NN777 Volatility Explained — Why Two 96% Games Differ
Volatility (also called variance): Each game sets whether its returns turn up as many small wins or as a few rare big ones.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Term | Volatility |
| Short for | also called variance |
| Set by | The game studio, down to the paytable and reel maths it uses |
| Where you meet it | Seen in game spec tables, more often worded than quantified |
| Not the same as | Volatility should be understood as something other than ordinary risk, and it cannot tell you whether a game is fair. Rigged or safe are labels that fit neither, because the high-volatility and low-volatility games each return the same share over time. Related though they are, volatility is not hit frequency: the latter records how regularly something comes back while the former records how much. |
Most pages that use the word Volatility take it for granted that you already know it. This one does not.
Volatility (also called variance) — Each game sets whether its returns turn up as many small wins or as a few rare big ones.
What Volatility actually means
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Term | Volatility |
| Written out | also called variance |
| In one line | Each game sets whether its returns turn up as many small wins or as a few rare big ones. |
| Fixed by | The game studio, down to the paytable and reel maths it uses |
| Where you meet it | Seen in game spec tables, more often worded than quantified |
Volatility speaks to distribution, while the total belongs to a different number. Looking at RTP alone misleads, as a low-volatility slot of that RTP delivers small wins at short intervals and a high-volatility slot of it delivers large wins at long intervals. Return over the long term does not have to separate the two cases. If one property had to decide whether a game suits a bankroll, it would be this one, though comparisons seldom include it.
The common misreading
Seeing high volatility, many people conclude the slot hands back more. Between each larger payment sits a longer losing run, since the game pays less often rather than paying more. Calling a high-volatility game with a 10,000x ceiling generous overlooks where its return went: into one outcome the typical player never sees.
Volatility should be understood as something other than ordinary risk, and it cannot tell you whether a game is fair. Rigged or safe are labels that fit neither, because the high-volatility and low-volatility games each return the same share over time. Related though they are, volatility is not hit frequency: the latter records how regularly something comes back while the former records how much.
A worked example
Consider two games both returning 96%.
You would see a payout come back on perhaps a third of the low-volatility one’s spins, and generally for under the stake. The high-volatility game pays in bursts, so eighty spins with no return followed by a win of two hundred times the stake is quite possible. Over a million spins the two converge. They stop resembling each other once an evening reaches three hundred spins, because both the experience and the bankroll requirement change completely.
Using it in practice
To last through the dry spells guaranteed by high-volatility maths, a bankroll has to run deep. Matching a high-volatility game to a session budget only works when the budget outlasts eighty losing spins, whatever the advertised ceiling.
Throughout the game pages here you will meet terms such as Volatility; when a studio publishes no figure behind one, the page says that plainly rather than borrowing a number from a comparison site. For this reason, a number of the spec tables on this site contain empty cells.
Checking Volatility at NN777
- Open a game at NN777 and find its info or help screen.
- Volatility is listed in that spot, so go there first and interpret it through the definition higher up.
- Compare it with the same entry on another title before you pick one to play at NN777.
- Write your stake and your stop point down before the first round at NN777.
FAQ
What does Volatility mean?
Each game sets whether its returns turn up as many small wins or as a few rare big ones.
What do people get wrong about Volatility?
Seeing high volatility, many people conclude the slot hands back more. Between each larger payment sits a longer losing run, since the game pays less often rather than paying more. Calling a high-volatility game with a 10,000x ceiling generous overlooks where its return went: into one outcome the typical player never sees.
Which way should Volatility steer you when you pick a game?
To last through the dry spells guaranteed by high-volatility maths, a bankroll has to run deep. Matching a high-volatility game to a session budget only works when the budget outlasts eighty losing spins, whatever the advertised ceiling.