Volatility is a term often heard in association with stock markets. There it refers to a period when the stock prices fluctuate wildly. Sometimes being very low and other times being very high. Volatility is used in a similar sense with respect to online slots games.

Some online slot games are so structured that they will either pay out very high amounts or very low amounts in the short term. Such slot games are referred to as volatile slots. The online slot games that are not volatile would pay out average values throughout. In the long term even the volatile slots pay out average values because over time the high payouts and low payouts neutralize each other. However, most players at online casinos look at the short term while wagering on slots games. There are some players who are not interested in average payouts. They use their bankrolls are the price paid for an expensive dinner or a theatre performance. They want to win big if possible, but do not mind losing their bankrolls in the process. These players are referred to as risk taking players and they go for the volatile online slots. There are other players for whom the main objective is to conserve their bankrolls to the extent possible. They are risk-averse players and will prefer the non volatile slots.

The question that arises is how a player determines whether a slot game is volatile or not. The software providers do not make any volatility classifications for their slot games. A fair idea of the volatility can be obtained from the payout table. It must be stated categorically that the payout table gives only a subjective idea of the volatility. It does not provide all the information required to mathematically index the volatility. Some of the pointers that can be used to assess the volatility are discussed below.

The spread of the payouts for the various symbols is the best indicator of volatility. If the range of the payouts is greater, then the slot game will be more volatile. Some of the symbols, usually the thematic ones, will have very large payout. On the other hand the remaining symbols will have very low payouts. Therefore for each spin the player will win either high amounts or low amounts. In other online slot games the payouts are concentrated close to a central value. When the player wins he will win the small range bound average payouts.

Software developers increase the volatility in various ways. Wild symbols multiplying payouts by two or three or sometimes even more times can result in large payouts per spin. Usually online slots pay out for left to right alignment of symbols on paylines. In rare cases slots games are known to pay for right to left alignment as well. But whenever such features are introduced, the software providers level the field to ensure that the average return to player does not go up.

Bonus games, whether the free spin types or the second screen types, are used to increase volatility. Some bonus games have features that payout handsomely. These could be that the multipliers increase with each spin or that wild symbols get frozen. So when the bonus game is triggered the player usually gets a bonanza. However, such high paying bonus games are not triggered as frequently as the regular paying bonus games.