RTP and house edge describe the same thing from opposite ends. A machine with 96% RTP has a 4% house edge; a 99.54% video poker machine has an edge of 0.46%.
The distinction matters mostly in tone. Slot marketing prefers RTP because 96% sounds generous, while 4% sounds like a fee. Table games are usually quoted the other way for the same reason in reverse.
One real difference: RTP on a skill game is conditional on playing correctly. A full-pay Jacks or Better machine returns 99.54% to a player using optimal holds and several points less to everyone else. Slot RTP has no such condition, because there is nothing to get wrong.
Where the numbers come from
Related terms in odds & money
- House edge — The average share of each bet the casino expects to keep over the long run.
- Expected value — The average result of a bet if it could be repeated indefinitely.
- Variance — How widely results scatter around their expected value.
- Standard deviation — A measure of how far results typically stray from the average.
- Bankroll — The money set aside for gambling, kept separate from money needed for anything else.
- Unit — One standard bet, used as the yardstick for measuring results and bankroll.
Where an entry quotes a number, that figure comes from the computed sections of this site rather than from another glossary, so the definition and the derivation cannot drift apart. Each entry links to the page where the number is worked out.