based on what you want to achieve, not just on the number that seems to look best in the information table:

• If you have an active bonus and a high wagering requirement to meet, and the deadline is approaching, consider low RTP high variance games. For example, Book of Dead is a good choice.
• Don’t have any active bonuses and are you just playing for fun? Then you should go for games with the highest possible RTP but low volatility. If you don’t have a deadline to meet, this is the best option.
• If you have a small budget and no one is rushing you, choose games with high RTP and low volatility. You’ll have small, frequent wins, but you’ll extend your playing session.
• If you’ve met the wagering requirement but have plenty of time and a comfortable budget, a game with medium volatility is a good idea. Of course, the choice is yours.

The Bottom Line for Players

The RTP tells you how much a slot returns to players over millions of spins, a number you’ll most likely never reach. In contrast, a wagering requirement is a much more concrete challenge: you have to wager a certain amount within a limited time, without running out of money before you’re done.

Well, volatility matters more here than the RTP. A bigger win at the right time helps you meet the wagering requirements. On the other hand, a long streak of small wins might not be enough. However, that doesn’t mean slots with a high RTP or low volatility are bad choices. Not at all! They’re just suited for a different kind of play. For those moments when you’re playing for fun and without pressure.

The important thing is to know what you’re looking for before choosing a game. We know a high RTP can be appealing, but think about the balance between RTP and volatility, and only then choose the option that suits you best.

How We Verified This

Play’n GO lists an RTP of 96.21% for Book of Dead which has high volatility. We also checked the four variants with lower RTPs that some casinos offer.

For Blood Suckers, NetEnt lists an RTP of 98,00%, and we verified this directly from the developer’s official information as well as from our Slot Volatility Index guide.

You’ve seen that we’ve also discussed wagering requirements, multipliers, and how games contribute to wagering requirements and for this, we consulted several independent guides from the gambling industry.

Keep in mind that the 30 bonus wagering attempts we presented in the article are merely simulated examples. They are not the results of an actual study, and we’ve made this clear so as not to give you the wrong impression.

Gamble Responsibly

Always gamble only with money you can afford to lose! Never try to recoup your losses. If you feel that gambling is causing you harm, you can contact ConnexOntario at 1.866.531.2600.

We have written this article solely for informational and educational purposes.