Low Volatility Slots

Low Volatility Slots: What do they mean?

We provided a brief explanation of what low volatile slots are. However, it is important to get into details of why a slot would be referred to as a low volatile slot. 

The first step is to tackle the elephant in the room. What does low volatility mean in slots? To understand this, it is crucial to understand what volatility or variance is. This can be broken down into three main parameters. Volatility is used to define:

1. The risk attached to any slot game
2. The frequency of returns/payouts on any slot game
3. The value of returns/payouts (low, medium, or high) on any slot game

Volatility is simply a statistical measure of how results are dispersed. This is hugely confused with Return to Player (RTP) percentage. Don’t get confused, we will draw the line between the two later in our guide.

With the understanding of the parameters used to define variance, it is now important to understand low volatile slots in detail. Imagine this. You have a tight budget that you want to use on a long gaming session. The question of longevity on your gaming session will be determined by the frequency of your returns. The more the returns, the more your gaming session continues.

Simply put, the returns will determine if your bankroll will be spread to cover the long gaming session you crave for. To achieve longevity by spreading your bankroll from the tight budget, low volatile slots will be your bet. Back to our earlier explanation, a low volatile slot will pay out frequently but the value of the payout/return will be small and will involve a lower risk.

The best low volatility slot machines will offer the following to the player:

With the above concept, it is evident that low volatile slots do not purely mean one cannot win a high prize. High prizes can be won once in a while though they will be fewer. The payouts are evenly distributed and one will find out that low volatile slots payout more per spin. This partly explains why its jackpot prizes will not stand at huge million-dollar figures. This is because to trigger such jackpots, more investments will be required than on a small £5,000 jackpot. 

High and Medium vs Low Volatile Slots

The variance types include high and medium and for the two, they are the complete opposite of low volatility. With high variance, players are expected to have a huge budget and are expected to be risk-takers. The frequency of payouts/returns is not the highest and is bound to take several spins. However, once a winning combination is hit, the value of the payout is extremely high. Conversely to low volatility slots, high volatile slots will have jackpots that are prized highly, large payouts on normal spins, fewer pay lines on the slots, and more bonus features.

Medium volatile slots, on the other hand, stand in between. These kinds of slots will work for players who prefer winning fairly often and, at the same time, stand a chance of winning large payouts at some point. They are more popular and in comparison to the other two, medium variance slots will have smaller payouts than the high variance slots but bigger payouts than the low volatile slots, they will have higher valued jackpots compared to the small jackpot prizes on low volatile slots. With medium volatility, there exist two more subcategories including low-medium volatile slots and medium-high volatile slots. 

Pros in slots with low volatility

• The winnings/returns/payout is more frequent – Low volatile slots come with more pay lines increasing the chances of hitting a winning combination more frequently. 
• Easier bankroll management – While it’s difficult to have easy bankroll management on some slots, the best low volatility slots make it easier. Averagely, a slot-playing session will have a player lose 200-300 betting units in an hour. To manage your bankroll effectively, you should opt for the lower range of the aforementioned. 

For example, if your bankroll stands at £300 and you want to play two (2) sessions that last for three (3) hours, this is how to choose the best slot to settle for in terms of bet size:

£300 / 2 = £150 per session

£150 / 3 = £50 per hour

Since the slot’s volatility is low, we take the lowest betting unit that can be lost in an hour. In our case, it is 200.

£50 / 200 = £0.25

For efficient bankroll management, you should choose a slot taking £0.25 or less for a spin.

• Lower risks are taken – Low volatile slots work best for players who are tight on budget and are not willing to take huge risks. This means that the loss in a session is not huge and more can still be played on the next sessions.
• Results swing closer to the RTP rate – High RTP doesn’t work with immediate results. It is more long-term. A slot with a slightly lower RTP rate with low volatility is better for immediate returns than a high RTP slot with high volatility. The payouts in the low volatile slots will be closer to the RTP rate.
• Substantial profits on low variance high RTP slots – On the flipside, low variance high RTP slots played in multiple sessions are bound to accrue substantial profits. Keep in mind that RTP represents average payouts after long sessions of play. This means that substantial profits are achieved when the bankroll is managed efficiently and spread across the sessions on the high RTP slots with low variance.
• Perfect to meet wagering requirements – The frequent wins come in handy while meeting the wagering requirements placed on any bonus one might claim on the casino. A deeper look at this will be done later in the guide.

Cons in slots with low volatility

• Smaller wins – Albeit the regularity in the wins, low volatile slots provide smaller wins, an aspect that puts off players who are into huge bonuses and jackpot prizes. Simply put, the ‘normal’ wins on the least volatile slot machines range between 100 and 1000 credits.
• High chances of LDWs – LDWs (losses disguised as wins) are a likelihood in slots with multiple lines. Remember, low variance slots provide multiple lines than average to increase the chances of winning. However, while it may come out as a positive aspect, there is a negative side to it. From the multiple lines, a player might win less than they wagered. A £2 bet might win £1 meaning the player loses £1 overall.
• Limited bonus features – Having tons of bonuses in most cases will mean a huge budget to spread the game until they are triggered. On the brighter side, having tons of them increases the chances of winning massive payouts which is not the case with low volatile slots. Therefore, low variance slots have limited bonus features.
• Small jackpots – With frequent and regular payouts, it is impossible to have extremely huge jackpots that payout million-dollar grand prizes. Instead, players win between the range of 1000 – 10000 credits.

How to choose the best low variance online slots?

Figuring out the variance of a slot can be done in a variety of ways. The first way is if the provider behind the slot lists the volatility. This is the easiest way. However, not all software providers will list the variance on their slots. A good estimation of this can be done by looking at the paytable. To find a low volatile slot, check out the following aspects:

• Smaller jackpot prizes – Sky-high jackpots with massive prizes are an indication of medium or high volatile slots. The least volatile slot machines will have their jackpot value lowly offered.
• Fewer large payouts – Low volatile slots do not land big wins easily but once hit, the payout is not as huge compared to the returns one can accrue on high volatile slots.
• More small payouts – With low volatile slots, the payouts are not only frequent but also small in value. The average wins are in the range of 100 to 1000 credits.
• Fewer bonus features – Bonus features largely signify the value of prizes a slot delivers. A variety of bonus features that are triggered with more deposit inputs will signify medium or high variance slots. With low variance slots, the prize value is low thus bonus features are limited.
• More pay lines – Chances of frequent wins are high with multiple pay lines. Low volatile slots will have multiple lines than the average lines on the medium or high variance slots.
• Symbols payout – A low variance slot offers smaller returns/payouts and minimal variation between 4 a kind symbol combination and 5 a kind symbol combination. This is different compared to a highly volatile slot that has a variation going as high as 15x.
• Minimum and maximum bet – A high volatile slot garners large payouts from small max bets. This is not the case with low volatility slots. The minimum bet, for example, on low variance slots is extremely low and favourable to players on a tight budget.
• Use the demo mode – Most slots offer players an option of playing for free or real money. The demo mode will not require any deposit on the account for one to play. The variance of the game can be noted through this mode since it doesn’t change whether one plays for real money or not. One should keep a record of the results being obtained from each round and how frequently the winning results are being obtained.

The other way is through reading our reviews. We have reviewed tons of slots on our platform and from the thousands of slots available, we have provided a list of low variance slot machines. Choose one that meets your preference (themes, graphics, animation, soundtracks, and more) and proceed to spin.

Variance vs RTP

Variance is always confused with RTP (Return to Player) percentage by some players. While they are easy to interchange, they are two completely different terms in the slot world. RTP is the average return rate players are looking to get after long-term playing. This rate is expressed in percentage and from the RTP, it is easy to know the house edge on the slot. House edge is, roughly, the advantage the casino has on the game. 

For this reason, hitting the winning combination will be random explaining why the RTP rate is achievable after numerous plays. For example, a slot with an RTP of 97% means that the average returns from a £100 bet will be £97. The house edge on the slot with 97% RTP will be 3%. However, it is impossible to know the slot’s variance by simply looking at the RTP.

In RTP terms, a slot with its percentage from 96%+ is viewed as high RTP with those slots going below 94% referred to as low RTP. With variance, high RTP low variance slots, low RTP low variance slots, high RTP high variance slots, and low RTP high variance slots all exist. On a 96% RTP low variance slot, players can expect regular payouts albeit them being slightly profitable. This is one of the advantages of playing such slots. 

However, it is also important to note that a 94% RTP slot with low variance can sometimes pay more in a single session compared to a slot with 96% RTP. Moreover, it is possible to have a low variance slot and a high variance slot with the same RTP. The difference is that the hit frequency on the low volatile game is higher albeit smaller returns while the hit frequency on the high volatile game is lower albeit huge returns.

The takeaway point between variance and RTP is that variance is focused more on the short-term while RTP is focused on the long-term. However, the rule of the thumb is to try out the slots with high RTP and even better, high RTP slots with low variance.

For which players are low volatility games ideal for?

With every concept of low variance slots, one can easily deduce who they are designed for. Low volatility games are designed for players who:

These are not the ideal games for players who wish to claim huge payouts.

Low volatile slots, perfect for wagering bonuses

Wagering requirements are always a ‘hindrance’ to many and are the ‘tough’ conditions that come between withdrawing a bonus. They are also referred to as playthrough requirements or rollover requirements and they simply represent the amount of money you need to wager before the bonus is released. For example, a casino may offer a 100% bonus of up to £500 on a deposit of at least £30. The operator may proceed to set its wagering requirements at 35x on the bonus. If the player deposits £50, they will have to wager the bonus thirty-five times (35x). In our case, £1750 will be the amount to be wagered.

So, why are low volatile slots perfect for wagering bonuses? They help complete wagering of a bonus more easily. The first step, however, should be to check if the slot you are playing counts while meeting the requirements. Some casinos tend to place the low wagering slots as ineligible. However, if they are eligible to help clear the requirements, they offer a better avenue when playing with an active bonus. The frequent winnings likely to be achieved will help in the clearing.