Understanding “average returns to players” is crucial to the correct selection of online casino games. In layman terms average return indicates what a player can expect to win or lose in the long term. It is usually expressed as a percentage. An average return of 98% indicates that in the long term a player can expect to retain 98% of his bankroll, losing 2% of it to the online casino. This does not mean all players will always lose the 2%. Some will end up winning, whereas other will lose more than 2%. Average returns is what players can expect based on the mathematics of the online casino games.

Different online casino games offer different average returns. It does not mean that a casino game with a lower average return is necessarily inferior. It could offer other advantages and therefore a balance will have to be made among a number of competing factors. Average return is one of those factors and not the only one.

The standard blackjack and video poker variants at online casinos offer the highest average returns. These are usually around 99.5%. But this information comes with a crucial catch. Blackjack and video poker games involve a fair degree of skill along with luck. Only players who are skilled in the optimum strategy can expect to achieve these returns. For unskilled players the downside can be considerable. Blackjack strategy is easily available in a simple tabular form. While wagering at online casinos players can refer to these tables and make their moves. Hence playing with the required skill in blackjack is not a problem. Video poker optimum strategy unfortunately cannot be depicted that simply and therefore some degree of memorization is inevitable. But online video poker variants score in another area, which is payout. Most blackjack variants pay out at most 3 to 2. The top payouts in video poker run into hundreds per coin wagered.

Roulette is among the most popular table games at online casinos. It is a game in which players can easily perform the mathematical calculation of the average returns. However that is not the objective of this article. All bets in roulette are so structured that they offer identical average returns. There are two popular variants in roulette. European Roulette offers an average return of 97.3%. American Roulette offers an average return of 94.7%. Therefore the obvious choice is European Roulette because payouts in both variants are identical. A point to note is that the issue of skill does not enter the picture because no skill is involved.

Online slots cover about 70% of the online casino games. Not enough information is provided to be able to calculate the average returns. There are a few online casinos where the average returns given by the games developers are reported. Most online casinos report actually achieved average returns, but for the entire slots games category. A player can expect an average return of between 94% and 96%. Again there is no level of skill involved. There is a reason for online slots games being popular despite the lower average returns. The highest fixed payouts run into thousands per coin wagered. Many online slots games have progressive jackpots that offer payouts running into 6 and 7 figures. Therefore players are willing to sacrifice something in the average return for the hope of a really big win.